Chapter 1416: Chapter 1249: Decisive Niu Niu and the Ultimate Mission (Part 3)
"Huh?"
"Although you are root remnants as well, you only inherited the power and not the memories, so you don’t really identify with your identity. I am different from you.
Even though I am a root remnant, I wasn’t ’left over’ from the past to the present; instead, I first traveled from the present back to the past. It was only after accepting my identity that I ultimately became No. 1."
"?????"
"Didn’t understand, did you?"
Glancing at the raven who, with Leon’s "departure," had finally taken the last step and started emitting the aura of a "tribesman," Fredri sighed slightly and lowered her gaze to explain:
"The place where I truly became a root remnant isn’t actually in the distant past but in the sanctuary of humanity’s hope.
When I, the ’final saintess,’ completed the ritual and drove a knife into my own heart in the sanctuary, my will followed the traces left in time by countless previous saintesses, bringing me back to an unimaginably distant past, to a time before the tribesmen were torn apart by time."
What?!!!
Upon hearing this, Yue the Donkey could not help but hiss and then asked:
"So you... are you controlled by them after going back to the past? Or did you sign some special contract requiring you to agree to complete the ultimate mission before returning?"
"No."
After giving Yue the Donkey, who was thoroughly confused, a glance, Fredri shook her head and said:
"My will crossed over such a long timespan that any notion of control, contract, or commitment lost all significance in the face of such an overwhelming duration. Thus, they didn’t attempt to control me but chose the only means through which I would willingly complete the ultimate mission."
"What means?"
"Companionship."
"Huh????"
After closing her eyes slightly, Fredri spoke with an indifferent expression:
"To perform the ultimate mission, one must merge the roots of all worlds into one, which essentially means to destroy everything I knew in exchange for a group of completely unfamiliar people to awaken anew. If it were just that, I would never do it.
But when I returned to that unimaginably distant past, they didn’t use any other means to try to control me; instead, they accepted me as one of their own, treating me as the simplest and most ordinary tribesman, living endless years alongside me.
The timespan was so vast that I almost forgot who I was, engulfing the short decade of my past life completely, making me truly believe I was one of them.
It was long enough that they even accepted me, long enough for them to regret their initial decision, thinking it too cruel to let me return and complete the ultimate mission. One by one, they came to me voluntarily, advising me that if I ever return to the future, I should abandon the idea of awakening them.
However, just as I, due to their regret and persuasion, completely let go of my inner barriers and truly regarded them as my tribesmen, my will completed the ritual, once again spanning the unimaginable length of time to return to the sanctuary, to the moment I plunged the knife into my heart.
When I once again emerged from the sanctuary and washed away the bloodstains on my heart in the river, every part of me recovered everything that had been taken away, but at the same time, everything I had was utterly lost. I am still me, yet I feel as though I am no longer myself... No. 2, I ask you."
Facing Yue the Donkey, who was already stunned, Fredri softly asked:
"If you were me, would you become the Fredri who recovered everything, or would you become No. 1, who lost everything again and only had the ultimate mission left?"
