Caster followed Kingu to a hideout where they could meet. Kingu said straight to Caster's face that they both should work separately on their own plans.
Caster agreed to the terms. After Kingu left, he felt dizzy and gave into his slumber.
His original body in the reality marble also began to lose consciousness.
******Cael Arsya P.O.V*****
I woke up in paradise, a place completely devoid of darkness. There is only light, looking up in the colorful bright sky, I saw huge planets in it, despite being so near and dangerous, everything looked so harmonious.
Walking further into the beautiful world filled with inexplicable beauty, I kept questioning
'Why am I here? Where am I? Who am I?'
As if answering my question. A table appeared and I am sitting on it. In front of me is a man, he gives me an Almighty feeling, looking like a Magus in blue with his blue hair and a wizard's cap. I can't tell just how 'complete' he felt. He felt surreal, with the surroundings looking like they originated from him.
"Greetings, Beauty Magus," That man said.
Those words woke up something within me, All my memories rushed into me, then I remembered.
I'm Cael, Cael Arsya.
"Yes, that is indeed who you are. You have come a long way from being a common man to the status of a higher being. The Halo of Resurrection has done its job well. I have summoned you, you can ask me any questions you wish"
Processing the words of the man, I gasped at the realization. His ability to read my mind, this impossible world, isn't surprising at all.
"God of Eternity"
"Indeed, that is who I am or who I was. But that doesn't matter for now. I must congratulate you, your magic is not bad"
His words didn't make me happy, maybe because I don't believe I will reach the root and achieve True Magic. The Holy Grail did promise me but it always led me down.
"Magecraft and Magic doesn't make much difference to me and your magecraft is already reaching Magic. Besides, the Halo chose you and it is proof enough to say you are a successful magus"
"It chose me?"
"The Halo is the manifestation of my will. When I was still taking care of a budding world, I couldn't focus on magic, and the halo manifested with my power as my regret. I let it roam Everything for a long time before it lost its power and ended up with you"
"What are those conditions so strict that it loses its power In pursuit of an owner?"
I asked curiously, The Halo is a mystery. The answer is right in front of me, even if it is a God, it is exciting to learn about the magic of a divine.
"That. Your drive to learn magic, and your talent for magic, in general, surpassed most others. Those are the only conditions."
His words are true, I love Magic and find it as something fascinating. Still, I can see the threats that would come with magic but the main reason, I love it so much is something pragmatic.
"As much as I like it, I see it as a tool to break my shackles from the world"
I expected he would not like the answer but to my surprise.
"That is true, Magic is a force that has the power to remove shackles of fate"
Still, I have a question.
"Why me though?"
"It is Fate. There are others of course, you are not the only one but you crossed paths with the ring first"
"But, how come it reincarnates me in that universe particularly? There are many magic worlds, why a fictional one like Fate Multiverse?"
The wizard-looking God smirked, which creeped me a bit because of my bad experience with Gods before.
"What makes you certain your Earth before reincarnation is real?"
I pondered his words, he's not wrong, Is Fate a 'fictional world'? Maybe, but it still exists. My Earth before reincarnation, I believe it as real. It exists too. So, everything is possible.
"I see, Like a Schrödinger's Cat"
"That's not hard now, is it? Everything exists, whether be it dream, reality, past, future, fiction."
The Eternity God's words are true, I can't call something fictional. I'm real in it, my emotions are real in it, my life is real.
"At the same time, Everything doesn't exist. There is a world where we are nothing but some characters in a book. Where only actual science exists. So, we don't exist there. As for why you reincarnated in Fate multiverse, easy, it's the 'most magical world' in your opinion. Hence the ring reincarnated you there"
"Everything makes sense now. The abilities of Halo are also there to give a magus advantage to study and research for all the lifespan available to him blurring the fate of the owner. At the same time, to keep Magus pushing his limits, it won't increase the lifespan, even if it can resurrect and heal"
"Precisely. I like a good chat with an enthusiastic magus like you. My main domain was Magic after all. Do you want to know anything else"
'was'? He might have transcended concepts of magic now. Did he reincarnate Soren?
" I want to know, did you reincarnate anyone with wishes?"
"Before answering your question, tell me this. The Halo ran out of power the moment it landed in your hands as a ring, how did you think it reincarnated you then?"
His question left me puzzled. Does that mean my world has magic but even if there is, what does that have to do with Soren?
"No, your world is science-based but, have you wondered why your Earth entered nuclear war in the first place? Why do you have abnormal intelligence? Why is your name 'Cael Arsya' which means Angel and Divine offspring?"
His questions make no sense, even about my name. but I can tell, everything is interlinked.
" The ring marked you at birth to find a way to get to you, granting you that name and incredible memory as a side effect.
That ring siphoned the power from the fate of the world by bringing calamities to it, trying to awaken but it is a slow process. You committed suicide forcing it to reincarnate while it is still dormant. "
He dropped bomb after bomb.
" Then, it tried to bring calamity in your new world but the counter force negated it. So, it brought two unique calamities to that world along with you at different periods trying to cause calamity. But, one of the calamities helped you awaken it.
As for Soren, he's just some lucky bastard that happened to get wishes. The ring considered him a calamity and brought him to your reality, he's supposed to go to a parallel reality of Fate "
Suddenly Everything that happened until my birth on Earth to the reincarnation in the fate world made sense.
The reason my name remained the same, the two convergence points made a lot of sense. I find it odd that just those two appeared from the 'hole', not the other beings.
"Holy shit!! It is such a broken mystic code. It did all of that just so that I could research actual magic!"
That One Halo changed my course of life and two worlds just to meet its requirements is just crazy.
"It is my residue power and intent. Anything near my vicinity will be filled with my intent and gain intelligence and life if I didn't control my power"
"Wait, does that mean, the Halo is alive?"
God gave me an ambiguous answer.
"It is intelligent enough to keep you alive and resurrect you but it doesn't have a will of its own, think of it like an programmed code. You could abandon it with a powerful magic spell if you don't want it anymore. It will merely return to me. Still, I'm surprised you are not upset that Earth is destroyed because of you in a way"
I didn't care about it. I never cared about anything else aside from myself and her in both lives.
"Humans will start a nuclear war anyway, I don't feel any guilt about it just because I am the reason for its end"
There are more concerning things.
To be honest, I don't know what to feel. On One hand, I'm glad that It chose me because I genuinely like the concept of Magic but I didn't like the aspect of Halo's control.
I felt restricted by the Will of Humanity and the Will of the Planet before. But, the halo itself is controlling me before those two did.
Maybe it's for my good but still, I don't like that control. I thought the Halo is one power I can trust but It reminded me once again.
Nothing is free.
By giving me so many benefits now, it controlled my life before.
I'm not at all okay with it.
"Can I return the Halo to you?"
To my dismay, God declined.
"You just said it yourself, Nothing is free. If you want true freedom, Independence as you call it. Earn it yourself"
"...You are right, I should not have asked you. That is certainly stupid of me."
"I wish to meet you again if it is possible. You are an interesting individual."
His words perplexed me.
"This is the first and last time we will meet?"
"Yes, I have observed you until now. Your endeavors won't stop and your drive to research magic made you reach great heights. So, I have seen enough. I just wanted to speak with you for the first and last time"
When he finished, I wanted to thank him for the help he provided me by hiding me from Counterforce and Zelretch but I woke up in the hideout losing contact with God of Eternity.
It took me some time to process everything. Everything that led to this point made me feel like a puppet with strings.
'I will gain True Magic no matter what If just the part of my true Magic can let me do the Impossible. Then, I shall use it to cut the strings and Earn my Independence'