Attention Pleazzzzzzzzz:
Before I begin the chapter, I have an announcement.
As I laying down the rest of chapters for the arc, I got a great idea for an if route, it's called Imikirau If (Or Abhor if) and the divergence point happens in this arc. Why? Well, many of you are impatient about Tanaka reuniting with the main cast, this if route is one fast way of doing it.
I already began writing it, it's going to be a long one but I'm uploading it in one chapter after ending the arc so don't worry about me stopping the main story and uploading side story chapters (I'm uploading a short prologue right away though lol).
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He stood there, smiling.
Not a normal smile.
Not the smile of a confident man, nor the smile of someone amused.
It was a wrong smile.
A smile that looked stitched onto his face.
A smile that didn't match his eyes.
A smile that would make any sane person instinctively take a step back.
Tanaka froze.
He had felt this kind of fear before.
Over a year ago.
When he met a Witch.
A Witch named Pandora, the woman who had caused most of his suffering, the woman who ruined his current life.
The man in front of him gave off that same feeling.
Not a killing intent.
Something worse.
Like reality itself was bending slightly around him.
The man suddenly burst into laughter.
"Ha… ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
He held his stomach as if he couldn't contain himself.
"You are really insane, Cepheus," he said, wiping a tear from his eye.
Then his expression suddenly changed from laughter to a calm smile in an instant, so fast it felt unnatural.
"Farsale is dead. Radkain is dead. Reid is dead. The traitor witches are also dead…" he said casually, like he was listing groceries. "So why are you, among all people, rejecting death?"
He tilted his head.
"Why are you clinging to this world so desperately?"
Cepheus answered calmly, his voice cold.
"I can say the same thing about you, clinging to life like a parasite… How did you break out of your seal?"
The man suddenly raised both hands slightly.
"Whoa, whoa… Talking? We are talking about you here, so don't change the subject," he said with a grin. "You managed to save the world back then. It's been over four centuries. That's far beyond a human lifespan."
He slowly began walking in a circle, hands behind his back.
"Planning? Are you planning to watch over the world for eternity?"
He stopped and looked directly at Cepheus.
"Thinking? You think you are some sort of god?"
At that moment, another voice spoke.
A large white spirit floating nearby, shaped like a polar bear, floated slightly forward.
This was Odglass.
"Abaris… Warlock of Abhor," Odglass said, his deep voice echoing across the field. "So you were the one causing the Night Weeping all along."
Abaris looked at Odglass and smiled wider.
"That pet of yours still exists, huh?" he said. "Night Weeping, huh? I've heard about it, but I haven't done anything yet."
He then looked back at Cepheus.
"Talking… You are talking as if you have seen it before. Then I suppose you were the one who came up with that prophecy, knowing? You know… with this little trick of yours, am I right?"
Cepheus ignored the question completely.
"Who knows," he said. "In any case, I'm fed up with you asking so many questions. How did you escape the seal?"
Abaris scratched his head slightly, as if trying to remember.
"I will tell you… It got weaker, just like that. Remembering? That traitor, what was she called again? Oh yeah… Echidna. She died, didn't she? Maybe that's the rea..."
Odglass suddenly moved in front of Tanaka and raised a massive barrier.
A second later...
The sky turned red.
Dozens of burning meteors fell from the sky like divine punishment.
They crashed into the field one after another, explosions shaking the entire Castle of Solitude, fire and smoke rising everywhere.
The ground trembled violently.
The explosions continued for several seconds.
Then silence returned.
Smoke slowly cleared.
Abaris was standing there completely unharmed.
Not a scratch on him.
He looked slightly annoyed.
"That's rude," he said calmly. "Thinking? Don't you think so? I didn't finish what I was saying."
Cepheus raised his hand slowly.
"I heard what I needed to hear," he said coldly. "Now the only thing left is for you to disappear from this world forever."
Abaris smiled again.
"Leaving… Yes, I'm leaving," he said. Then his eyes slowly moved past Cepheus and Odglass… and trying to grasp on what's behind.
"As usual, I can't get into that head of yours. Aurora was much easier, but I'm curious…"
His smile widened.
"Hiding? What have you been hiding since earlier?"
Before anyone could react...
Abaris disappeared.
And reappeared instantly behind Odglass.
Right in front of Tanaka.
He couldn't see it earlier because he was far away, but his sclera was completely pitch black with blood red irises.
His face was now extremely close.
Closer than comfortable.
Closer than normal.
Closer than possible without Tanaka noticing him moving.
His creepy smile was even wider now.
He grabbed Tanaka's arm.
His grip was unbelievably strong, like iron.
