When the plot-skips players into the game world

——Taboo.

This was still the first time Aiwass explicitly learned the former name of the Path of Dusk, as well as the Source River to which that path belonged.

Up until now, Aiwass only knew that the "Cicada Slough" event gave birth to five Pillar Gods——Adaptation, Dusk, Wisdom, Strength, and the Beast's Path. All were born from after the Cicada Slough. As for whether those paths had masters before, or what they were called, Aiwass had no idea.

"...Incorrect."

Aiwass muttered.

The Source River that the "Adaptation" path belonged to was "Survival," and the Source River that Transcendence, Evolutionary Path belonged to was called "Change." Both were fairly easy to understand.

But why, then, do "Dusk" and "Taboo" belong to the river of "Error"? What inevitable connection do they have with error?

In an instant, Aiwass suddenly remembered the words spoken by the Serpent Celestial Marshal during his divine revelation:

[——When the world changes through reincarnation, the affairs of the world remain eternally unchanged]

[——The just will remain just, the tainted will remain tainted. Kings will forever be kings, slaves will forever be slaves]

[——No one is elevated, no one is degraded, everything remains forever unchanged. The universe has solidified, like the Amber Egg; the world eternally reincarnates, just as the Ring of Ouroboros]

At that time, Aiwass didn't understand the meaning of the Serpent Celestial Marshal's words, but now...after receiving information from Professor Moriarty, Aiwass seemed to grasp some key points.

Eternal reincarnation...huh?

"...I have a question."

Aiwass fell silent for a moment, then spoke: "The world line you are in...does it also have the 'Path of Dusk' and 'Amber'?"

"Yes."

Professor Moriarty said very affirmatively, "But I'm not sure if It has always existed.

"I think, if the world keeps reincarnating, cycling over and over...then could 'the world's first return' be related to the birth of Amber?"

Professor Moriarty's thoughts were clear: "He is a god of flawless perfection, reaching the pinnacle; if He became the strongest at the moment of birth, does that suggest... there might be a possibility that He was not born at the end of the first era, but emerged from the year 2000... and returned to the past, tearing apart the future?"

"Then if you say, 'Dusk' belongs to Amber, then who does 'Taboo' belong to?"

Aiwass countered.

The Jewel Bird shook its bird's head: "I do not know. Although I witnessed the birth of Amber and the change of paths, I did not see the existence of the old Pillar Gods. And I hardly saw the ascension of the rest of the Pillar Gods either...After Amber, only the Beast Master, belonging to the Beast's Path, was born.

"I can also tell you that the name of that Source River is 'Creation.' I think the Fairy, Witch, Werewolf, and Son of the Moon of the Path of Love... they were probably born in the same way. This information, dad can tell you everything you want to know. It's all unrelated."

"...Because knowledge is poisonous, right."

Aiwass spoke slowly.

The Sapphire Bird smiled and nodded.

——This is an open conspiracy.

Aiwass knew without a doubt that he was a key chess piece in the games played by multiple great beings. To seek freedom and transcendence, he inevitably had to pursue the truth. But the more information he knew, the more complete the truth he pieced together, the more he had to consider and think about.

He previously did not understand the Reincarnation Celestial Marshal's plan.

But now, he seemed to gradually understand a bit...

The Reincarnation Celestial Marshal regarded "reincarnation" as meaningless, perhaps because the whole world had already coiled into a ring. Yet the "Evolution" He pursued was still present within the layered history Professor Moriarty resided in.

This at least indicated one thing——the Reincarnation Celestial Marshal had failed, the world still underwent eternal return. At least in the world line where He hadn't succeeded in devouring Aiwass, He undoubtedly failed.

He also understood why the Nine Pillar Gods initiated the ascension ritual to project past and future.

He even partially understood Professor Moriarty's motives——

It was precisely because he, having witnessed the world's end as the "Savior," firmly upheld "the death in advance."

From this consideration, it can at least be determined that Old Moriarty did not come back to life starting anew from the first era. He should have appeared in the body of the young Moriarty, much like a "time-traveler".

Back when Moriarty was still studying under Cardinal Loki, his personality was clearly quite normal, not obsessive.

It wasn't until after Moriarty encountered the founder of the Golden Dawn—who was also Freya's mother, Anna Kingsford—that he started to undergo a drastic change in temperament.

At that time, Aiwass felt that his foster father couldn't possibly be troubled by love... That simply didn't make sense.

And now, Aiwass had finally sorted out his thoughts.

Jacob and James had both been part of the Golden Dawn, the original founders of which were from the Rose Cross Society, Anna Kingsford. That is to say, James's techniques and rituals were very likely taught by his wife in the beginning. Moreover, both the Rose Cross Society and the Golden Dawn knew of the existence of the "Holy Entity".

If one were to say that the Holy Entity originally was a shard of the Serpent Celestial Marshal... or more precisely, a shard of the Reincarnation Celestial Marshal.

Then why not call it a "Celestial Marshal Shard", or something related to "reincarnation"?

——Holy Entity.

That divine being summoned by Jacob, it also did not seem to be some kind of entity, whether it was the version that was initially summoned to impart mysterious knowledge to Jacob, or the version that fused with Aiwass's soul.

...But what if, in actuality, it was a universally known "reference"?

Could there be a possibility that the original "Holy Entity" was the very soul fragment that merged with Moriarty...?

Perhaps after meeting Miss Kingsford, Moriarty did something together with her. That caused the "savior" soul that returned to ancient times to descend upon Moriarty. This led to a drastic change in Moriarty's personality, as he nearly madly pursued the teachings of Cardinal Loki's "preemptive death".

It was as though he had been time-traveled through...

——Wait, wait a minute?

Aiwass suddenly froze for a moment.

In that instant, he got the chills down his back. He swiftly raised his head, looking incredulously at Moriarty.

Could it be that the foster father had suddenly left Avalon... because of this matter?

He left Aiwass to independently observe "the suddenly enlightened Aiwass", to see how much he knew and what he could do!

He wanted to determine from this, to which era did Aiwass's knowledge belong!

"You should understand by now why I desire the power of 'reincarnation'."

Professor Moriarty spoke slowly, "In order to change that predetermined ending, to ascertain the true nature of the 'taboo', I must return to the past—even if it means sacrificing the present and the future as well.

"All things eventually perish. As long as the fundamental problem is not solved, all prosperity and hope are illusory.

"Even if it's related to the secrets of several Pillar Gods, I must do it, I must achieve it.

"If the world were to enter a cycle again in 2000... the world that I have altered and the future could be disturbed. Perhaps the 'variable' that would have been fortunate enough to survive until the day of dusk will not come into being.

"Ignorance may be a form of happiness. Knowledge is poisonous... and the deepest poison is the poison of 'meaninglessness'."

The bird smiled, but there was not a trace of warmth in its eyes: "If this world must reboot... then all that exists now is destined to vanish.

"Whether it be an early death, a late death, suicide, assassination, death from illness, or the end of life's natural course... all of it is meaningless. The world will be reborn in the next or even the following cycles of reincarnation. There will always be a cycle where the world does not encounter the day of destruction... We must first obtain information from the past to have a chance to change the future.

"Aren't you asking me? To what extent should it be corrected to be perfect? I do not seek perfection—I only long for 'continuity', for 'survival'. This is even unrelated to the life and death of my individual self, but pertains to the death of the world a hundred years later, which 'James' himself couldn't see."

"...So that's what you're thinking."

Aiwass murmured softly.

If the theory of preemptive death were extended indefinitely... what if the whole world was on the brink of annihilation?

That would mean, "preemptive death" can also be applied to the entire world.

To kill the old in favor of the new world.