Alright, this will be the end of the arc, there will also be an epilogue connecting to the next arc but this chapter will pretty much be the conclusion for this one.
The chapter is pretty long, I hope you enjoy it.
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"How…?"
The voice that came from the boy's mouth no longer sounded human.
It was warped and hoarse, like several different voices were overlapping together beneath the same breath.
His bloody red eyes remained locked onto the man standing several feet away from him, unblinking, almost trembling with disbelief.
"How are you here?"
For the first time since this nightmare began, Abaris sounded shaken.
Because this shouldn't have been possible.
Ol Shamak was not a spell someone simply escaped from.
And the very least, he should have known.
Abaris's gaze immediately swept across him from head to toe, desperately searching for an answer. His eyes moved rapidly before suddenly stopping on Tanaka's wrist.
More specifically, the place where the mark should have been.
Tanaka noticed the exact moment Abaris realized it.
A small grin tugged at the corner of his lips.
Slowly, he pulled back his sleeve. The scorched branding that had once been burned into his skin Was gone.
"You're surprised, huh?" Tanaka said with a tired laugh. "Well… thanks to that sealing spell you cast on me, the mark engraved into my soul disappeared too."
For the first time since their encounter began, Abaris's expression visibly distorted.
Through that mark, he tracked Tanaka's location, he listened to his thoughts.
Through it, every plan, every hesitation, every possible future had been laid bare before him.
And now, that connection was gone.
It was an absurd coincidence piled atop another absurd coincidence.
A miracle born from sheer luck.
The sealing spell had severed his connection with the outside world, including the link engraved into his soul.
And because Tanaka's constitution, the miasma that was clouding the atmosphere can't make it's way to his gate.
One impossible outcome after another.
*********************************************************************************************************
Ol Shamak.
The moment Abaris, while possessing the girl who looked exactly like Zarestia, uttered those words, Tanaka's vision had vanished instantly.
No pain.
No impact.
Only darkness.
Endless darkness.
It felt as though the entire world had been erased in a single breath.
There was no ground beneath his feet. No sky above him. No sound. No sensation.
Just an endless void stretching infinitely in every direction.
And within that abyss, his consciousness slowly began sinking.
His thoughts dulled.
His body grew numb.
Even the concept of time itself started becoming unclear.
Tanaka could feel himself fading.
Like his mind was being swallowed little by little by the surrounding darkness.
And just before his consciousness completely disappeared, he saw someone. A silhouette standing calmly within the void far ahead of him.
Then, a voice rang out, strong and desperate.
"El Dasim!"
The instant the incantation was completed, light exploded across the darkness.
Golden radiance erupted from beneath the man's feet, spreading violently through the endless void like sunlight piercing through a world drowned in night.
The darkness recoiled and the space itself trembled.
The ends of the man's robes fluttered wildly amidst the surging mana as the golden light expanded farther and farther, illuminating the previously endless abyss.
It was so bright that Tanaka instinctively shut his eyes.
For several seconds, all he could see was white.
A radiance so vast and pure that it swallowed the darkness entirely, flooding every corner of his vision until it felt as though the world itself had been reborn in light.
Then slowly, his eyes adjusted and his vision returned.
"…What the hell just happened?"
Tanaka's voice came out quieter than intended.
Only moments ago, he had fallen directly into Abaris's trap. One instant he had been engulfed by that endless abyss, his consciousness sinking into suffocating darkness and now he stood inside a massive luminous space that stretched endlessly in every direction.
There were no walls, no ceiling, no visible horizon.
The atmosphere itself felt strange, yet comforting.
Tanaka instinctively pressed a hand against his chest.
The sensation immediately felt familiar.
His body was glowing faintly, streams of golden light flowing beneath his skin like calm rivers of mana. The aura surrounding him was unbelievably powerful, yet eerily peaceful at the same time.
Like standing in the center of a raging ocean whose waves would never harm him.
The sensation wrapped around him completely.
For the first time in what felt like forever, his mind was not drowning in fear, panic, or exhaustion.
There was no pain and no struggle here.
Only a bizarre sense of invincibility.
A comfort so unnatural that it almost frightened him.
Then, Tanaka's eyes widened.
A few meters away from him, lying motionless on the ground, was his own body.
"…What the?"
That was why the sensation felt familiar. He had experienced this once before.
A year ago, back in the royal capital.
When Odglass had shown him an alternate future.
That same strange disconnect.
Slowly, Tanaka began walking toward his unconscious body, but before he could reach it...
"Don't touch it."
The voice echoed sharply across the illuminated space.
Tanaka immediately stopped and turned around.
And there he was.
A tall man dressed in elaborate white robes stood several meters away, his gaze fixed upward toward a massive structure floating in the air above him.
Countless symbols and geometric patterns rotated endlessly overhead, twisting together into shapes resembling a Möbius strip. Layers upon layers of glowing formulas folded into one another, constantly shifting dimensions and orientation as though reality itself was being rewritten every second.
The sight alone made Tanaka's head hurt.
Even stranger, the man himself seemed unstable. His facial muscles contracted, his eyes squinted, squeezing them tightly shut to block out distractions and channel focus.
Tanaka's eyes narrowed instantly.
