Raizo's vision blurred as Gladion's claw pressed against his face. The demon's hand burned like iron on his skin.
With a guttural roar, Raizo ripped Gladion's arm away. Their fists clenched into each other's clothes, knuckles flying.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Blow after blow landed, too fast for mortal eyes to follow. Their figures flickered across the battlefield, colliding in midair, shattering the night with every strike.
Then—
Fwoooosh!
The sky itself tore open.
High above, a massive rift yawned—a swirling portal of blinding blue and white light within, its edges rimmed in devouring black. The heavens groaned as the two warriors were dragged toward it.
Raizo snarled, twisting his body and slamming a kick into Gladion's chest.
CRASH!
The demon was flung away, body swallowed into the dark edge of the rift. His form flickered, broken, before vanishing into nothingness.
Raizo's own momentum carried him downward. He smashed through the treetops of the burning forest, branches splintering around him. The earth trembled with the impact.
Dust. Dirt. Silence.
He lay still, body half-buried in the soil, eyes shut. Unconscious.
The battlefield quieted.
A groan escaped Raizo's lips as his eyes fluttered open. He shoved off the broken branches that weighed on him and staggered to his feet. Above, a pale moon shone across the forest.
Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.
Raizo frowned. I… can't feel any mana?
The realization tightened his chest. In every world with magic, mana pulsed like the air itself. But here—nothing. Just silence.
He flexed his fingers and whispered an incantation. "Wind Magic: Flight."
His body lifted into the sky. Branches swayed beneath him as he rose higher. But then—
Fwooom!
A glow of light streaked behind him, searing through the air. Raizo's instincts flared. He spun, barrier forming in front of him just as the object struck.
BOOOOM!
The impact dragged him backward, pulling him into a violent spiral before exploding in fire.
Raizo coughed through the smoke. "What the hell…?"
The flaming wreck plummeted toward the ground. Without thinking, Raizo extended his hand.
"Psychic Magic: Telekinesis."
The massive object froze midair, its weight trembling under his grip. Slowly, carefully, he lowered it until it touched the earth.
As the flames licked at its wings, Raizo approached cautiously. The wreckage was enormous, like no beast or weapon he had ever seen in his second life. His eyes widened as recognition dawned.
An airplane.
"…Impossible." His voice trembled. "How… could there be an airplane here?"
Only one world had such a machine.
Earth.
His Earth.
Raizo summoned water magic, extinguishing the fire along the damaged wing and engine. Steam hissed into the night. His heart pounded as he approached the cockpit.
Inside, through the cracked window, two men sat unconscious—dressed in white and black uniforms, with peaked hats.
Raizo's breath caught. "No… freaking way."
A cold chill raced down his spine. "Am I… back on Earth?"
Before the men stirred awake, Raizo vanished into the trees, masking his presence completely. He could not risk being seen.
But the silence clawed at him.
He reached out with Search, trying to sense Fenra, Silvia, Akari, Shekiah… but nothing answered. No presences. No bonds.
"Damn it…"
Raizo pushed through the forest until he stumbled onto a strange path. It was flat, dark, and unnaturally smooth beneath his hand.
"What is this…?" He knelt, touching it. The texture was alien. "Concrete…?!"
BEEP!
Raizo's instincts screamed. He rolled aside—just as a car streaked past him, lights blazing, leaving a trail of sound and smoke.
His eyes widened. "A carriage… without horses?"
No. Not a carriage. A car.
There was no more doubt.
Spreading his wings of mana, he flew upward again, following the strange glowing road until a sign caught his eye.
Landing softly, he brushed the dirt off and stepped closer. The words carved in bold letters froze his breath.
Welcome to Maddela.
Raizo staggered back, heart hammering.
"…This is… Earth."
His suspicion was confirmed.
His fists clenched as anger and fear swirled in his chest. "Gladion… That demon. He touched my head—he saw my memories. Did he use his ability… to send me here?"
His teeth ground together. His entire body trembled with resolve.
"No matter what… I need to find a way back. Back to them. Back to that world."
Under the pale Earth moon, Raizo stood alone—between two worlds, and with no path forward except the one he would carve himself.
The night was quiet except for the roar of passing engines.
