The crimson moon loomed overhead.
Its light painted Tatara in shades of blood and ruin.
Azriah lay against the shattered ground beside the corpse of the Nightfall wolf, breathing unevenly. The battlefield around him no longer resembled a forest.
Only destruction remained.
Broken earth.
Collapsed trees.
Scorched stone.
And silence.
The wolf's massive body rested nearby, its dark fur stained red beneath the moonlight. One of its fangs had already been removed carefully and wrapped inside enchanted cloth. Beside Azriah rested a small container holding the Heart of Nightfall—a glowing organ pulsing faintly with lunar mana.
And then there was the core.
A dense sphere of silver-red mana floating weakly above the corpse.
Still alive with power.
Still beating.
Sham floated nearby with crossed arms, looking deeply annoyed.
"You're insane."
Azriah didn't respond.
"You pushed your body beyond their limits."
Still silence.
"You literally shattered your own weapon."
Azriah exhaled slowly.
"…And yet I won."
"That's not the point!"
Sham pointed dramatically at his battered body.
"You look half dead!"
Azriah glanced at his trembling hand quietly.
Blood still dripped steadily from his fingertips.
The backlash from Sundering Storm had nearly destroyed his mana circuits completely.
Yet strangely—
His mind wasn't focused on pain.
Instead…
It drifted backward.
Toward memories.
Toward another life.
Another world.
"…Cecilia," he muttered softly.
Sham blinked.
"Hm?"
A faint smile appeared on Azriah's lips.
"She used to brag about Azriah all the time."
"…The game version?"
Azriah nodded weakly.
"She designed most of him herself."
Sham froze.
"Wait—what?"
The crimson moonlight reflected in Azriah's eyes as old memories resurfaced.
Cecilia sitting beside him for hours while talking excitedly about lore.
Her endless rambling about hidden quests.
How she would proudly explain every detail of her favorite character.
Azriah Antioch.
One of the biggest antagonists of The Last Wish yet the peoples favourite.
"She used to say he was the coolest character in the game," Azriah murmured quietly.
A soft chuckle escaped him.
"She was obsessed. Just like any other fangirl."
Sham floated closer curiously.
"…What was he like?"
Azriah stared toward the moon silently for a moment.
Then answered.
"In Acts 1 and 2…"
His eyes darkened faintly.
"He was a major villain. There was also a bossfight against him."
Not just any villain.
A calamity.
The man responsible for countless disasters across the continent.
Manipulator.
Warmonger.
Monster.
"The players were meant to hate him."
Azriah's voice remained calm.
"He destroyed noble houses. Manipulated kingdoms. Used forbidden rituals."
"And then…"
A strange look crossed his face.
"Act 3 changed everything."
Sham frowned slightly.
"How?"
"The players switched perspectives."
Silence filled the ruined battlefield.
"They were supposed to experience the story from Azriah's side."
Sham blinked.
"…Seriously?"
Azriah nodded.
"And that's when the truth began surfacing."
The crimson wind blew softly through the ruins of Tatara.
" Btw Azriah was the Apostle of Enna."
Sham immediately stiffened.
"…The Goddess of Love?"
"Yes."
A faint grimness entered Azriah's voice.
"He became her avatar."
The atmosphere grew heavier.
"And then?"
Azriah closed his eyes briefly.
"He destroyed the Church of the Seven Elohim."
Sham's expression cracked instantly.
"…What?"
"He opened the Gates of Hell."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
Sham stared at him blankly.
"…That was ACT TWO?!"
Azriah nodded slowly.
"And no matter what choices players made…"
His gaze lowered.
"Act 2 always ended in failure."
A bad ending.
An unavoidable catastrophe.
The Church burned.
Entire kingdoms collapsed.
The sky itself cracked apart as demonic gates opened throughout the continent.
Millions died.
And standing at the center of it all—
Was Azriah Antioch.
The Apostle of Ruination.
Sham swallowed nervously.
"…That sounds less like a villain and more like the final boss of existence."
"Pretty much."
Azriah slowly sat up despite the pain screaming through his body.
His eyes moved toward the Heart of Nightfall resting beside him.
"…This time will be different."
Sham stayed silent.
Azriah's voice lowered.
"My priorities are clear."
He clenched his bleeding hand.
"I have to prevent Antioch's downfall."
The crimson moon reflected in his eyes.
"And I have to stop the Gates of Hell from opening."
No matter the cost.
No matter what he had to become.
Because now he understood something terrifying.
The "future" from the game wasn't merely fiction anymore.
It was a possible reality.
And if history repeated itself—
Everyone would die.
