I’m the Madman of This Family

Episode 379. A Future Without Me (7)

Thanatos had never opened his eyes in the form of a nun.

But the moment Keter found a way to escape, his eyes opened.

Keter and Walt were tense, but surprisingly, Thanatos’s eyes were no different from a human’s.

However, in Thanatos’s gaze, there was a determination. A determination to never let Keter go.

A divine being who governs the absolute phenomenon of death is not “careless” but “obsessed” with Keter. His words that Keter’s very existence is dangerous were sincere.

Walt, while relieved, tightened his grip on his sword. Even if they found an exit, there was no guarantee they could escape safely.

‘I’ll stop him.’

The moment Walt resolved to let Keter live-

“Gah!”

Suddenly, Walt was pulled into the sky. Keter grabbed his neck and leapt toward the collapsing sky.

Thanatos didn’t move immediately. Keter’s actions posed no threat.

“Could it be… that?”

Instead, Thanatos sneered.

“The attack earlier was to accelerate the collapse of this world.”

The Milky Ways Keter had fired. They passed through Thanatos’s body and exploded into the sky. That explosion hastened the world’s collapse, creating a rift.

Keter was flying straight toward that rift. As if it were the exit.

But if it were the exit, Thanatos wouldn’t have just stood there and spoken.

“How foolish. Where you’re leaping is the space between worlds. An infinite void that can never be closed. Crossing worlds is impossible unless you’re a higher-dimensional being. Jumping there is akin to choosing suicide.”

Walt looked at Keter. But there was no hesitation in Keter’s expression.

The rift was darkness. A darkness that didn’t even guarantee entry.

What lay within? According to Thanatos, it was “void.” A void where nothing exists. In such a void, nothing can survive. Even if one survives, there is no future.

Yet Keter accelerated and leapt into that space.

Thanatos watched carefully, wondering if Keter would do something else-

Thud!

Finally, Keter and Walt disappeared into the rift.

“……”

Keter and Walt chose suicide, not death.

The moment they entered the void, even if alive, they were no longer living. This was true not just for them but for anyone who entered.

Keter, who defied the cycle of life and death, was surely eliminated.

But Thanatos stood there for a long time, feeling an indescribable unease.

Tick, tick, tick…

Keter and Walt opened their eyes to the sound of a clock ticking. They were sitting facing each other, surrounded by all kinds of clocks.

A situation where only the result exists, without the process. This wasn’t Keter’s first time in such a “dream-like” situation.

When he met Nipur in the 5th Layer’s Infinite Library, he had a similar experience. Walt, too, had experienced this through the Grand Duke, so he understood.

‘A god intervened.’

Walt didn’t know who it was.

But Keter did.

The power to slow time, the master of Mandala, the Heavens Sovereign. He saved Keter and Walt from the void.

This was part of Keter’s plan.

When Mandala first contacted him in Ruquer, there was no mention of when or where to meet, but he instinctively felt it. The Heavens Sovereign was one of the rulers of the underground layers.

So, if they went underground, they would naturally meet. Keter didn’t know which layer’s ruler he was, but he was certain that if the Heavens Sovereign wanted to see him, he would save him.

And as Keter believed, he survived.

In this space filled with ticking clocks, the Heavens Sovereign was nowhere to be seen.

“Well, we’re alive for now.”

Walt cautiously stood up from the chair and looked around.

The room wasn’t large. Clocks hung on all sides, and it looked ordinary. There were doors and windows. Outside the window, a clear sky and green fields were visible.

Stepping outside would bring cool air deep into his lungs, but Walt didn’t rush out and instead asked Keter.

“Did you do this?”

Keter shook his head.

“I’m naturally popular. Enough to charm even a god.”

“If he had good intentions, he wouldn’t have left us in such a place.”

“Interest doesn’t always come with goodwill. Anyway, this is as far as you go.”

Keter opened the door Walt was hesitant to approach. Beyond it was a different scene from what was seen through the window.

A dull gray sky and ruins. A desolate place, but Keter and Walt knew where it was.

The surface of Ruquer. The Heavens Sovereign only wanted Keter, so he politely told Walt to leave.

Walt, who was destined to die, was given a chance to live again. But Walt didn’t step out.

“Keter. I’ve heard your story. You too were a victim of this world’s absurdity. Do you still want to save this rotten world?”

When Thanatos revealed Keter’s secret, Walt also heard it. That’s why he wanted to save Keter even more.

