A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

Bray squinted his right eye and scanned his surroundings. If he hadn't walked that path with Dorothea before, he would have thought he had been pulled away by the divine source.

However, no matter what, it's impossible for Shenyuan to take Dorothea away as well.

Therefore, this is not the divine source within him.

"What's wrong with you?" Dorothea keenly sensed that something was wrong with Bray and couldn't help but ask.

“I feel very uncomfortable. I know this place too well; it’s not a good place.” Bray shrugged.

"A place you're familiar with?"

"Hmm, maybe," Bray said helplessly. It's similar, but it's not the same place.

But even if Bray explains to Dorothea, it won't make a difference, since she doesn't possess divine power.

It's hard to truly empathize with someone who's going through this.

"Ding—" A sound like a wind chime being blown or water droplets falling onto the lake surface rang out.

Simple melodies echoed around, without any particular structure, yet they were pleasant to the ear.

They heard a sound, but Bray and Dorothea didn't see anything appear.

The surroundings remained empty.

However, the next moment, the two of them shivered simultaneously.

Because the sounds that rang out were not even words, yet they understood the complex meaning behind them.

It was as if these voices were transmitting certain information directly into their souls.

The information eventually coalesced into sentences, the first of which was—"Hello."

Bray raised an eyebrow. This was probably the will of the world. But to be honest, the will of this world was really polite. He liked it very much.

As if knowing every word Bray was thinking, a light, cheerful sound echoed in the pure white space.

That was a simple "Thank you."

Dorothea's thought process wasn't as strange as Bray's; her expression was stiff.

"Is this a simulation?" Dorothea asked in a deep voice.

"No, what you are facing is the true will of the world." At this moment, a voice that neither Bray nor she expected suddenly rang out from behind.

“The Prophet…” Dorothea looked warily at the scholar who had suddenly appeared.

What exactly do you mean?

"It doesn't mean anything special, and I'm not lying. What you are facing is truly the will of the world." The scholar pushed up his glasses.

"I don't have the ability to simulate the will of the world."

“But this isn’t the real Kapras.” Dorothea was a little skeptical of the “Prophet,” after all, this should just be a virtual past.

"What difference does it make to the will of the world? The will of the world is everywhere, it's just that it's easier to find in the real world," the scholar said solemnly, his glasses reflecting the light.

"If the world wants to summon you, it can summon you even in a false world."

"As I said before, don't be surprised even if you don't see the real ending."

"Because I cannot be certain whether the will of the world will summon you."

"But now it seems my guess was right, she really does want to see you." The scholar sighed. It was almost impossible for the will of the world to actively summon someone.

"As far as I know, this has only happened twice before."

"Why did she summon us?" Dorothea asked, somewhat puzzled.

“I don’t know, but one thing is clear—she’s not looking for you.” The scholar pushed up his glasses again and pointed at Bray.

"The will of the world is looking for him."

"I never imagined that I, who would stay here forever, would have the chance to see her again." The scholar's voice was filled with emotion.

"You mean again?" The Prophet said that Kapras summoning someone had only happened twice.

"Was it you one of those times?"

“That’s right.” The “Prophet” had a complicated expression.

---

At this moment, Bray had no idea what Dorothea and the "Prophet" were talking about, because he could only hear the voice of the world's will.

Aside from the first few sentences about the "prophet," Bray couldn't hear the rest.

The air was filled with pleasant sounds, all blending together to convey countless messages.

"It's been a long time, human," the will of the world said to Bray.

"Long time no see?" Bray's right eye was filled with confusion. This was the first time he had seen the will of the world, but why did she say "long time no see"?

“Have we met somewhere before?” Bray asked instinctively.

"I've met him."

As an entity that embodies the entire world, the will of the world gives people the illusion of ordinary people having a chat.

It wasn't as mechanical or cold as I had imagined.

Kind and friendly, perfectly embodying the image of the mother of all things.

Of course, from Bray's perspective, the will of the world is even a bit like a cute little girl.

The image of the world's will is ever-changing, but it will only reveal the image that the other party most likes to see.

