Thus, the Withering Flowers of Doubt begin to reveal its True Nature.

"Quite stubborn now, aren't we?" Shin muttered as he turned his gaze on the gust of wind manifesting behind him.

"Leaving my weak self to fend off against a bunch of hungry demons isn't enough to stop me," I said with a smile, appearing through the surging gale.

"I was merely testing you."

"Hmph, what fucking jokes. You would've left my lifeless body to rot and allow me die a meaningless death had I not shown you any sense of worth," I said indifferently.

"…"

"Why? You have confirmed that I have no intention of being your enemy with your Eyes of Truth, have you not?"

Shin was silent for a while. "You were an anomaly that I could not make sense of the more I thought about your existence."

"Hmph, no being can comprehend the infinity of the Dawn of Beginning and the Horizon of the End." I said, slightly annoyed. "It is the infinity beyond the Origin. An eternal flow that not a single being can go against. Maybe that flow is what they call [The Undefiable Fate]."

"What do you mean?" Shin asked, seemingly interested.

"I also do not understand my own identity and why I had arrive here in this world. Maybe it was the will of [The Undefiable Fate] that brought me here. I just understand am merely a being similar to you."

"I see…"

"My only desire to see the end of your journey."

"You keep on uttering such words yet do you truly understand the weight of those words?" The emptiness of his golden eyes met mine, possibly seeking for a speck of conviction.

"Defying the Will of the Origin, I had decided for myself that was already inevitable the moment I step foot on this world, and I shall overcome them all for the sake of fulfilling my desire."

"Let's see how long you can keep that determination." Shin spared me no further glance as he began to walk.

—-

"This will be the last camp we destroy, for a while," Shin said as he crushed the demon soldier's head before beginning to return back to the path.

"We are quite bold, I must say," I commented. "The Demon King, he definitely have noticed our action by now."

"Such occurrence is natural, after all, he must've felt something when you killed that Demon Captain," Shin said. "We can continue our hunt in about a week or two and approach the camps from different angle."

"No, I can tell you are speaking from the experience of your past regression, but this time it's different."

"What do you mean?" He halted his step.

"Other than the fact that he gain the knowledge that a Demon Captain died on this battlefield, he must've felt it vaguely."

"Felt what?"

"A slight sense of dread." I answered.

"From this 'weapon' of yours, I presume?"

"I have told you, my weapon can even alert the Eyes of the Origin itself to descend upon this world. The Demon King can't fully comprehend my weapon, yet as a being from a higher plane of existence, he must've have vaguely felt a sense of dread from it."

"I see, therefore that also means…" Shin had a complicated expression on his face.

"This mean that the event from yesterday possibly could've influence the future. Thus, the 726th round may be a round that unlike any other that you have experienced so far." I finished his sentence.

"You expected me to not know that?" Shin laughed. "The moment I have decided not to severed your head, Jin Shinpei, the anomaly, I have already prepared myself for the worst. Creating the possibility of a round unlike the other is merely the beginning."

This bastard. It seem he have accepted me somewhat. He was right, though. I do not understand why I used to feared that my influence may affect the round, steering it towards uncertain future. The moment I became the 'anomaly' and receive the ability to control probabilities itself, this world's balance has already began to shift.

"Alright, let's head b-"

「Beware, for thou art not the sole weaver of the thread of fate.」

"ARGH- FUCKK!!" It was then, it felt as though my very soul was engulf in pure agony itself. My head felt like it was about to burst into million of pieces. I could not comprehend the meaning of the voice. Such words resonated from the abyss of my mind, yet I could not find it from within me the source of it.

"Jin Shinpei? Jin Shinpei, what's wrong?" Shin quickly appeared next to me and checked my condition. "What in the hell…? This is…"

It felt like hell. I want to die.

—-

"Ugh… What.. happen…?" I muttered as I slowly rose up. There were remnants of the stinging pain that knocked me unconscious, but it seem to have subside.

"Can you speak?" A voice resounded to my right. It was then I realize I was on a bed, more specifically, in my room. Shin sent me gaze as if telling me to make haste and help him quench his curiosity.

"What is it? I'm dying to know what the hell is going on as well," I said.

"I was going to sent you to the hospital and be on my way, but I curiosity didn't allow me to let you go before you answer my questions," he began. "Now, first of all, what happened?"

"I heard a voice…"

"A voice?"

"It said 'Beware, for thou art not the sole weaver of the thread of fate', and then there was this agonizing pain that felt like I'm burning in hell, it felt like death," I answered.

"I see. How odd. What do you think that voice is talking about?"

"I do not know." I shook my head. But, it was then, I remembered something. "The truth is, during the time where you put me in the position to fight against that Demon Captain, and I unleash my 'weapon', there was that voice but it was far more faint and distance."

"How intriguing. Alright, now, let me tell you about my what I perceive there is something odd about your body… no, your soul…"

"My soul?"

"But first, tell me, can this weapon of yours be identify as a Wildcard?"

"…" I stayed silent for a moment. But then I heaved a sigh and nodded at his question.