Raizo walked along the side of the road, his eyes shifting to the strange machines that passed him—cars, trucks, even motor tricycles. Their horns blared at him, lights flashing in the dark.
He paused when a familiar sight caught his eyes. A marketplace.
He was about to step forward but stopped himself. His adventurer's armor would stand out too much here. With a flick of his hand, he drew from his item box and changed into simpler clothes—plain pants, a shirt, and sandals. His adventuring gear vanished back into storage.
Only then did he approach.
The moment he entered, his nose twitched. The air was rich with scents that dragged at his memories—fried chicken, sweet spaghetti, burgers, hotdogs. Jollibee. Franks. Familiar names from another life.
His mouth watered, but his hands tightened into fists. Gold and silver coins… they were worthless here.
Frustrated, Raizo ducked into a shadowed alley. Summoning his item box again, he pulled out a slab of monster meat. It wasn't much, but perhaps…
Luck favored him. A butcher at a stall accepted the cut, eyes wide at its quality. "I'll give you six hundred pesos for this," the man said, handing over bills.
Raizo blinked at the strange currency, then nodded. It would be enough to last three days.
Later, beneath the shade of a tree, he lay down with his back against the trunk. The distant glow of city lights painted the sky. Slowly, his eyes closed.
For the first time in a long while, Raizo slept on Earth.
---
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the forest, Gladion stirred.
He staggered through the trees, his clawed hand brushing the trunks. His golden-red eyes scanned the area, lips curling. "No mana… not a trace. Where is this place?"
A sudden flash of white light zipped past the trees. Curious, Gladion followed.
Soon, a strange black road stretched before him. His claws flexed as he stepped onto it.
VROOOOM!
A car roared past, nearly grazing him. Gladion growled. "What the hell was that…?"
Fragments of Raizo's memories returned. Machines. Roads. Earth.
Another car slowed, horn blaring. The driver rolled down his window. "Hey! Get out of the way! Walk on the side, not in the middle!"
Gladion turned. The driver's words died in his throat.
Two horns jutted from the demon's head. His eyes glowed red and gold. His teeth flashed like a predator's.
"God…!" The driver slammed his gear into reverse.
Too late.
Gladion seized the hood of the car with one hand and hurled it into the trees. Metal shrieked. Flames erupted. The driver crawled out, bleeding but alive.
"Pathetic," Gladion muttered, raising his hand. Darkness flared.
The man screamed once before his body was reduced to ash in the explosion.
---
Morning sunlight spilled across the land.
Raizo awoke beneath his tree, rubbing his eyes. The air was cool, the world both foreign and familiar.
He began walking again, following the roads he once knew. Familiar stalls and shops greeted him. Familiar faces.
The marketplace buzzed with chatter.
"Hey, look at that boy," one woman whispered, eyes wide.
"He's so handsome," another giggled. "Like an actor!"
Raizo's eyes flicked away, uneasy. He muttered under his breath, "When I was Johnrhey… nobody ever looked at me like this."
He stopped when a crowd gathered near a television set outside a store. The screen flickered with breaking news.
A reporter spoke sharply:
"Last night, a vehicle exploded in the forest. We have the driver here. Sir, can you tell us what happened?"
The man trembled as he clutched the microphone. His voice shook. "I… I thought it was a person on the road. But no… it had horns. Teeth like a shark. Its eyes glowed red and yellow. Like a demon from the myths. I tried to reverse… but it grabbed my car and threw it into a tree. I… I barely got out alive before it exploded."
"Thank you, sir," the reporter said solemnly. "That's all for now, folks. Stay tuned for updates."
Raizo's blood ran cold. His heart thumped in his chest.
"…Gladion."
His eyes narrowed. The demon had made it here, too.
Ding… ding.
A bell rang twice behind him.
Raizo turned. His breath caught.
A school. His school. SVS.
Memories surged like a tidal wave—him as Johnrhey, walking these halls, laughing with friends, sharing lunches.
Without thinking, he ran. Through the gate, into the yard, to the corner where he and his friends used to gather.
But it was empty.
The place was the same… but the people were gone. They had grown, moved on, graduated into adulthood.
Raizo stood still, heart heavy with longing.
He clenched his fists. He was no longer Johnrhey, the unnoticed boy. He was Raizo, lost between two worlds—carrying the weight of both.