"Why does this pose seem familiar to me?" Marco thought to himself.
"Geez, I'm overthinking," he added to his thoughts, holding his entire face tightly for some moments.
"Renric Rayasi, I've wanted to visit your realm by myself even without any sort of invitation. But it seems like it's no longer necessary," Raizel replied.
"It's an honor for me to have the strongest supreme ruler in my realm," Renric spoke up as he smiled a bit afterward.
"I was expecting you to be by my side one more time. I believe you won't disappoint me," Raizel replied gently, putting his gentle gaze toward Narel.
Renric smiled a bit and glared toward Raizel with a bit of intention, as it appeared in his expression.
"It looks like the old me can't be with you again," Narel spoke up.
"Somehow, the old me wanted to change—wanted to follow a different path now. And so, I've done this," Renric added, glaring toward Raizel one more time, much denser and more intense.
Raizel kept staring at Renric for some moments.
"What's the reason behind your decision? Is there something I'm doing wrong?" Raizel asked.
"I just feel like the entire thing you're doing is wrong and always will be," Renric replied casually.
"You're just continuously pushing yourself into a war where you're just a piece of cake for everyone. What's the point of being your ally when I will face the same fate as you? Why should I be the victim? Why should I be with the weak and always be the one to be destroyed?"
"I've decided to be with the strong now—and always will be," Renric continued speaking slowly.
"I'm tired. I can't force myself anymore. I want to stop now," Renric concluded.
Aizis smiled toward Narel's words as he slowly walked a bit ahead toward him.
"You lost your faith so early? You lost your faith in the weak and righteous ones?"
Renric intentionally glared toward Aizis.
"I didn't lose it so early. It's been slowly destroying me—slowly and painfully. Ever since that time..." Renric spoke up, unable to complete his sentence.
A huge field with an endless storm of sand all around.
A young boy was sitting right beside a woman who was nearly at death's door, breathing heavily.
A unit of military appeared with a flash of light and shot the woman in the forehead, instantly killing her. Fresh blood scattered everywhere. The young boy's face was covered in the blood of the woman, his mother. the person he cared about most. The boy's appearance was innocent, calm and adorable and yet, there was a trace of sadness in his expression, he was scared and terrified.
"I've lost the person I admired the most. I've lost the person I loved. I've lost everyone slowly—just because I was weak and stood with the weak," Renric continued whispering. His whisper was clear, yet heavy and deep.
"I'm tired. I can't take it anymore. I can't afford to lose anything else. My last piece of memory—my realm, where I still feel the false presence of my mother—I can't afford to let it go."
"And so, I decided to become stronger—to put on a false mask of strength. I know what I'm doing is wrong, but... I'm tired," Renric concluded.
Aizis smiled a bit but didn't say anything, continuing to smile toward Renric.
"The person who used to be the strongest is in front of me right now, about to begin a battle against me. You might have been the strongest a long time ago, but time passed.
As of now, I've become stronger than you," Renric spoke up.
Suddenly, Renric felt a bit of pain in his chest and calmly placed his left hand over it.
"Did I feel pain? Or was it just some false imagination?" Renric thought to himself.
Renric drew a magic circle for flame magic. Strong and brimming magic filled the circle as it prepared to release a storm of flame.
Renric released the magic spell while pointing at Raizel's forehead with his index finger. The spell rushed toward Raizel at incredible speed.
Halfway there, the flame spell suddenly disappeared.
Raizel, preparing to defend with barrier magic, seemed surprised by the sudden disappearance of the spell. Renric also looked surprised.
Suddenly, Renric felt something empty. The strength in his body vanished, and he failed to remain standing. He was forced to sit on the ground.
Renric stared at someone pointing their index finger at him. It was none other than Maria.
"You... you did this," Renric spoke with a broken voice, completely exhausted. There was no trace of magic power in his body.
Maria remained completely silent and expressionless. After a long time, she smiled.
"I knew it. I knew the way you'd do everything, Renric Rayasi," Maria spoke.
She drew a mini magic circle, which released a small pistol into her right hand.
Maria pointed the pistol at Renric and instantly fired a bullet.
The bullet raced toward Renric and penetrated his forehead, dropping his body to the ground. His soul instantly left his body, or so it seemed.
"If you're tired, then take a break and wait for the time when your emptiness will be filled and you'll shine like you used to," Maria thought to herself.
She smiled once more, turning her gaze away from Renric's lifeless body.
"I know you guys are wondering how I managed to do this, right? I will explain everything," Maria said to the other three, who stood calmly without saying a word.
"Everything that happened was completely anticipated by me yesterday," Maria began her explanation calmly, showing no expression.
"When I learned that he invited us to visit his realm, something bothered me. I wanted to be more careful."
"Right afterward, I created these magic glasses—a magical tool that can detect the exact mana core of a being. That's why I wore them, just to wait for the moment when I could detect his mana core and disable it with my own magic spell—and I did."
"Which left him completely powerless. Then I did what I was supposed to do from the beginning," Maria concluded.
Maria took a breath and stared at the sky.
"I believe it's something better for him—a break, which is what he was seeking," she added.
None of the other three replied. They just kept listening. Aizis offered a smile after a few moments.
The other two didn't show any expression—they didn't want to.
Some snowflakes began to fall from the sky, like a light snowfall. As the snowflakes began to fall, Maria lift up her lift hand and gently glare toward the sky.
The flakes slowly covered the entire realm beneath a layer of white snow.
As it was already night, the moon tried to show its face yet failed, hidden by the snowfall.
Still, it tried and tried, until the night was over.
Later, the four of them returned to Zeldia.
Night passed, and so a new day came—with a new sight.
However, wasn't there a tale? A hidden tale in the realm? Was there? Let's see if there was a tale or not.