Epilogue - The Great Labyrinth Sekai

The Great Labyrinth Sekai sighed in relief. It sighed, and its veins shifted within itself, toppling ancient buried cities and snuffing out the lives of a thousand different denizens. But it felt none of that, for its consciousness existed solely in one location. A simple stairway. Already, it felt even that awareness fading, felt itself slipping back into what it used to be. What it believed it should be. No power as great as it should ever be cursed with consciousness.

Before it could fully slip away, however, it reached out and met with its youngest child, Otochi. The last of his kind, if the Great Labyrinth had its way. Never again would it create a great predator of the blood. Even so, its love for its child remained unconditional, so it listened.

Otochi bowed with his face pressed to the stone, apologizing for his failure. The Great Labyrinth Sekai knew better than to believe those apologies. Enough of the event had unfolded in front of its awakened eye that it understood the situation. Back then, that mortal child had sacrificed a piece of his soul to the Great Labyrinth Sekai. That much had established a link between them. Briefly, it had even seen through the mortal’s eyes as it linked the entirety of its power to him. In those moments, it had retraced the mortal’s memories to see its own child’s movements, and to scrutinize his intent.

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Otochi’s impatience amused it. At first, he had attempted to kill the mortal. But instead of pursuing him himself, Otochi had reevaluated the situation and sent a test and a gift to the boy. Already, Otochi had released his piece of the generation out into the world, just as his kin had a decade prior. The Great Labyrinth could not comprehend the reasoning behind the early release. After so many millennia of existence, time itself meant nothing to it. But as Otochi was the youngest of its children, it seemed only fitting that his Harbinger would be the youngest of its kind in turn.

Already, the Harbingers began to assemble. That pleased the Great Labyrinth. The task of breaking its seals was monumental, and not one it felt strongly about one way or another, but it would make its children happy. The Great Labyrinth Sekai wished for their success, for that reason more than any other. Knowing that Otochi’s offspring held the means to summon it when the proper time came, it slipped back into its proper place in the world.

The knowledge of everything within itself returned again, a fitting trade for its fleeting consciousness. Before losing itself completely, it listened to its other children, spread across its veins. The other three pillars, still trapped below, begged the Great Labyrinth for its assistance. The dragons roared the loudest of its children, scraping at their prison with claw and flame. It longed to help them, but it knew better. They simply needed time.

Thankfully, the Endless Abyss was infinite. And inside every infinity existed a circle. What was once cast down, would inevitably rise again.

END OF BOOK ONE