Sayan smiled once more.
"You helped her escape her hellish life. So now, I will do my best to survive—but I want you to kill me. I believe the amount of sin I've committed should be enough to grant me a painful death. Come," Sayan said loudly, his eyes glowing and a fragile smile in his lip.
Sayan drew a magic circle around his body. The circle enveloped him in a bright purple light. A few seconds later, the light dissipated, revealing Sayan clad in red armor that covered his entire body except his face.
He drew a medium-sized red katana and flew toward Raizel.
The two clashed with tremendous force. Due to Sayan's overwhelming speed, Raizel was forced to step back to avoid being blitzed.
Raizel flew a short distance away and sent a flying slash toward Sayan. Sayan easily dodged it and countered with a flaming slash of his own. The flaming slash was so powerful that it cut through a massive portion of the world, as large as an entire realm. Raizel narrowly avoided it by teleporting a short distance away.
Raizel enhanced his body with an insane amount of magic power. The flow of energy surged to an incredible level, enveloping his entire being.
He flew toward Sayan at such speed that Sayan completely failed to detect his presence. Raizel swung his sword at Sayan.
Sayan barely dodged, but the sword sliced off his left hand.
Before Sayan could heal himself, Raizel stabbed him through the heart. Fresh blood poured from Sayan's chest and mouth. His armor shattered and fell away.
His body turned to ashes due to the effect of Raizel's sword. His soul left his body and ascended toward the sky.
As his soul departed, he spoke softly, a smile on his face.
"So it's you once again. After my sister, you've helped me as well. But I ask you to do something—please try to learn about yourself. Try to find your true self. Please, I beg you," Sayan said. His voice was broken, yet he was smiling and trying to speak loudly. It revealed a resemblance to Shiroy, his beloved sister.
"I will always be grateful to you. I will always remember you. I will always…" These were Sayan Asiara's last words.
His soul completely disappeared.
Raizel kept staring as Sayan departed from the world. Raizel was expressionless—no smile on his face, no anger, nothing at all. A gentle breeze blew through, tossing Raizel's hair and revealing his lonely face.
"Learn about myself?" Raizel muttered curiously.
"I don't know why, but both of them seem so familiar," Raizel said, still curious and desperate.
As soon as Jiyon's soul left the world, his magic circle disappeared as well. Thus, the entire Desert World was about to be destroyed. However, another magic circle enveloped the world once more.
It was Raizel all along.
"I only care about my orders, but since it was your burden to keep the world intact, I will help you fulfill it, Jiyon," Raizel said calmly.
Every part of the world returned to its original form, and the Desert World was restored to its actual state once again.
This marked the ultimate end of the Desert World. After the death of every single dragon there, the Desert World became a lifeless realm, devoid of inhabitants and any presence.
After that, Raizel drew a purple magic circle and teleported away in a flash of lightning.
The Cursed World fell silent, once and for all.
In a street of Zeldia, Raizel appeared with a flash of light.
It was already evening. The moon had yet to rise, but the electric lights around the city illuminated the entire area.
"Even though the sun has disappeared, I can still see a bright world—is this the power of mortals? Can they challenge the laws of the world itself? I'm curious," Raizel thought to himself.
After walking for some time, Raizel reached his home.
Having accomplished what he had set out to do, he slept soundly that night. However, an actual disaster was about to emerge soon enough.
As night faded and the sun rose, its light shone across the realm.
The sunlight woke Raizel from his sleep.
After returning to his room following a shower, he sensed someone in his room—no, not just someone, but multiple people.
As soon as he entered, he found Aizis, Marco, and Maria there. Each of them was dressed casually instead of their usual academy outfits.
Raizel seemed slightly surprised by their sudden presence.
"You guys? Why?" Raizel asked with a hint of curiosity.
"Aren't we allowed to be here?" Maria retorted quickly, her tone sharp.
"Maria, don't say another word," Aizis warned, her voice firm.
