As the abyss stretched endlessly around him—
another memory surfaced.
Rio's eyes widened this was when The First Retainer had gotten the powers of the Three Demon kings.
...
Rio Valen had fallen unconscious.
His body lay motionless upon the shattered floor of the abyss.
Purple flames still lingered around him.
Golden corruption crawled across his skin.
Crimson demonic mana pulsed beneath his flesh.
The experiment had ended.
Or perhaps—
it had only just begun.
The Retainers watched silently.
Even they seemed shaken by what they had witnessed.
The Sovereign slowly approached the unconscious boy.
His silver mask reflected the glow of the shattered Demon King crystals.
For a long moment—
he simply stared.
Then—
a smile appeared.
A small smile.
The kind that frightened even the Retainers.
Moon narrowed his eyes.
"So you're going to seal his powers?"
The Sovereign nodded.
"For now."
His voice echoed calmly throughout the abyss.
"It isn't time yet."
Moon frowned.
"Then why create him now?"
The Sovereign's smile widened slightly.
His gaze never left Rio.
"Because another soul will soon enter this body."
Silence followed.
Even the Retainers seemed confused.
Another soul?
Moon tilted his head.
"What are you planning?"
The Sovereign chuckled softly.
"Everything should proceed exactly as it did before."
Before.
The word alone carried an unsettling weight.
As though this was not the first time such events had occurred.
The Sovereign knelt beside Rio.
Then placed a hand upon his forehead.
The abyss trembled.
Countless chains emerged from the darkness.
They wrapped around Rio's body.
His soul.
His memories.
His powers.
Everything.
One after another.
Locking them away.
Sealing them.
Until nothing remained visible.
The First Retainer.
The vessel of three Demon Kings.
The calamity that had just been born.
Vanished.
Reduced to nothing more than a sleeping boy.
Then the Sovereign stood.
His cloak swayed behind him.
"Transport him."
The Retainers immediately straightened.
The Sovereign's gaze shifted toward the endless darkness.
"Laboratory Thirty-Two."
"Solmere City."
"The Verilian Empire."
Moon's eyes widened slightly.
"The Verilian Empire?"
The Sovereign nodded.
"He shall now be known as Subject 082."
The title echoed throughout the abyss.
Subject 082.
Not Rio.
Not the First Retainer.
Not a vessel.
Merely a subject.
An experiment.
The Sovereign slowly turned away.
His voice carried amusement.
"And when the other soul arrives..."
A faint smile appeared beneath the silver mask.
"...the story will begin."
The abyss trembled once more.
The Retainers exchanged uneasy glances.
Even after countless years of serving him—
none of them truly understood what the Sovereign was planning.
Yet one thing was certain.
Everything that had happened afterward—
The laboratory.
The experiments.
Rio Barnes.
The reincarnation.
The suffering.
The awakening.
None of it had been coincidence.
It had all been arranged.
Planned.
Calculated.
From the very beginning.
And as the memory finally began fading away—
Rio heard the Sovereign's final words.
Words spoken so softly they almost sounded like a whisper.
A whisper meant only for himself.
"Sleep for now, little brother."
...
The Sovereign stood high above Noctara.
Beneath him—
armies stood frozen.
SS Rankers did not dare move.
And at the center of it all—
Rio floated within the storm of light.
The Sovereign gazed at him quietly.
Then his eyes narrowed slightly.
"Hm?"
A chuckle escaped his lips.
"It seems your mana circuits are shattered as well."
His gaze lingered upon Rio.
As though he were examining a broken creation.
Then—
he smiled.
"Ah."
"You wished to create an Arcane Core, didn't you?"
The Sovereign laughed softly.
A laugh completely devoid of difficulty.
As though repairing something that had troubled Rio for years was nothing more than a trivial matter.
"Very well."
"I shall help you."
Slowly—
he placed a hand against his own chest.
The battlefield watched in silence.
Then—
his fingers pierced straight through his heart.
No blood appeared.
No wound formed.
Instead—
a golden radiance illuminated the world.
The light was beautiful.
Ancient.
Pure.
As though it had existed before creation itself.
Then—
the Sovereign slowly pulled something from his chest.
A fragment of golden light.
A fragment of power.
The embodiment of a concept.
The Sovereign simply smiled.
Then—
he pressed the light into Rio's body.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The heavens shook.