Keter scratched the back of his head.

“It’s not pleasant. I’ve imagined what it would be like to be born into a happy family and live with my parents. But I like who I am now.”

“Why must some be happy and others unhappy? Don’t you wish for a world where everyone is saved, a world where victims like us no longer exist?”

“Even if the world becomes equal, humans will still divide themselves. We are all equal, but some are more equal than others.”

“……”

“Don’t be so serious. That’s why you’re still a virgin at your age.”

“Hmph.”

Thud.

Resigned, Walt took off the blood cross necklace where Dracula slept. He then forced it into Keter’s hand and said.

“Use that to replace your lost left hand. And now, there’s no debt between us.”

“I’ll gratefully accept it.”

Keter immediately attached the blood cross to his lost left arm. Dracula, having exhausted all his power fighting Thanatos, transformed into Keter’s left arm without resistance.

Not wanting to leave any lingering regrets, Walt turned to leave when Keter suddenly spoke.

“I wasn’t going to say this because it’s personal, but please stop pining for Stella and just confess.”

The Grand Duke’s only daughter, Stella.

Walt had a crush on her.

“But Stella loves you.”

“So what? Even if I loved Stella, is it manly to give up without even trying?”

“……!”

“Failure is temporary, but regret is forever.”

Keter kicked Walt’s butt, forcing him out the door.

The door closed on its own, and soon, applause echoed behind Keter.

Clap, clap, clap!

Keter turned around to see a man.

Dressed in a black tuxedo with a red bow tie, the man pretended to wipe away tears and said.

“Failure is temporary, but regret is forever. Truly an impressive statement.”

This sensitive-looking man was the master of Mandala, the Heavens Sovereign.

And the ruler of the 7th Layer.

This wasn’t Keter’s first time seeing the Heavens Sovereign. In a past life, he had made a contract with him to obtain “Mandala.”

The Heavens Sovereign saw through it immediately.

“That expression. You’re seeing me for the second time. But this is my first time seeing you.”

“In this timeline, yes.”

“Hoh. Not hiding it anymore?”

As Keter conversed with the Heavens Sovereign, he suddenly felt time “accelerating.”

He thought he was standing still, but before he knew it, he was sitting in a chair, drinking tea and eating snacks.

The process of ‘sitting in a chair, drinking tea, eating snacks’ disappeared, leaving only the ‘result.’

The Heavens Sovereign smiled and said.

“I have no intention of harming you, but this space itself is the 7th Layer. Even if I don’t want to, it affects you.”

“Is time accelerating?”

“Not exactly, but you can think of it that way. The longer you stay here, the greater the time difference with the outside world. For example, when you feel like you’ve been here for an hour… a year would have passed outside.”

“Not a pleasant space.”

“Think positively. If you stay here for a year, a thousand years will pass outside. Time travel is possible. Aren’t you curious? The future of this world. Will Sephira still exist a thousand years later?”

“I’m not interested in a future without me.”

“I have the power to create such a future.”

“I’ve had enough of your greatness. What do you want?”

“Your tone displeases me. It feels like I sought you out because I’m lacking. Ugh, has the dignity of a god fallen so low? I can’t just stand by.”

Snap!

The Heavens Sovereign flicked his finger. Time slowed. The clock hands moved very slowly. A minute passed, but not even a second had gone by.

However, Keter’s mental time flowed normally. He felt every second as a second.

This was a familiar experience for Keter. The power of Mandala. Keter didn’t activate it, but the Heavens Sovereign forced it.

The Heavens Sovereign moved alone in the seemingly frozen world and said.

“The sin of reversing time, which should be fair even to gods. The sin of abusing my authority without a contract. You’ve realized you’re no ordinary being, but your arrogance has grown too much. So I’ll give you a light punishment.”

A small hourglass appeared on the table. So small it might measure just a minute.

“Until this hourglass runs out. Reflect on your mistakes.”

At first glance, it seemed like a light punishment. The hourglass he summoned was tiny.

But the sand didn’t fall. 10 seconds, a minute, 10 minutes, an hour passed. Not a single grain of sand fell.

But time wasn’t completely frozen. After five hours, the sand moved slightly.

The maximum output of Mandala Keter had used was 75 hours per second. Now, the Heavens Sovereign activated Mandala at 168 hours per second.

Meaning, the 10-minute hourglass would take 100,800 hours to run out.

Keter had to sit still for a full 11 years, watching the hourglass fall.

---