Shepherd Tantra

Chapter 1340 Eternal Reincarnation
The sun will eventually set.

After Taiyi's death, the world fell into eternal darkness.

...But that...may not be pure darkness.

In the sky, millions of stars are still shining.

The black sea surges with tides, rising and falling.

Aiwas was sitting on a huge rock on the shore, gazing into the distance, while Inanna sat down beside him, mimicking his posture.

"One night I burned all my memories, and from then on my dreams became transparent."

Aiwass softly recited the poem: "One morning... I threw away all yesterday, and from then on my steps were light."

"What is this, teacher?"

"This is poetry."

What is poetry?

"Poetry is the tears of words."

"Words can weep..."

Inanna asked, somewhat bewildered, "Will the words bleed?"

After a long silence, Aiwass said firmly, "Yes."

"—A single blood-red word is enough to wound a phrase; and a wounded phrase, entwined around the tongue, becomes a curse."

"It causes people to fight each other, to live in fear and anxiety, and to die in despair. It sets the land ablaze with war and makes the world never peaceful."

"So, words stained with blood are curses?"

"No. It's called... prophecy."

With extremely complex emotions, Aiwass said in a low voice.

He didn't know how much time had passed outside.

He didn't know how long he had been through.

At first, Aiwass tried to unravel the secrets of this promotion ceremony.

He also wanted to fight against the whispers of nothingness once more.

But after Aiwass returned to the past with the authority of the Serpent Father's reincarnation and became the Heavenly Master of Reincarnation, he could no longer even hear that damned whisper.

Aiwas, wielding the authority of the Celestial Master of Reincarnation, resets the world time and time again.

Whenever the world might be heading in the wrong direction, he turns back the clock and puts everything back where it was before the change happened.

He finally understood... exactly where the Reincarnation Heavenly Division's "save" power was used.

Unlike Amber, who can only reverse the world back to its initial moment, Aiwass, as the true owner of the power of reincarnation, can more flexibly choose the node to reset the entire world.

However, Aiwass soon realized the danger of this power.

People...get tired.

The ability to reload saves at will—this is practically divine power.

That's why Aiwass needs nothing and fears nothing.

but……

Even in a game, if you try to complete all achievements in the most perfect way by endlessly loading saves, you will eventually lose the fun.

Soon, Aiwass realized he was uneasy.

Although he has plenty of time—the speed of change between this world and the outside world is one in ten thousand—his time is ultimately not infinite.

He had lost count of how many times he had rewound the tape.

He repeatedly sought the "main quest" of this promotion ceremony, wanting to leave this world.

But it was as if he was imprisoned here.

There were no prompts for anything I did.

He had lost the system, the mission, and the purpose.

He didn't know what he should do.

So Aiwass began to try out various possibilities repeatedly.

—Anyway, all we need to do is turn back time, and everything will disappear.

Sometimes he is arrogant, sometimes he is ruthless, sometimes he is compassionate, and sometimes he is indifferent.

No matter what choice you make, the moment time reverses—all meaning will be lost.

This does indeed allow for an unlimited number of save/load attempts. However, it has one problem—Aivas cannot travel back to the future.

If he chooses to reload the save file, it's tantamount to killing the world.

Even a game, which can last for several hours or even tens of minutes, can become tedious if you keep reloading your save file.

If life could be lived an infinite number of times, how could one maintain the initial passion after countless retakes?

"...eternal reincarnation."

Aiwas murmured.

As the world changes and cycles, the affairs of the world remain constant.

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

No one rises, no one falls, and all things remain unchanged.

The universe has solidified, like an amber egg; the world is in eternal cycle, like a ring with its tail.

True eternal reincarnation.

He seemed to hear a devil's whisper: This life you have lived, you will have to live countless more times. Nothing will be new; every pain, ecstasy, thought, and sigh will reappear…

—Would you still love this world?
"Get out!"

Aiwas angrily shouted at the whisper in his heart.

But an even more terrifying possibility surfaced in his mind—it wasn't just a whisper in the void, but his own true inner thoughts.

—May what I am doing at this moment be repeated trillions of times?
Aiwas chose to remain silent.

He was clearly unwilling.

"teacher……?"

Inanna asked, somewhat puzzled and surprised, "Are you crying?"

