âIf he acquires another unique world, he can become an Awakener again.â
Surha realized what Jaehwan was talking about and what his intentions were. Jaehwan was offering him something right now: to leave Rupture and create his own world. Imai spoke with a shaking voice.
âI⊠I did what was right. I fought for what is right. IâŠâ
âYes, of course. Thatâs why Iâm letting you go.â
Imai frowned. It was hard to describe the feeling of being accepted by the enemy he had fought.
âLeave. And find your own world.â
The solemn voice shook Imaiâs spirit. The small amount of suspicion he had toward Rupture exploded out. Imai looked at it with another perspective. Maybe this was another chance, a chance to forget everything and start over again. It was a chance to fight against things he couldnât fix, even when he knew it was wrong.
Imai glanced at Surha again. Surha wasnât sure what Imai would choose to do.
âF-find my own worldâŠ?â
ââŠâ
âHe⊠hehe⊠thatâs foolish!â
It was the manâs final pride.
âRupture was my everything! Whether it is right or wrong, it is my life and my history! You tell me to betray it now? Thereâs no way!â
Imai pointed at Jaehwan with his broken sword. Was he trying to fight with that? Even when people knew he had no world power left, they grew tense. Imai was that fierce.
âHah. Yes, you are right. Maybe Rupture is wrong. Maybe we⊠I was going on the wrong path. But⊠Thereâs something that you donât know.â
ââŠâ
âEven if the world is sick and destroyed.. thereâs a person who loves the world.â
And with a laugh, Imaiâs katana moved. Someone gasped. The sword struck Imaiâs heart as he fell down onto the ground.
âYou are cursed⊠someday⊠you will pay for destroying this entire world⊠You⊠you⊠and youâŠâ
His last sight turned to Surha.
âI⊠I will⊠in my worldâŠâ
The breathing stopped and Imai perished. Silence fell among them, silence close to the curse.
âWhy did you do thisâŠ?â
Surha felt her eyes becoming hot. Maybe her eyes were now red. She didnât like Imai. She didnât like him when she was in Rupture either. But what was this?
It was a shame, but she couldnât hold back her emotions. She hated Jaehwan for showing this to her and she hated Jaehwan for making Imai choose to do this. She knew it wasnât Jaehwanâs fault, but Surha couldnât hide her emotions.
ââŠI wanted to see.â
âAnd exactly what did you want to see..!â
However, Surha couldnât continue. Maybe it was because sheâd seen Jaehwan with that expression for the first time â an expression of a man that was loneliest one in the world. There was no need to ask what he wanted to see. Surha knew. Maybe Jaehwan was the person in the most pain here.
Surha then thought Jaehwan was very âhumanâ.
He was human. He was strong and more reliable than anyone else, but he was still human.
The mind of a human who could destroy the entire world no matter what⊠she did not know what it was like. Despite the many years she had lived, it wasnât enough to know what it was like.
She then felt loneliness grasping her. She couldnât fight the emotion even if she knew it wasnât her loneliness.
âDonât be depressed.â
ââŠâ
âI donât want to see you being shaken by such a thing.â
Surha turned and walked into the fortress. People then began to move. Sirwen walked over to Jaehwan and spoke.
âHah⊠that witch. Donât worry Jaehwan, Iâll take care of herâŠâ
âY-yes, Jaehwan. You didnât do anything badâŠâ
People began to reassure Jaehwan, but he couldnât hear anything. Did he do something wrong? Did he think everything would go fine because it had been solved without problems? He couldnât forget Imaiâs words.
It was then that the sky turned colors.
It wasnât just the sky that was covered by a dark cloud. It turned pitch black, just like space.
âHuh? What?!â
And with that, screams came from all over. It seemed like something was going to happen in .
âNO! My link is broken!â
âM-me too!â
âNO WAY!â
With some shouts from the Vicegerents, people began to become uneasy. There was the sudden loss of the link, and only one being had the power to sever links on such a large scale.
Machina of the Daeus.
With the explosion of world power, Vicegerents and Followers who became Lost Ones screamed. Jaehwan realized this wasnât only happening within the 7th region. The world power was spreading across all areas within .
It wasnât certain as to how this was possible, but Jaehwan knew who was behind this. There was only one person who could do this in .
âMyad.â
The influence of power increased as time passed. It now made Awakeners grab their heads from the pain. Everyone except Jaehwan was now kneeling down on the ground in pain.
After a while, darkness began to swirl within the air.
People realized that it wasnât just darkness. It wasâŠ
âOh no⊠A unique world?â Surha was in awe. It was a unique world. Someoneâs enormous world power had swept the entire into their own unique world.
âSea of Blood, Mountain of Corpses!â
People screamed at the presence of the terrifying massacre appearing from all around them. Surha knew that this was part of the unique world. It was different from hers, butâŠ
âW-what is that?â
And with someoneâs voice, every living being of the looked up to the sky. There was a shining star.
The giant star shined brighter than anything else.
As everyone looked up, they shook in fear. They all realized what the star was supposed to be.
âThat- thatâs it!â
âNo wayâŠâ
âThatâs the bigâŠâ
âIt was shape of a star!â
And in that moment, something soared against the star. A giant robot flew toward it.
It was a Gigantes. The Gigantes pulled out its sword, unleashing its own world power as it flew toward the star. Bright light filled the sky with a loud explosion and the world turned into white. Something broke down. Something appeared from where the star was at. And everyone saw.
The star was falling down.
âAhâŠâ
âNo wayâŠâ
The emotion that overcame the fear swept the people. It was madness. People realized what they were witnessing.
It was the revolution, the fall of one world. The fall of a world contributing to the beginning of a new one.
âIt was true! RuptureâŠâ
âFinallyâŠ!â
As every being was in astonishment as they looked up, only two beings were distant as they looked up to the sky.
ââŠJaehwan?â Runald asked in confusion. Jaehwan glanced at Runald and placed his hand on his head. Runald felt relieved by the warmth of the hand. At least nothing had changed for him.
The debris of the destroyed star was falling down. Today was the day when the world turned dark and countless spirits perished.