His voice carried open hostility.
"You."
His jaw clenched.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
The man didn't immediately answer.
His eyes remained fixed on the rotating constructs above.
"It's something I never anticipated," he finally said calmly. "And under these circumstances… I have no choice but to intervene."
The same vague nonsense as always. Tanaka felt irritation flare immediately.
"Stop talking in riddles already!" he snapped. "What the hell is going on?"
Cepheus finally shifted his gaze toward him.
"Abaris sealed you," he explained. "And the reason should already be obvious to you by now."
Tanaka's expression darkened.
"…To stop me from looping."
The moment those words left his mouth, the memory resurfaced.
"…Ol Shamak."
Cepheus nodded once.
"It is a forbidden Yin spell specifically designed for individuals possessing Witch Factors."
His gaze sharpened slightly.
"In your case… it reacted because you possess something similar to one. A clone to a witch factor."
Tanaka frowned.
The floating symbols above them shifted violently as he continued speaking.
"Once cast, the target is sealed inside an isolated dimensional sphere. Escaping from the outside is nearly impossible without extraordinary means."
His voice remained calm.
"Inside the seal, all activity connected to the gate is forcibly halted. Mana circulation ceases completely. The body enters a vegetative state while the consciousness sinks into suspended isolation."
Tanaka slowly looked back toward his unconscious body.
"You are only conscious right now and aware of what's going on," Cepheus continued, "because I separated you from your human half."
Tanaka's eyes widened slightly.
"If I had not intervened, your consciousness would have fully shut down already. I pinned the orb in place using Yang magic so Abaris cannot move it at all. This way, at the very least he won't be able to dump it down somewhere where it can't be retrieved. In any case, right now I'm working on a way to escape this..."
"If I had not intervened, your consciousness would have fully shut down already. I pinned the orb in place using Yang magic so Abaris cannot move it at all. This way, at the very least he won't be able to dump it down somewhere where it can't be retrieved. In any case, right now I'm working on a way to escape this..."
"I thought I told you I never wanted to see your face again…"
Cepheus had been calmly explaining the situation without pause, his voice steady and detached as though nothing besides the current predicament mattered.
Then Tanaka cut him off.
The words came out low and trembling.
"You think I'm just supposed to forget?" Tanaka's glare sharpened as he took a step forward, his voice rising. "Because of you, I got captured by the Witch Cult. Because of you, that Sin Archbishop used her blood on me and turned the entire world against me. I got hunted like an animal!"
The glowing space around them trembled faintly.
Cepheus remained silent for a moment before speaking again.
"You have every right to hate me," he admitted quietly. "You can curse me as much as you want. But if Abaris succeeds here, everyone dies. Kararagi will fall. Zarestia will..."
"Shut up!"
Tanaka's roar echoed violently through the endless white world.
"As if I'd believe you care about Zarestia! Or anyone else for that matter!" His breathing grew rougher with every word. "You are willing to turn anyone to a scapegoat!"
His fists clenched so tightly his nails dug into his palms.
"And for what?"
That question stopped him, not Cepheus.
Himself.
For a brief moment, the rage burning inside him stalled.
Because he realized something absurd.
Something he should have pondered about and received the answer for a long ago.
Tanaka slowly lifted his eyes toward the man standing before him.
"…What do you actually want?"
The space fell silent.
The floating geometric symbols revolving around Cepheus continued turning slowly, casting faint golden reflections across his robes.
The last time Tanaka had spoken to him, he had been too furious to think clearly. All he wanted was for Cepheus to disappear from his sight forever.
But now?
Now they were trapped together.
And for the first time in a long while, Tanaka's anger sharpened into clarity.
"No… seriously I'm curious." His voice dropped lower. Colder. "What the fuck do you want?"
Cepheus said nothing.
That silence only made Tanaka's expression twist further.
"Why did you summon me to this world?"
"…It was an accident."
Tanaka laughed.
A hollow, ugly laugh.
"Accident my ass."
His eyes burned with hostility. "How long did you think I'd keep believing that garbage?"
He pointed accusingly at him.
"You kept showing me visions of the future. You kept cornering me, guilt-tripping me, pushing me exactly where you wanted me to go. You gave me Return by Death and stripped away every other option I had until running forward was the only choice left."
His voice cracked slightly and he stepped closer.
"What do you want?"
This time, Cepheus answered immediately.
"All my decisions were made to preserve the timeline," he said calmly. "To prevent the disasters that threaten this world."
Tanaka's expression darkened instantly.
"You fucking piece of shit."
Without hesitation, he turned away and walked directly toward his collapsed body lying motionless on the glowing floor.
Cepheus's eyes widened slightly.
"Stop!"
Tanaka ignored him and kept walking.
Then Cepheus's voice finally lost its composure.
"What are you doing?"
Tanaka stopped beside his unconscious body and looked down at it.
At himself.
Still.
Silent.
Trapped.
Then he spoke without turning around.
"You said if I return to my body right now, I'll lose consciousness again and we'll remain sealed forever, right?"
"..."
A broken grin slowly spread across Tanaka's face.
It was not a sane expression.
"You were planning to abandon Kararagi anyway," he muttered. "So why don't I just screw you over too?"