She leaned closer and carefully wiped away the tears from the corners of Aiwas's eyes.

"...It's just a few tears."

Aiwass did not refuse, but only murmured, "You'll get used to it after you cry... Over time, people, such despicable creatures, will get used to everything."

"What the teacher says always makes a lot of sense."

"This is nothing more than the wisdom I have gathered from the masses. I am a despicable thief who wants to steal time."

As he spoke, Aiwas looked up at the sky.

The dark golden pupils appeared pitch black in the night.

The sky without the sun seemed somewhat lonely.

After a short rest, Aiwass opened his eyes again.

His eyes were once again filled with determination.

—If time and space will keep cycling, then let's go.

The cowards will fall into the abyss of nothingness... while the true heroes will be forged into a new sun through reincarnation.

If this is life, then let's do it again!
And so, Aiwass took another step forward.

An infinite number of deaths, an infinite number of failures, an infinite number of rewinds.

He seemed to be walking on a treadmill that was constantly rolling backwards... whether walking or running, he remained motionless in the same spot.

But he gradually approached one transparent figure after another, passing right through them.

Those were the same Ai Shipings of the past.

It is the memories they left behind.

—In the time when the whole world was frozen in amber, only Aiwass's dream continued to move forward.

Only he is experiencing the torment of eternal reincarnation.

...Or perhaps, it was merely a trial. A trial initiated by one's past self.

Only by overcoming this trial can we possibly confront the void.

"—Then, it is unanimously decided that the Reincarnation Heavenly Bureau will perform a world reset, turning the world's clock back to 3325 years ago."

At the Nine Pillar Gods meeting, Sand Clock recited the proposal to eliminate everyone, including himself.

In each cycle of reincarnation, there are also those who help Aiwas share the responsibility.

"My dearest friend, I will illuminate the earth!"

Lucifer of the Radiant Sky laughed loudly and shouted—

He rose into the sky and blocked the dark void.

In each cycle of reincarnation, some people still aspire to become heroes.

“There’s no other way,” the Lord of Scales and Feathers sighed, his tone a mixture of admiration and helplessness. “We can only rely on you—rewind.”

"Let's go back."

The Candle Master, his body wreathed in black, corroded energy and gradually crumbling, spoke gently: "Let's choose a new path." "Heh..."

The Supreme Heaven, its chest pierced by the sword, grinned at Aiwass with a smile that was somewhat regretful, yet without sadness: "Go back to the past, Serpent. Kill that cowardly me."

"Go back, snake."

"We need to abandon this world line."

"My dearest friend, I'm so sorry..."

The images kept replaying in my mind.

These all happened during the "first playthrough".

After all, it's just going back a little bit; it can't really be called starting a new playthrough.

No one knows how many times the ouroboros has reincarnated, and no one knows how many times he has turned the golden apple.

however--

It was as if everything was already destined.

The power of fate has finally brought the game to an end.

Aiwass saw a sky filled with a dim, yellowish hue.

That was not yellow sand... but the death of the world.

The new sun has died—that sun was not half of the moon, but his dear friend Lucifer.

He had burned out completely, standing until the very last moment.

The moon shone with a blood-red light, yet it could only illuminate less than a quarter of the sky.

That is not the eternal self, but Cain corrupted by nothingness.

In the dim, yellowish sky, countless ruins floated, like tea leaves that hadn't been properly brewed, with the stems floating on the surface.

Looking around, there was no living thing on the ground.

Above, only deformed dragons roared and flew. They were all undead controlled by nothingness.

One of them was a giant dragon with a single silver-white wing, and there was also a headless flying monster holding the heads of Weizhe and the Supreme Heaven.

That was the Celestial Chieftain who was killed by Aiwass and then resurrected by the Void.

What he held in his hands were the Void God and the Supreme Heaven, who fought to the very end. They fought back to back, but were ultimately killed by the Void and were about to be transformed into one of them.

—Through repeated saves and reloads, Aiwass truly achieved ultimate perfection.

With his cooperation, the nine pillar gods finally united. In the name of the forbidden pillar gods, he led them to the very end.

However, he still failed.

Only the sin thorns wriggle and crawl on the ground.

Buildings were reduced to ruins, and the land withered and turned into desert.

