Time is an unstoppable force that continues running without a pause. It wasn't a different truth during the past few days. Following the flow of time, Marco began to be more friendly with the retainers. He became the person to listen to their agony, their sadness, and the past they want to forget yet couldn't. Marco was giving his attempts to be a part of their sadness, comforting them in every possible way he could. The process wasn't much long. In a matter of weeks, Marco became the person that the retainers trust the most, became the very commander of the army and the person who rules over the retainers' souls, their destiny, and everything they have. At the point where they're ready to give up everything just for Marco and Marco all along. But the question is, what actually changed them to this? Are they now obsessed with Marco, or is it something that Marco is going along with? What could be the very reason for them to follow Marco in a way like this? Let's figure this out.
"I'm confused, I'm wondering, I keep thinking, I can't decide. I don't know what's the righteous destiny to be chosen; I don't know." Someone whispered. It was a familiar figure, a figure with deep red hair and eyes. A figure with a sleepy gaze looking upward to the sky while keeping himself lying down there.
It was in the city of the retainers. On the top of the largest castle, the castle belonging to none but the Absolute Spirit and the commander. The flashing tall castle that's smiling ahead toward the city. While the moon made a full appearance in the sky, the city wasn't really active like Zeldia used to be on a full moon. For some moments, it felt like a dead city with vampires lurking all around to consume the dead figures' blood.
The stranger figure slowly sat up from his position and held his face with both of his hands casually. Then he pressed his face strongly and began to tremble. He was trying to keep his eyes strong while they were trembling unstoppably. His entire figure was panicking out of an unknown reason. Then he spoke to himself while trembling, "I'm just asking, I'm just asking a little question. So why, so why can't you let me calm down? Why can't you give me the answer to this little question?"
"The answer belongs to you and your decision." A figure spoke as soon as he appeared in front of the red-haired figure. It was Arfanez with his blonde hair along with a long coat and jacket.
As the red-haired figure removed his hands from his face and shifted his gaze upon Arfanez, the red-haired figure appeared to be Marco.
"What could be the very meaning belonging to your sentence? I would love to figure it out." Marco replied.
Arfanez laughed casually and put his right hand upon Marco's shoulder as Marco kept staring at him with a bit of surprise lurking around his face.
"People desire to meet the past they've passed by, and want to achieve the untouchable future lurking in front of their eyes. It's nothing but their intrusive thoughts that keep bothering them, making them desperate for the very time they've lost, and the time waiting for them. They never value the time standing alongside them; it's not in their nature to do so." Arfanez spoke casually as he was still smiling indifferently.
Then he took a break by lowering his gaze and closing his eyes. Arfanez lifted his gaze once again upward to Marco and said with a smile, "It's your turn to figure out the righteous one. Your heart will always keep asking you to taste the unknown standing in front of you. It's like a gamble, a gamble to choose the righteous way of salvation."
Arfanez's smile, along with his entire figure, slowly began to disappear from there. While Marco's sight was fixed upon Arfanez and his smile, trying to understand the sentences he left behind.
After keeping his expression frozen for a little while, Marco suddenly burst into laughter. Then he shouted, "Is it really my standard to be hanging on some pathetically obvious decision such as this? If they call me the faceless, then my gambling choice could never leave a scratch on my soul. I will definitely follow the very choice I've made, without keeping even the smallest piece of doubt on it."
His face returned to the shape of a cheerful person without any trace of sadness. The smile he always wielded began to return.
"Somehow, Maria was right. I'm just too stupid to be consistent; I'm just too weak to stand as a barrier. I could never stand on the point I've decided to, which is why I'm weak and always stand behind them." Marco spoke to himself once again. In front of his eyes, multiple figures began to run ahead of him from behind. At first, it was Aizis who smiled at him a little. Then Raizel showed up from behind and narrowly glared at Marco to offer a smile afterward. As for the 3rd person, it was a blonde-haired girl whose face was blurry in Marco's gaze. The blonde-haired girl smiled at him gently and ran ahead toward the light and vanished along with the rest. And then, a deep blue-haired figure with another blurry face appeared in front of Marco from behind. Without looking at Marco, he stepped ahead straight forward to the light. And at last, it was me who appeared in front of Marco and spoke to him with a smile, "You want to fall behind again? Don't just stand there, fool. Go ahead and chase the light, just like everyone."
While smiling at Marco, my figure slowly disappeared as I was getting closer to the light and being absorbed into it.
Several nights slowly passed since then. In a matter of time, the very day of judgement came as Raizel, Aizis, Elesia, and I showed up in the realm belonging to the Absolute Spirit. It was almost a gamble-like decision for us to take on the entire army of the retainers along with Marco and Arfanez. However, we were holding the belief for victory; we were holding the very will for victory. Which is why we were confident with bright smiles on our faces, more confident than ever.
Both sides gathered in a huge, flat desert. The Absolute Spirit's realm was infinite in size while having an extra layer above the main land. It was like a glass barrier that was holding an infinite amount of golden fragments. Each of the fragments held infinite 6th layers with totally different futures and timelines.
The 5th layer isn't necessarily a single layer that exists as a whole lower plane of existence from the 5th. It's merely a single fragment from the 5th layer that's holding the 6th layer and infinite possible layers going down endlessly. The first 6 layers of stories hold a bit different structure from the rest. While from the 7th to infinite possible layers keep expanding without a conclusion within the infinite amount of mortals' imagination in each layer, the 6th and the upper layers hold fragments that hold the stories and imagination of the ones belonging to the layer.
From the 7th to infinite lower layers, it's all up to the mortals' imagination. If you're an entity of the 7th layer, then your imagination will create an 8th layer. Then the characters of your story will have their own imagination to create their independent 9th layer. Similarly, the layers expanded to infinite layers and keep expanding endlessly. Stories are created in the consciousness of the ones they belong to and without their consciousness. Even a newborn baby will create infinite stories with infinite paths of layers, even without their consciousness. Among the 6th to upper layers, one's story will automatically create a fragment of story and layers with their consciousness and without. While for the lower layers, you'll exist as a fiction without a physical aspect.
The beings from the 8th to lower layers are described as "characters". While from the 7th layer to the 5th layer, they're known as the "living mortals". As for the 4th and above toward ???, they're known as the sacred beings.
The story fragments were shining above us, untouchable as they seemed to be. While on the land, it was about the showdown of chaos, and the one to dominate with their ideals.