Cepheus's expression changed instantly.
For the first time since Tanaka had known him, panic appeared on his face.
"If you do that, then everything will be lost." Cepheus continued, speaking at a faster pace, "There is no fixing it, I won't be able to dictate the divergence point anymore and the damage will be permanent."
"Well, merry fucking Christmas." He slowly crouched beside his unconscious self. "Isn't that exactly what I wanted?"
"There's is still a way to defeat Abaris and save Zarestia..."
"It won't just destroy Kararagi!" he said, his voice finally breaking.
"If Abaris succeeds here, he won't stop with Kararagi. He'll spread to the other nations starting from Lugunica…"
Tanaka's brows furrowed immediately.
"…Lugunica?"
The abrupt mention was enough to make his thoughts stall.
"Why Lugunica?" he muttered. "In any case, they have Reinhard."
The Sword Saint, Reinhard van Astrea.
Tanaka had never personally witnessed the man fight in real life, but he knew too well and seen enough impossible feats, to understand one thing clearly.
Even if Abaris completely possessed Zarestia and obtained the full power of a Great Spirit, Tanaka could not imagine him defeating Reinhard head-on.
Cepheus, however, shook his head.
"He's not foolish enough to confront the sword saint directly."
The floating geometric symbols around him shifted rapidly, glowing brighter as they rotated through the endless white space.
"Look at the lengths he already went through just to remove you from the equation."
Tanaka's expression stiffened.
"He may have been sealed for centuries," Cepheus continued, "but after reading your memories, he already understands the changes. He understands its strengths and weaknesses."
A brief silence followed.
Then Tanaka slowly lowered his hand.
Because he understood it too. Abhor was not the kind of enemy brute force solved. The fact he could read minds and control people, infiltrating Lugunica and destroying it from the inside wouldn't pose a challenge.
Then Cepheus spoke the names that made his chest tighten.
"He'll go after Beatrice, Emilia and eventually, he will do the same to Natsuki Subaru."
Tanaka understood immediately what Cepheus was implying.
Subaru and Tanaka were anomalies.
Existences capable of undoing catastrophes through repeated timelines.
To someone like Abaris, they were obstacles that had to be neutralized first.
And if Abaris learned how Return by Death functioned from Tanaka's memories. A wave of unease surged through him.
He hated it, he hated the fact that he was forced to listen.
Tanaka bit down hard on his lip before finally stepping away from his unconscious body.
"…You said there's a way to stop him."
Cepheus nodded once.
"There is."
"And save Zarestia?"
Another pause.
"…Yes."
Tanaka stared at him silently for several seconds before speaking again.
"Then why are we still standing here?"
Cepheus turned his gaze toward the massive geometric construct floating overhead.
Its shape constantly shifted and rotated, expanding and collapsing.
"Because I need to break the seal first."
Tanaka narrowed his eyes.
"The way you took these countermeasures…" he muttered slowly, "it almost sounds like you've dealt with a similar situation before."
Cepheus's expression did not change.
"Well," he said calmly, "this is certainly the first time I've had to break out without using a medium."
Tanaka clicked his tongue in irritation.
Even now, the man insisted on talking like a cryptic lunatic.
Still, his eyes drifted upward toward the rotating structure.
The thing looked less like magic and more like reality itself being folded apart and reconstructed repeatedly.
Symbols and formulas spun endlessly through the air, glowing brighter with every passing second.
As Tanaka opened his mouth to speak again, Cepheus suddenly interrupted him.
"I would appreciate silence. The method required to counter this spell requires an enormous amount of concentration."
Tanaka frowned but ultimately stayed quiet.
The atmosphere gradually grew heavier.
The glowing construct overhead accelerated faster and faster, the sound around them distorting into a violent metallic hum.
Then...
CRACK.
A fracture split across the white world beneath Tanaka's feet.
Another followed.
And another.
The endless void began trembling violently.
Large cracks spread in every direction as though the entire dimension itself was collapsing under pressure.
Cepheus immediately turned toward him.
"It's ready," he said sharply. "The moment this space collapses completely, return to your body immediately."
The ground beneath Tanaka's feet exploded into fractures.
The white world began collapsing inward.
Without hesitation, Tanaka rushed toward his unconscious self.
The instant his hand touched his body, everything turned blindingly white.
__
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____
Tanaka gasped sharply.
Cold night air filled his lungs.
His eyes snapped open to darkness overhead.
The night sky.
For several seconds, he simply laid there motionless, feeling the rough texture of stone beneath his back and the sharp sting of pain spreading through his body.
Tanaka immediately jolted upright.
His breathing roughened as he quickly scanned his surroundings, his eyes darting through the darkness while adrenaline surged violently through his veins.
"…Where am I?"
The answer became apparent almost immediately.
A massive one.
The earth around him had completely caved inward, forming a giant hollow in the middle of what used to be the church grounds. Jagged chunks of stone and shattered pillars surrounded him from every direction. Pieces of stained glass glittered faintly beneath the moonlight like scattered fragments of frozen blood.
And above, at the edge of the crater. He could see the ruined remains of the church.
Or rather, what was left of it.
Tanaka stared upward in stunned silence.
