For all those decades, he had been observing the distant future, because he had never been able to understand what that ridiculous Raven could possibly do to forge a miraculous path forward through this cataclysm of Finality.
And now.
At last, he began to understand, little by little.
Everything had been meticulously arranged from the start, including those flames, including the dream he had given him. Every last part of it had been paving the way for that final gamble.
"Hahahahaha! Cough, cough..."
He laughed, his chest heaving violently, the power within him unraveling as he did.
"Brother, I really have been puzzled. Time belongs to me in the first place, so how could that fellow at the end of time steal my primordial source, sever time, and retrace his path? It seems that the you from that original timeline played a part in it, too."
"Actually, I should have understood from the beginning. You and I are both undying. Since he became a Firstborn again in that timeline, how could you possibly have perished?"
"When he found you in this timeline, he had already told you everything, hadn't he?"
The figure said nothing.
There was not even the slightest ripple of emotion.
And that was why, the moment he finally saw through the course of the future, he descended here at once to take his life.
"We could have died together, you know."
The Time God-King smiled as he gazed at the figure before him, his eyes filled with sorrow.
"But you let him sever time. Why, Brother? Isn't this what we've always pursued and waited for? After so long, after the torment of these endless ages, are you still unable to let go of the emotions and humanity in your heart? Why must you do this... You could