Not the second calamity.

But a being that will give birth to a calamity.

That’s how my mother referred to herself. Moreover, the calamity she spoke of was me.

This meant—

"I was meant to be born as a calamity from the very beginning."

And yet, my mother claimed she herself did not bear the role of a calamity.

That meant her very purpose was to give birth to one.

"Her purpose was to bring forth a calamity...?"

The world had tried to analyze everything through the failure of the Blood Demon.

It had calculated every scenario, lowering the limits of martial artists, ensuring that in every circumstance, failure was not an option.

And that conclusion was—

"Was the goal from the start to bring forth a calamity into Zhongyuan?"

And my mother was the medium for that? She met my father and gave birth to me?

"...How?"

How could they believe that simply by giving birth to me, I would become a calamity?

Did my mother already know this when she met my father?

Then, what about my entire life up until now?

"Was everything that happened to me the will of the world...?"

Could it be that even my regression was part of it? Was everything truly orchestrated by the world?

"Do you truly think your regression was a coincidence?"

“......”

Yeon Ilcheon’s words resurfaced in my mind.

"You are the calamity."

The words spoken by Yeon Ilcheon’s lingering will at the Divine Dragon Temple. Those words had been the truth.

Did he know all of this when he said it to me?

“...Haha.”

I ran a hand through my hair. Fatigue welled up inside me.

Shin Noya had once told me—if I didn’t believe it myself, then it wasn’t true.

He told me to believe in myself.

I had held onto those words, enduring up until now.

“...How am I supposed to believe in myself now?”

With everything reaching this point, what exactly was I supposed to believe in?

Even my own mother, the one who gave birth to me, said that I was born as a calamity.

What was I supposed to hold onto now?

"...Was this always the problem?"

Was my very birth the issue? Or was it my struggle to live a better life that had become the problem?

I had regressed. I had fought so desperately for a different life.

"...If everything was predetermined from the start."

Then what had I endured all this time for?

Everything was beginning to feel utterly meaningless.

As I bit my lip, feeling a deep emptiness begin to consume me—

“My son...”

My mother called out to me.

A sorrowful voice. Eyes filled with sadness.

Seeing that, I finally asked what I had been holding back.

“If this was truly your role, Mother...”

It was a question I hadn’t wanted to ask, but in the end, I had to.

“Did Father know about it as well?”

“......”

She had met my father for the purpose of giving birth to me, the calamity.

A counterpart, they had said. Every time a calamity descended, a counterpart was meant to oppose it.

Shin Noya had told me that Yeon Ilcheon was the counterpart to the Blood Demon.

If my mother had come as a calamity, then my father would be the one meant to oppose it.

In that case—

"Mother said she was not a calamity."

If my destiny was to exist as the calamity of Zhongyuan—

"Then does that mean my counterpart is my father?"

How absurd. A fate where a father must stand against his own child.

"Well..."

In my past life, I had killed my father with my own hands.

Would it be the other way around in this life?

As that thought crossed my mind, my expression twisted.

“...Your father did not know.”

My mother spoke.

“...He didn’t know?”

“Yes... Even I didn’t know. I only realized it when I gave birth to Ryunghwa.”

“......”

She had realized it when she gave birth to Gu Ryunghwa. That’s what she said.

“When I first fell into this world, I knew nothing. My memories were sealed away, so I wouldn’t remember my karma.”

“Why?”

“If I had known, there would have been anomalies. And there were.”

So she had lived without recognizing that she was the ruler of Mangye all this time?

"And then she realized it after giving birth to Ryunghwa?"

I narrowed my eyes, trying to recall the past.

Honestly, I didn’t know. The age gap between Gu Ryunghwa and me wasn’t large. There wasn’t anything I could clearly remember about any changes in my mother after she gave birth.

And yet—

"Do I have to doubt even this?"

The fact that I now had to consider doubting even my mother’s words was exhausting.

But that wasn’t the important part.

What truly mattered was something else.

In the end—

“What was your purpose, Mother...?”

What was her purpose?

Why had she called me here?

Why had she activated this illusion through the Divine Tree just to speak to me?

Everything had to have a reason.

And also—

"That purpose."

I wanted to believe it was not to make me a calamity.

At the very least, it couldn’t be that.

No matter how wretched my life had been, it couldn’t have been that wretched.

That was my last line of hope.

Even in my conversation with my mother, I could feel it.

“You said you were going to blind their eyes. What does that mean...?”

She had said she would blind the eyes of the world.

That was her goal.

And if blinding those eyes meant—

"Preventing my fate from being seen?"

Then why had she made me consume the Divine Fruit?

What was my mother truly preparing for?

If her arrangements were completed—

"Would that mean I wouldn’t become a calamity?"

There were too many questions.

Could this method truly resolve my anxieties?

From the very beginning—

"How does one become a calamity?"

Even if it was my destiny, how exactly would I become one?

Just because I grew stronger didn’t mean I would automatically turn into a calamity.

"To erase all life in Zhongyuan."

Something that went far beyond mere slaughter.

A concept so vast and unfathomable that it could only be called a true calamity.

"I..."

I had no intention of ever doing that.

At least not now.

And yet, despite that, was I truly fated to become a calamity?

