RE: LORD OF TIME

Rumble!

William stared at the crumbling wall before him with a dumbfounded expression, his face filled with confusion.

’Did I somehow become stronger without realizing it?’ He couldn’t help but wonder as he looked down at his hands.

But as the wall completely collapsed, a hidden passage appeared before him, and he finally realized what had happened.

"This wall was hollow from the start."

He muttered as he stepped forward to look inside the passage.

But as he looked inside, a deep frown appeared on his face because he couldn’t see anything within. It was completely dark, without a single speck of light.

What was even stranger was that William wasn’t far from the area where Fire Essence Crystals were embedded into the walls.

The light emitted by the Fire Essence Crystals illuminated the surrounding area to some extent. However, the moment their light reached the entrance of the passage before him, it completely disappeared, as if it had been swallowed by an abyss.

"What is this passage?" William pondered for a moment before picking up a stone and throwing it inside.

As soon as the stone entered the passage, William’s eyes narrowed because it completely disappeared from sight, as if it had entered the maw of a giant beast.

He didn’t even hear the sound of it hitting the ground.

"There is definitely something wrong with this thing," William muttered with certainty as he stepped back a little to avoid getting caught in something unexpected.

Just as he stepped back, the voice of the spirit of the White Pearl echoed inside his mind.

’I think this passage leads to the source area of this rift.’

"Source area?" William raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What is that?"

The spirit of the White Pearl remained silent for a moment before asking,

’Do you know what Astral Rifts are?’

"Astral Rifts are..."

William suddenly paused, and a look of confusion appeared on his face.

"Ugh... Astral Rifts are Astral Rifts."

In the end, he replied somewhat awkwardly.

The spirit fell silent upon hearing his absurd response and didn’t know what to say.

Feeling a gaze full of disdain bearing down on him from somewhere, William felt even more awkward.

’Astral Rifts are fragments of destroyed worlds,’ The spirit finally spoke after seeing William’s embarrassed expression. ’Just like the Vermilion Realm, Astral Rifts were once complete worlds. However, they were somehow destroyed, and their remaining fragments transformed into Astral Rifts under the influence of the World Rules.’

The awkwardness on William’s face instantly disappeared, and his pupils contracted to the size of needles upon hearing the spirit’s words.

But before he could ask anything, the spirit spoke again.

’Don’t ask how those worlds were destroyed. Just know that there are beings in existence who will immediately sense your presence the moment you learn about them. You are far too weak right now, and it will only put you in danger if you learn about those beings.’

William closed his mouth upon hearing the spirit’s warning, and all the questions he wanted to ask became lodged in his throat.

’Fragments of destroyed worlds... Beings that can sense you simply because you came to know about them.’ He muttered inwardly, his heart still pounding violently because of what he had just heard.

Just how vast was the Vermilion Realm?

Even though he was technically living his second life, William still didn’t know the answer because the Vermilion Realm was simply too enormous.

Forget about the Vermilion Realm; he hadn’t even explored the entire Eastern Empire yet.

And now, the spirit was telling him that Astral Rifts were once fragments of worlds just as vast, yet those worlds had somehow been destroyed.

’Just how powerful does someone have to be to destroy an entire realm?’

William was undoubtedly shocked after hearing such information.

But shock wasn’t the only emotion he felt.

More than anything else, he felt yearning.

Yearning to possess such overwhelming power himself.

’If I had that kind of power, wouldn’t I be able to solve all of my problems? What nobles? What Abyss? With the power to destroy an entire realm, I could solve every problem with a single wave of my hand.’

Suddenly, another memory surfaced in William’s mind, and he couldn’t help but recall the scene he had witnessed when he obtained the Seven Steps of Supreme.

’That Supreme being... When he took the seventh step, why do I feel that the power he released was far beyond merely destroying an entire realm?’

’I don’t know what you are thinking, but remember that you are still just a small fry. It won’t do you any good if you let your thoughts wander too high.’

William snapped out of his thoughts upon hearing the spirit’s words, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

’Thanks for the reminder,’ He replied with a roll of his eyes before asking about the matter before him.

’So what is this source area you were talking about?’

He didn’t ask anything about how those worlds were destroyed or who had destroyed them. Since the spirit had already said that knowing such things would only bring him danger, he decided to focus on the problem in front of him instead.

’Once a world is destroyed, its source is normally destroyed along with it. However, in rare cases, a fragment of that world’s source survives. Normally, even if a fragment of the source survives, it won’t last long because a source needs a world to sustain its existence. However, there is one exception that allows it to survive without a world.’

’If a fragment of that destroyed world becomes an Astral Rift?’ William asked, though his tone was already filled with certainty.

’Yes,’ The spirit confirmed. ’If the source of a destroyed world survives and a fragment of that world transforms into an Astral Rift, the surviving source can attach itself to the rift and maintain its existence.’

’In fact, there is even a possibility that, in the future, this source will completely merge with the Astral Rift, causing the rift to evolve into an entirely new world.’

Everything the spirit was saying was something William had never heard before, so he listened with complete focus.

’So this passage before me leads to the surviving source of a world that was destroyed?’ He asked after processing everything he had heard.

’Yes.’

William fell into deep thought as he stared at the pitch-black passage with narrowed eyes.

After a long moment, he asked the question that had been lingering in his mind.

’Should I go in? I mean, are there any benefits inside this place, or is it simply the area containing the world’s source without any real opportunities?’