Taboo and Amber

Change the future.

Because the future will eventually become the past.

There is always a chance to start over in the future.

Professor Moriarty's voice was almost bewitching. "Even if you have no regrets now... are you so sure that the future will be the same? As I said— Necessary Evil, Premature Death. If the time for premature death is reduced infinitely, then it's basically equivalent to me doing nothing; and if the time for time to flow backward is infinitely short, then it also means that nothing has been lost."

"If only we could turn back time when we regret our actions, none of these tragedies would have happened."

"It's like ordinary people buying insurance. Insurance can't prevent accidents from happening, it can only reduce losses. Because they can't stop what has already happened from changing, nor can they guarantee that something won't happen in the future... but we can."

"Are you so confident that you or your loved ones will never encounter any accidents? Do you believe that your future self will never regret anything?" Even if history is fragmented, we can only change one aspect of the past... but that at least alters the tragedy of our current historical context, sparing us from accepting an unwanted future. Although this power has been abandoned by the Reincarnation Angel, it was once wielded by a Heavenly Court—especially one Equilibrium Path. In other words, this power itself is both reasonable and legitimate.

Professor Moriarty whispered, trying to persuade me, "Or... do you truly have no fear of the 'unknown'? Even if you yourself are fearless, when the 'present' you cherish is destroyed by an accident or misfortune, won't you truly regret rejecting me today?"

This time, Iver remained silent.

Unlike before, he remained silent for a long time this time.

"... I don't trust you."

Iver finally spoke in a low voice.

His voice was somewhat hoarse, but his expression was extremely serious.

He no longer used honorifics, nor did he refer to Professor Moriarty as his father.

This time he spoke the truth—and this was the real reason he disagreed with Professor Moriarty's plan, "You just want to use me. With your ' The Silken Grimoire '... with your power to steal the essence of others."

"Give up. Although I don't know where that power is, I will never give the key to someone like you."

"If I were a key, I would eventually be the Beast Lord's Key."

But upon hearing Iver's words, Professor Moriarty laughed happily.

Because he knew that Iver had already wavered.

James never lies or cheats.

The purpose of a lie is to convince others to believe you and act in your favor... Therefore, the biggest lie is the truth.

No lie is more powerful than the truth.

Psychological influence, emotional manipulation, logical flaws... none of these are as effective as pointing out the truth that the other person already knows but refuses to acknowledge.

To do or not to do—when people hesitate and ponder in their hearts, they already have the answer in their minds. It's just that the answer has not yet surfaced.

What James did was not to continue suppressing the answer. Instead, he helped others to bring to the surface those "answers" that should have surfaced but were suppressed by reason, morality, shame, emotion, and dignity.

That's what they were supposed to do.

He simply brought forward the arrival of that moment, or prevented those who would later regret their hesitation from having the chance to repent—what he offered was not deception, but wisdom and courage.

The wisdom to point out the truth, and the courage to face the truth.

That's why... when people are swayed by James, they only feel incredibly happy.

Iver was no exception.

As he himself said, Iver was too timid. Because he knew too much, because he valued too much, he always waited for the best opportunity... an opportunity with the least sacrifice and the greatest chance.

This inevitably means that he will fear the unknown.

He couldn't refuse the conditions Moriarty offered.

Let me put it more directly.

Professor Moriarty said softly, "You should know... the holder of the Silken Grimoire appears whenever they lie. I have almost never used this power, because I use it as a reminder to myself—why did I lie? Why did I choose to lie? Why have I been reduced to the point where I have to lie?"

"For me, it's not just a source of strength... but a mentor, a supervisor."

His implication was that he admitted to possessing the Silken Grimoire and tacitly acknowledged his desire to steal something from Iver.

"But, Iver. The Silken Grimoire has one condition—existence cannot be stolen, only parasitized. Unless you agree, I cannot transfer your uniqueness into my body. This is not 'stealing,' but 'borrowing.'"

"The God of Scaled Feathers, didn't He also 'borrow' the scales and feathers He possessed from others? What is borrowed must be returned... It ultimately belongs to you, which is why I have been saying 'we'."

