Naless' voice ca calm… yet filled with sothing deeper.
"I couldn't do it."
"I couldn't burn your soul completely… because the mont it ignited—
the mont I gained that power…"
"…another fla ignited inside ."
He paused.
"I was enraged. Overwheld by anger and sorrow… to the point I wanted nothing but to destroy Agaroth."
"But…"
"The mont I struck him with the fangs of your raging soul…"
"…my own soul began to burn as well."
He looked at .
And I saw it ...
the truth reflected in his eyes.
"When you burned… I burned too."
"When you die, Frey… I die as well."
I was stunned.
We… lived together.
And we would die together too.
"When my soul ignited," he continued, his voice trembling slightly,
"the death aspect of my ability stopped functioning… and the burning halted with it."
"That's why… you were able to open your eyes again."
His voice quivered ...
revealing emotions that were entirely his.
"I couldn't maintain that power."
"I could only release a single strike."
He paused… then spoke again.
"But Frey…"
At that mont—
Naless removed his mask.
Revealing his face.
I was shocked by what I saw ...
But even more by the expression he wore.
A smile.
A gentle smile—filled with relief… and sothing close to salvation.
"I was… happy."
"I was happy I didn't have to burn your soul completely."
"Because… I wanted to save you too. More than anyone else."
"I felt at peace."
"And sohow… I have no regrets."
Naless spoke more than I had ever heard him speak before.
Every word carried weight ...
alive with emotion he had lacked for so many years.
And I found myself moved as well.
Those sa feelings stirred within .
I couldn't bla him.
All I could do…
was smile.
"I understand."
I nodded slightly.
And together, we walked deeper into the darkness.
Step by step—
until a faint light appeared in the distance.
Without hesitation, we moved toward it—
making it our only guide.
And within minutes…
we reached it.
A small, gentle fla.
A warm fire ...
the only source of light in that endless world.
A simple campfire burned—familiar, quiet—
its gentle warmth wrapping the space in a sense of safety and calm.
Around it sat a group of familiar figures, gathered close, drawing strength from its heat.
The flas danced softly across their faces, illuminating expressions shaped by different lives… yet bound by the sa core.
The mont Naless and I arrived, they all turned at once.
Each gaze carried a different emotion ...
but none of them held hostility.
Only understanding.
Only acceptance.
Only… us.
We all shared the sa face.
We were fragnts of the sa existence...
versions of myself scattered across ti, each forged by a different struggle, a different chapter.
"So… even Naless, and our strongest self of all… ended up here in the end."
Spoke one version—white-haired, his features heavy with quiet despair.
"It wasn't enough… all that suffering, all that struggle… it still wasn't enough."
Another answered—long black hair, eyes still alive with defiance.
"There was nothing we could do. This ti… the wall was too high. We're talking about the Demon King."
They all nodded.
"It was impossible to predict Agaroth's arrival," said the version of that had once been a writer, turning toward Naless.
"You were the closest. So close to defeating him… wasn't all that power enough? Weren't all those sacrifices enough?"
Naless shook his head.
"I attacked with everything I could gather… and for the first ti…"
"I surpassed him."
He paused.
"But that level of power… wasn't enough to kill him."
"What if you had been complete?" another asked. "Would the result have been different?"
"I… don't know."
Naless clenched his fist slightly.
"I gave everything I had… but I couldn't give everything Frey had."
He turned toward as he spoke.
"The burning stopped… and with it, the flow of that power."
"…Maybe if our souls had burned to the very end—"
He cut himself off.
"No… it wouldn't matter. Agaroth hadn't revealed everything either."
"So… is this the end?" one of them asked.
This ti, I answered.
"No."
I looked into the quiet fire—
watching its flas reflect within my eyes.
"These eyes… will open again."
"There's still more to this story."
At that mont, every version of stared back ...
Naless included.
Then, without another word, we all sat around the fire.
And we waited.
We waited for the next chapter to begin…
for the next version to appear.
A stronger one.
A better one.
A version we could place our burdens upon ... our hopes… our dreams.
Another self…
who would walk the path we carved with our own hands.
Until that mont ca—
Frey Starlight would not fall.
He would keep moving forward.
Just as he always had.
…
…
…
The battle between Naless and Agaroth ca to an end.
They clashed with everything they had ...
and in doing so, shook the very foundations of the universe and the material world, reminding every living being… who stood at the pinnacle.
Sohow—
it ended where it all began.
Back on Earth.
That sa planet where every living being had already perished…
Agaroth appeared first.
His followers lingered nearby, watching from a distance ...
cautious, trembling, unable to approach.
Their faces were filled with shock.
With fear.
With sothing deeper.
Because of what they saw.
The Demon King…
the tyrant who had never once lost his overwhelming presence…
stood before them—
broken.
His shadows had dimd.
His aura… no longer suffocating as before.
His chest was torn open.
His abdon split apart.
Half his face was shredded.
The King's Eye ...
destroyed.
Gone.
And the wound—
would not heal.
No matter how many tis he tried, it continued to bleed… endlessly.
A violet wound—radiating a violent glow—
drenched in black blood and fragnts of dark aura.
He was shattered.
More than he had ever been.
And yet ... his remaining eye…
and his ruined face…
held an expression that defied everything else.
Satisfaction.
As if he had finally eaten his fill—
a al he would never taste again in his lifeti.
A smile split across his face ... wide, genuine ...
the smile of soone whose emptiness… had finally been filled.
Before him ... Naless lay on the ground.
Arms severed.
Legs gone.
His chest torn open so deeply… his heart was exposed.
Half of his mask had shattered—
only a warped, broken fragnt remained.
On the exposed side—
Frey's face.
On the hidden half—
Naless.
Agaroth looked down at him… and spoke.
"Thank you."
"I will never forget this day… as long as I live."
"I won't forget, Frey… I won't forget."
He extended his hand.
"I will never forget you."
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