"It'll fade and vanish, but so will the settlement itself."
"You'll have to survive and grow, or search for other safe zones across the forest, zones you'll be able to stay in for a few weeks before you're ushered back into the wilderness."
He chuckled. "It's important you understand that the forest only has a few safe zones. After a while, you'll either need to learn to survive… or go to another area of the dungeon."
"Or maybe you'll build your own settlement and become strong enough to defend it. Who knows?"
He paused.
His gaze panned across the crowd, almost disappointed by the lack of fear and pleading. Most simply stared up at him, as if they'd already expected such news to arrive sooner or later.
Though it disappointed him, it also made him laugh.
'Little sheltered lambs, thinking they're mighty enough to stand against the oh-so-kind world out there.'
'How fun it will be to watch.'
He shook his head.
"On another note, today you'll finally all be receiving your Supreme Quests."
"Any of you who have been diligent should already know what that entails. For those who don't, it is a quest everyone will receive, representing the goal they must achieve before the dungeon comes to an end."
"Why should you complete it? I don't know. Are the rewards good? Probably. Are there any penalties for not doing it? Who knows."
He shrugged.
"So many questions, yet so little time to think, and so few answers to give. How sad, right?"
He clapped his hands, and suddenly everyone's Weave-Systems lit up in front of them.
[Supreme Quest has been initiated. Would you like to agree?]
[YES / NO]
Uriel turned to Enoch. The latter merely nodded, just as he accepted his own quest.
Uriel didn't waste any time.
[You have accepted a Supreme Quest!]
…
•> Supreme Quest: A Dying Bastard's Ode
~> Objective: The Bastard of Ivory is dying, and his soul is rotting. In a year, he will not be. In a year, you will not be. Yet Fate demands otherwise. It begs otherwise. The Laws of Heaven plead for your case.
• Details: You have a year left to live. Within that year, cure your natal disease, The Chronal Root Rot.
•> Rewards:
…
Uriel read the details of his quest without much of a reaction.
He read it again. Then a third time. After that, he nodded to himself and dismissed the quest screen.
He threw a furtive glance toward Enoch, his spark stirring for just a moment.
'Hm. So he doesn't know. Now, why would I not tell him…'
He slotted the thought to the back of his mind without much struggle.
He didn't give much thought to the fact that he'd die in a year either, nor did he dwell on the possibility of failure. It was as if he were entirely detached from his own fate.
'Chronal Root Rot… Chronal…'
For some reason, his gaze shifted to Thoryl, and he found the latter already staring at him, smiling.
Thoryl mouthed a few words.
[Time is a flat circle.]
…
The crowd rapidly dispersed, the settlement growing even more lively as everyone got to work, preparing for the dark days ahead.
Uriel and Enoch, however, made their way toward the Quest Halls, the odd, cube-like buildings standing in the depths of the city.
The two of them were silent, for entirely different reasons.
'Time is a flat circle…' Uriel thought back to Thoryl's strange and ominous words.
He turned them over in his mind again and again, a strange unrest blooming in his chest each time he did. The feeling refused to settle.
He felt like he'd heard those words before.
'Enoch said he knows this is the last loop. Both he and Persephone didn't know the other was a regressor, yet they still knew each other, and they both knew me.'
'I was close to Enoch. Possibly just as close to Persephone, unless she's an anomaly.'
'Persephone also implied Enoch was a Spark Hunter, while he, through his reaction, made it clear she isn't good news, regardless of the timeline.'
Uriel's gaze narrowed.
'And then there's the wound he had that night… and he also said we didn't meet so early on in his first life…'
His thoughts spiraled, chaotic and overlapping, but beneath the disorder he could sense a pattern forming? a truth emerging from the noise.
It hovered just out of reach.
'And this somehow relates to time being a flat circle…?'
He glanced at Enoch.
'And I gave him, and Persephone, a false method to shield them against a younger me…'
'I did that knowing it wouldn't work. Knowing I'd probably out myself in the process…'
It was right there. He could see it. Feel it pressing against his mind.
'I'm going to die in a year. In all timelines, I'm the first to die, and never of natural causes.'
But he still couldn't grasp it.
'Time is a flat circle.' He repeated the words again in his mind.
Finally, he shook his head and chuckled, pushing the entire train of thought into the back of his mind for later.
"We're here."
His voice snapped Enoch out of his own spiraling thoughts. Enoch looked up just as the entrance to the giant cube-like building slid open.
Inside lay a vast hall filled with counters. Inhumans stood behind glass windows, smiling warmly at those who entered.
At the center of the hall floated a massive globe of dark glass, slowly spinning upon itself and emitting faint pulses of aether.
They approached one of the counters.
"Hello, and welcome to the Quest Hall. Would you like to take on a quest? Or do you perhaps have an issue with an ongoing one?"
Enoch stepped forward.
"Hello."
"We will both be taking a Death Trial Quest."
"Hybrid Origin Mage Type for him. Chaos Berserker Type for me."
The inhuman woman's eyes widened. But Enoch wasn't finished.
"All nine of them."
She stuttered. "W-what?! Excuse me, but how do you even know about this? Please reconsider and—"
"At Diamond-Grade difficulty."
Suddenly, every member of the settlement received a notification.
[DEATH TRIAL QUEST HAS BEEN TRIGGERED!]