Chapter 439: Cosmic Redemption

Priam jolted awake, his mind still in turmoil.

This time, he had returned to the memories of when he was an Immortal. But now, he could perfectly recall the final part of that decisive battle, where he had truly been killed by that young man.

It was completely different from when he remembered his life as a King of a universe, because back then, he could only recall the final moments, not his entire existence as an Immortal.

But...

In his final breath...

That voice...

Priam trembled from head to toe, and his entire being was thrown into shock.

’That’s impossible... He really... really called me Cousin...

Could it really have been Bruno...?’

It could only be a coincidence. There was no way something like that could happen.

Those words echoed endlessly in Priam’s mind as he tried every possible way to convince himself that he was mistaken. But... deep down, as he recalled the tone of that voice and the words it had spoken, he instinctively felt that it really had been Bruno.

It took Priam a long time to calm himself down, even a little.

When his rationality finally returned, it was as if a light had suddenly illuminated the truth before him, revealing something he couldn’t even begin to comprehend.

’He spoke with such deep resentment and pain... What... what has he become? Was the reason I came to this world really that Bruno knew me?’

He remembered that the Goddess’s voice, which he had heard in the past, seemed to carry a clear aversion toward him. However, other figures had placed their trust in him for that mission.

Priam felt a painful tightness in his chest.

In those memories, he had heard the young man himself say that he had become a monster, blinded by envy and possessiveness... yet, even after everything, Bruno had trusted that he would be able to overcome that darkness.

’So... this explains why I can’t remember anything between my death as James and my reincarnation in this world. It really was better for me not to remember and simply become James again.’

Priam remained in absolute silence.

With every thought, his mind plunged into an even deeper, more chaotic loop.

He clutched his head and curled up on the bed. He was suffocating beneath a flood of unanswered questions, overwhelmed by emotions he had never imagined experiencing.

Fear. Guilt. Self-doubt.

Until... without even realizing exactly when it happened, he felt a comforting warmth spread across his arms and torso.

A soft, soothing scent he had grown accustomed to filled the sea of his consciousness, pulling him back to reality.

Priam shuddered as he felt Dandara holding his head tightly against her. A comforting softness pressed against his face.

"It’s okay... You’re still you..."

A gentle whisper echoed in his ear.

"Remember who you are. Your name is Priam. You live life to the fullest, and you always do what you believe is right, no matter the consequences. Besides, you’re not alone. You never will be."

Priam froze completely.

It was as if the world had suddenly regained its colors.

Yes, he was Priam. No longer... Byon...

Priam suddenly remembered the name he had carried when he was an Immortal. It was as if a thick fog covering those memories had finally dissipated.

He raised his hands and gently touched Dandara’s arms. She smiled and calmly pulled away, keeping her face just a few inches from his.

Priam looked into her eyes for several seconds, feeling his heartbeat synchronize with hers until it finally returned to normal.

After letting out a small sigh of relief, he nodded. "Thank you... This one was a little rough... But we still have one more round."

Dandara nodded, gently holding his hand. "Everything passes... But I’ll never be far away, remember that," she murmured, a dazzling smile blooming across her face.

Priam silently agreed, taking to heart the exact words he had once used to comfort her. Now, she had become his safe haven and unwavering source of support.

[World Mage Skill Upgraded!]

[Null Turn EX:]

[The absorption capacity and counterattack power of this technique have been amplified to their absolute limit—far beyond what a mere mortal could ever channel.]

[NOTE: Unleashing its full potential will severely disrupt the laws of the world.]

Priam read the green window floating before him and let out a soft sigh. The skill he had just gained—which he hadn’t even had the chance to test out yet—had now been buffed as well.

A few seconds later, Priam got to his feet.

The two returned to the planet, and Priam explained the same situation to the race’s leaders that he had explained to the previous one. Now, only one last lost race remained, and it shouldn’t be long before they found it.

With everything settled, they returned to the flying ship, and their long journey continued.

***

Time passed.

Years dragged by.

In total, Priam and Dandara had already spent eight years traveling.

Priam had more than enough time to reflect on everything, although coming to terms with his past remained a difficult task. Even so, Dandara stayed glued to his side without leaving him for a single minute, preventing him from sinking into pointless thoughts.

Little by little, Priam stopped dwelling on the past, returning to living in the present to the fullest and enjoying the happiness he had right in front of him.

