A Past Unwritten [3]
That shining whiteness was a breath of fresh air. It made him feel like he was back on Earth.
[A Child has arrived here?]
A voice entered his ears that was nothing like a voice. It felt like it was coming from all directions, and rather than being spoken, the words appeared directly in his mind.
The entity that was speaking those words stood right in front of him, but he was forced to avert his gaze. By looking at that form, he almost lost the only eye he had left.
"Are you the one that grants my wish?"
His voice contained no emotion. He knew that he was meeting with a being closer to the concept of a "God" than anything he'd seen before, but his mind didn't register such things.
His eyes remained averted, but his spirit also did not falter. It was as if he was prepared to attack this being at any given moment.
[I can be the one you speak of, but only if you truly clear this tower.]
A gentle hand arrived on top of his head, but he did not react to it.
[The Tower of Babel was never a mere test of strength. Child, you have spent the majority of your lifespan engaged in slaughter. Now, you must face its true test.]
A mysterious force entered his mind. It invaded the very core of his existence as if it wanted to extract everything about him.
[Have you maintained yourself throughout it, or were you lost somewhere in the madness? Is the you of this moment truly you, or is it merely a shell of who you once were?]
There was a simple reason why the Tower of Babel was never cleared.
For 55 consecutive floors, it forced its climbers to kill numbers of entities that they could not fathom, a number that scaled with their strength. They killed and killed, became beings of vengeance, and lost themselves. They were left as soulless husks that only believed they were still complete.
That woman… No, that "Divinity" had seen many challengers in the rivers of time. She knew what to expect here.
The energy that invaded his soul would portray a picture of what was inside. For every other challenger that reached this point, it was the exact same.
A black hole, a void of nothingness. In fact, most of the challengers that arrived here had forgotten the goals they had when they entered the tower.
They failed because they could not maintain themselves.
Nothing was different this time. That man was also like a wild beast. He also had those soulless eyes that carried within them neither hope nor rationality.
Nothing should have been different this time, however…
[Hm…?]
To the woman's surprise, what came out was not an empty void. It was an extremely clear picture, a more vivid scenery than even reality.
It was the life of a child. He was pitiful at a time, but he was also blessed. He grew into a man, and he watched his father die in battle. He watched as every single person in his life died in front of him, leaving him as the only survivor.
He knew clearly what his reason for entering the tower was.
He knew exactly who he was.
[So that is the effect of your Original Gene.]
Right, that man had an Original Gene unsuitable for combat. That was why he originally did not learn how to fight.
That gene, [Memory Book] was able to store all memories in their exact form to be viewed at any time. It gave the man a photographic memory, a perfect recollection that could not be affected by any falsification or illusions.
He allowed himself to be lost in the tower because he knew that he could always regain himself.
As that mysterious force withdrew the core of his existence, the light in his eyes slowly returned.
Yet, his tone didn't change.
"Are you the one who will grant my wish?"
The woman looked at the man with an odd expression.
Out of curiosity, she looked back at the vestiges of his climb. The fact that he ever made it this far was already unfathomable.
[I am aware of your wish.]
From the moment he entered her domain, she could see his thoughts. Until now, that was the only thing running through his mind.
"Send me back."
'Send me back. Send me back. Send me back.'
It was the same wish he always had. In a way, it was a wish she knew she'd have to grant for a long time now.
Sighing, she looked down at the rugged man. It was hard to imagine him in any environment that wasn't as deathly as the tower.
[Your race saw the descent of Towers roughly around the same time the Tower of Babel became visible to the frequency of your eyes, so it seems that you have mistaken it as the same kind of entity. The Tower of Babel is completely different. Put simply, you can think that it uses the power of the Gehenna Tree itself in order to manifest wishes.]
The man did not respond, so the woman continued speaking.
[To bring forth the power of the Gehenna Tree is to twist the laws of reality itself. You will be returned to the past as you wish, however, are you aware of the consequences? Touching upon forces beyond the human boundary cannot be done without paying a price. You…]
"Enough."
Finally, the man interjected.
"Tell me one thing."
Despite the pain it caused him, he raised his gaze and looked that woman in her eyes.
"If I go back, can I change things?"
He knew that he would go blind if he continued to stare, but he didn't care. As long as she granted his wish, this body was only temporary.
To him, it was more important to look into her eyes and display his conviction.
She looked back at him as if to respect his efforts.
[...You will.]
She told him the honest truth.
[You will have to face the same dangers you know, new dangers created by the twisting of the rivers of time, and the results of the consequences of your actions all at once. Even compared to the battle your race fought in the past, it will be incredibly difficult. However, if you are able to overcome it all, then it is true that you can change the fate of humanity.]
He didn't need to hear a single thing more.
In the end, humanity would survive. He would make sure of it. That was the vow he made to himself when he first started climbing the tower.
Now that it was right in front of him, it did not matter if the dangers he faced would be enhanced by manifold.
"Regardless of what I have to face, I will save humanity."
He would make it so the people he lost could live the lives they truly deserved.
"Send me back."
With their eyes still locked, the woman nodded. The man could not see her, but he could sense her movements.
[If you are resolute, then I will say no more. As you have conquered the Tower of Babel, any wish you make is my command.]
It was unceremonious, in a sense. There were no grand speeches; no heartfelt exchanges. Only silence hung in the air as the woman raised the mysterious "power" she used and enveloped him in it.
He was able to hear her faint murmurs even as his body was being turned to ash.
[So it truly begins like this. I should have known to never doubt you…]
[The medium you created has chosen its champion, however, will the cosmic balance truly tip as you wish…?]
[In the end, even I cannot know. Only you will be able to see it as the rivers of time rewind…]
Amidst these faint murmurs, uttered in a heavenly voice that entered his ears almost like a lullaby, the man's weary body turned into dust.
This was the second time he died.
Behind him, the timeline from which he originated was shattered into pieces.
That man, as he wished, was fated to open his eyes once more.
In a world that remembered him far less than he remembered it.