Faced with Heimdall's ultimate question—one that had tormented him for thousands of years—Lucci did not give a direct answer.
Because he knew: for Heimdall, whose resolve was firm yet whose spirit was trapped in a knot of anguish, mere preaching would have limited effect.
A chain around the soul must be unlocked with a key from a higher dimension.
The best way… was to let Heimdall see the answer with his own eyes.
"Come with me."
Lucci rose calmly, and Heimdall followed him to the Bifrost control center.
This was the place Heimdall knew best—the post he had guarded for millennia.
Beneath the magnificent golden dome, ancient and vast cosmic energy filled the air.
Lucci ignored the Hofund and the console used to activate the Bifrost. With an indifferent expression, he walked to the edge of the dome and looked down at the endless, multicolored torrent below—a raging flood made purely of cosmic power.
This torrent was not only the Bifrost's power source. It was also the main artery of the cosmic route connecting the Nine Realms.
Like a river of light formed by countless stars being crushed, converged, and forced into a single pulsing flow, it radiated a heartbeat-like force.
Every time it was activated, that violent energy forcibly "tore" open the fundamental structure of space, creating a temporary "wormhole" connecting two distant points.
Lucci's eyes quietly fixed on the magnificent torrent.
With the dual blessing of Eyes that Shatter Delusion and Extraordinary Comprehension, the seemingly crude but actually intricate principle of the Bifrost began to be analyzed and dissected in layers within his mind.
[You are observing the spatial teleportation principle of the "Bifrost"…]
[Analyzing how the energy torrent distorts spatial dimensions…]
[You gain insight into the structural essence of a "wormhole": enormous energy forcibly stabilizes the connection between two spatial points.]
[You discover flaws in this transmission method: massive energy consumption, damage to spatial structure, slow startup speed, and rough coordinate placement.]
"Too crude…" Lucci thought. "It's like performing surgery with an axe."
Memories from his previous life flashed through his mind—various ideas about high-level cosmic teleportation.
For example: spatial folding.
The universe is not a smooth plane. It is filled with countless "folds" and "hidden passages," like a gigantic sheet of paper that has been crumpled and rolled up.
True spatial leaping is not ripping that paper apart by brute force.
It is finding two distant points with precision and gently folding the paper—so the two points align instantly.
That is how you achieve the fastest, farthest teleportation at the lowest cost.
[Your comprehension defies the heavens. You combine "Spatial Folding Theory" to optimize the Bifrost's propagation method…]
[You begin deducing how to accurately locate the coordinates of cosmic "folds"…]
[You are creating a new, more efficient, energy-saving, space-friendly method of cosmic transportation…]
[A movement model is being constructed… Completed!]
Name it…
"This method is intended to explain the essence of spatial transition—Spatial Leap!"
Boom!
The moment this technique was born, Lucci's understanding of the Law of Space surged to an entirely new height.
He felt as if the space around him was no longer empty. Instead, it was covered in countless invisible intersecting "silken threads" and "nodes."
These threads connected every corner of the cosmos. With a mere thought, he could grasp one and easily pull two distant "points" closer together.
Realizing all this, Lucci slowly turned and looked at Heimdall, who was still waiting patiently for an answer.
His voice was calm and deep, as if it came from a higher dimension.
"Heimdall. Look at this Bifrost.
"Every time it activates, it requires enormous energy to forcibly tear open space.
"It's like a doctor cutting straight into a patient's chest to remove a tumor.
"You can achieve the goal, but the process is bloody—traumatic.
"But a wiser doctor would choose minimally invasive surgery, working with the body's original structure to reach the same goal at the lowest cost."
Heimdall nodded in understanding. He could sense Lucci was using metaphor to guide him toward a deeper truth.
Lucci continued, his voice striking straight to the heart.
"Your way of seeing is the same.
"What you're doing now is only watching the result after an irreversible tragedy occurs.
"It's like a doctor examining a corpse—you can only write a death report. Of course you feel powerless and in pain.
"But the ultimate purpose of observation is to change the cause before tragedy happens."
"Truly…"
Lucci's gaze sharpened, as though it could pierce Heimdall's soul.
"What you do is not merely 'watching.'