"Understanding…" Abaris whispered, his voice low and smooth. "Hahaha… I understand. I get it now."
In the next instant...
Odglass transformed into a towering bear the size of a mansion, and without a second thought, she extended her paws to crush him at incredible speed, the man moved to evade it.
Slash.
Odglass cut Abaris's arm off instantly.
The severed arm fell to the grass, still holding Tanaka's sleeve.
Abaris jumped back, looking at his missing arm with mild curiosity rather than pain.
"Ah," he muttered, that was when his eyes landed on Cepheus.
Cepheus raised his palm toward Abaris.
"Al Jiwald."
A massive beam of pure light erupted from his palm, a blinding pillar of destruction that erased everything in its path as it shot forward at incredible speed.
The light swallowed Abaris completely.
The ground behind him disappeared.
The sky itself seemed split by the beam.
Abaris's body began to disintegrate, breaking apart into particles of light as his existence was being erased from the Castle of Solitude.
But even as his body faded…
His grin did not disappear.
He looked directly at Tanaka.
Smiling.
Watching him.
Studying him.
And just before he completely vanished, he spoke.
"See you soon…"
The light faded.
The distortion vanished.
And just like that...
Abaris was gone.
For a few seconds, no one moved.
Then, slowly, the tension in the air began to loosen.
Odglass shrank.
The large, imposing spirit collapsed inward, its massive form compressing into its usual appearance, a small, palm-sized polar bear floating gently in the air.
"…He was the one behind the second calamity all along," Odglass muttered, its voice no longer booming, but tight… shaken. "How in the world did we miss that?"
Cepheus didn't answer immediately.
His gaze remained fixed on the spot where Abaris had vanished.
"He didn't fully manifest before," Cepheus said finally. "He always slipped through the seal in fragments…"
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"That's why we never noticed it was him."
Odglass floated closer, unease evident even in its tiny form.
"He said the seal weakened… but that should never happen," it said. "Not unless someone interfered. Before… or even now."
A pause.
Then Cepheus spoke, his voice colder than before.
"It was Pandora."
The name alone felt heavy.
Like something that shouldn't be spoken lightly.
"It was always Pandora's doing."
How many times had they seen it?
The fall of Kararagi.
They had lost count.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Each time, the outcome was the same.
Zarestia would lose herself.
Her sanity would fracture.
And she would turn the City-States into a graveyard of wind and blood.
But the reason behind it...
The true origin...
Had always been unclear.
Until now.
Abaris had never appeared in any of the previous realities.
Not once.
Because he couldn't.
Not fully.
What slipped through the seal before… was merely a fragment.
A broken consciousness.
Like a dragonfly still twitching after its head had been severed.
That fragment would latch onto Zarestia, corrupt her, twist her, and turn her into a disaster.
But now...
"This time…" Odglass whispered, "he manifested completely…"
Cepheus didn't respond.
He didn't need to.
They both understood what that meant.
"…This must be Pandora's doing," Odglass said again, quieter this time.
In other countless realities, this was the first one they had ever made contact with Pandora. It a brief contact but that mere encounter must have caused her to change her actions and take more drastic measures.
The threat had evolved.
It was worse.
Far worse.
And yet...
"…This might be better for us," Cepheus added slowly.
Cepheus finally shifted his gaze.
After countless loops…
After countless failures…
After watching Kararagi burn more times than they could remember…
They finally knew the truth.
The real cause.
"All we need now…" Cepheus continued, "…is one more loop."
One chance.
"To reseal him before he even realizes it."
"Hey guys…"
The voice cut through the tension.
Both Cepheus and Odglass turned at the same time.
Tanaka stood there.
Still.
Quiet.
Watching them.
That alone was unusual.
He had been silent this entire time.
No questions.
Just… listening.
"…Should I be concerned about this?" he asked.
His tone was calm.
Too calm.
Cepheus's gaze dropped.
Odglass followed.
And that's when they saw it.
On Tanaka's arm...
A mark.
Burned into his skin.
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"…It's useless."
Cepheus lowered his hand slowly.
"I can't undo it."
Several minutes had already passed.
Again and again, he had tried, different methods, different applications of mana, even techniques Tanaka couldn't begin to understand.
Nothing worked.
"It's not a spell," Cepheus continued, his voice heavy. "It's linked to that bastard's soul."
He let out a quiet breath.
"Cepheus! What should we do!? What should we do!?" the small spirit shouted, floating erratically in the air.
"Calm down."
"Calm down!? It's a tracing mark! Abaris escaped his seal, and neither you nor Tanaka have enough strength to reseal him!"
"I know," Cepheus replied sharply. "So calm down for a second and let me think."
Odglass hovered in place, still shaking.
