Void Nether still wandered beyond the boundary, but it could no longer invade even an inch—it was the embodiment of the Pain of Existence, and the beings of the Omni-Dimension had long since learned to accept pain, remember loss, hold fast amid ruin, and seek light in the darkness.
Niansheng had grown into a half-grown little being. It was still formed from gathered motes of light, yet it could freely change its shape, sometimes becoming a child, sometimes a bird, sometimes a stream, wandering throughout the Omni-Dimension. It had no age, no life or death. It was the embodiment of the Omni-Dimension's will and the Boundary Guardians' spiritual breath, the crystallization of Heart-Trace and Thought Dust.
On this day, Niansheng suddenly stopped before the Wall of Heart-Trace at the boundary of the Omni-Dimension, its little brows furrowing.
At the very top of the Wall of Heart-Trace was an extremely faint dark pattern. It was not Void Nether's corrosion, but the Unfulfilled Wish left behind by the first beings when the Omni-Dimension was born—they wished for the Omni-Dimension to live on without end, for bonds never to fade, and for every life to be treated with tenderness. This wish had been hidden deep within the Heart-Trace for hundreds of millions of years, until today, when Niansheng finally sensed it.
Mitsuki was the first to notice Niansheng's abnormality. Threads of light from the Gap Net gently wrapped around it. "What's wrong, Niansheng?"
Niansheng pointed toward the top of the Heart-Trace. "There... there's a voice crying. It isn't sadness. It's regret."
Boruto and Sarada hurried over. The Jōgan and the Eternal Mangekyo opened at the same time, letting them clearly see the memories within that dark pattern: the first beings depended on one another for survival amid chaos. They feared loneliness, feared Oblivion,