To stop them from sacrificing Arisha, Alphabed began to argue with the army, but they simply overpowered him and sealed him with magical chains.
"Stop this already! Don't do anything to her, please! I beg you, take me instead of her. Please, take me instead of her!" Alphabed cried.
But his words had no effect on their minds; they did what they wanted to do.
The army drained the magical power of the chosen inhabitants and left the place.
In that city, the only one who survived the ritual was Alphabed.
As soon as they left, Arisha was barely standing, her body wracked with endless conflict.
After countless attempts, she managed to reach the sealed Alphabed. She unsealed him but failed to keep herself upright. Her body collapsed to the ground. She screamed loudly, overwhelmed by the endless pain coursing through her.
Alphabed was desperate to heal her, but the absence of magical power made it impossible.
"Don't worry, Arisha. You're going to be fine. I will save you. I will heal you," Alphabed said desperately.
Arisha smiled faintly, a smile filled with both sadness and happiness.
"I know. I know you'd do anything for me. But stop it. You can't save me anymore. It's over... It's over for me," Arisha said calmly.
A voice suddenly echoed.
"You can't save her anymore. It's too late," the voice said calmly.
Hearing the voice, Alphabed grew suspicious and held Arisha close to his chest.
"Don't come any closer! Who are you?" Alphabed demanded, his voice filled with suspicion.
"My identity isn't important here. What matters is that I'm here to save you, Alphabed," the stranger replied. The stranger was none other than Muzan, the supreme ruler. He appeared to be a tall figure with red-orange eyes.
"Save me? Then... can you save Arisha as well?" Alphabed asked desperately.
Muzan didn't reply for a moment. His face was downcast, showing a hint of sadness.
"No, I can't save her anymore. It's too late for her," he replied.
"Then I can't leave her here. I will stay with her," Alphabed said firmly.
"You can't save her. All you'll witness is her endless suffering," Muzan replied.
"Go with him, Alph," Arisha said in a broken voice.
"No, I won't leave you alone. I will stay with you as long as you exist," Alphabed insisted.
Muzan drew a magic circle and enveloped Alphabed in it. It was a sealing spell.
Alphabed's hands and mana core were bound by golden sealing chains. Muzan began pulling Alphabed toward him using the chains.
As he was being dragged away, Alphabed screamed in desperation.
"Stop it! I won't leave her alone! Stop it already!" Alphabed cried. Trace of sadness, desperation and hatred toward Muzan was pretty much visible in his eyes.
"Even if you stay with her, you can never save her life.''
"Please, I'm begging you—don't leave her here alone. I want to stay with her. I don't want to leave her," Alphabed said desperately.
Muzan took a long breath.
''Since she is the one stopping you, I will do it," Muzan said. His expression was emotionless yet sadistic.
Muzan drew another magic circle and summoned a revolver. He pointed the gun at Arisha and fired three shots.
The bullets pierced her head and chest. Fresh blood spilled from her body, scattering across the ground. The faint trace of spirit in her face—the last flicker of life—vanished instantly. Her heart stopped beating, and her soul left her body.
Alphabed stared at her lifeless body, his tears already dried. He stood still, struggling to process what had just unfolded before him. He wasn't exactly sad—just empty and Expressionless.
The last of his tears had fallen in silence, and with them, the desperation faded from his face, replaced by a cold, calm expression. The weight of reality hadn't fully settled in his mind.
He kept his eyes on Arisha's body, as if he's waiting for it to move and speak to him, to prove him wrong, But it didn't. And so he stood there, trapped somewhere between disbelief and silence.
"Are you going to let her endure the conflict?''
''I ended her suffering.''
Muzan took a deep breath and held his silence for a moment.
''Sometimes, the cruelest decision is the best one to make, and I made it," Muzan said calmly. He wore no expression, yet his eyes betrayed and wore a trace of hidden sadness.
"Arisha!" Alphabed screamed. His voice filled the environment with an overwhelming heaviness.
As he screamed, Muzan continued to pull Alphabed toward a magical portal he had created for teleportation.
