Meanwhile—

Far beyond the continent.

Far beyond the lower world itself.

Far beyond countless dimensions layered upon one another like endless mirrors—

A terrifying rupture suddenly appeared.

At first—

It was only a tiny crack.

Small.

Thin.

Almost invisible.

Yet the moment it appeared—

Entire laws began trembling violently.

Space twisted.

Stars dimmed.

Countless rivers of fate abruptly became chaotic.

And then—

BOOM!

A massive explosion of divine pressure erupted across the endless void.

Entire worlds trembled.

Ancient realms shook violently.

Even the great dimensional currents became unstable.

Then slowly—

An eye opened.

A gigantic eye.

Cold.

Ancient.

Emotionless.

It appeared within the endless darkness itself as if reality had split apart to make room for its existence.

The moment the eye fully emerged—

The surrounding laws screamed.

Not metaphorically.

Actually screamed. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Invisible cracks rapidly spread across the dimensional fabric while countless glowing chains representing fate snapped apart one after another.

Entire constellations dimmed.

Several lower realms collapsed instantly under the pressure alone.

And deep within the endless void—

Countless horrifying entities opened their eyes simultaneously.

Something was wrong.

Terribly wrong.

Then suddenly—

Voices echoed across the chaos.

"The Child of Destiny has disappeared."

"No..."

Another voice interrupted.

"He is dead."

The endless void trembled again.

Impossible.

A Child of Destiny represented one of the pillars maintaining countless connected fate lines.

Their deaths were not impossible—

But they should never occur this early.

Not before fulfilling their role.

Not before the great convergence.

And certainly not—

Without correction.

Suddenly—

Golden rivers of fate began appearing throughout the void.

Each river represented countless possibilities.

Yet now—

One massive section had completely collapsed.

Broken.

Destroyed.

Erased.

Then—

The gigantic eye slowly moved.

The pressure alone made nearby laws crumble.

Soon—

An enormous projection appeared beneath the eye.

A scene.

Maxwell.

Bloodied.

Dying.

Then—

Dark smoke.

Daggers.

And finally—

A woman.

Cold eyes.

Elegant movements.

A terrifying assassin hidden within darkness itself.

The moment the image stabilized—

Several voices echoed simultaneously.

"The Destined Stepping Stone."

"She killed him."

"No..."

"The Villainess."

"The Final Villainess."

The surrounding laws trembled harder afterward.

Normally—

A Villainess existed merely as part of the Child of Destiny’s growth.

A stepping stone.

A future enemy.

A catalyst for suffering and evolution.

Her purpose was simple.

Challenge the destined one.

Lose eventually.

And contribute toward the Child of Destiny’s ascension.

Yet now—

The exact opposite had occurred.

The stepping stone killed the destined one.

Not only killed him—

Erased him before the story itself properly unfolded.

An impossible contradiction.

A direct violation of countless interconnected fate laws.

The eye slowly pulsed.

Then suddenly—

Entire dimensional storms erupted.

BOOOOOM!

Several nearby realms shattered instantly.

The surrounding void distorted uncontrollably.

And deeper within the chaos—

More voices emerged.

Cold.

Ancient.

Divine.

"Correction must occur."

"The laws cannot stabilize otherwise."

"The missing sequence must be repaired."

"The role of the Child of Destiny cannot remain vacant."

Then suddenly—

Another projection appeared.

This time—

A young man relaxing during a celebration.

Laughing.

Eating.

Completely unaware.

Clay Valmont.

The surrounding void became silent briefly.

Then—

One of the voices slowly spoke.

"...Interesting."

Another voice answered.

"He stands outside direct causal backlash."

"How?"

"No confirmed answer."

Then another projection emerged.

Clay questioning fate.

Clay panicking repeatedly.

Clay desperately avoiding involvement.

And finally—

The scene of Maxwell choosing hostility first.

The surrounding divine entities became quieter afterward.

The gigantic eye itself remained fixed upon Clay.

Then suddenly—

One of the voices spoke again.

"The broken destiny line attempted connection."

"It failed."

"Reason?"

Another voice answered slowly.

"The host fears fate excessively."

Silence followed briefly.

Then—

Another voice almost sounded amused.

"...Ridiculous."

And yet—

The broken fate lines surrounding Clay truly looked strange.

Normally—

Someone connected to the death of a Child of Destiny should already be suffering catastrophic backlash.

Yet Clay remained strangely untouched.

Not because he was stronger than fate.

Not because he defeated destiny.

But because—

The Child of Destiny himself stepped toward him willingly first.

An irregularity.

A loophole.

A terrifying accident within the laws themselves.

Then suddenly—

The gigantic eye pulsed violently again.

BOOOOM!

This time—

An even larger rupture spread throughout the void.

Several divine chains exploded apart.

"The laws continue destabilizing."

"Correction required immediately."

"Find replacement pathways."

"Find surviving linked destinies."

"Find all remaining key fate points."

Countless rivers of fate rapidly appeared afterward.

Millions.

Billions.

An endless ocean of possibilities unfolding simultaneously.

Then slowly—

One specific fate line began glowing brighter than the rest.

A woman.

Cerys.

The Villainess.

The assassin.

The stepping stone that should not have won.

The surrounding divine voices immediately focused upon her.

Then suddenly—

Another fate line connected beside hers.

Clay Valmont.

