The silver light pouring down was as beautiful as a waterfall of the Milky Way and carried a sacred dignity, like holy water.
Everyone stood dazed, unable to comprehend the sudden light that burst forth from the night sky.
Except for one person.
Helik alone screamed at the sky with bloodshot eyes, his voice tearing from his throat.
"Again—! It's you again—!"
The intense malice that surged as if his veins would burst. His scattered red aura violently reacted to its master's sorrow and grief.
There was even a hint of agony in the hostility he exuded.
The light from the starlight, the silver clock, was warm and unmistakably benevolent.
A voice embedded within that light gently rippled in Isaac's ears.
—You've come.
"...!"
A voice warm and comforting, yet also filled with urgency.
The impatience hidden in her gentle tone hinted at the weight of time she had endured.
—How joyous to see one of our own come seeking us.
—Now, it's time for you to return.
A white light began to spread from Isaac's body, covering the ground and dispelling Helik's sorcery and red aura.
"Again—! Are you trying to stop us again, you traitorous wench who led our world to ruin—!"
Tears welled in his furious eyes.
Helik swung his staff violently and charged straight at Isaac.
"...!"
Boom!
Uldren's spear blocked him.
Narrowing his eyes like he was sizing up the situation, Uldren smirked.
"Arandel disappears, and now another guy shows up."
"Get out of the way!!"
But this time, Helik was different.
Unlike last time, he fought not as a swordsman, but as a sorcerer.
The surging red energy turned into hundreds of serpents trying to devour Uldren.
"Who do you think you're trying to surpass!"
The guardian who had lived his whole life as a wall. This time, he stood before Isaac like an unyielding fortress, blocking the sorcery.
Though Isaac witnessed the fierce clash between Helik's spells and Uldren's spear—
He couldn't move.
'Am I the medium for the spell?'
His legs were stuck to the ground as if rooted, and the light spread through him.
The non-combatants.
That is, the humans unaffected by the interference of the transcendent beings, began to be slowly engulfed by the white light and disappear.
"They are...."
—They're returning.
They were being sent back.
To the human world.
"My love—!"
Selene Caldias reached out desperately to Uldren, but he just smiled while blocking Helik's spell.
Because he had confirmed his wife's safety.
"I'll be there soon. Didn't we say we'd pick wild strawberries in the snowfield together?"
"Yes, I'll wait for you...!"
With tears in her eyes, Selene nodded and disappeared into the light.
One by one, those who had struggled to make it this far—blacksmith Antonio, mage Vivian, and others—began to leave.
"Nameless—! That one is the spell's medium! Stop him—!"
At his master's command, Nameless lowered his body and drew his massive sword.
Clang!
A heavy greatsword blocked the way.
"..."
No words were exchanged.
Just because they had spent a few days together didn't mean Liana was the kind to hesitate or appeal to sentiment.
And Nameless was the same—she always carried out her master's orders without fail.
Two women, swinging their swords in silence.
As the white light continued sending people back, the battlefield grew even fiercer.
It was fortunate that they were returning safely to the human world.
But on the other hand, it meant their fighting force was steadily being depleted in real time.
"Hold on—! Everyone, just hold on!"
White light began to swirl around Silverna's body.
She could've returned if she had just stayed still, but she kept moving—resisting the spell instead.
Because if she were to leave now, the tide of the battle would turn dangerous.
"If I go, it'll be last."
Resolute, Silverna continued facing the Transcendents climbing the stairs.
Screeeeech!
A figure shot out of the darkness, tackling Silverna.
Overpowered, she was slammed to the ground and slid backward.
The one who pinned her down was the bat-like woman she had encountered earlier.
The woman's fangs gleamed sharply.
With their bodies pressed close, there was no way Silverna could overpower this Primordial Transcendent.
It was, for all intents and purposes, a perfect ambush.
"Kh-!"
"Who's Jonathan?"
Silverna's eyes widened in shock, her face showing clear confusion.
The woman gripped her neck, able to snap it at any moment.
But she didn't.
Instead, she looked down at Silverna with interest, urging her to answer.
"You said it, remember? That I looked like Jonathan."
"As if— I'd tell you?!"
Silverna struggled to push her away with the shaft of her spear, but it didn't budge her.
Even if she was about to die, she wanted to resist at least a little.
She tried to dig deep into her mana reserves, but not even a single speck remained.
She had fought for far too long.
There wasn't even residue left—she thought she might have to simply accept death.
But then—
"Go tell that guy, Jonathan."
The woman grinned and slowly stood up from Silverna.
"We, the ones called blood demons among the Primordials…"
There was no time to resist.
"His family is waiting for him."
"Wait—! No! Isa—!"
Silverna's body was, at last, swallowed by the pure white light.
Isaac could only watch the whole scene unfold—unable to move.
As the medium, he could send others back… but he could protect no one.
At the very least, he could watch them leave, one by one.
Anna, who had been knocked unconscious by a Transcendent, also vanished into the light.
Even the soldiers guarding the entrance like a wall were embraced by the glow.
"Wha—?!"
Sharen, clutching the Nuremdol tightly, was also enveloped in the light with it.
With their numbers dwindling, the situation grew ever more dire.
In the midst of the crushing helplessness, Isaac looked up toward the stars and asked:
"Why… is it me?"