"It is… foresight and guidance."
"Foresight… and guidance…"
Heimdall chewed on those words again and again. Lucci's voice rang in his mind like a morning bell and an evening drum, exploding through the dead-end fog that had trapped his spirit for millennia.
As if the first light of creation suddenly tore through the mist and darkness in his heart.
So that was it…!
He finally understood.
His pain and helplessness had come from misplacing his responsibility—he had treated himself as the most intelligent, all-seeing spectator of tragedies, forced to watch them unfold again and again.
What Lucci pointed to was an entirely new, higher-dimensional path:
Intervening in the cause before everything happens.
If he could foresee a small girl in Midgard running toward the road, he could send an unnoticed divine force in advance—roll the ball in the opposite direction—and end the tragedy at its source.
If he could foresee a truck going out of control, he could send the driver a subtle psychic warning, prompting him to check the brakes or slow down without even knowing why.
This… was true "watching."
This was the mission and meaning he should embody as the guardian saint of the Nine Realms!
Thousands of years of confusion—unlocked in an instant.
Heimdall felt as though his soul had sublimated. His entire spiritual perspective refreshed, and in his golden eyes, a certain, burning light reignited.
The light of finding the Path.
He turned toward Lucci and performed Asgard's oldest, noblest salute.
"Your Highness… your wisdom is as deep as Yggdrasil, and it illuminates the road before me.
"Heimdall… is taught."
But after bowing, he rose with a bitter smile.
"However… Your Highness, the 'foresight' you speak of already involves the mysterious domain of time—something even the All-Father cannot reach.
"My eyes can see through space, but I am always bound to the moment of 'now'… I cannot do it."
It was like finding a treasure map while being poor—only to learn the treasure was locked behind a door that could never be opened.
The hope hurt more than the despair.
But seeing Heimdall's agitation, Lucci merely smiled faintly.
"Who said you can't?"
He extended his right index finger. At his fingertip, a faint aura quietly condensed—the Law of Time.
It wasn't dazzling, yet it seemed to contain every mystery of the cosmos from birth to destruction.
"From today onward, you can."
Before the words fully fell, Lucci flicked his finger.
That aura surpassed the very concept of distance—vanishing instantly into Heimdall's eyes.
Buzz—
Heimdall felt warmth and cold wash through his eyes, as if he were cleansed by the spring of the universe's origin.
Then—
His world changed.
In his vision, beyond the sharply defined "present," countless layers of faint "future" phantoms appeared—rippling like water.
"This… this is…!"
Heimdall was unimaginably shaken. His heart felt as if it would burst from his chest.
"I granted you a fragment of the power to peer into the long river of time," Lucci said calmly.
"But this kind of power places tremendous burden on the soul and divine body.
"With your current level, do not peer too far into the future. Otherwise, you will be overwhelmed by the torrent of information in the river of time—at best driven mad, at worst erased."
Heimdall steadied himself and hurriedly turned his gaze back to Midgard.
Within minutes, he easily saw a minor rear-end collision that would occur on a street in New York. He could even make out the license plates and the faces of the owners arguing after getting out of their cars.
But when he tried to look further ahead—hours into the future—needle-like pain stabbed through his mind. His mental power drained rapidly. Heat rose in his nose, and a thin line of golden divine blood flowed down.
He immediately understood Lucci's warning.
This power was mighty… and terrifyingly dangerous.
He withdrew his gaze at once, shock surging through him like monstrous waves.
Lucci had casually pointed a finger—
And truly given him something.
The power of time…?
What terrifying divine power.
This was no longer the power of a god—
It was a creator's method!
Who… exactly was Prince Lucci?
Heimdall could no longer suppress his excitement and awe. He dropped to one knee before Lucci, lowering the proud head he had held high for thousands of years.
"Thank you for your guidance and gift! Heimdall… will never forget!"
His voice trembled with emotion.
"Your wisdom transcends space."
"Your power transcends time!"
From this moment onward, Asgard's most loyal guardian saint became one of Lucci's most fervent, fanatical supporters.
He secretly swore that with these "eyes that can foresee the future," he would remove every obstacle from Prince Lucci's path.
…
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