The undead have descended upon the world? I possess a sword that can cleave the heavens once more!

At the same time, within that strange space that had no top or bottom, no left or right, nine blurry figures began to flicker violently.

The once stable, suspended outline flickered like a candle flame blown by the wind, and the halo around its edges thinned as it trembled violently, as if it might be torn apart at any moment.

A pale blue projection spoke first, its usual calm tone replaced by a brief moment of astonishment:

"Oh no! My true body's location has suddenly been attacked by some unknown deity! The connection between me and my projection is being severed!"

Before the words had even finished, another projection nearby gave the same response: "Mine too!"

"Me too!"

The third, the fourth...

Almost simultaneously, several projections issued similar warnings.

The golden figure in the center suddenly frowned.

Those golden eyes reflected the flickering lights around them, one by one lighting up and then going out:

"Indeed, no wonder the river of fate has been unusually calm lately!"

"So that's what they were waiting for—"

He couldn't finish speaking. In that instant, an influence from the farthest reaches intensified, like a hand reaching in from the depths of an unseen dimension, precisely grasping the connection between each projection and the true form, and then ripping it off without mercy.

The various figures were almost simultaneously scattered from the inside by that force, and the halo rapidly contracted from the edges inward, like lamps being turned off at the same time, quickly and silently disappearing into that boundless void.

Somewhere unknown. The sound of rushing water continues.

The pure white quill pen continued to move slowly across the surface of the pure black leather notebook. The scratching sound of the pen tip gliding across the rough paper was enveloped by the sound of flowing water, like an eternal melody that repeated itself endlessly.

"The God of Beasts, who fled to another world, has chosen to cooperate with humanity in order to reclaim his throne as quickly as possible!"

"In this process, the God of Beasts, who was already cautious and had noticed the abnormality, had no reason to go to the place where the rifts converged."

The pen paused slightly at the end of the sentence.

The pale hand hesitated for a moment, then some unseen force emanated from the tip of the pen, gently erasing the previous line of text, the dried ink marks being covered by a thin horizontal line.

Then the new text unfolds again above the old text:

"During this process, the God of Beasts, who was already extremely weak, temporarily ignored the anomaly he had previously noticed, and for some unknown reason, still chose to go to the place where the rifts converged."

"Furthermore, since the God of Beasts is currently engaged in some kind of cooperation with humanity, His journey to the Rift Convergence Site, which has a significant impact on the human world, is merely a small ripple in the long river of fate, and is entirely reasonable!"

The nib of the pure white quill pen emphasizes the ink on the four words "perfectly reasonable".

. . .

"As for that mysterious human named @￥%#%￥, who seems to be outside the river of fate, he is very likely one of the 'variables outside of fate' mentioned in the prophecy!"

The pure white quill pen wrote a jumble of characters where a name should have been, as if it had encountered some kind of obstacle.

The pen tip hovered above the paper for a moment before falling back down.

"But even variables are still subject to the constraints of fate!"

"During the execution of a certain mission, @￥%#%￥ died at the hands of a ninth-tier corpse species, the Lustful Corpse Species, who had broken through in the midst of battle." — Failed, crossed out.

"At the boundary of the rift, @￥%#%￥ died at the hands of a certain tenth-tier lustful corpse." — Failed, crossed out.

"During the siege, @￥%#%￥ died in the Seven Evils and Six Evils Domain." — Failed, crossed out.

"The strange phenomenon of the rifts converging, coupled with news about the God of Beasts, attracted a wandering 13th-tier Sin Dragon to the convergence point. For some reason, the Sin Dragon directly targeted @￥%#%￥ as its highest priority opponent. Facing a Sin Dragon of significantly higher rank, even if @￥%#%￥ used all its abilities, it still died at the hands of the Sin Dragon in the end." — Failed, crossed out.

As I write this, the quill pen that has been drawing lines has finally changed its writing style.

The pen tip fell slower, as if it were recalibrating a certain trajectory.

"Because variables are beyond the prediction and control of fate, it is reasonable that the previously anchored nodes have not reached the correct trajectory."

"But this time is different. A true projection of lust, imbued with the corresponding divine status and power, has descended upon the land where the rifts converge!"

"Besides, what the human Lords who are preparing to capture this projection of lust are unaware of is that the location where their true forms are hiding has already been discovered by the Pale Mother!"

"The human rulers, whose projections have been severed, are now struggling to survive and have no remaining strength to devote to the convergence of the rifts!"

"At the same time, @￥%#%￥, who was already severely injured in the battle against the Sin Dragon, is no longer able to use that special ability that temporarily boosts him to the fourteenth rank!"

"The rules and domains that @￥%#%￥ possess are utterly incapable of causing any effective damage to the projection of lust!"

"@￥%#%￥'s escape routes and support have been cut off. This time, @￥%#%￥ has nowhere to run! He's truly trapped in a desperate situation!"

The strokes on the paper grew denser and denser, like a large net being woven and constantly being pulled in and tightened.

"Under the suppression of absolute status and power, @￥%#%￥ will ultimately die at the hands of the projection of lust!"

"The God of Beasts, hidden within @￥%#%￥, will also be captured by the projection of lust, transforming into the main material used to fix and widen the fusion crack!"

"Ultimately, the place where the rifts converge will be solidified into a passage directly connecting the two worlds!"

As the last word fell, the continuous sound of the surrounding water suddenly rose, as if a long-suppressed undercurrent had finally broken through some obstacle, emitting a surging, turbulent, almost frenzied roar.

Finally, the pale hand slowly lowered the pure white quill pen.

Those cold hands closed the notebook.

The notebook cover has no words or patterns, only a layer of pure, peculiar black light and shadow that does not reflect any light.

A sound, faintly overlapping with the sound of flowing water, rang out, carrying an almost gentle laughter:

"Heh, an unforeseen variable beyond fate?"

"In the tide of fate, we are but a wave."

"Everything will eventually be determined by fate."

"but--"

"That little human thief who stole a portion of the power of destiny..."

"The position of the master of fate..."

"Once this passage is open... it will be soon..."

As the last word dissipated into the eternal sound of flowing water, only the pale hands and the pure black notebook remained, silently suspended in place, awaiting the next descent of some will.