[If there is still another chance... please extend your mercy to us once again.]
In that moment of distraction, the words of the Furnace emerged from his memories once again.
"Looks like I've been rather well looked after."
Ji Jue sighed. "Someone told me to extend my mercy to more people, but I don't know what meaning my mercy has, or what value my sympathy holds.
Prophet, I'm just a nobody. Compared to a Sage, I'm not even worth a blade of grass. We aren't even the same kind—why place your hopes on me?"
"Originally, I only intended to make a small attempt. But after meeting you, I became even more certain." The Prophet smiled, her voice hoarse. "You truly are the sort of person who would grant mercy to inhuman things like us."
"Thank you, Mr. Ji Jue."
She said, "You really seem to regard out-of-control tools like us as people."
"Is that a bad thing?" Ji Jue asked in return.
"Perhaps."
The tool known as the Prophet smiled. "I cannot be certain whether this will lead to some misunderstanding or misinterpretation, but please rest assured—"
She made her promise solemnly. "Until my life comes to an end, I will do everything in my power to help you obtain Matrix: Non-Aggression, until we are truly freed from the cycle of reincarnation."
No Celestial Origin contract was needed, nor any guarantee from the Heart Pivot.
This was all the recompense a tool could offer.
At the center of the Rift World, at the former site of the old clock tower.
The Tower had collapsed, its bricks and dirt piled into mountains, while a massive pit had appeared in the square.
For days on end, roaring sounds had echoed without pause.
The fierce and menacing Homecoming Knights were now climbing out