From a bit away, Marco flew toward Maria, staring at her while flying. Marco spoke up as soon as he got in front of Maria. "Was that surprising or not? I wonder." Marco said.
"I will let you find the answer." Maria replied as she flew away right afterward.
"I was expecting an opponent who wanted to fight with everything he had, as a true warrior but…" Marco spoke up, staring at Kieren's dead body.
As Maria noticed Marco's sentence, she narrowly stared back at him and spoke. "I'm afraid, you can hardly ever find someone as great as the great devil." Maria replied, following Marco's sentence.
"Could be. After all, he was my greatest opponent ever, and the false comrade who was meant to be a devil from the beginning." Marco replied. Traces of hidden mysteries appeared in his voice.
Maria smiled as a reply and returned back on her way, flying away from there.
Several hundred meters away, Aizis and Silas were fighting each others. Their magic power creating effective presence around them.
As a magic user with countless types of weapons in his pocket magic dimension, Aizis kept sending magic swords toward Silas, who kept dodging them to get close to Aizis. However, the immense number of magic swords was too much for Silas to dodge and close in, forcing him to step back.
A golden sword flew toward Silas's face. Silas barely dodged the sword but it left a mark on his face, a wound caused by the golden blade.
Silas screamed a bit out of the pain. "It's so painful, why?" Silas spoke up.
"It seems like no poison ever touched you, it's the first time for you." Aizis said.
"So it was a poisonous sword, no wonder it hurts." Silas replied.
"Indeed it is. I feel like it's a one-sided massacre from me, so how about we make it fair, fair in a battle of sword skills?" Aizis said.
Aizis dismissed every magic circle around except a single one. He brought out a purple glowing magic sword from the remaining circle, covered with pure magic power.
"Let's see if I'm really skilled with swords or not, it will be fun." Aizis said.
Aizis flew toward Silas. He swung his sword toward Silas's neck but it was blocked by Silas's own weapon as he barely defended himself. They clashed multiple times. With his immense magic power, Aizis continuously forced back Silas. As for Silas, it was only a matter of time before he would be demolished by Aizis's strikes.
Finally, a strike hit Silas's sword and broke it down, landing on his chest. The strike caused a fatal wound.
He barely kept standing as fresh blood kept flowing out of his body at an intense speed. He applied blue flame magic that was supposed to heal his wound but it was useless as his wound remained fatal. Shocked, he kept trying to heal himself with healing flames but it was useless every time.
Aizis smiled a bit and stepped forward to Silas. He raised his voice, "I didn't use my sword without knowing the capability of yours, I'm well aware." Aizis said, smiling.
"This sword is capable of destroying any immortal individual without exception, you are no special to survive. Not even your healing magic can help you survive this sword of mine." Aizis added, smiled afterward.
Aizis slowly stepped away from Silas and flew off after a moment. While Silas kept trying to heal his deadly wounds, he kept losing blood. The blood loss slowly dragged him to the conclusion, forcing him to meet his demise.
On the other hand, it was Raizel and Arnes who were continuously clashing with each other in the largest castle of the holy world. After clashing multiple times, they went back to their own position a bit away from each other.
"I never wanted to put a battle up against you, Arnes. You are my comrade, someone I do want to fight alongside but…" Raizel said, incomplete.
"If you intend to destroy the creation then I won't help with this, I will stop you." Raizel added.
"I was your comrade but… if the world can't value me and keep betraying me then the creation will lose meaning to me, I will destroy the creation to take revenge for my loved ones." Arnes muttered while glaring toward the ground.
"I will avenge the ones I lost by destroying everything, anything around the creation. They gave me meaning to my life, they let me be what i am, they let me survive and yet, i couldn't protect them, "Arnes whisper slowly. His eyes filled with storm of anger and desire, desire for destruction and revenge.
"I couldn't protect them but i will avenge them, right now and here, at any cost," Arnes shouted.
Huge amount of his magic power came out of Arnes's body. The wind around them began to flow wild as things around the castle began to shake. Arnes completely released his magic power and modified his entire body with magic power as it was brimming around his body.
Raizel kept his gaze down for some moments, listening to Arnes without saying a word.
"If that's the case then you leave me no choice." Raizel said while keeping his gaze down.
Some pieces of red chaotic flames began to appear around Raizel's skin. Slowly, they began to flow wild as Raizel's entire body was covered by his chaotic flame magic power.
Raizel rotated his left hand along with the sword around there. As he rotated his hand, a massive slash of blazing flames erupted from his hand, slashing the entire castle into pieces in the blink of an eye. The pure spark of flames not only cut the castle but also cleaved all the castles around the city into pieces. The erupted chaotic flames scattered all around the city, burning down everything in sight slowly into ashes.