"…What caused this?"
Cepheus answered calmly inside his head.
"The backlash from breaking the seal."
Tanaka clicked his tongue.
"You're telling me breaking out caused all this damage?"
"The spell forcibly isolated you from the physical realm." Cepheus replied. "Destroying it from the inside was never going to be subtle."
"The impact wasn't immediate," he added. "The people most likely evacuated once the instability began."
Most likely.
That wording irritated him.
But right now, there was no time to argue.
Tanaka took a deep breath before stepping toward the edge of the crater.
The walls were steep, far too steep to climb normally.
"…Murak."
Tanaka bent his knees before kicking off the ground, Tanaka jumped as if his feet were attached to springs. His body smoothly lifted from the ground, the effects of the gravity on him were largely reduced.
Then, just as he cleared the edge of the crater, he released the spell.
His body dropped cleanly onto solid ground with a sharp thud.
Tanaka paused immediately after landing.
Something felt odd.
Because of the battle that occurred two days ago, his mana reserves had been nearly exhausted. Even through he managed to recover a bit thanks to Zarestia, his current condition was better than it had any right to be.
He flexed his fingers slowly.
As though the seal had somehow reset part of the burden weighing him down.
Cepheus spoke before Tanaka could ask.
"Even with that, it still won't be enough to seal him."
Tanaka frowned slightly.
"I have a method to stop Abaris," Cepheus continued, "but there's a major problem. There may be a way to guarantee success if you use Return by Death..."
"No."
Tanaka cut him off instantly.
His voice turned cold.
"Let's make one thing perfectly clear."
He continued walking through the destroyed church grounds while speaking. "I don't trust you and I never will."
His expression hardened.
"I'm not using Return by Death again just because you tell me to. Not after everything that happened."
Tanaka continued quietly, "If I use it again, it'll be because there's absolutely no other choice left."
And that depended entirely on one thing. Whether the people he cared about were still fine.
Until he confirmed otherwise, he refused to gamble with another loop.
"…Now," Tanaka said while glancing toward the dark city beyond the ruins, "tell me about this plan you mentioned earlier."
"The problem," Cepheus began, "is that Abaris can still read your thoughts once you enter the range of his authority."
Tanaka immediately stopped walking.
Then his eyes widened slightly.
"Wait…"
He pulled back his sleeve instinctively.
The scorched mark that had once been burned into his wrist, was gone.
Completely.
Tanaka stared at the empty skin in disbelief.
"The connection tied to his authority was severed once you were sealed," Cepheus explained.
"Then that means..."
"It means he can no longer track your location constantly," Cepheus interrupted. "However, the core issue remains unchanged."
Tanaka frowned.
"Even without the mark," Cepheus continued, "Abhor can still read your mind the moment you enter his range."
"And for this plan to work," Cepheus added quietly, "you need to get close to him."
Tanaka grimaced.
"…Right."
Then another thought struck Tanaka.
"…But wait."
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
"He couldn't read your mind before."
Cepheus remained silent.
"Was that some kind of spell?" Tanaka asked. "A technique?"
"Magic has limits," Cepheus answered calmly. "It cannot fully surpass Authorities."
His voice remained composed as always.
"Authorities distort the laws of the world themselves. However… there are rare exceptions where they can be resisted. Like how Gluttony failed to consume your memories entirely. The strain exceeded what the holder could properly process."
"And regarding Abhor," Cepheus continued, "the method I use is not particularly flashy. I continuously maintain a single mental image in my thoughts whenever I'm within his presence."
Tanaka blinked.
"A mental image?" Then, after a brief pause, "…What, like Batman?"
Silence.
A long, exhausted silence.
Even without seeing him directly anymore, Tanaka could practically feel Cepheus wearing an expression which regarded what he said as stupid non-sense.
"It's a specific memory. Something unfinished. Something my mind cannot let go of. Over and over again relentlessly that masks your real thoughts involuntarily. It cannot simply be a happy memory. Or sadness. Or rage. The mind processes ordinary emotions too quickly. The moment your focus slips, your thoughts return to the present situation… and Abhor immediately sees everything. It needs to be something so distinctive, that your thoughts remain trapped around it endlessly."
"Okay! Okay! I get it! God your paranoia is creeping me the fuck out!" Tanaka added, in a lower tone. "But I got the gest of what you are saying."
But despite his reaction, He understood the logic.
And given how Wary Cepheus was, this was something he would come up with.
'But an unfinished, huh?'
Tanaka rubbed his face tiredly as he pondered. Then, an idea suddenly hit him.
"…This might actually work."
Then he immediately grimaced.
No, If it succeeded, it would be brilliant.
But if it failed…
It would be so unbelievably pathetic that nobody would even laugh at it.
Still, Tanaka exhaled deeply before continuing forward into the night.
"Well," he muttered, "I'm rolling with it anyway…"
*********************************************************************************************************
After breaking free from the seal, Tanaka headed straight toward the center of the city where the disturbance was at its worst.
The deeper he went, the heavier the atmosphere became.
The streets were in ruins.
Yet despite all of it, Tanaka kept walking forward.
Tristan stared at him in disbelief.
For a moment, the knight was genuinely confused.
"…Why?"
