"So, Loki—what exactly do you need me to do?"
Astraea took a deep breath and picked up the silver ring from the table. She had accepted Loki's invitation.
Whether for her children or for this world itself, joining in was the best choice she could make.
No matter how one looked at it, the world's trajectory had already started to bend—warped by the influence of another world.
And after witnessing how this world had begun to absorb the essence of that foreign power, Astraea was now certain that what Loki had seen was real.
"I need you and your Familia to fully support Tsuna."
"He's bound to become the center of the world's transformation—to be the one who tilts its balance. That much is already clear from the power he holds."
"At the very least, compared to the child who's destined to become a Hero in the future, I believe Tsuna is far more qualified."
"In both potential and strength."
Astraea couldn't tell whether Loki was exaggerating, but she couldn't deny what she'd witnessed.
That boy had saved her children effortlessly, even though his own level wasn't enough to match theirs. Not even Adventurers stronger than them could've pulled that off.
That power of his—it was unique, something only he possessed.
And that alone meant he had the potential to leap across levels with ease, standing toe-to-toe against enemies far beyond him.
Even so, Astraea found her attention caught on a single word Loki had said earlier—"future."
She frowned slightly. "You said 'future'? So, you've seen the Egg of the Future?"
Loki shook her head.
"What if I told you that everything I know about the 'future' actually comes from what Tsuna knows?"
"What he… knows?"
Astraea blinked, then realization dawned.
"You mean… fragments of this world's future have been reflected in another world? That's why the boy can see what's to come?"
"Something like the divine tales of universal world resonance…"
"The world's future has become a story passed down in another world."
Loki nodded lightly—but then she added something that made Astraea tense.
"Astraea, what happens when a world approaches its end?"
"It stops changing."
The answer came almost automatically.
Then Astraea froze. Her face stiffened as the meaning hit her.
"So… that wasn't just a glimpse of the future—it was a vision of a world already doomed to end?"
The closer a world drew to its demise, the more fixed its path became.
That destruction brought forth stagnation—a state of "unchanging."
Once the script of the world's fate was written, no matter how events unfolded, there would only be one ending: destruction.
When a world reached that point, it stopped changing entirely. That was the law of all worlds.
But now, with the intrusion of another world, change had returned—and that meant this world had already been locked in a state of "unchanging" before.
Cold sweat began to bead on Astraea's forehead.
"A world locked into an 'unchanging' script… that's a path that leads only to ruin."
"So the future that child saw—it was that inevitable conclusion?"
Loki nodded slightly. That was exactly what she meant.
An unchanging future could only lead to destruction—because destruction was the one constant that never changed.
To create life, to give hope, the world needed change. Countless variables had to alter its course, steering it away from the scripted end.
Only then could it escape the road to ruin and head toward a new, ever-shifting future.
Change was life itself.
"An 'unchanging' future is destined for destruction. Only a 'changing' future can hold hope."
"I think the same goes for Tsuna's original world."
"That's why he and I meeting—it was fate."
For a world that had already started to solidify into "unchanging," Loki's encounter with that boy had truly been destined.
"I see now."
Astraea finally understood everything.
Sure, Loki had her own selfish reasons for pulling her in—but what she said was true.
The "unchanging" future of this world had begun to shift. And that was a chance they couldn't waste.
Still, there was one word Loki had used that lingered in Astraea's mind—"Hero."
"And the child you mentioned—the one destined to become a Hero?"
"The orphan left behind by the Hera and Zeus Familia."
Loki didn't hesitate to answer. Astraea didn't seem too surprised.
"So, they haven't given up yet?"
"I thought their last failure would've made them face reality."
Loki made a face.
"If they could give up, they wouldn't be Hera and Zeus."
"I've always suspected their sudden retreat from the Labyrinth City wasn't out of despair—it was intentional. They wanted to preserve the spark of the future."
"Still, they probably don't know about the 'unchanging' world. Otherwise, they wouldn't have chosen that path."
If Hera and Zeus had known that the world's fate had already been set in stone, they might never have bothered to raise another so-called Hero.
But Loki doubted anyone knew. Everything had been unfolding exactly as the world's "script" dictated.
Without someone from outside the system to reveal that destiny, no one would ever realize how wrong it all was.
And that supposed "reason" everyone lived by—that was the real illusion.
Which was why Loki had no particular interest in that child destined to become a Hero.
Now that Tsuna had injected "change" into this world, its once-fixed future had begun to bend.
Naturally, even that future Hero's fate could now shift with it.
Loki smirked. She seriously doubted that her little shorty would ever cross paths with that so-called destined Hero.
"There's no need to worry about the future. My Tsuna is the present."
Her smug grin was impossible to miss.
Astraea couldn't help rolling her eyes. "You're insufferable sometimes, you know that?"
Still, she couldn't deny her curiosity.
"Loki, the one who'll take in that 'Hero child'—who is it?"
Loki paused for a moment… then finally said the name.
"Hestia."
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Extra chapter