Infori slowly opened his eyes, seeing only a bright line of light that contrasted sharply with the darkness around him. He realized he was lying down, and at that moment, he decided to get up until he was fully standing.
Finally, he realized he was standing on a long, transparent path that stretched to the point where the end was completely invisible, with its sides lined only by the line of light he had just seen.
Infori's eyes widened again, his mouth closed, but he didn't hide his confusion.
"..."
Then, Infori's eyes looked in all directions, just to confirm that he was in a silent, endless void. He also saw paths that clearly resembled the one Infori was on, the number of which he couldn't even count.
Because these paths stretched so long that they seemed to be part of the void itself.
These paths were either straight or geometric, but one thing was certain. Several paths led to a single point in every place: a floating archway.
Infori questioned. (What is this place? How did I get here?)
He briefly thought about the incident where he was thrown into a portal created by a mysterious man who wanted their rare artifact, the Blades of Mirage, in his bag—but before he could think further...
"Everyone here is nobody. Including you." A familiar voice suddenly sounded, quietly creeping into his ear. The tone was the same, but the intonation was much calmer than his own in this place.
Infori immediately turned around, turning his body completely back. Finally, his eyes and mouth opened wide, his gaze fixed on a very familiar figure.
A man with brown hair, wearing a buttoned blue shirt. He wore a toolbox tied to his waist. He wore long gray pants and leather shoes with laces.
There was even a holder on the left side of his belt for a sword, but now it was completely gone.
Yes, a very familiar figure.
"You...!" Infori immediately pointed at the man.
"You should no longer exist; your physical form is connected to this physical and non-physical realm."
Infori could only stare in shock at himself, standing in a position even more composed than himself. It was then that Infori finally gave up his silence and spoke.
"What do you mean?" Infori asked, but he immediately questioned the being before him. "Who are you? Why do you look like..."
Before he could finish his sentence, he immediately answered Infori. "I am you... And you are me. We are the same, without any significant differences," he then walked toward Infori, telling her who they truly were, or perhaps something... "only fate, soul, mind, and heart. However, that is not a striking difference."
He then stopped right in front of her, and no matter how you looked, his form was exactly the same as Infori. The two of them finally met their gazes.
"..."
Before finally, his other self walked past him.
"You were able to come here because you were blown away by the magical power released by that mysterious man." he said, stating the facts because that's exactly what happened to Infori. "You transcended space and time, until you finally reached a point where emptiness was your only companion."
"What have you been talking about all this time? Tell me, where am I now?" Infori asked, his voice rising at the end of his sentence.
His other self spoke in a very, very calm tone.
"Your only choice now is to be calm. A distracted mind can make you sink into a emptiness that will deepen without you realizing it."
"You didn't answer my question at all: who are you? Besides, what is this place?"
"This is the Pathways of World," he replied, without further ado. "This place serves as a bridge between the physical and the nonphysical, connecting all the destinies of living beings in the two worlds—the paths that exist are the paths of destiny for all beings."
"Pathways of destiny...?" Infori said softly.
"Yes," he confirmed. "The path you are currently on is your own path of destiny. You are standing directly on your destiny, which means that your destiny will not change from what lies at the end of this path." He stared ahead at Infori's path of destiny, which had no end, as Infori himself saw.
"But, it has no end." He said, then looked up and pointed to one of the arched doors above them. "Then, what does that door mean?"
He also looked up and answered. "That arched door serves as the end of the path of destiny."
"The end of the path of destiny..." The understanding Infori thought about this for a moment, re-examining the words coming from his other self. Until finally, he discovered something odd. "Wait a minute, my path still doesn't have a door. That means..."
His other self turned towards Infori, his gaze now conveying something more painful than it seemed. Infori had just reached a conclusion, but on the other hand, he himself didn't know whether that conclusion was good or bad.
So, his own self spoke. "You still don't have an end to your destiny; you can still choose your destiny," then, he walked back past Infori. "But unfortunately, branching paths are never allowed in the Pathways of the World."
"Branching paths?"
"Every destiny here will inevitably meet its end at some point. However, sometimes the end of that destiny has a branching path. And that is what will create an ambiguity in the creature's existence and destiny, potentially disrupting the balance of destiny in this dimension."
"..." Infori thought for a moment before speaking, "What causes a branching path?"
"A branching path can occur when one or more destinies suddenly appear within the main destiny, causing a clash between them."
Silence enveloped Infori once again. Then, his other self spoke again—quietly, but striking Infori's consciousness. He stared into Infori's eyes.
"That's who you are now."
"...?!" Infori was shocked upon hearing this. "W-What...?"
The silence lingered in the midst of confusion, before being broken by his other self.
"Just a shopkeeper," his other self slowly walked past Infori again, "a Believer," his tone still at the point of calm, yet somehow menacing. "And also the guardian of a Seraphim..."
All these questions pierced Infori's mind, which he had left open, and that was a fatal mistake.
Because every time his other self spoke at this moment, it made his thoughts even more complicated than before. "What...? What are you really talking about? Who are you really?"
Infori, doubting that the person in front of him was himself, questioned him again. However, his other self only gave him what he saw.
"Wrong. The real question is..." silence suddenly fell.
"Who are you really, Infori Atziluth?"
"...?!"
"You are one of those who possess more branches of destiny than the others, who are you really?" he asked again.
Now the situation was reversed, his other self began to question who Infori really was—instead of Infori asking him. This made Infori even more confused.
"..."