"How did he even make it all the way here to Kararagi…?" it muttered, almost to itself.
Cepheus's expression darkened slightly.
"As I said… that has to be Pandora's doing."
"Hey!"
Tanaka's voice cut through them.
Both of them turned.
His eyes were sharp now.
Focused.
Demanding answers.
"Can one of you explain what the hell is going on?" he said. "What was that thing? And what the hell is this mark on my arm?"
A brief silence followed.
Then Odglass answered.
"His name is Abaris," he said. "He is the Warlock of Abhor… and he predates the Great Calamity."
"…Abhor?"
Tanaka frowned.
From the way they spoke, it sounded like a sin.
But that didn't make sense.
Pride. Greed. Lust. Envy. Gluttony. Wrath. Sloth.
Those were the sins he knew.
He had even encountered Sin Archbishops tied to those very concepts.
But Abhor?
If anything, in a biblical sense, "abhor" meant to reject evil—not embody it.
Then again…
He had met a Witch that didn't belong either.
Vainglory.
So maybe the rules weren't as fixed as he thought.
"I've heard of witches," Tanaka said slowly. "But not warlocks."
"That's because you wouldn't have," Odglass answered. "All warlocks were killed before the Great Calamity."
A pause.
"Except him."
Tanaka's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…Then how is he still alive?"
"He doesn't have a physical body," Odglass replied. "In a sense… he's immortal. The only way to stop him was to seal him."
Tanaka looked back at the mark on his arm.
"…You said it's a tracing mark," he said. "So he knows my location, right?"
"Yes."
"…Then wouldn't it disappear if I loop?"
Cepheus shook his head immediately.
"It won't."
Tanaka's expression stiffened.
"It's etched into your soul," Cepheus said. "Unless we deal with him, it won't go away."
Tanaka clicked his tongue slightly.
"Even so… shouldn't I still loop?" he said. "Even if he has this mark, he wouldn't remember this encounter, right? He wouldn't know who he placed it on."
Silence.
Then...
"It wouldn't work."
Tanaka looked up.
"…What?"
Cepheus met his gaze directly.
"He knows about Return by Death."
Everything stopped.
"…Huh?"
"It's his Authority," Cepheus continued. "He can read minds. He can inhabit bodies. One… or many at the same time. Although, the conditions to his authority aren't very clear to how they work."
Images flashed through Tanaka's head...
The chaos.
The people turning violent.
Zarestia losing control.
"…And because of that mark," Cepheus said, "he will remember. No matter how many times you loop."
Each word landed heavier than the last.
"He will know every thought you have."
For a moment—
Tanaka's mind went completely blank.
No thoughts.
No reactions.
Just a void.
Then it hit him.
Hard.
An enemy that could read minds.
An enemy that could control others, even someone as strong as Zarestia.
An enemy that now retained knowledge across loops.
Their biggest advantage...
Gone.
Completely gone.
"…So we're screwed," Tanaka muttered under his breath.
No one corrected him.
"Even if you kill Zarestia," Cepheus said coldly, "Kararagi is already doomed the moment he entered the picture."
Tanaka's head snapped up.
"…What?"
"You need to leave the City-States."
"…Wait."
His voice sharpened.
"You're telling me to run?" he said. "To just leave this place to burn?"
"Yes."
No hesitation.
No doubt.
"The moment he marked you, all countermeasures became meaningless," Cepheus said. "He will know everything you try."
Odglass hesitated.
"…That's too hasty, Cepheus," it said. "There has to be another way."
"There isn't," Cepheus replied. "We don't even have enough mana to reseal him anymore."
The two of them began arguing again...
But Tanaka wasn't listening anymore.
His thoughts drifted.
Slowly.
Heavily.
It's worse than I thought.
Then...
A memory surfaced.
A voice.
Cepheus's voice.
"You must not return by death here."
His fingers twitched slightly.
His impulsive actions.
It had led them here.
An unwinnable situation.
And now...
He had already died once, the situation might get even worse depending on the loop's checkpoint.
Cepheus was right, unless he went back in time before he escaped the seal, the situation was absolutely hopeless.
If only...
Odglass's voice cut through the silence, sharp, desperate.
"Cepheus! Change the divergence point, go back. Before Kararagi. Before any of this!"
Cepheus didn't hesitate.
"It's not possible."
The answer came instantly.
Cold.
Absolute.
"I cannot set a new point before the one I already established."
Silence.
A single second stretched...
Then snapped.
"…What did you just say?"
Tanaka's voice dropped.
Not loud.
Not angry.
But something far worse.
For a moment—
they forgot he was there.
Cepheus.
Odglass.
Both of them.