At this moment, Aiwass's consciousness was in a state of confusion, and his breath was weak.

He lay on the ground, his body fused with the sinful thorns except for his head. His hands were withered like trees, and only the area above his neck remained somewhat intact, with black, net-like veins resembling maple leaves adorning his neck.

After a violent coughing fit, he seemed to regain some consciousness.

"Teacher, teacher!"

In his hazy state, Aiwass heard the pure white-clad girl clutching her own head, crying out, "Don't die, teacher!"

“Inanna…”

Aiwas said unconsciously.

"...I'm sorry."

He smiled bitterly, his voice hoarse: "I tried my best."

"Teacher, there's another way! Quickly, use the Ouroboros!"

The pure white-clad girl almost entirely transformed into light, barely illuminating a small area around Aiwass in the dim, yellowish world: "Back to the past—"

"...Go back to the past."

He heard himself muttering and laughing coldly, as if in a dream: "Will it work...?"

Suddenly, his gaze fell on the pure white-clad girl.

As if realizing something, Aiwass opened his eyes wide and his vision suddenly became clear.

In that instant, it was as if ancient memories from millions of years ago were re-enacted in my mind.

He suddenly remembered that it was the illusion he had seen when he made a contract with the amber.

Everything is exactly the same as it is now—

Aiwas coughed violently, tears streaming down his face. It was unclear whether he was coughing or simply overwhelmed by the emotion.

He coughed while bursting into laughter.

Aiwas finally remembered.

—He is in the midst of his promotion ceremony.

How could I forget?

When did I forget?
As Inanna gazed at Aiwass, tears streamed down her face.

"……I see."

Inanna choked back tears as she slowly reached out and grasped the black thorn halo above Aiwass's head.

That was the manifestation of Aiwass, the "Forbidden Pillar God," as a fragment of his divine power.

She should have been untouchable... because being able to directly touch the halo would be equivalent to her meeting the selection rules for the Celestial Division fragments.

However, Inanna is a unique exception.

Because on the day the Serpent Father perished, besides Aiwass, Inanna was also a witness to all of this.

She is the only one who can inherit the ring.

"...The Ring of Ouroboros...and the position of Pillar God, Master...I'll take them all."

Inanna burst into tears, her hands gradually clenching together.

And just then.

Aiwas raised his withered hand and gently placed it on Inanna's arm.

That was an extremely light force.

But it instantly stopped Inanna's actions.

“...I...am not afraid of my destiny, Inanna.”

Aiwass murmured, "I actually... love my destiny. Because it is the core of my existence."

"My love takes flight above misfortune. I thirst for the needs of others. I love every moment of this world... It is because of this that I can bear the weight of endless cycles of reincarnation."

“...I know you’re like that too, Inanna.”

Inanna was somewhat confused.

But I also felt a sense of anticipation.

She slowly lowered her hand and looked at Aiwass.

Six pitch-black cards gradually appeared around Aiwass.

They are all powers that, along with Aiwass's memories, were sealed away by "nothingness".

But what truly seals them is not nothingness—but a distorted “∞” symbol.

If the infinitely looping "our tail" distorts itself, it becomes an "endless knot".

The cycle (O) became infinite (∞).

At this moment, they gradually faded, turning into six different colors.

The instant he broke free of the seal, six voices flooded into Aiwass's mind:
"Brother! You're finally..."

"Master, we have been calling you for a long time—"

Aiwass took a deep breath.

"what."

He made a meaningless sound and slowly sat up from the ground: "I'm back."

Aiwass looked up at the corrupted white dragon in the sky—He had discovered Aiwass.

The dragon roared and swooped down.

Now a pillar god, Aiwass was softly reciting the prayer of the serpent father: "I thank... the father of the ouroboros, the god of the number eight..."

"The God who never stops, the God who reverses the tide—"

The chanting had no meaning; it was simply an expression of heartfelt gratitude.

As Aiwas's pupils gradually regained their color and luster, six figures appeared one after another and attacked the corrupted white dragon, severely injuring it in the blink of an eye. Meanwhile, wings sprouted one after another from behind Aiwas.

The entire world constructed by the promotion ceremony was trembling and crumbling.

Cracks kept appearing in the sky.

“Give me…”

"—Beyond Time and Space!"

(End of this chapter)