A day after Zeref found the wolf cub — little Fenrir, who was now sleeping peacefully beside his bed at the inn.
But something strange happened.
Without warning, a giant invisible hand emerged from the void and grabbed his body. He didn't even have time to react. The world around him blurred like ink dissolving in water, and before he realized it…
…Zeref was already standing in the middle of an endless white snow desert.
The cold wind bit into his skin, slicing across his face like a thin blade. Each step he took sank into the deep, frozen snow, producing a faint crack… crack… beneath his boots. The silence and unfamiliarity of this place felt as though it existed outside the logic of any world, as if this space had never existed within reality.
"Where… am I?" he muttered softly, his breath forming a white mist in the air.
And then, he saw him.
A few meters ahead, a boy stood tall — about the same age as him. His hair burned crimson red like fire dancing amidst a blizzard, and his eyes were sharp and wary. In his right hand, he held a black sword radiating a destructive aura — one so intense that it caused the snow around him to crack slightly.
They stared at each other in silence.
The air between them grew heavy — as if two immense powers had instinctively recognized and begun measuring one another.
Then, a familiar mechanical voice echoed inside Zeref's head.
[DING!]
📜 Special Mission: Two Reincarnators
Objective: Cooperate with the reincarnator before you to escape the Realm of Chaos.
Note: The boy before the host is from the world of Libra, a world that shares fundamental similarities with Megicula.
Zeref's eyes widened. Reincarnator? The world of Libra?
But the same reaction could be seen on the boy's face. He too had heard something similar.
[DING!]
📜 Special Mission: Two Reincarnators
Objective: Cooperate with the reincarnator before you to escape the Realm of Chaos.
Note: The boy before the host is from the world of Megicula, a world that shares fundamental similarities with Libra.
'So… it's not just me,' both of them thought almost at the same time.
They remained silent. Snow continued to fall from the gray sky, framing this encounter like a moment written by fate itself.
The red-haired boy was the first to speak.
"What's your name?"
Zeref looked at him and took a deep breath. "Zeref… Zeref Fernandez."
The boy's silver eyes narrowed slightly before he nodded. "I'm Arthur. Arthur Pendragon."
Arthur stared at Zeref for a few seconds before asking again, this time with curiosity,
"Where are you from… Europe or Asia?"
The question would have sounded strange to anyone from Libra or Megicula. But for the two of them, those words were not foreign at all — because they both came from the same place: Earth.
Zeref paused for a moment before answering flatly,
"Unfortunately, I don't remember much. What I do remember… is that I died from a stray bullet."
Arthur — or rather Arya, his original name before reincarnation — fell silent for a moment, as if carefully considering his next words, then spoke softly but honestly.
"I was once called Arya… from Indonesia, a country in Southeast Asia."
He took a deep breath and looked down at the snow beneath his feet. "I died in a ridiculously stupid way… hit by a runaway truck whose brakes had failed while I was crossing the street."
A brief silence followed before he continued, this time with a heavier tone.
"I don't know why… even though I've been living a new life in the world of Libra, part of me still can't forget my life on Earth. If you ever find a way back there…" Arya's eyes locked onto Zeref's. "Please tell me."
"Alright," Zeref replied calmly. "But to be honest… I'm not interested in going back."
Arya's expression showed a flicker of surprise.
"Not interested…? Why?"
Zeref shifted his gaze toward the gray sky above. "I don't remember anyone there. No faces, no names. Meanwhile, in this world… there are too many precious people who now fill my life. People who make me want to keep living and keep fighting."
The words came out calmly, but deep down Zeref knew that once, he had wanted to return to Earth — out of curiosity. Yet that desire had slowly faded over time. Megicula was no longer a foreign place — it was where those he now protected and loved lived.
Then suddenly, Zeref fell silent, as if recalling something.
"Arthur Pendragon…" he repeated softly, as though trying to process the reality unfolding before him.
That name might have been unfamiliar to the people of Megicula, but to him — a reincarnator from Earth — it was anything but unknown. He vaguely remembered his past life, especially an online game forum he used to frequent.
On that forum, players discussed two major projects created by the same developer — Satan_666. One was called Megicula Online, released exclusively for the Europe and America servers, and the other was Libra Chronicle, more popular among Asian players.
Zeref even remembered how heated the debates had been on that forum, with countless conspiracy theories claiming that both games were connected, complementing each other, and perhaps hiding a "secret story" that had never been revealed.
He had never known whether any of it was true or mere rumor. But now, looking at the boy standing before him… it all felt like the pieces were falling into place. The worlds of Megicula and Libra — perhaps they were not just games, but two sides of the same reality.
"Funny, isn't it…" Zeref murmured with a faint smile. "Back then, we were just ordinary players from the same world… and now we're standing here as part of the story itself."
Arthur raised an eyebrow slightly and chuckled. "Fate does have a strange sense of humor."
"I don't know what this mission means," Zeref continued, gazing at the white sky as snow continued to fall. "Or why we had to meet in a place like this. But if cooperation is the only way out—"
"—then we have no choice but to do it," Arthur interjected calmly. He then stepped forward and extended his hand. "At least until this mission is over."
Zeref stared at that hand for several seconds. There was a brief hesitation, but slowly he raised his own and accepted the gesture. Their handshake was firm — not just as temporary allies, but as two souls born from the same world, now bound by fate in another.
For the first time, both of them felt that this meeting was no coincidence.
It was a line of destiny written long before they were ever born.
Two different worlds. Two reincarnators from Earth.
And one single point of fate uniting them in this place.
Unbeknownst to them, from a crack in the white sky above, two pairs of divine eyes were watching them intently.
"Two pawns from the mortal world have finally met…"
"The real game… has only just begun."