The hex echoed.
[Your light shines brighter]
[You have perceived the light which sees the heart]
[You have obtained a title]
[Your light is blossoming]
[You have obtained the title: Heartfelt Light]
[You have awakened an authority]
[Authority of True Light]
I felt my body change drastically. Aen rushed through me, my senses becoming sharper than ever. That was when I noticed it—a far more dreadful presence approaching. I couldn't breathe, let alone speak.
Rion stepped beside me. "Show me if you're truly worth it."
He handed a sword to me just as the presence came into view.
Something incomprehensible appeared beside the noble kid. The kid looked up—not in fear, but as if he knew what it was. The sadness in his eyes made my heart ache. He stood up and grabbed the being's hand.
He dissolved into it, slowly forming into a mature young man. The striking features made me realize: it had absorbed him. That green hair and lilac-colored eyes made me flinch.
There was no sorrow. Just pure hatred.
Instantly, all the people in the town were turned into glass-like statues.
Alina's face was filled with fear. But then I noticed something—the energy flowing on her blade was eerily similar to the one surrounding the being.
The hex echoed:
[A task has appeared]
[Kill the Guardian]
[Reward: ???]
As soon as I saw the final rune, I knew what it was.
The Guardian of the Echoing Vestige.
One thing still haunted me, though—the timeline that counted for me hadn't moved since my synchronization hit fifty percent. Why? How?
I had no time to ponder further. Alina lunged forward, her blade swift and deadly.
The Guardian vanished—reappearing behind me.
A strange sword materialized in his hand and pierced toward me.
Shit.
Before it could reach me, the cloak moved on its own, forming a sturdy shield. The forgotten dagger and cleaver shot toward him, guided by my will.
When his sword struck the shield, the force sent me flying. He deflected the airborne blades with a haunting, fluid grace.
The weapons returned to my side, trembling in the air.
Controlling them while fighting drained me fast. My aen was dropping drastically.
I had only one option left.
My aen swirled, converging into my blade as I unsheathed it.
[Divine Light]
A piercing glow erupted from beneath my skin, searing the air.
[Authority of True Light]
I stepped forward—body failing, vision blurred. The Guardian raised his weapon.
I raised mine.
The moment the blade moved, everything bent. The very air warped. A silence washed over the battlefield.
Then came the blast.
A beam of radiant destruction cleaved through space—light that didn't just blind, it burned truth into reality.
My knees buckled. My body cracked. The light I unleashed tore into the Guardian's form. His shell shattered, but he reformed again.
The world blurred. Blood fell from my nose.
But the light didn't stop.
It kept going… until finally, I fell.
The sound of voices trying to reach me echoed, but they were all in vain.
I felt cold…
Like death was near me.
***
The sound of voices trying to reach me echoed—but they were all in vain. I felt cold… like death was near me.
Then I opened my eyes.
I was no longer there.
Moonlight poured over the endless sea, soft and silver, yet distant—too distant. Somehow, I had entered the gate. But how?
And then I saw him.
The boy.
The noble one. He stood at the edge of the sea, staring into the water as if trying to drown something only he could see. His eyes turned to me—burning with both fury and sorrow.
"Why did you choose that path?" he asked. "Why did you let millions of innocent people die? Why did you follow the Guardian?"
The world shifted.
Gone was the sea. Now I stood in a field of dandelions and lilacs, their soft fragrance twisted by the tension in the air.
"You call them people," the boy said coldly, picking a dandelion. "They were parasites. They leeched off my father until his dying breath. They led him to his death—and even then, they wanted more."
He crushed the flower in his hand.
"And yet…" His voice trembled. "Why did he still smile in the end?"
He dropped the crushed petals. His gaze sharpened, darkened.
"This timeline is falling apart anyway," he said. "So before it ends—I'll kill you myself."