"I will never be your successor."
That was my immediate reply to the masked Dragon Sage. I clenched my fists and glared at him with courage. It should be obvious that it will be my answer since he has done so many horrible things to me and my friends.
"I know. I understand that I just slaughtered your subjects mercilessly. But think about it: if you finish the ultimate Dragon Sage thesis, you can do whatever you want. You can revive deceased loved ones and make them immortal. You can make people obey you. You can sit back and relax in your room and live a bountiful and carefree life."
"Even if I accept your offer, I will not live to see the end of that Dragon Sage thesis." I smiled devilishly. "I discovered that I have less than three months to live, in all possible timelines. I, Ulysses Corasell, has no future. You can make me a puppet and do what you want with your bullshit thesis, but I will never finish it."
Rex Nullius frowned. "Timeline Prediction. It's quite a peculiar position we got ourselves in."
"See? Even if you win against me, you can never finish that thesis about playing God. So, give it up." I shrugged and laughed.
Slowly, Rex Nullius raised his right arm and snapped his fingers. Another static blocked my senses for a split second, and everything went back to normal.
"There. I have forged a reality where you get to survive in the future. You are welcome." Rex Nullius smiled.
"Don't tell me that you-!" I was taken aback. I made a few steps to the rear and channeled mana into my brain. "Timeline Prediction Activate."
My brain immediately turned into a supercomputer that gave me a pseudo-secondary persona.
[Timeline Prediction Activated]
"Compute for my chances of survival for the next three months."
[Analyzing…]
[Analysis Complete]
[Number of Timelines Scanned: 342,218]
[Timelines where Ulysses Corasell survives for the next three months: 1]
[Ulysses Corasell has one possible future. Chances of survival are 100%]
[The future is not intact]
I looked at Rex Nullius with a mix of horror and amazement. He just gave me hope that nobody has ever given me. I can't believe that a bad guy like him will have the means to save me from my doomed future.
However…
If it means that I will help him become the Ultimate God, then my survival is just a way for him to get what he wants. He just wanted me to survive so that I can become his successor. His ulterior motives are oozing out of his smiling lips.
I clenched my fists and gritted. But Rex Nullius just made a philosophical lecture.
"Ulysses Corasell, you must know that the concept of good and evil is just a human construct. You know it very well, being the mastermind of the villainess Deva who is responsible for taking the lives of corrupt nobles and innocent civilians. You may think that you're doing good deeds, but you're evil to the eyes of the Novum Metropolis. That goes the same for me. You may see me as evil for massacring your friends, but I am also the good person who will save you from your inevitable doom."
"What are you trying to say?" I exclaimed.
Rex Nullius turned away and started to walk towards the endless horizon.
"I don't care if you see me as an evil person, as long as you succeed in my thesis. Once you completed the Deus Ultimum, you will see that I'm doing this for the greater good."
The masked Dragon Sage continued to walk away from my position.
I looked left and right, and I only saw the pure white endless flat ground we were standing on and the clear blue skies above. At this rate, I'll be left alone!
"Wait!"
Just when I started to run and reach out my hand, another static dominated my senses.
And then…
I realized that I'm back in the Lancelot Manor, more specifically, at the dining table.
Yehanna is gently feeding her brother Yifus, while Odette and Marina watched with smiles on their faces. There is baked macaroni on our plates, and Sebastian just came back from the kitchen to serve us more. The three girls are lively as ever.
"I told you before, big sis! I can eat on my own!" Yifus cried.
"Don't be so shy now, my little brother! Here comes the plane~" Yehanna teased as she slowly drove the forkful of macaroni to Yifus' mouth.
"Ah! It fell!" Odette cried.
"Now your shirt is stained with cheese!" Marina laughed.
I wiped my eyes to check if I'm just hallucinating. When I opened my eyes back, I confirmed that this is real. Yehanna, Odette, and Marina are fine. I'm also uninjured. I touched my stomach and chest, and there was no blood or wound anywhere!
"Uly?" Yehanna asked. "Why are you crying?"
"Eh?"
I touched my cheeks which are soaking wet. I wiped my eyes once again to remove the tears my eyes are producing nonstop.
"Lord Corasell? What's the matter?" Odette curiously frowned.
"N-Nothing! I just had a bad dream!" I smiled.
"Dreaming while having lunch, huh? What a weird combination." Marina said.
"Yeah, haha!" I stood up and fixed my chair. "I'm not feeling good. Please excuse me."
I sluggishly went back to my room. Before I left the dining table, I saw Yehanna looking worried at me.
My vision is getting fuzzy as I walked through the corridors. My footsteps are the only things that make the noise, and it's quite deafening to my ears. It took almost forever to reach my room.
I locked the door and fell onto my bed. I may have been sleeping too little these days, and considering that I just got out of the hospital and already did a drinking party last night, I'm bound to have nightmares even if I'm not asleep.
Maybe I just needed to rest.
I leaned to the side where I can see my table. At that moment, all my willingness to fall asleep faded.
My eyes went wide and opened in shock.
There is a hard-bound grimoire on my table. It is covered in black leather and has golden designs. It's the usual cover of those grimoires in the Dragon Sage Library. I don't remember taking home a book from the library, so I immediately looked at the title of the grimoire.
"Deus Ultimum," I muttered.
Everything that happened is real.
And that damn Rex Nullius must have used Reality Negation to create this new reality.
I held my aching head. Having this thesis right in front of me makes me want to throw up. I want to throw that book away from me, but I'm even too scared to touch it.
Another thought entered my brain. The fact of my survival in a reality Rex Nullius forged in this timeline. If the book is here, then so is my future.
"Overclock Tenfold. Activate Timeline Prediction."
[Timeline Prediction Activated]
"Analyze my chance of surviving in the next three months."
[Analysis Completed. 432,538 Timelines Searched]
[One Timeline suggests that the survival of Ulysses Corasell is 100%]
[All other Timelines have a survival rate of 0%]
[The future is not intact]
The phrase "The future is not intact" means that it is up to me and my actions if I wanted to survive or not. If I wanted to live past three months and probably succeed in Rex Nullius' thesis, I should follow the only timeline where I have the highest chance of survival.
Ever since I learned that I am mysteriously terminal, I made it a rule to myself not to see the future with Timeline Prediction.
But now that I have a chance of surviving, my curiosity is killing me. I have a lot of questions.
What should I do to survive?
What will happen to me and my friends in the future?
Will Yehanna get her revenge and satisfy her sense of justice?
What is Rex Nullius' ulterior motive to finish Deus Ultimum?
"I have to know," I muttered to myself. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I focused on my kaleidoscope vision on all possible timelines. "Simulate the lone future timeline where I get to survive."
[Accepted]
[Margin of Error in this Timeline is 0%]
[Simulating in 3… 2… 1…]
My vision flashed in an instant.