This time, the question did not come from the pale-haired boy in the distance.
It came from Tristan himself.
Why come back?
That was the part he could not understand.
According to Stride's own words, Abaris had targeted him specifically. The entire reason he revealed the truth in the first place was because his own life was in danger.
After freeing himself from certain imprisonment, instead of fleeing Kararagi, he had returned.
Tristan narrowed his eyes. There was only one explanation that made sense.
"So you truly are with him after all."
Tanaka's expression twisted immediately.
"God… you really are stupid."
He dragged a hand down his face in visible irritation before continuing,
"Didn't we already establish that I'm under an oath? I literally can't commit evil acts..."
He suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
His brows furrowed.
"I guess that oath mark disappeared too."
The words left his mouth quietly, almost absentmindedly.
Tanaka exhaled a long sigh before scratching the back of his head.
"I already told you my reason from the start," he muttered. "I came to Kararagi to undo my curse. If Halibel returns and finds the entire city-state destroyed, there's no way in hell he'll help me anymore."
He pointed toward the devastated streets around them.
"So if I save the city now? He'll owe me big time." A crooked grin formed on his face. "Think of it as a down payment."
Despite the joking tone, Tristan could hear it beneath the surface.
The exhaustion.
The tension.
And the fear.
Tanaka extended his hand again impatiently.
"Anyway, hand me the mask already. You still have it, right?"
For several seconds, Tristan simply stared at him.
The situation was hopeless.
The city was collapsing, the civilians were being turned into puppets, and the only person capable of salvaging this situation was a Sin Archbishop.
The irony nearly made him laugh.
And eventually it did.
A hollow, tired laugh escaped Tristan's throat as he pulled the mask from his side and handed it over.
"Hah… Just how did you even escape that thing?"
Tanaka grabbed the mask and immediately put it back on.
"I just did somehow." He answered bluntly.
The response was so casual that Tristan nearly regretted asking.
Tanaka adjusted the mask over his face before speaking again.
"Alright. Summarize the situation in one sentence."
Tristan's expression darkened.
"As you can see," he said grimly, "it's hopeless. That child is Abaris's main vessel.
The moment those words left his mouth, Tanaka reached down and pulled Zarestia, supporting her with his shoulder.
Tristan looked at him sharply.
"You have a plan?"
"…Yeah."
Tanaka's eyes shifted toward the pale-haired boy standing in the distance beyond the sea of corrupted civilians.
"But I need to get closer first."
Before Tristan could ask what he meant...
"James!"
A voice suddenly cried out.
Nora came sprinting toward him through the chaos, relief visible across her face the instant she saw him alive.
But in the very next moment, a violent gust of wind exploded outward.
"—!"
Nora's small body was hurled away across the street.
Tanaka's eyes widened as he turned sharply toward the source.
Zarestia. The spirit whom he was supporting was the source of the wind.
Her breathing was ragged.
Dark red veins crawled across her pale skin like spreading cracks, pulsing faintly beneath the surface. Her golden eyes had lost focus, trembling unsteadily beneath the effects of the miasma poisoning her body.
"Hey! What are you..."
Tanaka suddenly stopped.
Something metallic clattered across the ground nearby.
A dagger.
Nora's dagger.
His gaze slowly lifted.
Nora had already risen back to her feet.
And when Tanaka saw her eyes...
Bloody red, the exact same color as the civilians surrounding them.
"…Tch."
Tanaka clicked his tongue sharply.
There was no time.
Immediately, he dropped to one knee and slammed both hands against the ground.
Frost erupted outward instantly.
The street cracked beneath them as massive walls of ice surged upward in every direction, forming a gigantic dome around himself, Tristan, and Zarestia.
An enormous frozen igloo sealed them completely from the outside world.
The sounds of screaming and chaos became muffled beyond the thick ice walls.
__
___
____
"Zarestia-Sama… hasn't been possessed, right?"
The question left Tristan's mouth quietly, but the tension behind it was unmistakable.
Outside the frozen dome, the city had already descended into madness. Civilians wandered like puppets with blood-red eyes.
The streets were flooded with miasma.
Even Nora had fallen under Abaris's control.
At this point, the only ones still conscious within the dome were Tanaka, Tristan and the barely responsive spirit leaning against the ice wall.
Zarestia's condition looked terrible.
Crimson veins spread beneath her pale skin like roots crawling through glass, branching from her neck down across her arms and face. Her breathing was uneven, shallow, and every exhale trembled faintly.
Tanaka crouched beside her and pressed the back of his hand gently against her forehead.
"…Hot."
His brows furrowed immediately.
Spirits were not human.
They did not get fevers.
They did not grow sick the way humans did.
Even without words, he could tell she was suffering. Her body trembled faintly as corrupted mana continued eating away at her from the inside.
Tanaka answered grimly, "Not yet. Abaris still needs direct contact to fully possess her." he added, "But the miasma itself is affecting her terribly."
Tanaka clicked his tongue quietly before glancing toward Tristan.
"But you seem mostly fine."
"I possess a Divine Protection that prevents mental interference and mind corruption," Tristan replied. "But that doesn't make me immune to the miasma itself."
Even as he spoke, exhaustion was visible in his body.