And the stars simply answered:
—Because you carry the karma.
To bear karma.
Nameless had said the same thing.
That "spectral aura" was used by those who carried karma.
No way…
"Was it… you?"
A voice trembling with fear.
"Were you the one… who made me regress?"
Isaac forced his mouth to move, even as his body remained frozen, voicing the question.
The star responded calmly.
—Do not misunderstand. I do not wish to claim humanity's legacy and glory as my own.
—I merely feel that, through watching you, my sacrifice was not in vain.
Wait a moment.
That means—
—It wasn't me.
—Spells may seem like they can pierce through all things, but they demand a price befitting their power.
—Just like how I… became a star upon their land.
"..."
The woman who became the sole star of the Abyssal Realm.
She was saying the Silver Clock wasn't the one who caused the regression?
It wasn't a spell.
What he and the Grand Master had predicted—was wrong.
And she had said something else, very clearly:
"Humanity's legacy and glory."
By that, did the Silver Clock mean…
"Magic?"
Could his regression have been caused… by magic?
Isaac's head throbbed violently, as if struck hard by someone.
"Damn it—."
Just then, thud!—a heavy sound rang out.
The blood-soaked Uldren fell to one knee.
The Primordial Transcendents had crept up on them.
A total of seven Primordial Transcendents were now looking down at Uldren.
Among them were those who appeared to be sword Demons, and one who had earlier introduced herself as a blood demon.
"So this fucker killed five of us?"
In disbelief, Uldren tried to rise again.
Isaac and Liana were still here.
He had planned to protect them to the very end and escape last.
But maybe because there were no more people left to transfer, everything was accelerating.
In that brief moment of hesitation, the white light swallowed Uldren whole.
Now only two remained.
Since Isaac was the medium, Liana had to go first before he could.
"You wretch, to the very end—!"
Helik, driven to desperation, finally unleashed his last resort on the Silver Clock who had ruined everything.
Fwoosh!
His sharp crimson aura turned on its master. Helik's left arm was cleanly severed.
Even the other Transcendents looked on in shock, but the madness in Helik's eyes was no longer fixed on Isaac—it was locked onto the star beyond him.
"Silver Clock! Watch closely as the man you chose becomes mine!"
The moment Helik's severed left arm hit the ground, the crimson aura, which had been repelled by the white light, regained its vigor.
Sorcery demand a price.
A primordial Transcendent.
And a sorcerer, no less—his left arm had been devoured as the price.
The spell of subjugation exploded into a frenzy and shot toward Isaac.
Thwack!
Scarlet hair fluttered.
The dull sound of a body being pierced—
It wasn't Isaac's.
"Liana—!"
His unmoving body burned like fire. He tried with all his strength to move his feet, but not even a twitch came.
"Isaac…"
Liana's voice, faint and fading.
She desperately tried to repel the spell of subjugation wrapping around her body with her crimson aura, but the more she resisted, the more tightly it bound her.
Crack!
Helik clenched his teeth so hard they might break, fury exploding within him.
He had sacrificed his left hand to place the subjugation spell on Isaac—
Yet, it had hit the wrong person.
"Kill him. Kill that bastard."
Helik's voice, heavy with despair, lacked strength as though pouring out his agony.
Vwoooom—!
A greatsword swung with all its might, carving a line through the battlefield and holding back the Transcendents.
The aura clinging to Liana's greatsword was darkening, stained by crimson veins,
But the desperation contained in that aura only made it more ferocious and intense.
"This time, it's different—"
Liana could feel her body no longer obeying her.
Her arms were heavy, her eyelids drooping, and her legs ready to collapse at any moment.
Even so—
Not one step.
Not a single step did she retreat.
"This time… it's different…"
A voice torn and cracked, but filled with fierce resolve.
Only the regret within the tears running down her cheeks was enough to keep her moving.
Every moment of the past—
The days she hurt him…
If this could serve even slightly as atonement…
"I'll protect you. No matter what."
Isaac's eyes trembled violently.
In despair and regret so deep it felt like his heart was being ripped apart—
When he saw the woman who had once been his wife still standing, still fighting—
Isaac thrashed, trying desperately to move.
"Lia! Please! I never wanted this! Please—!"
But the light that had surrounded Liana was now fading.
The light drifting away from her body seemed to declare she belonged to the Abyssal Realm.
In the heart-tearing pain, Isaac wanted to scream through his tears—
But the soft white light wrapped around his lips, stealing his voice.
"..."
Liana quietly looked at Isaac.
Her lips trembled.
Subjugation.
The absolute leash the Transcendents place on humans.
Its cruelty lies in its ability to shatter all restraint, forcing out nothing but primal, undeniable truths.
Liana bit her lips hard.
'No.'
She couldn't say it.
'No.'
She couldn't let it spill out.
'Please…'
She couldn't pour out her heart.
She had to hold it in until the end.
She couldn't burden Isaac with something even heavier than this.
'I beg you… please…'
But the cruel power of the Transcendents teased her tongue, as if licking at it—
And her trembling lips, filled with despair, slowly parted.
A pure and noble truth, without a hint of falsehood—
"I love you, Isaac."
In that instant, Isaac's eyes froze.
Tears streamed down his cheeks, but never touched the ground.
Because the light had completely consumed him.
[Image]