Even if it happened, I wouldn’t be able to believe it.

That’s what made it even more terrifying.

Because one day, I might change in ways I couldn’t predict.

I wanted to ask, to find a way to counteract it—

But—

“I cannot tell you.”

My mother frowned as she spoke to me.

"...I cannot tell you."

"You can’t tell me?"

"At least not right now... Given the current order of things, this is the limit of what I can say."

"...The current order?"

Something came to mind.

"When I meet the next Divine Tree, things will change again, won’t they?"

At my words, my mother gave a small smile.

"My son is clever."

"..."

That was the correct answer.

The Divine Tree in Yahwol. I had touched it, and my mother had appeared. Currently, there were five Divine Trees in Mangye.

Which meant—

Each Divine Tree contained a fragment of my mother’s projection.

"...And the first of those was the Divine Tree in Yahwol?"

"That’s right."

"Then, did you... anticipate that I would come to touch the Divine Tree? Or..."

Had she arranged things so that it would happen?

Before I could finish asking, my mother spoke.

"I asked many people to make sure it would happen."

"...You asked them?"

The moment I heard those words, Shin Noya came to mind.

And that meant—it wasn’t just him.

"My son."

My mother called me.

I looked at her with a hardened expression, unchanged.

"I know it will be difficult. That’s why I’m even sorrier... But just a little longer, please endure..."

"..."

What was I supposed to say?

Should I lash out? Ask why she even gave birth to me in the first place? Should I say something that childish?

I wanted to.

But I was far too old to say something so immature.

So instead—

"Mother."

"Yes?"

Now wasn’t the time for resentment.

"You told me to go to the hill on the night of the full moon. Was that related to all of this as well?"

"...What?"

My mother’s eyes widened at my words.

"...When?" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"A few days ago."

"That was me?"

She was asking if it had really been her.

Her words meant that she knew the current version of herself had lost certain memories.

"I’m not certain... but I believe so."

"...I see."

"I understand the full moon part, but I don’t know what the hill is supposed to mean."

"...The hill."

My mother nodded slightly and spoke.

"That is most likely where the next Divine Tree is."

"The next Divine Tree?"

"Yes."

"If you mean the next one—"

"Mount Marryeong. Go to the hill there. That must be the place I spoke of."

"Mount Marryeong..."

Where was that?

I had no idea. I knew nothing about the geography of Mangye.

"Mount Marryeong...?"

All I knew was that since she had given me a location, I could now connect it to what had happened before.

"She spoke of Mount Marryeong with certainty."

Which meant the mother I met that day had known.

She had known I would soon come into contact with the Divine Tree in Yahwol.

At that moment—

Crack.

"Ah."

A small noise escaped her lips as my mother let out a single word.

I turned to look—her hand was crumbling.

"Oh dear..."

Looking at her hand, my mother’s eyelashes trembled as if in regret.

"...It seems my time is up."

There was a time limit?

Unconsciously, I stepped forward.

I reached out to grab her wrist, but before I could, her hand disintegrated.

"You must have had so many questions... I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you more."

"...Mother."

"I wanted to see you so badly. And yet, even with you right before me, I cannot touch you. That is the most frustrating thing of all."

Her crumbling hand reached for my cheek.

I felt no warmth, no sensation.

"My son."

"...Yes."

"It may sound foolish for a mother to say this to her child, but... Don’t worry."

My mother smiled as she spoke.

"I will make sure everything turns out okay."

Her body rapidly crumbled away as she said those words.

I could only watch in silence.

I had so many questions, but I couldn’t ask them.

There was so much I wanted to hear, but I couldn’t.

It felt as if a heavy stone had lodged itself in my throat.

As I stood there, watching my mother disappear—

"When you return, seek out the Abyssal Pit. That child will finally be able to tell you something now."

"...The Abyssal Pit?"

"Yes. That child is truly kind. Please, pass on my gratitude in my stead."

Drip.

As my mother finished speaking, just before she fully disappeared—

"My son. I missed you so much. Let’s... see each other again someday."

She spoke those last words—

And then, she completely faded away.

"..."

The fragments that had fallen to the ground vanished.

Nothing remained.

As if she had never been here to begin with.

Feeling the emptiness, I looked around.

Then, I turned back—

And my eyes widened slightly.

"What...?"

It was gone.

The Divine Tree I had just been touching had disappeared.

Where had it gone?

As the question surfaced in my mind—

Thump—!

"...!"

A sensation surged from my heart.

This—

"The Divine Tree?"

The energy I had felt from the Divine Tree—

It had flowed into my body.

It wasn’t purely internal energy or demonic energy.

If anything, it was closer to dao energy, yet distinct—a presence belonging to the Divine Tree itself.

It was the same feeling I had when I stood before the enormous Divine Tree at Mount Hua.

Like the purest, most tranquil lake.

As I felt it settle within me, I ran a hand over my chest.

Had I absorbed the Divine Tree?

What had just happened?

Even as I pondered the answer, my mother’s words filled my mind.

"I missed you so much."

"..."

Such a simple phrase, and yet, it bloomed in my heart like a flower.

"...Yes. Me too."

The words left my lips, carried by the lingering scent of that flower.