Release that Witch

“Could it be that you…” Roland blinked.

“That’s right.” It appeared as an immense weight had been lifted over its chest as the Custodian’s brows smoothened out. “As for you— I have to say this, time is an extremely scary entity. In the following thousands, ten thousands of years, or even millions of years, you will have to stay within this tiny Cradle. Maybe you might think that you have many things to study, but in reality, this solitary life will catch up to you sooner than you think. Even though it is millions of years, it is just a snap of the fingers with regards to the cosmos.”

The Custodian paused for a moment. “There are times… when I think that time is a form of magic as well. You can sense its flow, while at the same time be changed by the very same thing. If you wish to maintain your sanity during this endless time, you have to abandon your emotions; otherwise, this void will cause you to completely fall apart. Of course, it’s already too late for you to regret.”

Roland looked at the other party in surprise—it was his first time witnessing the Custodian smile.

“You’re saying that I will become a machine in the end?” With that, he gave a faint grin. “Relax, I don’t plan to stay here forever. Before I become completely numb, I will take the first step—but not to violate the agreement. When the time comes, I will choose the most suitable lifeform to take over this mission. Who knows, we might meet again in the future on the other side of the universe.”

The Custodian replied disapprovingly, “You should see if you can last till then.”

“Right, since you are the core of the Cradle, are you able to leave independently?” Roland suddenly recalled a crucial problem. “Will this world immediately collapse upon your departure?”

“You haven’t even comprehended such a basic thing and you’re already making huge promises?” The Custodian glared at him in disbelief before answering the question. “Firstly, qualified systems possess multiple backups, much less a creation so perfectly created, one capable of holding a myriad of civilizations like me.”

“Secondly, the Cradle’s memory capacity is indeed huge and not suited for transfers, but it holds data since Project Gateway’s inception, including characteristic seeding for the filtered lifeforms and the course of evolution. I do not need those memories to leave, and only need to retain the memories since I was born.”

“Lastly, upon being connected to the database, you will naturally understand how to operate the Cradle. So long as you work as per normal, it can continue to run on its own for tens of thousands of years. But to sustain it, you will need to watch over it carefully—after all, the Cradle will not be so easily broken, but that doesn’t hold true for the life within.”

“Then I am assured.” Roland heaved a sigh of relief and finally relaxed his tense and tired body.

Not much time had passed, but the other party’s expression seemed to have gone through a great change. Not only did it portray its happy mood on its face, even its tone of speech had become more arrogant—making it seem more lifelike.

“Take the opportunity to ask me whatever you want now that I’m still here.” The Custodian crossed its hands across its chest and suggested.

“Er… that fast?”

“Did you not sense that the expenditure from the Realm of Mind on you is an extremely huge burden?” It shrugged. “If you wish to ensure that you will still be you after the merging of consciousness, you best do it as soon as possible.”

Roland’s mouth twitched, it seemed that the abnormal, decreasing red number above his head was indeed related to the Dream World. He pondered on it carefully before speaking. “Have you heard of a place… called Earth?”

This time, he spoke using his original language.

The Custodian closed its eyes, as though searching for related information. “Yes… There are a total of 3251 planets with similar pronunciation, but considering the lifeforms and characteristics, the place you should be inquiring about should be solid planet located on the arm of Milky Way 3.”

“How is it now?” Roland immediately pressed on.

“Now? Of course it has disappeared following the opening of the rift. According to records, they had footprints that extended to the borders of the galaxy, and the memory library has recorded some information regarding their species.” Suddenly, it stopped in place, and turned to Roland in shock. “Wait, everything that had happened to this planet occurred almost a 9.4 million years ago. If you were born from the Cradle, how is it possible for you to know this planet?”

“In fact, this has been the question that has perplexed me for the longest time…” He chuckled bitterly, and recounted his origin to the Custodian.

“To think that something like that can actually occur—” The Custodian revealed an intrigued expression. “So bundling the flow of time isn’t completely uniform…”

“What… flow of time?”

“It’s like this.” It extended both hands out and began explaining. “You should have heard of the hypothesis of parallel universes—when divergence of significantly potent influence happens, it will draw the world in two directions. The two worlds will have their respective time variations or what is known as a time bubble, and what you have personally felt was observing time. But the observer that raised this point ultimately belongs to one of the worlds; thus, the hypothesis has always remained as such.”

“You mean to say—” Roland’s expression was one of shock.

“That’s right. The immense amounts of energy which Project Gateway generated might have trigger your arrival here, just like how an impact on parallel membranes will trigger a temporary fold—this bifurcation caused our universe to split into two, one brimming with magic power, the other where Project Gateway failed and thus, the universe maintained its original state. But due to the difference in time for both time bubbles, it makes it seem as though you have traveled across millions of years, but in fact, everything is occurring at the same time.”

“Err… that is a little difficult to comprehend.” Roland rubbed his head. “But doesn’t this prove that there is some sort of connection between parallel universes?”

“You can assume that, since even the Creator never touched upon this domain.” The Custodian seemed fairly interested in this topic. “In theory, parallel universes and the multiverse shares the same concept, but in fact the former is far more difficult to prove than the latter. But your existence here could be a method of breaking the universe’s march towards death. But this is no longer a problem for me, but for you to explore and study.”

With that, the Custodian waved its hands, turned and walked to the end of the platform—a small door had appeared, opening up to slate of scarlet.

Following that, multiple figures appeared before Roland.

They appeared in all types of strange forms; there were even humans and demons among them. All of these translucent figures quickly ran towards the Custodian and merged with it.

Amongst the human figures, Roland saw Lan, Epsilon, and a few of the Oracles he had encountered—

Epsilon waved towards him with a contented expression, obviously having obtained the answers that she sought.

Lan stood by his side for a few seconds and her lips started to move.

She mouthed the words ‘thank you.’

When all the figures superimposed into the Custodian and walked into the scarlet land, the pure white space immediately collapsed into countless pieces—along with Roland’s body, yet he felt no pain or strangeness, merely a weightless sensation as though having stripped of a heavy outer shell. A large quantity of information surged into his mind, causing him to feel as though he had countless pairs of eyes. Regardless of the vast universe outside the barrier or the thriving life within the world, everything appeared in his consciousness.

He had become the Cradle.