Three Hundred and Seventy Million Streams of Light

"Tuner..." Radiant Stilllight cried out with difficulty. "You... why... aren't you affected...?"

Lin Ye stopped.

He looked back at the warriors and streams of light struggling in the Void and fell silent for three seconds.

Then he turned around and walked back toward them, one step at a time.

"Because..." he said softly, "what I carry is heavier than any of yours."

He reached out and gently placed a hand on Radiant Stilllight's shoulder.

A gentle yet resolute power flowed into Radiant Stilllight's body. That power did not help lighten the "Weight of Existence," but instead made him understand—

The "Weight of Existence" was not a burden.

It was proof.

Proof that you were still alive, proof that you were still fighting, proof that you had not yet been forgotten.

Radiant Stilllight froze.

He lowered his head and looked at his hands, at the Runes on them being corroded by the Void, at the marks within those Runes that flickered with the imprints of the order-aligned civilizations that had been saved—

He suddenly understood.

The Weight of Existence had never been imposed upon him by the Void.

It was something he had chosen himself.

From the day he chose to follow Lin Ye, he had chosen to bear it. To bear the hope of civilizations, the trust of his companions, and the entrustment of those he had saved.

He had always carried this weight.

Only now, magnified by the Void, did he truly feel how heavy it was for the first time.

Radiant Stilllight raised his head and looked at Lin Ye.

Lin Ye smiled. "You feel it now?"

Radiant Stilllight nodded.

"Then let's go." Lin Ye turned around and continued forward. "Let this Void see just how far someone who chose to bear the weight can go."

Radiant Stilllight