_Chapter Begins_
Inside a room of polished wood, two figures sat on small wooden chairs, drinking tea from a tiny wooden table.
The figure seated furthest from the exit door was a young man who appeared to be in his twenties. He had raven-black hair and deep, equally black eyes. Matching them, he wore a black shirt and black pants.
One glance was enough to tell that this man had an obsession with the color black.
The other figure across the table was completely different.
A young man about William's age sat opposite him. He had light golden hair paired with glowing golden eyes that seemed to illuminate in the darkness.
He wore a white tunic, as though plucked straight from ancient Greece, and a golden ring rested atop his head.
The man—or god, or whatever he was—looked like a bright star.
William, by contrast,looked like a black hole.
"Why… why me? Wasn't meeting Death punishment enough?"
William's expression was dejected as he thought this.
Meanwhile, the radiant figure across the table smiled brightly. Unlike Adam, there was no sinister undertone in his smile. It was simply… pure.
"So, William…"
The man paused for a moment, raising an eyebrow.
"Or should I call you a Pillar of Sin?"
William lifted his head at last, accepting the insanity of his situation.
"Just call me William."
The man smiled, waving a hand.
"Well, alright then. I see someone doesn't care much for titles."
He chuckled lightly, while William simply stared back with an emotionless expression.
Setting down his teacup, the golden-haired figure leaned forward.
"I've heard quite a lot about you."
William clenched his teeth but suppressed his anger.
"And who exactly told you about me?"
The man smiled with amusement.
"Why, Adam of course."
William used every ounce of willpower to keep his fury in check.
"That bastard…"
His hand tightened around his teacup.
"Alright… I need to calm down."
He brought the cup to his lips and took a sip.
"This isn't all bad. I might be able to gather more information by meeting this Pillar."
As he drank, his eyes flicked toward the man across the table.
"Besides… compared to Adam, this guy seems nicer."
But William wasn't a fool. No matter how kind he looked, this was still a cosmic being—and a powerful one at that.
"A Pillar representing imagination, huh…?"
What kind of insane power could someone like that wield?
William wanted to know, but right now, he was in no position to interrogate this bright figure.
"So it was Adam who told you about me… how nice of him."
The man nodded pleasantly.
"Very nice indeed."
He raised his hand into the air.
In the next instant, a cup of coffee appeared from thin air.
William hardly reacted; he had already seen Evelion—this Pillar of Imagination—perform such tricks.
Evelion gave an awkward smile, lowering his hand as he set the coffee cup on the table.
"I actually prefer tea over coffee… sorry."
William remained quiet for a moment.
"…It's alright. I don't mind."
Still, his expression darkened.
"This guy is acting strange."
To be fair, Adam had acted oddly as well. Both Adam and Evelion behaved far too laid back, far too human.
"These are supposed to be cosmic beings—Pillars of major concepts like Death and Imagination. So why do they act like ordinary people?"
The only time William had seen one of them behave as expected was during his death. The Adam who had held him in his final moments was vastly different from the Adam he met in the Judgment Realm.
The difference was too jarring to make sense of.
William sighed in frustration.
"Seems like everything that bastard said was true after all…"
The more he learned, the more he realized Adam had been right.
"When I first met him in that realm, didn't I accuse him of killing me? And what did he reply with…?"
Adam had admitted it—he had killed William. But then he added, "It was a different version of me… but still me."
Slowly but surely, William was piecing together fragments of truths.
His thoughts were interrupted when Evelion waved a hand.
"Um… William, you still there?"
William flinched and gave a small cough.
"Sorry. Just… thinking."
Evelion chuckled, crossing his arms.
"Don't we all."
He lifted his mug and drank all the coffee as though it were water.
William watched in tense silence, until he finally gathered enough courage to ask:
"Pillar of the Universe, Evelion… might I ask why you're here?"
Evelion set the mug down, wiping the brown trace of coffee from his upper lip. Then, with a slight smile, he answered:
"I'm here to warn you."
The words hung in the air like a blade.
Eventually, William managed to ask, voice tight:
"To warn me of what… or whom?"
Evelion's smile faltered, growing strained.
"Of Fate… I am here to warn you of Fate."
The room fell into silence.
_Chapter Ends_