The old man drank a glass of wine on the balcony of his home while watching the sunset over the ocean for one last time. It was still as beautiful as the day he and his wife had gone to this beach for the first time and decided to build a house here.

Well, it was almost as beautiful, since most of the light illuminating his surroundings didn't actually come from the sun, but rather from the opposite direction. From the "pillar", which disintegrated all organic matter it touches. Though by now, it would be more accurate to call it a wall.

Since the day the Origin touched the stone, this pillar had gradually increased its diameter. And even though it only increased by a few meters every day, it had by now reached even the farthest remaining land of the continent.

While the old man still tried to take in his last moments in this world, in which he lived for such an extraordinary long time, he was mentally already preparing his mind for the steps, which he'll have to take next. He was now finally ready to see his wife again, which had already died years ago due to old age.

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But before he could do that, he still had a mission to fulfill – one could say it was the most important mission in the world. Not that much still existed of it...

After he finished his glass of wine, he sighed and stood up to go into the old workshop of his wife. Although the sun had already set and the curtains were closed, the dusty room was still brightly illuminated by the pillar. There was a huge number of blueprints and magical artifacts scattered throughout the room, but he was there for another reason.

He stripped off all of his clothes in preparation to put on the most specialized suit of armor. It was completely useless in most battles, but that was never its intended purpose anyway. It was the absolute pinnacle of science, on which his wife worked all her lives to perfect it. It was the sole reason everything in the world ever existed, and it was the crucial piece to finishing the self-imposed Trial.

It was the proof in the beginning – and it will be the question in the end.

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After he finished preparing mentally and physically, the old man finally stepped fully armored in front of the pillar.

Then, after taking a last deep breath, he stepped forwards and vanished into the white void.