Sham floated down beside him quietly.
"…How did game Azriah even become Enna's Apostle?"
Azriah's expression shifted slightly.
"That's the strange part."
"Hm?"
"In the game…"
He looked toward the distant darkness of Tatara.
"Enna helped him ascend."
Sham frowned.
"…Ascend?"
"To Ruination."
The words alone felt cursed.
Azriah continued calmly,
"Tatara was where it happened."
A cold chill ran down Sham's spine.
"After ascending…"
Azriah's gaze darkened.
"He annihilated the Goldspire Highbloods."
Sham inhaled sharply.
The Goldspires.
One of the most powerful divine bloodlines in history.
And devoted worshippers of Enna herself.
"…Wait."
Sham looked utterly confused now.
"Didn't The Goldspires worshipped Enna."
"Yes."
"They were literally blessed by her."
"Yes."
"Then why would Enna help Azriah destroy them?!"
Azriah gave a faint bitter smile.
"That…"
"…was one of the mysteries meant to be solved in Act 3."
Silence fell again.
The unfinished truth lingered heavily between them.
Noah had died before the game reached its conclusion.
Before the final revelations.
Before understanding why Azriah Antioch destroyed the world.
Or why Enna allowed it.
"Maybe the Goldspires betrayed her," Sham muttered.
"Maybe."
"Or maybe Enna manipulated him."
"Possible."
"…Or maybe Azriah himself went insane."
Azriah chuckled quietly.
"That too."
The two fell silent once more.
Far above them, the crimson moon continued glowing ominously.
Then suddenly—
Sham spoke again.
"…You know something weird?"
Azriah glanced at him lazily.
"What now?"
"Enna's the Goddess of Love, right?"
"Yes."
"And throughout history…"
Sham tilted his head thoughtfully.
"She never had a male Apostle."
Azriah paused slightly.
Sham continued.
"All her Apostles were women."
Silence.
Azriah blinked once.
"…Huh."
Now that he thought about it—
Sham was right.
Every known Apostle of Enna throughout history had been female.
Priestesses.
Queens.
Saints.
Never men.
Yet somehow—
Game Azriah became the only exception.
"…That's strange," Azriah admitted quietly.
Sham suddenly grinned mischievously.
"…What if it was romantic?"
Azriah stared at him blankly.
"…What?"
"You know."
Sham wiggled his eyebrows dramatically.
"Maybe Enna liked him."
Azriah looked genuinely horrified.
"That's the dumbest thing I've heard today."
"Is it though?"
"Yes."
Sham floated closer with growing amusement.
"Think about it."
"I refuse."
"The Goddess of Love choosing her first male Apostle?"
"Sham."
"Sounds suspiciously personal."
Azriah pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly.
"You're an idiot."
"And you're avoiding the question."
"There is no question."
"There absolutely is."
Sham's grin widened maliciously.
"…Wait."
Azriah already disliked that tone.
"…What?"
Sham looked at him carefully.
Then asked with complete seriousness—
"…Are you a virgin?"
Silence.
The wind stopped.
Even Tatara itself seemed stunned.
Azriah stared at Sham in utter disbelief.
"…Excuse me?"
Sham immediately pointed accusingly.
"YOU ARE!"
"What kind of insane conclusion is that?!"
"It makes perfect sense!"
"No it doesn't!"
Sham looked increasingly confident now.
"Think about it!"
"I don't want to!"
"Tragic backstory."
"That has nothing to do with this!"
"Obsessed with one woman."
Azriah's eye twitched.
"Emotionally constipated."
"…I will kill you."
"Virgin behavior."
Azriah grabbed a nearby rock and hurled it directly through Sham's spiritual body.
"GET OUT!"
Sham burst out laughing loudly.
"OH MY GOD YOU ACTUALLY ARE!"
Azriah looked ready to commit another historical catastrophe right there.
"I had a medical degree!"
"That is NOT helping your case!"
"I literally dated Cecilia!"
"And?"
Azriah opened his mouth.
Paused.
Then slowly realized—
He actually had no comeback.
Sham gasped dramatically.
"No way."
Azriah looked away immediately.
"…Shut up."
"NO WAY!"
Sham was dying now.
"You fought an ancient lunar wolf but lost to premarital handholding?!"
"I am going to bury you in Tatara."
"You became a future world-ending calamity because you never got laid!"
"SHAM."
The spirit laughed so hard he phased halfway into the ground.
Meanwhile Azriah sat there beneath the crimson moon, battered and bleeding beside the corpse of a legendary monster—
Looking more emotionally defeated now than during the actual fight.