The sudden presence of red chaotic flames and destructive strength surprised Arnes as he was staring at Raizel who was standing in front of him calmly. The ones from the outside were also surprised at the sudden presence of chaos. We could see the face of Maria who was staring at the king's castle while carrying a surprising expression on her face.
As Raizel began to float toward the sky, the entire holy world began to shake and create quakes around the entire world.
Maria created an extremely huge magic circle covering the entire world itself in a blue barrier. Using her magic power, she forcefully calmed down the shake.
"So that's the power of him. It's terrifying." Maria thought to herself.
"As expected from Raizel, he's excellent." Marco said as he was smiling a bit.
While in the King's castle, Raizel looked toward the blue magic barrier that covered the entire world. He smiled a bit and put his gaze back to Arnes.
"So that's one of your comrades. They're protective, unlike you." Arnes spoke up, glaring toward Raizel.
Arnes flew toward Raizel with great speed as he pointed his sword toward Raizel's chest. As soon as he got in front of Raizel, he pushed his sword toward Raizel's chest. On the other hand, Raizel kept his gaze down and lifted his sword toward the incoming Arnes and instantly stabbed Arnes before Arnes's sword could reach Raizel's chest. The magic power around Arnes's body instantly disappeared along with the brimming anger in his eyes. The hostility in his eyes disappeared, creating a gentle expression on his face.
Arnes smiled as fresh blood came out of his mouth. Something bothered him, something from the past, something bright and beautiful. He was lost in thoughts, lost in unforgettable memories.
It was a bright and refreshing morning in a world of the 7th layer. It was a realm with countless realms and small residences all around there. Loud with chattering yet refreshing and nice.
Someone opened a window of the largest castle of the realm. The castle appeared to have many windows but out of them, a single window was opened by a girl with blonde hair and a gentle smile on her face.
She wasn't really more than 15. She had adorable skin and a casual smile on her face. She was wearing a long white princess gown which covered her totally and touched the ground of the room. Her facial expression was so gentle and bright that the concept of anger and hostility lost their meaning in front of her smile. She was the princess of the realm, Araya.
Someone called her from behind, a familiar voice for her. It was her brother Arnes, her adopted brother. He was well-matured and an adult boy with a dark long coat. There was a sword on his belt.
"Araya, are you here?" Arnes gently spoke up from the door of the room.
Araya looked toward Arnes and smiled.
She ran toward Arnes and hugged him tightly, "It's been so long brother, you're finally here." Araya said with her bright smile.
"Yeah, it's been really long." Arnes replied with a smile.
"And I have a surprise for you. Someone is here after a while." Arnes added right afterward.
Araya backed off a bit and stared toward Arnes's face, "I know who this is." Araya said with excitement.
She instantly ran toward the stairs and following that, she reached the lower part of the castle, in the meeting room.
Someone was standing there with a similar dress up as Arnes. It was a person with deep red hair and a casual expression. His presence was effective enough to address his position.
As soon as Araya saw him, her face turned even brighter and she smiled much more brightly. She ran toward him and stood a bit away from him.
"Mister Raizel, it's been a while." Araya spoke up toward Raizel.
Raizel looked toward Araya and smiled, "Yes, it's been quite some while." Raizel replied.
"I apologize for being late, for taking so long to be here." Raizel added.
"You don't have to apologize for that. I don't want anyone to apologize to me, I just forgive anyone and everyone from my heart, no matter what they do to me." Araya replied while carrying her bright smile on her face.
Raizel stared toward her a bit and smiled afterward.
"You know Araya, Raizel is really busy like your brother, we're really busy with the wars happening around." Arnes spoke up from behind Araya as he was coming out following the stairs.
"I just don't want you guys to join the wars but… I love the world so I can't stop you guys from protecting it." Araya replied, putting her gaze a bit down.
"I don't want anyone to get hurt and meet death anymore, I just don't want to." Araya added, keeping her gaze down.
Raizel leaned himself down toward Araya and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry Araya, I will protect you no matter what, I will do it at any cost, it's my order to do." Raizel said.
"I know you will, that's why I love you guys." Araya replied while hugging Raizel tightly.
As Araya hugged him, Arnes kept smiling toward them. Raizel was keeping his smile on his face but slowly, the smile began to disappear. A dark sight appeared on his face, a sight of disaster that was invisible yet terrifying and suspicious.
After a few moments, Araya stood back to her own position while Raizel kept leaning toward Araya.
"Araya, you want to protect the world, right?" Raizel asked.
