Darkness.
Not the darkness of night.
Not the darkness of a cave.
Not even the darkness of the Abyss.
This darkness had no direction.
No ground.
No sky.
No distance.
No sound.
Traveler stood alone.
His clothes were untouched.
No wounds.
No blood.
No mountain.
No forest.
He looked around.
Nothing.
He slowly raised his hand.
His fingers moved normally.
He looked at himself.
Then—
a voice came from somewhere ahead.
"You finally arrived."
Traveler turned.
Nothing was there.
His eyes narrowed.
"Who are you?"
Silence.
Then—
a faint white light appeared in the distance.
At first—
it was barely visible.
A tiny point.
Then it expanded.
The darkness around it began disappearing.
Traveler watched as a figure slowly emerged from the light.
A man.
White hair.
Pale skin.
Blue eyes.
He wore long white clothing that moved despite there being no wind.
His presence was strange.
Cold.
Silent.
But unlike anything Traveler had encountered before.
Traveler stared at him.
The man stared back.
Neither spoke.
Then Traveler noticed something.
The man's face—
looked almost exactly like his own.
Not similar.
Not familiar.
The same.
Traveler's expression hardened.
"Who are you?"
The man didn't answer.
Instead—
another presence appeared behind Traveler.
A black silhouette emerged from the darkness.
White hair.
Blue eyes.
A black cloak.
The same face.
The same existence.
Traveler slowly turned.
His breathing stopped for a moment.
There were now two men standing opposite each other.
One surrounded by pale light.
One surrounded by darkness.
And both looked like him.
The dark figure stepped forward.
Traveler's eyes widened.
"You..."
The dark figure looked at the man in white.
Then back at Traveler.
His expression was cold.
Completely emotionless.
He spoke.
"Don't trust what you see."
Traveler stared at him.
"Who are you?"
The dark figure answered calmly.
"You already know."
Traveler's eyes narrowed.
"No."
The dark figure walked closer.
"You have seen me before."
Traveler remembered.
The throne.
The Abyss.
The cold voice.
The figure sitting upon the obsidian throne.
The being who called him weak.
The being who called him incomplete.
Traveler's expression changed.
"...Arafial."
The dark figure stopped.
The white-haired man in light remained silent.
The dark figure looked toward him.
Then said—
"Yes."
Traveler stared at the two men.
"Then who is he?"
The dark figure didn't answer immediately.
The man in white finally opened his eyes fully.
Blue.
Cold.
Ancient.
He looked at Traveler.
And for the first time—
Traveler felt something strange.
Not fear.
Not familiarity.
Something deeper.
Like looking at a piece of himself that had been missing for longer than he could remember.
The white-haired man spoke.
His voice was calm.
"I am Arafial."
Traveler froze.
The dark figure spoke immediately.
"So am I."
Silence.
Traveler looked between them.
"Then which one of you is real?"
The darkness around them trembled.
The dark Arafial stepped closer.
"Both."
Traveler said nothing.
The white Arafial remained several meters away.
He looked at Traveler without emotion.
The dark Arafial continued.
"We are not brothers."
Traveler's eyes narrowed.
"We are not copies."
A pause.
"We are not enemies."
The white Arafial finally spoke.
"We are halves."
Traveler's expression became still.
The dark Arafial looked toward the white half.
Then back toward Traveler.
"Two halves."
"One existence."
"One name."
"One origin."
The white half lowered his gaze.
"One blood."
Traveler stared.
"What happened to you?"
Neither answered.
Instead—
the world around them began changing.
The darkness beneath Traveler's feet disappeared.
The empty space transformed.
For one instant—
Traveler saw a battlefield.
Millions of corpses.
Mountains split apart.
Stars burning.
Gods falling.
Black flames covering the horizon.
At the center—
a man stood alone.
Arafial.
Not the dark half.
Not the light half.
Complete.
Twelve golden wings stretched behind him.
His white hair flowed like streams of light.
His eyes contained galaxies.
Nihilfire covered his hand.
Traveler stared.
The vision disappeared.
Darkness returned.
Traveler whispered—
"...That was me?"
The dark Arafial answered.
"That was us."
Traveler looked toward the white half.
The white Arafial remained silent.
Then the dark Arafial stepped forward.
His eyes became slightly brighter.
His voice lowered.
And the entire illusion seemed to bend around him.
"Lord of the Abyss."
The words echoed.
Traveler's eyes widened.
The dark Arafial continued.
"Blood of Creation..."
The white half's eyes briefly glowed.
Then—
"...and Destruction."
The darkness exploded outward.
The white light exploded with it.
Creation and destruction appeared simultaneously.
Stars formed.
Then vanished.
Worlds appeared.
Then were erased.
Life emerged.
Then disappeared.
The two forces collided—
but neither destroyed the other.
They simply existed.
Together.
The dark Arafial raised his hand.
Behind him—
the Abyss appeared.
Endless.
Black.
Infinite.
Behind the white Arafial—
an endless field of light appeared.
Not heaven.
Not paradise.
Something older.
Something beyond both.
Traveler stood between them.
The dark Arafial spoke again.
"You were never born from one side."
Traveler stared.
"You were never merely destruction."
The white half continued.
"And you were never merely creation."
Traveler looked at him.
The white Arafial's expression remained cold.
"You are the result of both."
The dark Arafial stepped forward.
"That is why you are incomplete."
Traveler's eyes sharpened.
"Where is the other half?"
The question echoed through the darkness.
The white Arafial looked away.
The dark Arafial answered.
"Sealed."
Traveler's expression changed.
"Where?"
Silence.
"Who sealed him?"
Silence.
"Why?"
Still nothing.
Traveler clenched his fist.
"Answer me."
The dark Arafial looked directly into his eyes.
Then—
the entire world cracked.
The white Arafial began fading.
Traveler stepped toward him.
"Wait."
The white half looked at Traveler.
For the first time—
there was something almost human in his expression.
Not warmth.
Not affection.
Recognition.
He said only—
"Remember what you are."
Then the light disappeared.
Traveler stood frozen.
The dark Arafial remained.
Traveler turned toward him.
"You knew."
"Yes."
"You knew he existed."
"Yes."
"You've been hiding him."
A pause.
"Yes."
Traveler's eyes hardened.
"Why?"
Dark Arafial walked past him.
"Because you are not ready."
Traveler turned.
"For what?"
Dark Arafial stopped.
He looked over his shoulder.
And his final words echoed through the endless illusion.
"To become whole."
The world suddenly collapsed.
The light disappeared.
The darkness disappeared.
The two Arafials vanished.
Traveler stood alone again.
Then—
he heard one final voice.
Not from the light.
Not from the darkness.
From somewhere deeper.
"Lord of the Abyss."
Traveler's eyes opened.
For one instant—
his eyes were completely purple.
Then—
everything went black.
Far above the forest—
the moon continued moving across the sky.
Traveler's body remained unconscious beneath the trees.
Seris still lay nearby.
Neither knew what had happened.
But beneath Traveler's skin—
the Nihilfire stirred.
And somewhere beyond the worlds—
something ancient had felt it.
Arafial was no longer completely asleep.