Alphabed regained his consciousness, emerging from the sea of memories—the darkest memory of his life.
Something appeared in front of Alphabed — a spirit, a spirit of someone familiar to him. It was the spirit of Arisha. She appeared as an adult, wearing a long white gown, and stood in front of the castle door. Even though it was inside the castle, a huge flower garden appeared in the surroundings of Arisha. She was smiling slightly.
She spoke with a smooth, gentle voice.
"Did you forget about me, Alph?" Arisha asked, her tone was quite gentle.
"Arisha?" Alphabed replied, surprised.
"You forgot about our promise?" Arisha said, her tone both gentle and tinged with sadness.
A tear slipped from Alphabed's eye.
"Our promise?" he asked calmly.
"Our promise wasn't about taking revenge for my death. You are wrong," Arisha said softly, there was a trace of sadness in her voice and face.
"If you want me to be happy, then please fulfill our promise: create a world without conflict, follow the path of sacrifice.'' Arisha said, smiling.
''I will always be behind you, watching you," Arisha said slowly and gently. Her voice was filled with sadness, yet she smiled, a smile filled with endless storm of hope.
Alphabed smiled faintly. "Yes," he replied. There was a hidden strength in his words.
Arisha's spirit faded slowly, still smiling, her smile remaining until her spirit left the place.
"I made a promise to you, yet I failed to fulfill it.''
''But from now on, I will do it at any cost, Arisha," Alphabed said desperately yet there was a trance of joy and confidence in his tone.
Alphabed walked away toward the outside of the castle. The darkness coming from outside completely engulfed him, and Alphabed was no longer in sight.
After Arisha's death, Alphabed lost his sense of humanity. He sought only revenge and destruction. What he wanted the most was to make the world feel the suffering he had experienced as a child; he wanted to show the conflict that Arisha and he had suffered. But somehow, he realized that what he was doing was wrong. What had changed him?
After meeting Raizel, he realized that even if he tried to force others to feel the suffering he endured, the world—the creation, the mortals—would never understand. And that's why he chose the path of mortal understanding, the path of sacrifice—the very path that Raizel had chosen.
In front of the gates of Zeldia Magic Academy, Raizel and the others were already there. As planned, they had prepared to meet the supreme ruler.
"Are you sure we're doing the right thing? I have some doubts about this," Maria asked gently.
"Don't worry. We'll be all right. If they don't accept our request, we'll simply force them to," Aizis said.
"It'll be fine. We'll do whatever we have to do," Raizel said calmly.
Raizel drew a red magic circle on the ground for teleportation. The red magic circle covered them all, and they vanished in an instant.
They appeared in front of a huge castle—the castle of the supreme ruler.
The supreme ruler's realm seemed to be a vast world with countless bubbles floating all around. There was no presence, no sound, only silence. The moonlight brightly illuminated the surroundings.
"It's been a while," Raizel thought.
"So, this is the land of the supreme ruler's realm," Maria said.
"Yeah," Aizis replied with a smile.
"Let's go inside," Aizis added.
Someone was standing in front of the door to the castle. It was a familiar face—someone with dark red hair and a lone expression. It was none other than Alphabed.
As soon as they saw Alphabed, both Marco and Maria became defensive and were ready to attack him.
"You didn't take much time to come back. Welcome to the castle of the supreme ruler," Alphabed said with a warm smile.
Both Marco and Maria were surprised, but Raizel and Aizis remained calm.
"What?" Maria said, surprised.
"Are you afraid I'm going to harm you? Don't worry, I'm not worthy of attacking someone of your caliber," Alphabed said gently.
"Why is he acting so gently?" Maria said suspiciously.
Aizis smiled slightly. "Maybe something has affected him, or perhaps he learned something that changed his mind," Aizis said.
"Will you follow me to meet the supreme ruler?" Alphabed asked gently.
"Let's go, everyone," Raizel said.
"Is it fine to follow him? I don't think it's going to be okay," Maria said.
"I will lead you to the right path; just follow me," Raizel said in a slightly rough voice.
"Fine, let's go then," Maria sighed.