"I want to but…I'm not really strong enough to." Araya replied, there was a trace of hesitation in her voice.
"I know and that's why, I will help you to be stronger, become the strongest and protect the world." Raizel said with a smile.
"I want to be. You are my teacher and so, I will do my best to follow you." Araya replied, her face became bright as usual.
Arnes walked away toward Raizel and put his gaze upon Raizel, "I don't think we should try doing magic training here in this world, I don't want the people of the realm to meet the presence of destruction." Arnes spoke up.
"I know and that's why, I prepared a new world for Araya where I will train her magic spells and she will be prepared to help her world in any disaster and protect the world." Raizel replied.
"But it's still too early for her, I will wait a few more years for that." Raizel added.
"I'm ready anytime, I will become stronger and be the protector of the world." Araya said with a smile.
Time passed. Following days and months, years also passed. The time for Araya to be trained had finally come.
As they planned, Araya left her world and began to live in her own different world that was placed far away from her original world. Following Raizel's guidelines, she began to train herself and become stronger. However, some disaster was near to her, Arnes and their world, a disaster from the one they believed in.
Raizel was originally a puppet of a ruler of the 6th layer. Following the world sacrificial ritual, Raizel was ordered to destroy the world of Arnes and Araya. As Araya left the world and Arnes left for a battlefield, Raizel appeared in that world. Using his destruction chaotic flames, Raizel burned down the entire world itself into ashes. Even though he tried to hide it from both of them, Arnes managed to find it out.
Arnes was a warrior fighting alongside Raizel for many years, he knew Raizel was nothing more than a puppet who would destroy anything and everything that he was ordered to. After finding out the culprits behind the destruction of his world, Arnes began to seek revenge. He decided to destroy the sacred spirits, rulers, supreme rulers and everything that belonged to the 6th layer. As Arnes was also a transcendental along with Raizel and Araya, his will allowed him to be stronger than the previous king of sacred spirits and take over his throne. He planned out the way he would destroy the entire existence of the 6th layer and began a war between the sacred spirits and the supreme rulers.
As for Araya, after finding out the destruction of her world, she began to search for the way she would rewrite them in the story. After finding out the way of rewriting, she began her journey to transcend layers and reach the Guardian of sacred story who existed in an unknown layer.
Following them, Raizel also became a supreme ruler by defeating one of them. His journey continued toward the higher layers…
Arnes slowly returned back to the current timeline. As he was stabbed by Raizel's sword, he fell on the ground. His soul was slowly about to leave his body. The surroundings around him were filled with fresh blood coming from his body. Raizel was standing in front of him while keeping his gaze down, the brimming magic power was no longer around him.
Arnes smiled toward Raizel's face and hardly managed to speak up, "You did keep following Araya's words, Raizel but I couldn't, the path of forgiveness still exists in your soul."
"You are still unaware of the word yet you have the concept in your soul. You are emotionless yet kind, you are a puppet yet the concept of selfishness doesn't exist in your soul. Could be that, it's better for you, and everyone else." Arnes added.
His soul left the world, but the smile on his face was intact, unchanging and pure.
Raizel slowly kneeled himself down toward Arnes's dead body, "We can be opponents now or in the past but, you will always be my comrade, Arnes." Raizel said slowly, expressionless.
A magic circle appeared on the ground covering the entire room. It was a magic circle created by Maria who was standing a bit far away from them, Aizis and Marco's appearance also revealed alongside Maria. Instantly, the magic circle revealed the presence of a flower garden filled with pure blooming flowers. The flowers covered Arnes's entire body and face. Raizel slowly stood from that position and stepped back.
The sun returned in the sky, a bright morning appeared. Everyone around the realm kept staring toward the bright morning and the sky.
Arnes died and thus, ended the tale of the King of Sacred Spirits and the great warrior. Arnes's soul departed from the world, leaving Raizel behind with the memories of their bond and the silence of farewell. The wind of holy world that once used to overflow with the divine presence of sacred spirits, now stood calm. The story of the sacred spirits concluded in the ground of holy world. From that moment, the voices of living beings could no longer be heard. The sacred spirits and the great rulers had become nothing more than eternal sleepers, beings who will never be awaken, never going to exist as supreme beings.
They had become history now, became stories that would be told across worlds, passed down by elders, by children, by everyone. Perhaps their tale was filled with tragedy, perhaps with blessings, or perhaps with unknown feelings that existed among the sacred spirits, silent, calm, and everlasting. The supreme rulers survived, keep doing their job as the protector of the stories and the worlds. Another chapter closed in Raizel's journey. By closing another chapter, he stepped forward into the next.