Agnyr's words echoed through the battlefield...
They rang in the ears of every survivor...
"What do you mean by that, you fool??! They were attacking you!!!"
It was Valerius, desperately trying to justify his actions...
But the look Agnyr gave him revealed far more than words ever could...
He spoke in a weary voice, as though it was the last strength he had left...
"It was... only a misunderstanding."
He lowered his head...
"I thought they had come here to end it all... But I didn't realize how much time had passed. I've lost all sense of it..."
Valerius stared at his broken arm while repeating those words to himself...
"End it all..."
Suddenly, he lifted his head.
His eyes moved toward Raym.
Then toward Aldous.
He remembered every time Aldous had claimed not to know him.
A thought crossed his mind.
What is happening here...???
No...
How much time has actually passed...???
He looked around for several moments.
Burn marks covered everything.
Ruins stretched in every direction.
"Agnyr..." Valerius muttered, confusion overwhelming him...
Agnyr immediately replied.
"A very long time has passed. During it, many things happened."
He sighed.
"To put it simply..."
"This place is no longer connected to reality."
His voice grew heavier.
"It quite literally no longer exists."
Shock spread across everyone's faces.
Before anyone could speak, Agnyr continued.
"Many people came before you. They tried to tamper with the seal."
His eyes darkened.
"I lost my patience."
"My anger consumed me."
"So I burned everything my eyes could see until nothing remained to burn."
He glanced at the devastated landscape.
"What you see now... is the result."
Then he looked away.
"Was it curiosity...???"
"Greed...???"
"Or were they truly trying to end it all...???"
"I'll never know..."
A bitter smile appeared...
"People's hearts are impossible to read..."
His gaze shifted toward Valerius.
"Valerius..."
He shook his head.
"Your kind is truly troublesome."
A brief silence followed...
"But when I look at these people..."
His eyes moved toward Raym and the others...
"They're different."
"Not like the humans we once knew."
"They carried no intent to kill."
"No ill will toward either of us."
"They were confused."
"Frightened."
"Nothing more."
He closed his eyes.
"So let me say it clearly..."
"We are the villains this time."
Raym.
Daniel.
Arvela.
Lyra.
Their eyes met.
Every one of them carried the same expression.
Complete confusion.
What is happening???
Why have we become part of something we know nothing about???
At that moment, Saon finally joined them.
The instant Raym saw him...
He understood what had happened to Zak.
No explanation was necessary...
Then another thought struck him.
Lorian.
Immediately.
"Sir Daniel!!!"
Raym called out.
"Please tell me what's happening!!!"
"Lorian still hasn't returned!"
Daniel instinctively raised his hand.
"Raym, wait! It's dangerous—"
Then he stopped...
A realization crossed his face.
This boy...
Exactly as Vail had described him.
Their greatest trump card.
Meanwhile, Agnyr turned toward Aldous and the others.
Slowly...
He lowered his head in apology.
"I'm sorry."
His voice was calm.
"On behalf of both of us."
"With everything that's happened..."
"With all these strange events..."
Aldous had not looked away even once.
His gaze remained fixed on a single person.
Valerius.
Was it respect???
Hatred???
Something in between???
No one could tell.
Valerius himself couldn't even meet his eyes.
Silence followed.
No one knew how long it lasted.
A deadly silence.
Some lacked the courage to speak.
Others simply couldn't.
Raym continued searching for Lorian.
Then Agnyr broke the silence once again.
"You've received some answers."
"And I'm certain you still have many questions."
He paused.
"But now I want to ask something."
His gaze swept across them.
"What exactly do you want???"
"And how did you even get here???"
Daniel began explaining everything...
The pursuit of the Cult.
The events that led them here.
As Agnyr listened, his jaw tightened.
Then suddenly—
"DAIM!!!"
His roar shook the air...
"You bastard!!!"
"You taught humanity things they should never have learned!"
His eyes burned with hatred.
"You despicable dragon!!!"
At the same time...
Valerius seemed to share that very same fury.
Then—
Behind everyone—
A man slowly rose to his feet.
Round.
Without hesitation, he spoke...
"If my memory serves me correctly..."
His eyes narrowed.
"Daim is a Legendary Dragon."
"The Dragon of Terror."
He looked between them...
"Why do both of you hate him so much???"
"I heard your scream earlier."
"It was what woke me up."
The hatred on Agnyr and Valerius' faces deepened.
Agnyr took a breath.
"It's a long story."
"He was—"
But suddenly—
A voice interrupted him.
A voice from behind.
A man who could barely stand.
Zak.
He laughed while struggling to breathe...
Then he threw a glass container filled with strange black gas.
Agnyr's expression changed instantly.
"Don't breathe it in!!!"
At that moment, Valerius found himself rushing toward Aldous.
Using his remaining healthy arm, he shielded him from the spreading gas.
But unlike Aldous...
Valerius inhaled it.
Agnyr froze.
Pure terror appeared on his face...
"No..."
"No... that's impossible..."
Then—
Valerius emerged from the dark cloud.
His entire body was covered in a black veil-like aura.
His eyes glowed without life.
Like a ghost.
Like a corpse that refused to die.
Agnyr struggled to breathe.
"Impossible..."
Meanwhile—
Raym had finally found Lorian.
He was lying on the ground.
Covered in wounds.
Barely alive.
Raym rushed toward him.
Then—
Agnyr's desperate voice echoed from afar.
"Where are you, boy of Pure Light??!"
Raym froze.
Someone was calling for his help.
Someone needed him.
Yet Lorian lay before him, barely breathing.
He had to choose.
Before he could decide—
Something stepped into his path.
Something grotesque...
Something unstable.
Something that looked like a.. twisted fusion between a human and a dragon...
Araki stood before him.
A grin stretched across his face.
His right arm had transformed into a dragon's claw.
His teeth had become sharp fangs...
His eyes glowed yellow...
Raym's breathing became uneven...
He slowly stepped backward...
Then, with great difficulty, the words escaped his lips...
"Mr... Lonz...???"