The corrupted mana saturating the atmosphere was slowly destroying everyone from the inside, except Tanaka.
THUD!
THUD!!
The entire ice dome shook violently.
Cracks spread across the outer layer before instantly regenerating.
Outside, Abaris continued bombarding the structure relentlessly.
"COME OUT, YOU INSECT!"
The distorted scream echoed through the frozen walls like a beast clawing at a cage.
Tanaka shut his eyes briefly.
There was no more time.
The longer they remained trapped here, the worse their condition would become.
He placed one hand against the ice wall, pouring additional mana into the dome to reinforce it around Zarestia.
Frost spread thicker immediately.
Then he turned toward Tristan.
"We have to move now."
The knight narrowed his eyes.
"…What are you planning?"
Tanaka slowly lifted his gaze upward toward the ceiling of the frozen dome.
His expression hardened.
"I need you to make me a path straight to him."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Outside the dome, the pale-haired boy stood amidst the crowd of corrupted civilians, clutching the glowing light sphere tightly within his hands.
Wind exploded violently around him.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Every attack crashed into the ice structure with enough force to shatter buildings, yet the dome simply regenerated moments later.
The surrounding civilians joined the assault mindlessly, striking the frozen walls with weapons, magic, and bare hands under Abaris's control.
Yet the dome still stood.
The boy's bloody-red eyes narrowed in irritation.
No matter what, he could not allow Kazuki Tanaka to escape.
The fact the connection mark had disappeared already complicated everything.
If Tanaka died now and returned to the past without Abaris being able to track his thoughts, then all future outcomes would become uncertain again.
That possibility alone was unacceptable.
'I must capture him.'
Seal him again.
And this time, permanently.
Once he regained Zarestia's full power, there would be no one left capable of resisting him.
The dome suddenly creaked, a sharp cracking sound echoed overhead.
Crack.
The boy's eyes lifted upward.
Then...
BOOM!!
The top of the frozen dome exploded outward in a storm of shattered ice.
"OI!!"
A voice roared from above.
"I'M OVER HERE, BASTARD!"
Abaris's pupils contracted sharply.
Floating high above the battlefield was a black-furred cat demi-human carrying a masked man over his shoulder.
Dark Yin mana swirled beneath his feet, suspending both figures in midair.
And the masked figure was staring directly at him.
Abaris instinctively raised his hand, murderous wind beginning to gather around his fingertips before suddenly stopping.
His expression twisted.
Because he realized something immediately.
Kazuki Tanaka was not fleeing.
He was coming straight toward him.
"Huh…?"
Confusion overtook Abaris.
A sharp crease formed between the boy's brows as his bloody-red eyes locked onto the masked man descending toward him from the sky.
'…It can't be.'
That made no sense.
Could it be...
Was he planning to seal him?
Impossible.
Abaris had already read Kazuki Tanaka's memories.
He knew his limits and capabilities.
There was no possible way Tanaka possessed enough power to restrain him, let alone seal him completely. Even Cepheus himself, before being trapped, had urged Tanaka to abandon Kararagi and flee.
The fact he had returned here, the fact he had approached him directly, meant only one thing.
"He has a plan…"
Abaris muttered quietly.
"And if Cepheus allowed him to come back…"
Then it was dangerous.
Dangerous enough that he could not afford to let Tanaka move freely for even another second.
His expression darkened immediately.
"I need to read his mind."
The pale-haired child extended his hand outward.
At once, violent wind erupted around the battlefield.
A massive spiral formed beneath Tanaka and Halibel, twisting the atmosphere itself and dragging them downward toward the streets below.
They were getting closer.
Closer to the crowd.
Closer to his range.
Closer to where Abaris could read his thoughts.
The instant civilians brushed against Tanaka's limbs amidst the chaos, Abaris connected.
His authority activated.
And then, his eyes widened violently.
"Fura!"
Before Abaris could fully process what he saw, Tanaka suddenly chanted.
A powerful gust of wind exploded outward from beneath him, blasting the surrounding crowd away and forcefully disrupting their descent.
Both Tanaka and Tristan were launched violently through the air.
Their bodies spun apart awkwardly.
Unbalanced and separated.
They were wide open.
It was the perfect moment to kill him.
And yet, Abaris didn't move.
"…What?"
Because his mind was still processing.
"…What the fuck was that?"
His thoughts stumbled over themselves trying to comprehend what he had just witnessed inside his mind.
Above him, Tanaka continued tumbling weightlessly through the air.
The reduced pull of gravity made changing direction difficult.
Then suddenly, Tristan moved.
The knight drew his massive greatsword and swung it sideways with all his remaining strength.
SLAM!!
Instead of the blade, the flat side of the sword struck Tanaka directly in the torso, sending him hurtling forward like a projectile.
Straight toward Abaris.
The pale-haired child reacted instantly.
Wind surged beneath a nearby civilian, yanking the body upward like a puppet.
The flying civilian collided into Tanaka midair.
But, it wasn't enough to stop him.
It only slowed him down.
His trajectory remained unchanged.
Still coming forward.
Still closing the distance.
Tanaka's lips were moving.
Mumbling something incomprehensible beneath his breath.