"... Don't use 'we,' we're not on the same path."

Iver then warned again, "Now that the Beast Lord and the Supreme Heaven have both left, the Nine Pillar Gods are nearly satisfied with the current situation, and the Top Layer of the Dream Realm are basically in a stable environment. If it happened again, it might not develop to this extent, so they will definitely oppose this plan. Not to mention the Silver Crowned Dragon and Constant Self's hostility towards this plan... Can you stand against the Nine Pillar Gods?"

You mean... stable?

Upon hearing this, Professor Moriarty laughed, "Then what about the Ring Angel?"

"When the Ouroboros finally surpasses its Serpent Father, completing the ultimate practice of the path of Path of Transcendence... it gains the approval of the River of Change, changing its path to Transformation. If the environment of the Nine Pillar Gods is truly stable and peaceful, how was this future determined?"

Iver's expression changed immediately.

How could he even know something like this?! The ambition of the Ring Angel, while not exactly a secret, is something that many Celestial Divisions don't know—not to mention, the Supreme Heaven certainly doesn't know.

Not to mention, Professor Moriarty even explicitly stated the specific name of the path of "transformation".

The current Ring Angel doesn't possess that word in its power and name! Iver remembered that a prophet's observation of the future could be disturbed. When they foresaw the future, if the other party was entangled in too many, too complex karmic connections, divination became extremely difficult. This was the case with the divination Mina performed for Iver back then.

Professor Moriarty, however, knew that the Pillar God was more likely to have this future.

... Is the "Observation Secret Rite" too powerful?

Or is it...?

"Did you guess it? Or did you back down in the face of the truth?"

The Gem Bird smiled. "I think my hints were clear enough. You've told me a lot, so it's fair that I share some of my secrets in return. After all, you're my child."

"Then I'll be blunt, Iver."

Professor Moriarty declared, "I... or rather a part of me, come from another world."

Upon hearing this, Iver's eyes widened.

... What? "Or to put it more clearly, I come from another history governed by the Nine Pillar Gods."

"London in 1999—in my part of history, it was the capital of the Camelot United Kingdom."

Professor Moriarty said slowly, "That's a hundred years from now. From the current perspective, it's exactly a hundred years."

"In my version of history, the Serpent Father had already been replaced. That event, known as the fourth change of Pillar God in history, is called 'parricide' by historians... That was a hundred years ago."

"Yes, in that year. 1899."

Professor Moriarty calmly declared, "And in the history of my birth..."

"—The world was ultimately destroyed."

The world...? Iver's eyes widened.

He suddenly recalled Professor Moriarty's madness in the game's timeline.

When he first appeared, he was calm, elegant, and profound. But when he reappeared, he looked as aged as a balding, mad scientist. What had he gone through in between? Iver initially thought that perhaps some evil god had possessed his body...

But now that I think about it, there's no reason why Edward wouldn't recognize him.

He was a silent, good man who would swallow all his bitterness. If Edward so steadfastly followed Professor Moriarty, even enduring the pain of merging with the Dragon Heart, and even tacitly accepting that he used Iver as a pawn or even a sacrifice, it could only mean that Professor Moriarty had a reason that he had to follow and unconditionally approve of.

For example...

To save the world when no one understands him.

"I don't know how this happened. Is it because the fragments of reincarnation were lost outside? Is it because the thickness of a layer of history is limited? Is it because the amber swallowed the possibilities of the future? Or is it that I only exist in a virtual world? I don't know."

All I know is that at that time, history had nowhere left to go.

"In the next instant at 23:59:59 on December 31, 1999—"

"The whole world was nothing but a dim, yellowish void."

Professor Moriarty said, word by word, "That layer of history collapsed and crumbled, vividly returning to the very beginning before my eyes..."

"—The demise of the 'Forbidden' Path, the birth of the 'Twilight' Path; the day when 'Amber', the new successor of the River of Error, was born and ascended to the position of Pillar God."