After spending a little time with his mother, Kage found a way to excuse himself from her presence. Ever since the strange voice and panel had appeared before his eyes, he'd been deeply concerned.
He withdrew to his room, intending to discover more about it, but found himself utterly helpless—there was no way to make it reappear.
Then he thought, perhaps this was a dream. Perhaps he would wake up after sleeping and be dead again. Maybe he'd been given an opportunity to bid his family one final farewell. But Kage found it incredibly difficult to sleep.
At some point—he didn't know when—he started thinking deeply. During the course of his thoughts, Kage happened to discover two important things. The first wasn't so crucial, but the second was... everything.
Everything that could be a massive game-changer for him.
'Who would have thought…'
He inhaled deeply and tried to rein in the rush of excitement surging through him.
[The Oathbreaker is looking at you with suspicious eyes]
[The Sorrow Weaver shakes her head sorrowfully]
'They're certainly all weird.'
[The Dawflame glares sternly at you]
The first astounding thing Kage discovered was that he had returned thirty years into the past. That's right—he was fifteen again.
And the most important, amazing part of being fifteen? He had three years until his eighteenth birthday. Three years to prevent his mother's death and change the course of his destiny.
There was so much Kage could deploy for that purpose. He had thirty years' worth of comprehensive future events that would benefit him. His experience and memories remained perfectly intact.
Despite feeling overjoyed, he couldn't help but feel dark and calculating. Which was why, though it was almost morning, he hadn't caught a wink of sleep.
He'd been pacing around, thinking, worrying about what exactly to do. How to best utilize this chance he'd been given.
The first thing he needed to do was prevent the assassination of his little family—scheduled to happen three years from now.
But Kage, as far as he knew, was still talentless and utterly useless. There was a silver lining, though… which brought him to the second part of the boon he was grateful for.
The ritual.
'If I remember correctly, didn't I read it in that book? What was its name again…'
Kage closed his eyes and tapped his temple as he delved deep into his mind. Then he snapped his eyes open.
"Timeless Gourd!"
The book, as he remembered it, was a scriptural work by a Scholar considered a heretic. Kage hadn't been able to see the scholar's name, but the book—though incomplete and burnt—had fascinated him because it was a philosophical work tackling existential issues, mainly centered around this world being a lesser part of a larger whole.
If he remembered correctly, the author had said:
"It is within the palm of the heavens."
Kage muttered the words and allowed himself a wistful smile.
What was particularly outstanding was that at the end of the book, the Scholar had written a ritual recipe to trigger and reverse the flow of time. He called it breaking into the flow of the Wells.
Kage didn't want to ponder such philosophical nonsense. He was too preoccupied with his next step—there were too many things to consider, and he felt like he was once again at the bottom of the food chain. He needed to start doing something.
He had begged the ritual to succeed and gambled his entire life on it at a time and he thought it had failed. But he didn't realized he needed to die and desperately want to live again for it to work. Aside from that… the Sovereign Gods.
'I certainly didn't expect that part.'
That one had been a totally unexpected surprise.
But Kage's analytical mind was already in overdrive.
Sovereign Gods had to have been Purists and Weavers who had entered the Will Realm. The last of those to exist was around a thousand years ago.
Now, he didn't just have one but twelve.
'Even the Patriarch isn't yet a demigod, and yet… I have the souls of twelve Sovereign Gods…'
A wide, villainous grin spread across his face.
'What do I do with them?'
[The Wolf of North shakes his head pitifully at you, calls you an inexperienced, gut-full brat]
Kage paused his thoughts for a moment. They were inside his soul, inside his head, and would definitely be able to follow everything going on with him. So he needed to be careful how he regarded them.
If they were Sovereign Gods as the weird voice claimed, then that meant they had lived at least three thousand years before dying. He couldn't even begin to comprehend their vastness. He needed to be extremely careful with these beings.
Kage sat down on his bed and rested his elbows on his knees, clenching his sweaty palms.
"Dear esteemed Sovereigns, can you hear me?"
Silence stretched for a moment.
Kage exhaled heavily.
'I must have gone mad... what am I doing...'
As he lowered his head in disappointment, the black panel with white letters materialized before his face, accompanied by the voice.
[The Oathbreaker is looking at you indifferently]
[The Heretic Inquisitor of Eternal Truth looks at you fondly]
[The Weaver of Sorrow smiles sorrowfully]
[You have the attention of three Sovereign Gods]
Kage's eyes widened, becoming starry with excitement.
"Thank you, Sovereigns! I... I know you must all be confused and think I'm just a brat... but I need your help."
[Heretic Inquisitor replies: Confusion is entertaining—it is the driving force of knowledge. I like being confused]
[The Weaver of Sorrows smiles somberly at you, looking at you as though you know nothing]
Kage smiled.
"I sure know nothing... but I know one thing... right now, all of you are tenants, borrowing my soul to stay alive."
[The Oathbreaker frowns sternly at you—he does not seem to like that statement]
[The Wolf of the North is looking at you with a dark grimace]
[The Heretic Inquisitor of Eternal Truth is stunned at your daring words]
Kage looked directly at the floating panel before his face.
"I apologize for my rude words, but it's simply the truth... you twelve are currently freeloading off me."
[Four Sovereigns are glaring at you]
[The Witch of Mirrors clicks her tongue in irritation]
[The Heretic Inquisitor of Eternal Truth laughs in an unsettling manner]
Kage remained silent for a moment.
"Not to rub it in your faces or anything... but your situation has to be as abrupt as mine is. Don't we need to establish a relationship—preferably a symbiotic one—so we can each benefit? Especially since the world has probably changed drastically in the thousand years since anyone last became a Sovereign God."
[The Heretic Inquisitor of Eternal Truth's eyes sharpen to a dangerous slit]
[The Weaver of Sorrow looks at you coldly]
[The Wolf of the North stares with a straight, uncomfortable light gleaming in his eyes]
[The Oathbreaker sighs and asks what you want]
Kage smiled with relief.
It was a gamble to speak to them in that manner, but he was grateful it hadn't spiraled out of hand.
His eyes sharpened with resolve as he looked at the panel.
"It's simple... I just want you gods to help me become stronger."