"Never… give... up…"
Abaris's pupils contracted.
Again.
That same thing.
That same bizarre image inside his mind.
'What in the world is that, what in the world is shown to me right now?'
Kazuki Tanaka was now only several feet away.
No matter what nonsense he saw, it changed nothing.
Abaris immediately channeled his gate.
Yin magic condensed around his fingertips.
He would seal him again, as soon as he enters his range.
Three—
Two—
One—
"Ol Shamak."
Darkness exploded outward.
A black void manifested directly before Tanaka, swallowing the space around him as the sealing spell activated instantly.
And then, the space distorted.
The darkness twisted unnaturally, before disappearing entirely.
"…What?!"
Abaris's eyes widened.
Standing directly before him now, Kazuki Tanaka... Or rather Stride Vollachia who was currently wearing a mask...
And in both hands, he was clutching the glowing light sphere tightly against his chest.
The same sphere the pale-haired child himself was still holding.
The two of them grasped it simultaneously.
Closer now, Tanaka's lips continued muttering those cursed, incomprehensible words under his breath.
"Never gonna give you up…"
A ginger-haired man dressed like a servant dancing strangely while repeating nonsensical phrases over and over again.
Abaris's expression twisted violently.
"What… are you…?"
Tanaka looked completely exhausted.
Completely insane.
And yet, he still laughed.
"It's not exactly something I'm proud of," he admitted breathlessly, "but I don't think anyone who sucks better than me."
Then, the sphere reacted.
The immense mana inside the light orb began trembling violently.
Not toward Abaris.
Toward Tanaka.
He was forcibly drawing the mana toward himself, the dark foggy miasma that was engulfing the atmosphere started getting bleached, turning into a pure form of white, as clear the clouds in a spring day.
Tristan stared in awe, the exhaustion that was eating him away almost immediately vanished, a sense of comfort swayed him and his body felt unbelievably light.
Tanaka's grin widened beneath the mask.
"Get rickrolled, bitch."
The moment he tightened his grip around the sphere, the light exploded outward.
___
____
_____
Light.
Endless, blinding white.
There were no walls. No floor. No sky.
Just… white.
Tanaka blinked, disoriented, his breath shallow. For a second, he wondered if he had gone blind, until he noticed it.
A small figure.
Curled up in the distance, staining the emptiness with the faintest hint of color.
He looked down at himself.
Gone was the kimono.
In its place, his old black hoodie.
His real self.
His chest tightened.
Slowly, he walked forward.
The closer he got, the clearer the boy became: orange hair, soft cyan-green eyes, trembling as he clutched his knees.
Tanaka stopped beside him, then lowered himself to the ground.
"…Mind if I sit here?"
Silence.
"…You're Hugo, right?" he continued gently. "We met before. I had a mask on, though… so I doubt you remember."
Still nothing.
Tanaka scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"…How are you holding up?"
A long pause.
Then...
"…Please…" the boy whispered, voice breaking. "Kill us both… and end this."
Tanaka froze.
Hugo's fingers tightened around his legs.
"That day… in the forest…" his voice trembled. "He took over. I couldn't stop him. I couldn't push him out…"
Tears slipped down his cheeks.
"He wanted to kill everyone… I couldn't do anything except stop my body from moving…"
His breathing grew uneven, choked.
"I was so scared… I didn't want to hurt anyone… I didn't want to hurt Mom… or Dad…"
Tanaka's mind went blank.
What do I say…?
He had never done this before.
Never comforted someone.
Never been comforted.
Slowly, hesitantly, he reached out and placed a hand on the boy's head.
"You did well."
Hugo flinched slightly.
"You did really well," Tanaka repeated, softer this time. "You're the bravest kid I've ever met."
Hugo's shoulders trembled.
"He kept showing me things…" he whispered. "Telling me how he'd kill everyone… over and over…"
"I know…" Tanaka said quietly. "I know."
He didn't.
Not exactly.
But he understood enough.
"You held him back all this time. That's not something just anyone can do."
"…That's not true."
Tanaka blinked.
"I saw your memories…" Hugo said, lifting his head slightly. "When that thing… was reading your mind…"
Tanaka's breath caught.
"…How much did you see?"
Hugo looked at him.
"All of it..."
His childhood...
The home he will never be able to go back to...
The new home he lost.
The countless deaths.
The pain.
The loneliness.
"…You did well too, Tanaka-San."
Extending his small arm, Hugo patted Tanaka's head back.
Something inside him cracked.
A bitter laugh escaped his lips.
"Dammit…" he muttered, wiping his eyes roughly. "I'm supposed to be the one comforting you…"
Hugo sniffed, a small, fragile smile forming.
"What's the problem, we both need comforting, let's just do it together."
Tanaka stared at him for a second...
Then let out a short, helpless laugh.
Hugo giggled.
It was small.
Broken.
But real.
Tanaka ruffled his hair, a bit more roughly this time.
"Hey! Don't get cocky just because you made an adult cry."
"H-Hey! I'm not...!" Hugo laughed, trying to push his hand away.
The sound lingered.
Soft.
Fleeting.
Hugo's laughter faded, but he still maintained his smile.
"…Will you tell my parents… that I love them?"
