Ruby's body trembled as tears silently flowed from her eyes.
A memory surfaced in her mind like a wound reopening.
The world around her slowly faded, and the past appeared before her eyes.
Inside a quiet room, a man lay on a bed.
The house looked exactly the same as the one Dev had entered earlier to obtain the fragment. The same walls, the same cold silence, the same faint smell of herbs and blood lingering in the air.
But the atmosphere inside the room was heavy.
It felt like death was waiting patiently.
The man on the bed was barely alive.
His breathing was shallow, each breath slower than the last.
On the right side of his chest was a horrifying wound a massive open injury that should have ended his life long ago. The flesh around it had turned dark and pale, while strange invisible strings were connected to the wound, holding the torn flesh together as if trying to keep his body from falling apart.
Yet even those mysterious strings could not heal it.
The wound refused to close.
It looked as if something had rejected healing itself.
The man had blue eyes, but the light within them was fading.
His body was thin, weak, and drenched in cold sweat.
He was already standing on the edge of death.
Beside the bed sat a small bird.
The bird was barely large enough to fit inside the room, yet its presence filled the space with quiet sorrow. Its feathers trembled as tears fell from its eyes.
The bird was crying.
The man slowly turned his head toward it.
His voice was weak, but there was warmth in it.
"Ruby… don't cry."
The bird cried louder.
The man forced a faint smile, even though speaking caused him great pain.
"There is nothing you or I can do to heal this wound."
His breathing became heavier.
"Even a Rank Eight fragment… cannot close it."
Ruby's cries became desperate.
The man slowly lifted his hand and gently placed it near the bird.
"Don't worry about me."
"Everyone dies someday."
"But before I leave… there is something important you must do."
His eyes became serious.
"Ruby… do not forget the task I have given you."
"You must make sure my grandson fuses his Blood Soul with the Fate Breaker Sword fragment."
"If he cannot…"
His voice stopped for a moment as blood filled his mouth.
"He will suffer."
"I do not want my family to suffer… simply because he was born to create a path for godhood ."
His breathing grew weaker.
"Make sure he lives."
The room became silent.
The man slowly looked at the ceiling as if staring beyond the world itself.
Then he spoke one last time.
"And tell him something… especially tell him this."
His voice was barely audible now.
"In this world… anything can be lost."
"Wealth."
"Power."
"Friends."
"Even family."
"But there is one thing that never disappears."
"Fear."
"Fear will always exist."
"Inside every heart."
His blue eyes slowly closed halfway.
"So tell him…"
"Make fear his weapon."
"Do not become the prey of fear."
Those were his final words.
The moment they left his lips, the life in his body disappeared.
The man died.
The room became silent.
Moments later, the door slowly opened.
Helena walked inside.
She stopped when she saw the bed.
Her body froze.
Her father was lying there motionless.
The life in his eyes had vanished.
Helena collapsed beside the bed.
Ruby cried loudly as Helena held her father's lifeless body.
The two mourned together for a long time.
Eventually, Helena carried her father's corpse through the palace.
In the center of the palace courtyard, she dug a grave has her father instructed and made a small hole to fit the cion which dev has inserted earlier in the grave
After the burial was finished, Helena stood silently for a long time.
Then she left the Holo World.
The memory slowly faded.
Ruby returned to reality.
Tears continued to fall from her eyes.
The pain of losing her companion had never disappeared.
But now a new fear had appeared.
The fear that she would fail his final wish.
That fear forced her to reveal the truth to Dev.
Dev stood silently.
His mind had entered a deep trance of thought.
Then suddenly
A presence appeared.
No footsteps.
No warning.
A man appeared out of nowhere as if reality itself had opened and released him.
He had been standing there the entire time, yet no one had sensed him.
It was the old man.
The same old man who had opened the barrier earlier so people could create their Blood Souls.
Everyone immediately became alert.
Even Ruby had failed to detect him.
Without hesitation, Ruby opened her mouth.
A massive flame shot out toward the old man like a blazing dragon.
The old man casually stepped aside.
The flame missed him completely.
Then he released his aura.
A terrifying pressure descended upon the battlefield.
Ruby's body slammed into the ground.
Her legs bent against her will.
She was forced to kneel.