A masochist might encounter a sadist, and a simp might encounter...

In short, this image of an ordinary person is most suitable for Bray.

Of course, while it's described as an image, there's no real depiction of what the world's will looks like; only its "voice" is shown.

Perhaps the will of the world has no real appearance at all.

As the "prophet" said, the will of the world is everywhere, and will is will, nothing else.

"But this is my first time here."

"No, this isn't the first time."

“…” Bray fell silent.

"Is this my second time here?" he tried to ask.

"This isn't the second time."

"..." Bray remained silent. Had he come to the real world for tourism but forgotten?

"This is the 133rd time." This time, the will of the world gave Bray an exact number.

"The 133rd time?" Bray exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, the 133rd time, but you were different the first two times."

"The same you from the first two times, now you don't care about anything anymore."

The words from the world's will were chaotic, but Bray understood what she was saying. "Are you talking about another version of me?" Bray asked.

"He is another you, but also you," the world's consciousness said.

"Is that so? It really was him." Bray sighed. In the end, it was Whiteface who came to the True World to meet the World Will the first two times.

"Then why did you come to me?"

"Because you are another version of him, he has already given up, so I came to you."

“I’m different from him,” he said. Although Bai Mian was, in a strict sense, another version of himself, he and Bai Mian were very different in many ways.

At least their experiences are different, and their perspectives are different.

"But he is still you, and you are still him." The will of the world speaks words that are hard to understand.

"He gave up, so are you going to take his place?"

“I refuse.” Bray refused without even thinking.

"Are you going to refuse?"

“Yes.” Bray repeated his decision to the will of the world.

He didn't intend to carry Bai Mian's things; he and Bai Mian were two different people and shouldn't be confused.

"Is that so? What a pity," said the will of the world.

There was no anger, no blame, just a feeling of regret.

"The first time you met me, we chatted for a few minutes, and then you left."

"The second time, you came here, wanting to go back in time and change the fate of my children's birth."

The children here are talking about the golden seed.

That's for sure. Even the golden seed is nothing more than a child to the world's will.

"I gave my permission."

"He failed."

“…” Bray lowered his head; he knew, of course, that White Face had failed.

Because that's what he heard from Bai Mian.

"But failure is nothing to worry about; there will always be a time for success," the will of the world said calmly.

That's right, as long as you repeat it enough times, you will eventually succeed.

But just how terrifying are these numbers?

Like in a hyperbolic novel, repeated millions or hundreds of millions of times?

Perhaps from the perspective of the world's will, time and frequency are meaningless.

If only Kapras could be spared destruction, that would be enough.

She is the will of the world, and of course, she cannot save herself. Expelling all the Golden Seeds was already the limit.

It's like a being with unlimited power who, if terminally ill, has no way to heal itself.

We still need another hand.

That hand was white.

He, like Bray, once entered the real world through this stone slab and learned about the will of the world.

That was the first time I witnessed the will of the world.

Then, the white-faced being who became the Aragami, carrying his own concepts, went to the true world and found the world's will.

That was the second time.

It was on that occasion that Hakumian requested the world to grant him the power to reset the Kapras timeline.

The will of the world agreed, and then the white face reversed time.

Unfortunately, it ended in failure.

He kept repeating it, just as he had told Bray, dozens of times.

If Bray visits the World Will twice in each cycle, they could indeed meet more than a hundred times.

Each time, Whiteface and the former Bray agreed that going back to the past was the best option.

If all the possibilities are accumulated, we will surely be able to defeat those countless golden seeds.

Unfortunately, this is fantasy; the so-called gods are simply beyond the power of any individual to contend with.

As Bai Mian grew stronger, he also made his past self stronger.

However, in the end, even with the use of divine power, it was nothing more than that.

The fact that neither Whiteface nor Bray is good at group fights has ever changed.

"Will there always be a time of success?" Bray shook his head. The world's will was right, or perhaps it was the "truth."

But before success—

"It gets tiring," he said to the World Will, stroking his longsword.