Immediately afterward—

The surrounding void trembled again.

Because despite being weakly connected earlier—

Their fate lines were now rapidly intertwining after Maxwell’s death.

And the more the divine entities observed—

The more the broken laws slowly stabilized around that connection.

Then finally—

One of the ancient voices spoke.

"...I see."

Another answered immediately afterward.

"Yes."

"The answer has appeared."

And deep within the rupturing void—

The gigantic eye slowly narrowed.

"We found the answer."

The endless void remained unstable.

Massive cracks continued spreading throughout the dimensional fabric while shattered laws floated like broken glass across the darkness. Entire worlds flickered in and out of existence beneath the terrifying pressure of the divine eye.

And at the center of it all—

The intertwined fate lines of Clay Valmont and Cerys continued glowing.

The more they glowed—

The more distorted the surrounding laws became.

It was wrong.

Everything about it was wrong.

A stepping stone had killed the Child of Destiny.

A variable outside direct backlash now stood at the center of the broken sequence.

And worst of all—

The laws themselves had failed to punish him.

That alone was enough to terrify countless ancient beings watching from beyond the dimensional veil.

Then suddenly—

One of the ancient voices echoed again.

"The variable must be erased."

Immediately afterward—

The surrounding void trembled heavily.

Several fate rivers violently churned as if resisting the declaration itself.

Another voice slowly answered.

"Direct correction failed."

"Fate cannot descend upon him normally."

The gigantic eye remained fixed upon Clay’s projection.

At that moment—

The young man was laughing below the border town lights while celebrating peacefully with the townspeople.

Completely ignorant.

Completely relaxed.

And somehow—

That sight made the surrounding divine entities even colder.

One of the voices slowly spoke again.

"He escaped the sequence."

"Then force another."

Another ancient entity answered immediately.

"A single Child of Destiny is insufficient now."

"The sequence damage is too severe."

Silence followed briefly.

Then—

The divine eye pulsed once.

BOOOOM!

A massive wave of pressure erupted throughout the void.

Entire fate rivers twisted together.

And then—

Ten glowing threads slowly appeared.

Ten separate destiny paths.

Unfinished.

Empty.

Waiting.

The surrounding voices instantly focused upon them.

Then one ancient voice finally declared—

"Create new chosen ones."

The surrounding void rumbled violently afterward.

"Ten chosen ones."

"Ten replacement destiny carriers."

"They will become the correction."

Another voice calmly continued.

"They must possess hatred."

"They must possess suffering."

"They must possess direct connection to the beast evolution calamity."

Immediately afterward—

Countless projections began appearing throughout the void.

Villages destroyed by evolved beasts.

Families torn apart.

Cities consumed by rampaging creatures.

Children crying beside corpses.

Kingdoms collapsing beneath endless monster tides.

Blood.

Despair.

Hatred.

And slowly—

The ten glowing destiny threads began resonating toward specific individuals scattered throughout countless regions of the continent.

One lost his parents to an evolved beast tide.

One watched his entire village devoured alive.

One survived after hiding beneath the corpses of his family.

One lost an arm protecting refugees.

One was once a noble genius whose kingdom collapsed overnight because of the beasts.

Each one possessed something important.

Pain.

Loss.

And eventually—

Hatred.

The perfect foundation for destiny.

The gigantic eye slowly narrowed again.

"Their suffering will guide them."

"The variable shall become their enemy."

Then suddenly—

Another projection appeared.

Clay Valmont once more.

Relaxing.

Smiling.

Drinking beside the townspeople.

The contrast between him and the endless despair caused by the beast calamities across the continent appeared almost absurd.

And because of that—

The divine voices rapidly reached the same conclusion.

"He stands at the center."

"Whether true or false no longer matters."

"The chosen ones only require purpose."

Another voice answered coldly.

"And the variable already possesses the perfect image."

The surrounding fate rivers suddenly began moving faster.

Stories.

Rumors.

Whispers.

Fear.

All slowly began converging toward one narrative.

The young master of the Valmont Family.

The hidden source behind the evolving beasts.

A terrifying existence connected to the calamity itself.

It no longer mattered whether the accusation was real.

Fate only cared about direction.

Conflict.

Correction.

And soon—

The ten glowing destiny threads began burning brighter.

Then suddenly—

One of the ancient voices spoke once more.

"The chosen ones must never become ordinary."

"They must surpass the previous Child of Destiny."

Another answered immediately.

"Then grant them blessings."

The gigantic eye pulsed again.

And instantly—

Ten beams of divine light descended from the endless void.

Each one carried terrifying authority.

Dragon blood.

Sword destinies.

Saint blessings.

Ancient inheritances.

Forbidden physiques.

Lost divine arts.

The surrounding laws screamed again as the blessings spread throughout the connected fate lines.

Meanwhile—

Far below within the lower world—

Ten individuals unknowingly began changing.

One young man collapsed while strange dragon scales slowly formed beneath his skin.

A starving orphan suddenly awakened ancient sword intent.

A blind girl began hearing whispers from forgotten spirits.

A crippled survivor felt divine flames awaken inside his bones.

Across the continent—

Destiny began moving again.

And deep within the endless void—

The divine eye slowly stared toward Clay Valmont one final time.

"The correction has begun."

"This variable shall fall."

Then—

The surrounding ancient voices echoed together throughout the collapsing dimensions.

"Raise the ten chosen ones."