Tanaka's hand stilled.
"…Yeah," he said quietly. "I will."
The space trembled.
Cracks spread across the white world like shattered glass.
Something on the other side was breaking free.
Tanaka stood up, pulling Hugo gently with him.
"I'll make sure they know."
The light surged again.
And as the world collapsed...
Tanaka's voice echoed, steady and resolute:
"Ol-Shamak."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Somewhere far away, voices echoed faintly.
Muffled.
Distorted.
"…Hey…!"
A pause.
"…not waking up…"
Another voice overlapped it.
"Wake up already!"
Something slammed against his chest.
Pain exploded through his body.
Tanaka's eyes shot open.
"GAH—!"
Air rushed violently into his lungs as he jerked upward, only to immediately regret it.
Pain tore through every bone in his body.
"I'M AWAKE! I'M AWAKE!" he shouted hoarsely. "You're going to cave my chest in!"
Zarestia froze above him, both hands still planted firmly against his chest.
Her golden eyes widened.
"…Oh."
"…'Oh'?!"
Tanaka wheezed painfully while clutching his ribs.
"I was trying to revive you!" she snapped back instantly.
"With what?! A meteor strike?!"
Tanaka groaned and slowly pushed himself upright.
Every muscle screamed in protest.
It felt like his body had been crushed, rebuilt incorrectly, then crushed again for good measure.
His vision blurred slightly before stabilizing.
And only then did he notice it.
People.
A crowd had formed around him.
Dozens.
No, hundreds.
Citizens stared at him in complete silence.
Tanaka instinctively stiffened.
His hand immediately shot toward his face.
The mask was still there.
A shaky breath escaped him.
For a moment, paranoia gripped him so tightly he could barely think.
No madness in their eyes. Just confusion. Relief. Exhaustion.
Their eyes were normal.
Tanaka slowly looked around again.
Tristan stood nearby with his sword planted into the ground for support, his clothes torn and stained with blood.
Melty looked utterly drained, barely managing to remain standing.
Zarestia crossed her arms beside him, still visibly irritated.
"…Can you stand?"
The voice came from behind.
Tanaka turned.
Nora was supporting a thin middle-aged man with thick eyebrows and a worn mustache.
Despite the exhaustion visible on his face, the man stood tall.
The moment Tanaka saw him, the words slipped out unconsciously.
"…Riften-Sama?"
The mayor of Banan smiled faintly.
Apparently, there was no point hiding it anymore.
"It's fine, Nora-chan," Riften said gently, patting her shoulder. "I can stand on my own."
Ignoring her protests, he stepped forward slowly until he stood directly before Tanaka.
The crowd quieted immediately.
Riften turned toward the people of Banan.
The ruined city stretched behind him. Collapsed buildings.
A city that had stood at the edge of annihilation. His tired eyes swept across the survivors.
"Citizens of Banan," he began, his voice calm yet carrying across the entire square. "Tonight, this city came face-to-face with disaster."
Silence consumed the crowd.
"A calamity capable of swallowing Kararagi itself descended upon us."
His expression darkened.
"I thought that upon facing this disaster, Kararagi would vanish before sunrise as prophesized."
People lowered their heads.
Some trembled.
Others quietly cried.
"But…"
Riften smiled softly.
"We will still see tomorrow."
His voice grew stronger.
"Because there were those who stood and fought when everyone else could not."
He raised a hand toward Nora first.
"Nora, disciple of Halibel the Admirer."
Then Melty.
"Melty Pristis, priestess of the Dragon Church."
Another wave of applause followed.
"Zarestia, the Great Spirit of Wind."
Zarestia proudly lifted her chin.
"Obviously."
The cheers somehow became louder.
"Tristan Prim, knight of Lugunica."
And then, Riften turned toward Tanaka.
"…And lastly."
The crowd's attention shifted entirely onto him.
Tanaka froze.
"He may not have lived among us for long," Riften continued. "And many here may still know little about him."
The mayor's tired eyes softened.
"But when this city stood on the brink of destruction…"
"He still chose to risk his life for all of us."
Tanaka's chest tightened slightly.
Riften suddenly raised his arm high.
His voice thundered across the ruined plaza.
"I present you! James! The hero of Kararagi who prevented the night weeping!"
For a second, Tanaka could only stare blankly.
Then the crowd exploded.
Cheers roared like thunder.
People shouted his name.
Others laughed in relief.
The overwhelming noise crashed into him harder than any attack he had faced tonight.
Tanaka stood there speechless.
Confused. This was the first time in his life people looked at him like this.
A hand suddenly patted his back.
When he turned, Nora was grinning at him.
"Well…" she said smugly, "you did save everyone."
Her grin widened.
"So enjoy it a little, Hero-San."
"Oi… wait a second…"
Too late.
The crowd surged forward. Before Tanaka could react, multiple hands grabbed him at once.
"JAMES!"
"DON'T CRUSH HIM!"
"LIFT THEM UP!"
"WAIT—!"
The world spun violently as he was suddenly thrown into the air alongside Tristan.
"PUT ME DOWN!"
Nearby, Zarestia floated above the crowd with crossed arms.
"Hahaha!"
A small smile tugged at her lips.