But at that mont, sothing unexpected happened before them.
The page imprint on Orion's fist shone with a bright blue light, sending a beam of light onto Orion, Mark, and i Lin before the trio vanished, leaving Elijah dumbfounded.
"Guys? Is this so sort of prank you're pulling on ?" Elijah gasped, looking around, but received no reply.
***
Beyond the boundaries of the Montreux Universe lay a mysterious expanse known as the Void of Nothingness.
Here, true emptiness reigned. There was no light, no sound—nothing at all. Yet, for those who entered, the concept of "nothingness" slipped from their grasp, replaced instead by whatever the master of this domain desired them to perceive.
Today, it appeared as a blue sky stretching endlessly overhead, flocks of birds soaring in graceful formations. But below, the land was desolate, cracked and barren, with gnarled earth stretching for miles. A chill perated the air, and despite the cloudless sky, delicate snowflakes drifted down, settling on the cold, broken ground, creating a stark, haunting contrast.
At the heart of this strange, barren world sat an elderly man in a simple wooden chair. His long white hair flowed past his shoulders, blending seamlessly with a beard that frad his lined face.
His appearance was unremarkable, almost mundane, his expression calm as he leaned over a large, open diary resting on the desk before him. An ink pen lay poised beside the pages, as if he'd only paused a mont ago.
Then, three beams of light streaked across the silent landscape, coming to a halt just before the desk. In their wake, Orion, Mark, and i Lin materialized, facing away from the old man, unaware of his presence. They stood there, catching their breath, seemingly oblivious to the quiet observer behind them, whose calm gaze took in their every movent.
"Huh? Where is this? How did we get here?" Orion blurted in shock, looking around.
"We were just with Elijah, and now we suddenly appeared here. What's going on?" Mark asked, stunned by the scene in front of him.
i Lin's eyes were also wide as she took in the remarkable world in shock and awe. She hadn't seen anything like this before; it just didn't seem naturally possible.
"Welco to my humble abode," the old man said calmly.
The trio spun around and saw an old man smiling calmly at them. They imdiately beca alert upon seeing him, but Orion didn't—he recognized the old man. It was the sa one he'd seen in the trials.
"W-who are you?!" Orion asked, his voice trembling in shock.
"Wait! I've seen you before! You're the old man from my dream who told to collect the pages!" Mark shouted, equally shocked.
"You ca in my dreams too!" i Lin's eyes also widened in surprise.
Orion was stunned hearing this from the other two. He had thought he was the special one, the chosen one, but it seed he was wrong.
The old man looked at the three of them and smiled. "Are you happy? That was the question I asked each of you when I t you, and your answers were all different. One said yes, one said no, and the last had no idea what happiness was. Quite the trio!"
Orion frowned as he pieced together the responses. 'Mark would obviously go for "no," and the one with "no idea" would be , leaving i Lin with "yes."'
"Who are you, old man?" Mark asked, frowning.
"I am the One Who Knows All, but that is a rather vague term. Let tell you in a way you can understand." The old man placed his hands on the table. "I am the one who created the world you live in; I am the one who created you all. I am the Almighty God."
Orion, Mark, and i Lin were shocked to their cores at his words. They had a hard ti believing him, yet from the bottom of their hearts, they knew that everything he said was true. This place, their dreams, the old man's way of speaking—everything about him felt transcendental.
"What do you need from us?" Orion asked after calming down from the initial shock. "What could the Almighty God possibly need from us three mortals?" he rephrased.
"Hehe, that's a nice way to put it." The old man smiled warmly at them. "I am the Almighty God; why would I need your help?" He caressed his long beard, smiling mysteriously as he glanced at the trio.
"Do you see this?" The old man pointed to the large diary on the table. "That's your world."
Orion, Mark, and i Lin's eyes almost popped out at his words. "What do you an that book is our world?" Mark asked.
"It's as I said: the book is your world, and I am the author of this book," the old man replied. "A god like can create a world however they wish. So of my friends created a world inside their bodies, while others beca the world itself. I chose a different route and took the role of an author, creating the world you live in."
Orion frowned, contemplating sothing. He couldn't tell if Titled Gods like the God of Immortality and the God of Slaughter were created by this old man or if they existed on the sa level as him since they were all gods.
"What is the na of the book you wrote?" i Lin asked.
The old man smiled. "It's called Adventure of the Three Heroes."
Mark's expression changed. "Are we the three heroes?"
"No, we aren't," Orion said, shaking his head. "Am I right?"
The old man nodded, smiling. "The heroes are not you three," he confird.
"Then who?" i Lin asked with a frown.
"That, I cannot tell you," the old man said, caressing his beard. "You will have to figure that out eventually; otherwise, it would ruin the flow of the story, leading to a bad ending—or perhaps the worst."
"Wait a minute! What bad ending or worst ending are you talking about?" Orion asked, his eyes widening. "Aren't you the one writing the story, creating the world? Wouldn't the story go as you wish?"
The old man sighed. "It doesn't work that way, my child. I create obstacles and let the three main characters face them. I don't do anything else. Now, it depends on those three how they handle things. They might die or survive, leading to a bad or good ending."
He continued, "It's like I plotted the world, created the characters—the humans, the other races—and then let it flow naturally."
Orion's eyes widened as he listened, countless questions swirling in his mind. Mark also looked shocked, clenching his fists in frustration.
"Then why are we here?" i Lin asked calmly. "If you're saying to let nature take its course, why summon the three of us? Wouldn't that change the flow of the story?"
The old man smiled at her. "In fact, one of you has already changed the story significantly. Things that weren't supposed to happen for another three or four years are happening right now," he said lightly.
Orion frowned, realizing sothing. "Is it about the war?" he asked.
The old man nodded. "Yes, it is. The peace treaty is still in effect, so if the story had followed its natural flow, the decision would have co four or five years from now—or at least three years later, if so events were stretched. But now, the war between the four races is on the brink; it could break out at any mont."
"Who caused this?" i Lin asked with a frown. She had known about the war situation, but hearing that one of them caused it sooner made her wonder who.
"It was Ray Wiser," the old man smiled as he looked at Orion, "or should I say, Orion Darkwood?"
"What?! You're Orion Darkwood?!" i Lin exclaid, pointing at him in shock.
Orion looked at her and shrugged. "Yeah, but what's with that expression?" he asked, noticing her exaggerated reaction.
"N-nothing," i Lin replied quietly, her face turning red.
Mark looked at her with narrowed eyes, understanding sothing.
"The chaos that Orion Darkwood caused a few months ago alerted the other three races. Kane was enough to worry them, but a greater, more monstrous genius than Kane erged among the humans. This made them wary and led them to implent their plan for war sooner than intended."
Orion frowned at the implication that the war was his fault. "This isn't my fault. I was just trying to survive," he replied grumpily.
"It's not your fault; call it a butterfly effect," the old man said.
Orion nodded and asked the most important question on his mind. "Have you seen the end of the story? Has the book already ended? Why call us here if you don't know how the story ends? Unless you already know it ends badly…"
---
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