Finally, when Priam had already searched 95% of the Mortal Plane—in an extremely remote region near a tiny, insignificant galaxy—the red thread appeared before Dandara.

The two had already begun to grow desperate, as they urgently needed to return to the sect.

In just a few months, the entrance test for the twins and their respective factions to join the inner sect would begin.

Priam immediately adjusted the flying ship’s course, and the two sped off in the new direction.

Seconds later, a small blue planet emerged before them.

Leaving the ship on a nearby moon, the couple advanced side by side, penetrating the planet’s dense atmosphere with Transcendental Concealment active.

The planet was composed of 98% water, with a single landmass that was partially frozen in the northern region.

A large city stood there, though it housed only a few thousand inhabitants.

Following the trail of the red thread, the couple glided high above, observing the inhabitants below.

’It’s the Maru race, the Goddess’s Knights.’

Dandara murmured mentally.

Before them was a lineage that resembled the fish-men from the fantasy stories Priam had read back on Earth.

Although they had two legs and walked on solid ground, they possessed swimming membranes and biological traits mixed with marine characteristics. There was no strict standard: some members were distinctly humanoid, while others came much closer to the form of fish.

Naturally, their power revolved around controlling the elements of Water and Yin. They had been feared warriors in the past because water was the most versatile and adaptable element of all. The members of this race mastered its various applications with great skill, capable of fighting in countless ways to exploit their opponents’ weaknesses.

They also possessed unique and terrifying secret techniques, of course, but their greatest asset lay in their incredible usefulness in combat.

After a brief observation, Priam and Dandara calmly descended.

The procedure followed the usual script. Every race they had visited had been absurdly hostile toward outsiders, as if they wanted to avoid any contact with the outside world out of an instinct for self-preservation.

It was precisely this strict isolation that had allowed them to survive to the present day. Of all the dozens of races the Sovereign Goddess had aided and maintained as allies in the past, only those few had withstood the test of time.

After Priam declared himself the Goddess’s Missionary, each of those races insisted on putting him to the test, leading him to their local temple. Even when skeptical, this was the only means of confirmation they would accept.

And so, accompanied by Dandara, Priam finally reached his last statue of the Goddess.

He reached out and absorbed the Goddess’s Mark.

However... this time, he didn’t feel that same impending sensation of losing consciousness.

Priam simply closed his eyes, and it was as if an ancestral memory, etched deep within him for countless ages, had finally broken free of its seal.

...

When he opened his eyes, HE found himself immersed in a vast world of almost absolute whiteness.

He looked at his own body: he was in his pure spiritual form.

There was no fear. No pain. Only a silence suspended in the void.

His gaze settled ahead. At the center of that boundless expanse stood the entrance to a deep, dark tunnel.

He knew exactly what awaited him on the other side. He had to move forward. Crossing that darkness meant reaching a distant destination, an incomprehensibly distant one.

On the other side, he would face an arduous and merciless mission. Something that, after everything he had done and destroyed, now seemed beyond his ability to fulfill.

HE clenched his fists, searching deep within his heart for the courage he needed to take the first step.

That was when a voice echoed throughout the entire space.

It flowed from every direction, calm and serene to the point of seeming almost cold—but it carried an unmistakable tone that felt deeply familiar.

"What’s coming your way is going to hurt. Life will strike exactly where you’re weakest, and there will be moments when it feels like the end. But... Cousin, don’t you dare break again.

Be like water: without a fixed form, capable of molding itself, adapting, and flowing according to the problem at hand. Bow before the storms if you must, but keep your roots firmly planted in who you are. Don’t see this pain as punishment, but as the only teacher capable of shaping you into the person you need to become. Cast off your fear, align your heart with your purpose, and understand this: the impact isn’t meant to destroy you, but to purify you. Stay strong, learn from your fall, and emerge on the other side ready to leave your mark. This will be your Cosmic Redemption."

HE nodded silently.

The voice belonged to Bruno.

HE let out a soft sigh, a restrained smile appearing at the corner of his lips, and took his first step forward.

"I won’t fail again.

It’ll be just like back then, when you lent me a difficult game to help me forget the pain of being in the hospital... and kept teasing me, saying I should just play on easy mode. I’ll beat this fucking thing and fulfill what I need to do!

Just you wait... soon, we’ll see each other face-to-face."

Without hesitation, HE plunged into the tunnel’s profound darkness and disappeared, setting off toward another unknown world.