Chapter 57 – The Card That Erases Names
The air in that secret world froze.
No wind, no sound— even the clashing of blades that had deafened the realm moments ago vanished into silence.
Only Enver remained—standing with half his body scorched by runes, breath faltering, his right hand slowly reaching for his side.
Buried deep beneath flesh and skin lay the third card.
It bore no color. Neither black nor white.
It was like a void devouring light, and whoever gazed upon it felt… the sudden absence of something—though they could not name what had been lost.
Elarion stiffened, his sword trembling faintly in his grasp.
"Put it down, Enver. Don't do this! That card does not merely kill—it will erase you from every memory, from every layer of the worlds. Not even I… not even your enemies will know you ever existed."
Maxcen said nothing, though his eyes narrowed. His smile looked more like shattered glass this time.
"So… you kept it just for me? To fight against me?"
He stepped forward, crossing the glowing circle drawn by the second card.
Enver drew in a heavy breath.
"No. This… is for the fate you inscribed upon my name. I will erase it myself from the pen held in your hand."
His fingers clutched the third card and pulled it free.
The sound was not of tearing flesh, but of rusted metal being broken by force.
Blood dripped, yet the card drank it all and left nothing behind.
As the card rose completely, the skies of that dimension dimmed. Stars flickered out, one by one. Colors drained, becoming ashen gray. The cosmos itself seemed to recognize that one light of life had chosen to end his destiny by erasing every trace of his own existence.
Elarion lunged forward, trying to seize Enver's hand—but Maxcen stopped him with a single motion, as though he knew that whatever happened now, there would be no return.
"Let him," Maxcen said coldly.
"I want to see if he truly dares to play that card."
Enver looked at them both. Then, his gaze went beyond them—piercing through the boundaries of the dimension, as if staring into the human world where fractures widened ever more.
In his mind, Maxcen's voice echoed once again:
"You will become me… or you will vanish. There is no other choice."
Enver smiled.
"Then… I would rather vanish."
He flung the third card into the air. It spun slowly—then shattered into countless invisible fragments that melted into the dimension's breath.
At once, time quivered. Layers of reality hissed, like fabric burned from its edges. And a single name… began to fade from the world and everything within it.
Elarion felt something collapse within his chest—memories, a face, a voice—everything blurring into nothingness.
Even Maxcen, though he fought to remain cold, felt the same hollow ache.
The grief of loss—though neither of them could say who, or what, had been torn away.
Only Enver remained fully aware, watching them one last time. And he smiled faintly.