The pressure pinned her to the earth like a mountain crushing an insect.
Kai and the others reacted instantly.
They formed a defensive circle around Dev.
Dev stood in the center.
The old man looked at them calmly.
Then he moved.
His body vanished.
The next moment
He appeared directly in front of Kai.
Before Kai could react
BOOM.
Kai was struck in the chest.
His body flew across the ground like a broken puppet.
Chiru immediately stepped forward.
He raised the sword fragment in his hand and slashed toward the old man.
The blade cut through the air.
But the old man simply tilted his head.
The attack missed.
With one casual strike, the old man hit Chiru.
Chiru's body flew over a hundred meters before crashing into the ground.
The old man raised his hand.
Then he pushed forward.
An invisible force exploded outward.
Vaal.
Rehx.
Karn.
Sethr.
All of them were blasted away instantly.
The battlefield was cleared.
Only Dev remained standing.
Dev gathered Blood Energy and Death Energy around his body.
The energy twisted violently in his hands.
He prepared to attack.
But before he could release it
A hand grabbed his neck.
The old man was already standing in front of him.
"Do you really believe I would allow you to use that power against me?"
His voice was calm.
Then he slowly raised his left hand.
Without hesitation
He inserted his fingers into Dev's left eye.
Dev screamed.
The pain exploded inside his skull like lightning tearing through his brain.
Ruby struggled desperately under the crushing pressure.
But she could not move.
The old man pulled his hand back.
Dev's eyeball came out with it.
Blood poured down Dev's face.
The old man casually placed the eye inside his pocket.
Then he raised his hand again.
And removed the right eye as well.
Dev's screams filled the battlefield.
When the old man removed his hand, Dev's face was left with two empty sockets.
Blood flowed endlessly.
The old man calmly placed the second eye into his pocket.
Then he threw Dev aside like a useless object.
Ruby roared with rage.
"I WILL KILL YOU!"
"If not today…"
"Someday I will kill you!"
"You will die by my hands!"
The old man laughed.
A deep, amused laugh.
Then he spoke.
"Come meet me."
"At the westernmost region of the Holo World."
"The land where the Forbidden Holo Ghosts reside."
Before disappearing, he dropped a healing fragment onto the ground.
Then his body vanished.
The pressure disappeared instantly.
Ruby rushed toward Kai and kicked him hard.
"Wake up!"
Kai regained consciousness.
He immediately used the healing fragment on Dev.
Dev's bleeding stopped.
But his eyes were gone.
Only empty sockets remained.
Dev was still unconscious due to the unbearable pain.
Everyone climbed onto her back.
She flew toward the western edge of the Holo World.
Kai shouted angrily.
"Ruby! The king isn't waking up! We need to stop and find a way to heal his eyes!"
Ruby refused.
"That old man has something Dev needs."
"If Dev doesn't reach him now… he will suffer far more," Ruby said, her voice trembling with worry, as the uneasiness in her heart continued to grow.
Her eyes slowly lowered as a memory surfaced in her mind.
Just before the old man disappeared, he had turned his head slightly toward her, and his voice echoed directly in her mind. His aged face remained calm, but the depth within his eyes felt heavy, as if he was carrying knowledge that should not exist in this world.
At that moment, he had spoken a few quiet words to Ruby.
" **************************** " come meet me .
Those words had completely shocked her.
Even now, as she remembered them, Ruby's expression turned complicated. A trace of disbelief appeared in her eyes, mixed with a strange curiosity.
Because those words made her realize something she had never expected.
After flying for some time, Ruby spoke again.
"Kai… from here onward the responsibility is yours."
"I cannot enter the Holo Ghost Area."
"If I step inside… I will die." That why its called the forbidden area which we holo creatures cannot enter ,
The Holo Ghost Area is a cursed region.
It was filled with failed Pillars of Will.
When someone attempted to form a pillar and failed, the remaining half-will became a ghostly existence.
Those ghosts dragged any holo animal into the ground and tortured it until death.
Strangely, they ignored living humans and immortals.
Because of this rule, Ruby could not enter.
She stopped at the border.
Now the burden fell on Kai, Chiru, and the others.
The next few hours would decide Dev's future.
And the fate he would carry for the rest of his life.