Chapter 475: His Birth

Although the Departed lost the chess game, it let the terrifying being discover something interesting once again.

As the saying goes, joy shared with many is better than joy enjoyed alone.

Playing a game alone is never as fun as queuing together.

The terrifying being discovered the fun of the chess game, finding it interesting to play against someone, especially when the pieces were all living beings.

The previous two creations of unprecedented golden ages merely satisfied his boredom, but the chess game gave him an additional satisfaction of victory and defeat.

This might be the only gain from the Departed's chess game with the terrifying being—it gave the terrifying being amusement, and gave the world hope.

As long as one wins the chess game, one has leverage to negotiate with the terrifying being.

Moreover, if one were bold enough, one could wager the terrifying being's non-interference in the world; win the match, and the world would once again be filled with hope.

Unfortunately, the Departed did not dare to gamble.

From the first time he proposed the chess game, the Departed did not use this as the wager; facing the unknown, he did not dare to stake it—if he lost one move, the whole board would be lost, and what would be lost would be the hope of the entire world.

The burden was too heavy; even as the world's only one, the Departed did not dare to do so.

One cannot say the Departed was cowardly—anyone in the world would be the same; it's like a gamble where you wager your entire family's lives and fortune on the very first round.

The Departed's approach cannot be called wrong; it was not wrong—caution is never a bad thing.

Yet, perhaps it was precisely this point, or perhaps some other reason, that caused the Departed to lose the chess game.

He was defeated.

In truth, it cannot really be called a defeat—at the very least, the terrifying being's interest was piqued, and the Departed was given another chance.

After all, in this world, only the Departed can play chess with the terrifying being; looking across the world, there is no other "only one"—the Departed is the only one of the only one.

All living beings don't even have the qualification to see the terrifying being, let alone play a chess game with it.

The Departed did not begin the next chess game, nor did he refuse to begin the next chess game.

From the moment he lost the first chess game, the Departed already had self-awareness—he could not possibly defeat the terrifying being; there was no other reason, he simply could not be that crazy.

The moment he proposed the chess game without wagering the world's hope, he had already lost...

Lost utterly and completely.

Without the heart to stake everything on a single throw, without the resolve to part with everything, how could one possibly play chess against that heartless, thoughtless terrifying being, whose only interest lies in satisfying the desire for victory and defeat?

A different person is needed to play against it—a true chess player who can match the terrifying being.

This was the Departed's thought, and at the same time, Kamikawa Mitsu also saw through the Departed's thought.

"Is He about to emerge?"

Kamikawa Mitsu's eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze falling upon the River of Time.

At this moment.

The future of the River of Time had become even more horrific than before—the terrifying being's failure to create an unprecedented golden age had already made that future unbearably grim in its wrath, and now, with the Departed playing chess against the terrifying being, the horror had intensified.

He appeared.

In that unimaginably horrific future—the very future the Departed and the terrifying being were playing for—He was born into such a cruel era.

"So I guess I'm His previous life? No, not a later life either... well, I guess a later life, just reborn into the past."

Kamikawa Mitsu recognized Him.

Although the other was still just an infant in swaddling clothes, through that mysterious, similar floral resonance, he knew that was his previous life—Him.

To win the chess game, the Departed began searching—searching for a chess player who could play against the terrifying being.

The Departed traveled upstream through time to the Primordial Beginning, beginning his search from the Primordial Beginning.

This was to find, within the entire River of Time, a chess player to replace himself.

Then Kamikawa Mitsu suddenly understood.

Why the Departed, in the Primordial Beginning era, taught Nuwa to repair the shattered primordial realm, reshaped the human race, and helped her attain the Supreme; why the Departed saved Su Daji but did not save King Zhou of Shang, and so on—every time, he was searching for a chess player.

Nuwa, King Zhou of Shang—these were all candidates he had chosen; hence he taught Nuwa, hence he did not save King Zhou of Shang, wanting King Zhou of Shang to temper and grow, after all he was still too weak, unlike Nuwa who was only one step away from attaining the Supreme.

Every time he appeared, he was actually selecting a chess player candidate; this was why he was mysterious and never showed himself.

Because selecting a chess player candidate was a secret that could not be discovered.

And so, searching all the way from the Primordial Beginning in the past to the future, in the end, in the most horrific future, the Departed found Him.

He was so ordinary, and yet so extraordinary.

He looked utterly ordinary, possessing only the talent of a duckweed's root, yet he forcefully carved out the path to the Supreme in that cruel future, attaining the Supreme—truly remarkable.

However, this was still not enough; attaining the Supreme only to stop at the Supreme was still insufficient to become the Only One.

The Departed sought Him out, and chose Him.

He told Him everything, and He agreed without hesitation, determined to become the chess player who would replace the Departed.

Born in a cruel future, possessing only the talent of a duckweed's root, He could be said to be at the absolute bottom of the world, without exception; precisely because of this, He witnessed too much blood and fire, tears and weeping, experienced all the vicissitudes of life, and knew how cruel this world was.

He loathed all of this, yet harbored no resentment; He wanted to protect the beauty He had seen, wanted freedom, wanted the world to have hope.

Only by becoming the chess player could all of this be achieved.

Therefore...

He was taken by the Departed to the Primordial Beginning, where He carved that stone stele recording Him in the Primordial Beginning era, and He began to enact life after life.

In that life, He was dazzlingly brilliant, born already at the zenith.

In that life, He was extraordinarily gifted, yet cursed; even so, He still walked the path to the Supreme.

In that life...

Without exception, every life was a different, brilliant existence, and in every life He walked the path to the Supreme.

It was simply terrifying.

Life after life, without the memories of past lives, yet He walked the path to the Supreme every time.

Finally, in that life at the end of the future, with nine lives merged into one, He attained the Only One, gaining the qualification to play chess with the terrifying being.

Throughout the entire process, Kamikawa Mitsu watched it all unfold, and so did the terrifying being — from beginning to end, it never intervened; on the contrary, the terrifying being watched Him with keen interest.

"No wonder the Script System can give me everything — it was created by Him. Such a legendary life as His — look across the world, and there is nothing He cannot give."

In a murmur, He achieved the singular, walked out of the River of Time, and sought out the terrifying being to play a game of wits.

And this time…

Unlike with the Departed, when He played his game of wits with the terrifying being, He wagered the hopes of the world itself as the stakes!

Yes!

The moment He sat down to play, He staked everything — appearing mad, appearing to be betting it all on a single throw — surprising people, yet somehow within expectation.

This was something the Departed did not have; otherwise, the Departed would not have chosen Him.

No!

To be precise, it was precisely because of His all-in resolve that the Departed chose Him.

He was too incredible — possessing calm and steadiness, yet also madness and resolve.

Kamikawa Mitsu's gaze fell upon the River of Time.

Having watched for so long, the River of Time had not yet evolved into the severance of past and future as it is known today; the Primordial Battlefield had not yet appeared — none of these had appeared yet.

He knew — all of this was Him!

His game of wits with the terrifying being gave birth to past and future, gave birth to the Primordial Battlefield.

……