"I see. This may be related to your Wildcard, which should be bounded to your soul. During that time with the Demon Captain and also this time of your collapse, I sensed a dreadful amount of otherworldly energy, something beyond mana, within your soul. I do not know what it is, but it definitely does not belong to this world plane." I stopped for a moment. "This is only hypothetical, but it's either you are being above this world plane or, similarly to myself, you were transported by another being and was granted a weapon, a Wildcard, by such being, and that otherworldly energy was a product of the weapon."

I stopped and thought for a moment. What Shin is suggesting makes sense, but I do not think it is that simple. "It may be the latter. From what I have experienced so far, that may be a close answer."

However, to be honest, from the beginning I felt it was weird for Shin's, and now mine, circumstance as well. A grand move like bestowing the ability to literally trigger the Absolute Reset and to control Probability shouldn't easily go unnoticed by the Origin.

"I see," Shin nodded. "I'll leave it at that then, I can tell that you are thinking that there should be more to the story, I am also of the same mind and I wish to understand this further as well; however, creating hypothesis is useless, we do not have enough knowledge about this to give a definite conclusion yet."

"Right."

"Rest up, do not die before we receive our answer."

"That's my line, you damn hamster," I chuckled.

"Hamster?"

"They literally die by anything whether the cause is abnormal or not."

"Oh fuck off," I brush me off with a smile before leaving through the door.

There is certainly something odd about our presence in this world. How did we arrive here? That brings me to another problem. If what I have known about Shin's bestowal of his Regression power and his arrival in this world was a lie, then how much have the prophecy, Worthless Honor, hid from me?

I can not completely rely on the prophecy. There is undoubtedly more to the story.

—-

"So remind me why the hell I was dragged out here," I said to the trio in front of me. Although, I do have an idea considering the fact that we are on a private battle arena and I am in my training uniform.

"Oh come on, do you have any idea what's happening in two weeks?" Mia asked as she handed me two training daggers.

"You mean the Festival of the Valorous Conquerors?"

The Festival of the Valorous Conquerors. It celebrated the ending of the first war between Humanity and Demon. The day was to commemorate the warriors of the war. During the festival, there are a few events for academies that raise soldiers such as ourselves to participate in. The main event that most people are excited about, however, was called the "Destined Conquerors". It is a battle tournament. Although it should be for pure entertainment and for soldiers to show their combat prowess, many amongst the soldiers as well as the different academies within the human domain use this opportunity to establish hierarchy of some sort.

In the novel, it was kind of like a small event in the beginning. Thus, typically, like most novels out there, events like this was used to demonstrate the main character's, or in this case, Shin's power to simulate the readers. As this was the case, I did not recall any major events or accident occurring during the festival.

"That's right. Therefore, we can't really enter it without proper training." Mia said with a bright smile of spoiled and entitled child who have yet to understand the importance of considering the feelings of other. Yeah, I can tell where the fuck this is going.

But that aside, I still asked the foolish question anyways, "so what does this have to do with me?"

"What do you mean? We're a team for the Destined Conquerors tournament," Mia answered. Of fucking course this girl would do some shit like this.

I turned my gaze to the one who I suspected was the cause of this situation, "Shin, did you put me up to this?"

"Had no choice, Jun-seo wouldn't agree to join, actually I haven't heard much from him since yesterday." As I suspected. It was quite odd since Jun-seo should've been the one taking my place.

"How rude, so I'm just your second choice, eh?"

"To be frank, yes," Mia answered without a shred of hesitation.

This bitch.

"No, but seriously, don't count me in, I honestly have no intention of joining this."

"But, it is quite a good chance for you to show the world, especially to the scouts of the 3 great clans your power, is it not?" Eliss asked.

The 3 Great Clans? Truly meaningless. It was no exaggeration when I said that Shin was shouldering all burden as Humanity's Last Hope. These clans, as they face the might of these demons, helplessly collapsed in just one year after the beginning of the Final war.

If I desired for more power, they are certainly not my answer.

"Well, you see, princess, I don't really get aroused much by the thought of of living in the glory of the light," I said.

"Right, whatever that means." I can tell she fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"Now, if you excuse me," I made decision clear before turning to leave the training ground. "Have fun, I'll be cheering you guys on from the audience."

—-

During the next two weeks, it was not really eventful. I continued to train in order to increase my power, while Shin, Mia, Eliss, and Jun-seo, who was finally convinced to join the team, continued to prepare for the Valorous Conqueror Festival.

The conversation with Shin stubbornly lingered in my mind. It gave me a sense of anxiousness. I was starting to doubt the novel Worthless Honor, the suppose Prophecy that would help me survive in this world.

I do not speak of the events or storyline of the story as I have already come to accept that changes to the sequence of story would be inevitable, but about the knowledge of the truth about this world. The beings beyond this world such as the Origin, the Honored One and the truth about Shin's existence. If all those 'truth' I knew was lie, then I can see my path towards the Epilogue growing hazier by the second.

Two weeks quickly passed, and it was finally time for Festival of the Valorous Conqueror. It was joyous time. Cheers and shouts engulf the land. The clashes between warriors, the hope of Humanity. However, that soon ended in a matter of a few seconds.

The flowers of doubt had withered. But, it had finally shown it's true nature. The dread I have buried deep within my mind have fully bloomed.

The truth contained within the prophecy was a lie.

That was when I realized there was something wrong. Something was really wrong about this story.