Maria fell silent.
"Well then, I wonder where you disappeared to yesterday. I tried to detect your magic presence but failed after multiple attempts. What took you out of reach?" Aizis asked.
"I was in a different world for some reason. I'd prefer it if you didn't ask for details," Raizel replied tersely.
"I won't. Is it necessary to?" Aizis said with a mysterious smile.
"I'm well aware of your nature. It's not the first time you've vanished suddenly," he added.
Raizel didn't respond.
"I don't know why, but it feels like you two have known each other for a long time. How much can a 17-year-old boy understand another 17-year-old boy?" Marco asked.
"Well, I understand him well enough. If you believe it's necessary for you to know, wait a bit longer. You'll understand everything in time," Aizis replied.
"You still haven't told me why you've come here so suddenly," Raizel said.
"My apologies. The upper elders received a message from the rulers. For a certain reason, they want to use the Zeldia World as a sacrifice for the Great Awakening," Aizis explained. "For the upcoming 7th Ultimate War between the other supreme realms, they want to trigger the Great Awakening."
"The 7th Ultimate War and the Great Awakening? Am I too late?" Raizel thought to himself.
"I still don't understand this Great Awakening thing," Marco said, his curiosity evident.
"The Great Awakening is a magical power enhancement technique that elevates every ruler's magic power to an insane level. Some of them become so strong that they reach a point where their teamwork is enough to defeat a Supreme Ruler. To achieve this, they must show loyalty to a certain unknown entity, which grants them the enhancement. To prove their loyalty, the rulers sacrifice a world—and this time, they've chosen ours," Aizis explained.
"It looks like it's time to visit the Secretive World," Raizel said.
Both Marco and Maria were taken aback.
"Secretive World? What's that?" Maria asked.
"One of the worlds that exist above our hierarchical multiverses. It's a realm beyond the comprehension of common mortals, transcending their sense and concept," Aizis said. "The hierarchy of worlds exists within a single universe.''
''Every universe in the multiverse exist beyond dimensional comprehension. The countless universes within each multiverse, and the hierarchy of infinite multiverses, are mere fiction to the Secretive World." he added.
"A single space-box contains all of this within the Secretive World. However, that's not the end. The Secretive World visibly holds an infinite number of bubbles. Within each bubble, countless space-boxes exist in a hierarchy, though they're invisible from the outside. Each one transcends the one below it at an infinite rate. The endless universes, multiverses, space-boxes, and bubbles make the lower worlds seem insignificant to the rulers," Raizel added.
"However, it's a tremendous price for regular mortals to pay. The world is everything to them. They can't let it be taken away so easily. You can destroy a page of a story effortlessly, but you can never destroy a world full of innocent mortals so carelessly—unless you're utterly heartless," Aizis said slowly and calmly.
Aizis narrowed her eyes as he stared at Raizel.
"Well then, it's an emergency to settle this matter with the rulers. I don't think we have time to sit around idly," Aizis said, his voice rising slightly.
Since there was a week-long vacation after the recent events, they decided to visit the Secretive World that afternoon.
By afternoon, the sun was nearly gone, its faint light barely illuminating the world as it prepared to set.
Everyone gathered in front of the academy, each dressed in unique outfits.
Maria wore a long gown adorned with the artwork of a red dragon on the front—identical to the outfit worn by Shiory, the Princess of the Blessed World.
Raizel began to sweat as he looked at Maria.
But another surprise awaited him. Marco's outfit—a dark-red coat with countless blood-red shreds on the front—was exactly like Jiyon's.
Raizel stared at both of them for a moment, stunned.
"I know, Raizel. I know it surprised you. But what shook you so deeply? It was me who asked them to wear these outfits," Aizis said.
"How do you know…?" Raizel trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.
"Does it matter? You still can't shake the question from your mind, can you? Now that you've seen these outfits again, it's stirred your memories once more," Aizis said, a mysterious smile playing on his lips.