Extra's Perfect Ending

Chapter 113: Way forward

"Are you okay?" Reeva asked, worried about his new friend.

"I’m fine… The great one need not worry about me," Hommka replied, though his eye was twitching as tears began to fall. Reeva extended his hand to wipe them away.

"Great one, you need not do that for me…"

"…"

Reeva didn’t say anything, letting the man cry in silence. After a while, Hommka spoke again. "I’m sorry I’ve shown you such an unsightly display."

"No worries. Everyone has moments like these—even the gods," Reeva said, recalling the last chapter of the [Legend of the Divine Twig], where Klad had reached godhood, yet his emotions were still in turmoil.

"Such… a blasphemous statement," the one-eyed man murmured, his voice still heavy with sadness. "But… it makes me feel at ease. The great one has a way with words."

"It’s nothing."

They stayed like this for a while, until the one-eyed man was able to compose himself again. Reeva wiped the tears from Hommka’s eye as he tried to speak.

"Thank you, great one… I would have ended myself right then and there without you."

"No problem, but I doubt you could have done it without your body," Reeva replied.

"True." The one-eyed man smiled at Reeva’s dry humor. "What was your question again, great one?"

"Is there a way to stop Sir Raphael over there?" Reeva asked, pointing at the skeletal figure.

"I… have no idea, great one. I don’t even know how Sir Raphael could still move in that state."

"Figures…"

"But I have a clue on how we might find out more about this situation," Hommka continued. "Great one, I’ve been suspended in that liquid for a long time… I need to know what’s going on. We could go to the Heavenly Castle itself to find answers."

"And where is that?"

"It’s the tower that stretches as far as the eye can see."

"Oh…"

The answer seemed so obvious now that the head had pointed it out. Reeva began making his way out of the area, walking past the broken tableware scattered across the shattered table. He passed by many of the creatures that lived among the tableware, and a question suddenly came to him, one he still hadn’t found an answer to.

"Why are the creatures ignoring us?"

"Because the great one has lowered himself and become a Hollow," Hommka explained.

"And what is that?"

"It’s just a term for beings like us who don’t have any mystic force inside—unable to interact with the world without the guidance of a higher being. The great one is very considerate to lower himself to the level of a Hollow."

"I’m just trying to avoid Sir Raphael over there. Did you forget?"

"I… forgot," Hommka admitted, a bit worried. "Apologies. I always thought Sir Raphael was friendly. Seeing him attack a higher being like yourself is a rare sight."

Now that they were further away from the skeletal figure, Reeva could see its full form again. This time, knowing it was once one of the highest beings in this place called "Heaven" filled him with a sense of awe—not just the fear that came with its enormous size.

"Are there any more guardians in this place?" Reeva asked.

"Yes, in fact, there were four," Hommka replied. "Sir Utac, the Guardian of Knowledge; Sir Pactoss, the Guardian of Life; Sir Uumoro, the Guardian of Souls; and finally, Sir Raphael, the one-eyed guardian. They each have different roles and act as the hands and feet of our god, doing his bidding in his place."

"Are they still here?"

"That, this lowly one does not know."

With unlimited time, Reeva walked forward through the vast expanse of the Heavenly Palace. With the company of the one-eyed head, he felt more relaxed than before.

"What could they do?"

"I spent all my life under the care of Sir Raphael, so I haven’t heard much about the others. But I have witnessed the miracles of Sir Raphael myself. He could split vast amounts of land with his bare hands and shatter great threats with his fists. He was the true protector of this land," Hommka said again, with utter respect in his voice, reminiscing about his time with Sir Raphael.

"The only other one I’ve heard about is Sir Uumoro. He had a reputation for treating his people well. And Sir Pactoss is practically a saint when it comes to living beings. The only guardian I haven’t heard much about is Sir Utac. He appears only in textbooks, and not many even consider him a real guardian.

But those who serve under him can be seen from time to time, and they are quite intelligent under the Guardian of Knowledge."

Raphael the knight, Uumoro the necromancer, Utac the mage, and Pactoss the priest.

Reeva assigned roles to these names so he could remember them better. From the picture Hommka was painting, it seemed the rule of Heaven was firmly in god’s hands.

"The god… does he have a name?" Reeva asked.

"This lowly one does not have the blessing to know the true name of the god. But we call him by his title: The Absolute One, because he rules over everything and creates everything. Nothing could ever come close to touching him, he is the Absolute One."

Reeva furrowed his brow upon hearing the name. It felt familiar… where had he heard it before?

The Absolute123.

The author ID of the Divine Twig novel… It couldn’t possibly be that the god in this Heaven was actually the author.

Could it be a coincidence? Reeva couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t a mere chance he came across this knowledge. Was the author a god? Or was the god the author?

Both possibilities meant vastly different things. One implied that the author controlled the entire world, the narrative of this place, while the other suggested that the author was somehow part of it. But which was it? Was "The Absolute One" even the author?

Maybe he was reading too much into it. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a deeper connection. The Absolute123 and the Absolute One… Was it too easy a clue? Or did they truly want him to know this?

Again, his line of questioning led him to no clear answer.