World's Death

This was the first time Iver had clearly learned the former name of the Path of Twilight, as well as the source river to which that path belonged.

Prior to this, Iver only knew that five Pillar God were born from the "Cicada Molting" event— the Pillar God of Adaptation, Twilight, Wisdom, Power, and the Path of the Beast —all of whom were born after the cicada's molting. As for whether those paths had previous masters or what their names were, Iver had no idea.

"...mistake."

"Iver murmured."

The source of the path of "adaptation" is "survival," while the source of the path of transcendence and transformation is "change." Both are easy to understand.

But why do "twilight" and "taboo" belong to the river of "error"? Is there any necessary connection between them and error? In that instant, Iver suddenly recalled the words of the Ring Angel Exorcist during his manifestation, "—When the world changes and cycles, the affairs of the world remain eternally unchanged."

The just will remain just, and the corrupt will remain corrupt. A king will always be a king, and a slave will always be a slave.

[No one ascends, no one descends, all things remain unchanged. The universe has solidified, like Amber Egg; the world Eternal Calamity cycles, like Ouroboros Ring.]

At that time, Iver did not understand the meaning of the Ring Angel, but now... after receiving information from Professor Moriarty, Iver seems to have grasped some key points.

Eternal Calamity reincarnation...?

"... I have a question."

Iver was silent for a moment, then asked, "Does your worldline... also have ' Path of Twilight ' and 'Amber'?"

"Have."

Professor Moriarty stated with great certainty, "But I'm not sure if He has always existed."

"I wonder, if the world keeps cycling and repeating itself... then is the 'first return of the world' related to the birth of amber?"

Professor Moriarty's thinking was clear, "He is a flawless god, the ultimate god; he became the strongest at the very beginning of his birth, so does that mean... is it possible that he was not born at the end of the First Age, but rather in the year 2000... and went back to the past, tearing apart the future?"

"If 'twilight' belongs to amber, then to whom does 'taboo' belong?"

Iver asked in return.

The Gem Bird shook its head. "I don't know. Although I witnessed the birth of Amber and the change of the Path, I did not see the existence of the old Pillar God. As for the ascension of the other Pillar God, I basically did not see them either... After Amber, only the Beast Lord of the Path of the Beast were born."

"I can also tell you that the name of that source river is 'Creation.' I think that the fairies, witches, werewolves, and Child of the Moon on the Path of Love ... were all born from this. I can tell you any of this information you want to know. It doesn't matter at all."

"... Because knowledge is poisonous, right?"

Iver said slowly.

The Gem Bird smiled and nodded.

This is an open conspiracy.

Iver knew he was undoubtedly a key pawn in the power struggle among multiple great beings. His desire for freedom and transcendence inevitably led him to seek the truth. But the more information he gathered, the more complete the truth became, and the more he had to consider and ponder.

He didn't understand the plans of the Ring Angel before.

But now, he seems to be gradually understanding some things...

The Ring Angel believes that "reincarnation" is meaningless, perhaps because the entire world has already coiled into a ring. However, the "transformation" that He seeks still exists within the historical context in which Professor Moriarty resides.

This proves at least one thing—that the Ring Angel failed, and the world still experienced Eternal Calamity recurrence. At least in the timeline where it failed to devour Iver, it undoubtedly failed.

He also understood why the Nine Pillar Gods initiated the Promotion Ritual to deduce the past and future.

He even partially understood Professor Moriarty's motivation—

It is precisely because he is a "savior" who has witnessed the end of the world that he firmly adheres to the principle of "Premature Death".

From this perspective, it can at least be confirmed that the Old Moriarty did not come back to life from the First Age. He should be like a "time traveler," appearing directly in the body of the young Moriarty.

When Moriarty was still studying under Cardinal Loki, his personality was clearly normal and not paranoid.

It wasn't until Moriarty came into contact with Anna Kingsford, the founder of the Golden Dawn and Freya's mother, that his personality began to change drastically.

At the time, Iver felt that it was impossible for his adoptive father to be troubled by love... It just didn't make sense.

Now, Iver has finally sorted out his thoughts.

Both Jacob and James belonged to the Golden Dawn, whose initial founder was Anna Kingsford of the "Rosy Cross" Society Golden Dawn. This means that James's techniques and rituals were very likely initially taught to him by James wife. Furthermore, both the "Rosy Cross" Society and the Golden Dawn were aware of the existence of the "Sacred Entity."

If the Sacred Entity was originally a fragment of the Ring Angel... or more accurately, a fragment of the Reincarnation Angel.

So why not call it "Angel Shard" or some other term related to "reincarnation"?

—A Sacred Entity.

The divine being summoned by Jacob does not seem to be a physical entity. This could be either the version initially summoned to impart mystical knowledge to Jacob, or the version that merged with Iver's soul.

... But what if this is actually a well-known "referential" reference?

Is it possible that the original "Sacred Entity" was... that fragment of soul that merged with Moriarty? Perhaps after Moriarty met Kingsford, they did something together, causing the soul of the "savior" who had traveled back to ancient times to descend upon Moriarty. This led to a drastic change in Moriarty's personality, causing him to almost obsessively practice Cardinal Loki's teaching of "Premature Death."

It's like being transported to another world...

—Wait, wait a minute? Iver suddenly paused.

In that instant, a shiver ran down his spine. He abruptly looked up, staring at Moriarty in disbelief.

Could it be that his adoptive father's sudden departure from Avalon was because of this? He left Iver to independently observe how much the "suddenly enlightened Iver" knew and what he was capable of!

He wanted to use this to determine which era Iver's knowledge belonged to! "Now you should understand why I want to obtain the power of 'reincarnation'."

Professor Moriarty said slowly, "In order to change that inevitable ending, and to uncover the truth of the 'forbidden', I must go back to the past—even if it means sacrificing the present and the future."

"All things eventually perish. As long as the fundamental problems are not resolved, all prosperity and hope are illusory."

"Even if it involves the secrets of several Pillar God, I must do it, and I must achieve it."

"If the world were to cycle again in 2000... the world I have altered, and its future would be disrupted as a result. Perhaps the 'variable' that was fortunate enough to survive to the day of Twilight's birth would not have been born."

"Ignorance may also be a kind of happiness. Knowledge is poisonous... the deepest poison is the poison of 'meaninglessness'."

The bird smiled, but there was no warmth in its eyes. "If this world must be restarted... then everything now is destined to disappear."

"Whether one dies early, late, by suicide, assassination, illness, or of old age... none of it matters. The world will be reborn in the next cycle, or even the cycle after that. There will always be a cycle in which the world will not face destruction... We must first obtain information from the past in order to have a chance to change the future."

"Didn't you ask me? To what extent should it be revised to be considered perfect? I don't crave perfection—what I crave is merely 'continuation,' merely 'survival.' That has nothing to do with my life or death as an individual, but rather with the World's Death a hundred years from now, something that ' James ' could never have foreseen."

"... So that's what you were thinking."

Iver murmured softly.

If the theory of Premature Death is extended indefinitely... what if the entire world is about to perish? That would mean that "Premature Death" could be applied to the entire world.

To kill the Old World.