Countless shattered mana pathways instantly reformed.
Broken circuits repaired themselves.
Fragments connected.
Imperfections vanished.
Rio's mana circuits became complete.
No.
They became perfect.
The golden light continued flowing through him.
Reshaping.
Refining.
Evolving.
The Arcane Core Rio had once dreamed of creating began taking shape naturally.
The Sovereign stepped back.
Satisfied.
"Good."
"It should be enough."
Then—
he looked upward.
His smile slowly widened.
"Oh?"
The sky trembled.
A crack appeared above the clouds.
Then another.
And another.
The heavens themselves began opening.
Moon sighed.
"Here we go."
Xeno laughed.
"It seems Lady Celestia finally noticed."
The Sovereign chuckled.
"Noticed?"
A golden light descended from beyond the heavens.
Vast.
Endless.
Divine.
The pressure alone made countless soldiers collapse to their knees.
The sea parted.
The clouds shattered.
Even the stars themselves seemed to dim.
It was not a spell.
It was judgment.
The Lady of Eternal Light had acted.
The embodiment of divine order had finally responded.
The Sovereign watched the descending light with amusement.
"As expected."
Then—
he slowly raised a single hand.
Purple light gathered within his palm.
Darkness.
Chaos.
Destruction.
Concepts themselves seemed to distort around him.
A beam erupted skyward.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Purple and gold collided.
The entire sky exploded.
Shockwaves spread across continents.
Mountains trembled.
Oceans roared.
Reality cracked.
For a moment—
the Sovereign's attack held.
Then—
the purple beam began retreating.
Moon frowned.
"The divine light is stronger."
The Sovereign nodded.
"Mhm."
"It seems this isn't enough."
The golden judgment continued descending.
Relentless.
Unstoppable.
The Sovereign merely smiled.
Then—
the divine light struck Noctara.
And the world turned white.
...
At the center of the battlefield—
the dust finally settled.
Silence followed.
An eerie silence.
The kind that appeared only after something impossible had just occurred.
The golden judgment from the heavens had vanished.
The divine light was gone.
And standing beneath the shattered sky—
was the Sovereign.
A translucent barrier stretched across the entirety of Noctara.
Protecting everyone behind him.
Protecting Rio.
A single drop of blood slid down the side of his forehead.
Then another.
The Sovereign casually wiped it away.
A small chuckle escaped his lips.
"Ah."
"It seems I pushed myself a little too far."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Every person present stared at him.
The Guardian Knights.
The professors.
The armies of Astryx.
The forces of Verilian.
Even Alaric Ryker himself.
Nobody could comprehend what they had just witnessed.
A human...
Had resisted divine punishment.
Alone.
Not merely survived.
Not merely endured.
He had stopped it.
Their eyes slowly widened.
Because a horrifying question surfaced within all their minds.
Was he even human?
Or had he become something else entirely?
Moon adjusted his hat slightly.
Even he seemed relieved.
Xeno appeared beside the Sovereign.
The Retainer of Death glanced toward the heavens.
His grin widened.
"Sovereign."
"It's fine."
"Celestia probably won't act again for quite some time."
His crimson eyes shifted toward Rio.
"And..."
"It should almost be over now."
The battlefield froze.
Because at that exact moment—
something changed.
The three pillars of light surrounding Rio began collapsing inward.
Gold.
Red.
Blue.
All three colors twisted together before being devoured by darkness.
The chains around his body shattered.
One after another.
CRACK.
CRACK.
CRACK.
The sound echoed across Noctara.
Then—
Rio's eyes opened.
Everyone's breathing stopped.
Those golden eyes were gone.
The radiant gold that once resembled sunlight had disappeared completely.
In their place remained only darkness.
Pure black.
Not merely the pupils.
Not merely the iris.
Even the sclera itself had become pitch black.
Like two endless voids staring back at the world.
No emotion.
No warmth.
No hatred.
Nothing.
Only an abyss.
The ocean trembled.
The sky darkened.
Even mana itself seemed to recoil.
Xeno's grin slowly widened.
Moon lowered his head.
Nephius remained silent.
Even the Sovereign's smile grew deeper.
Because all of them understood what had just happened.
The boy called Rio was gone.
The seals had broken.
The memories had returned.
The First Retainer had awakened.
And for the first time in countless years—
the Retainer of Chaos opened his eyes once more.