And in that single moment of carelessness...
they revealed something they never intended to.
Tanaka's gaze sharpened.
"…Answer me."
His breathing grew uneven.
"What do you mean… you set it?"
Odglass stiffened.
Cepheus said nothing.
That was answer enough.
Tanaka took a step forward.
Slow.
Deliberate.
"…So the loops…"
No one spoke.
"…The one when I encountered Gluttony and Greed."
His voice trembled now.
"…The one in Pristella… where I kept getting beheaded…"
Each word grew heavier.
"…You chose those?"
"Tanaka, I..."
"Odglass."
Cepheus's voice cut through the air like a blade.
The space around Odglass cracked.
Like glass under pressure.
A jagged fracture split the sky itself...
and in the next instant...
it swallowed her whole.
Gone.
Silence rushed in to replace her.
Tanaka stood there.
Frozen.
His mind struggling to catch up with what had just happened.
"…So you're telling me…"
His voice came out hollow.
"…it could've been different?"
No answer.
"…I didn't have to be taken hostage?"
Still nothing.
"…I didn't have to drown in that blood… become him… Stride Vollachia?"
The silence stretched.
It was Long and unbearable.
And that silence...
was confirmation.
Cepheus didn't look away.
His expression remained the same.
Empty.
Unchanging.
As if none of this mattered.
"I know you're upset," Cepheus said calmly. "And you have every right to be...."
"Upset?"
Tanaka laughed.
A broken sound.
Dry and a sharp sound.
"Upset…?"
His shoulders began to shake.
"We are way past that."
"You can resent me later," Cepheus continued. "Right now, if Abaris..."
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
The scream tore through the empty world.
Raw and unfiltered.
"Get away from me!"
And then...
he ran.
He ran in the opposite direction. He didn't look back. He just kept running and running.
The endless green stretched beneath his feet.
The blue sky above felt suffocating.
"Where do you think you're going?" Cepheus reappeared before him.
Again, calmer than ever...
"Shut up!" Tanaka snapped, not even turning back. "Just… shut up!"
He kept running.
He never explored this place properly, he was always placed on top of that hill and never walked around.
It wasn't his intention this time too.
He only wanted to get away from that person.
"You need to stop," Cepheus said. "You don't understand what will happen if—"
"I don't want to hear a single word from you!"
His voice cracked.
"Let me out!"
"I won't," Cepheus replied. "Not until you listen."
Tanaka stopped.
he turned.
His eyes…
were different.
"Oh, I'm done listening. You're full of shit. You know, all this time I've been wondering why this happened to me. What did I do to deserve this?" A bitter smile twisted across his face. "And it turns out… I did deserve it. I did deserve it. I blindly trusted you, and look where we are now."
Silence.
"I was like a puppet," Tanaka continued, his voice trembling with restrained fury. "Dancing exactly how you wanted."
Cepheus didn't deny it.
Didn't confirm it.
He just stood there.
Watching.
"Yes," Cepheus finally said. "I lied. I hid things. But everything else, everything that matters, is real."
"Tell me something," he continued.
"If you didn't get cursed, if there was no reason for you to go to Kararagi… would you have gone?"
Tanaka stared at him.
Then...
he laughed.
"…Wow."
A hollow sound.
Crack.
The sky split open.
A fracture tore through the blue expanse above..
spreading.
Widening.
Breaking reality itself apart.
Wind howled through the opening.
Light bent unnaturally around its edges.
"I can leave whenever I want," Tanaka said quietly.
"You said it yourself."
His eyes never left Cepheus.
"I have influence over this place."
It was something he casually said and he had no reason to lie about it. It might actually be the only thing he hasn't lied about.
The crack grew.
Large enough. Wide enough to escape.
Tanaka stepped toward it.
Then stopped.
He turned one last time.
His eyes burned with hatred...
"I'm not leaving Kararagi, and I'm going to save Zarestia."
"I don't care if he knows everything I'll do."
Tanaka's voice hardened.
"I'll die a thousand times if I have to."
A step forward.
Closer to the fracture.
Cepheus finally spoke.
"You're making a mistake."
Tanaka didn't hesitate.
"The biggest mistake I ever made was trusting you…"
he stepped into the crack and the fracture sealed behind him.
And just like that...
Tanaka left the Castle of Solitude, once and for all.
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So some new and heavy info have been dropped in this chapter, so I decided to address it down here in detail, in case I wasn't clear during the chapter narration:
-The warlock of Abhor was an entity with an authority before the great calamity, he is one of Cepheus's ops and he was sealed with the help of Echidna. He's the only remaining warlock in the world, there were others but they were all wiped out a long time ago.
-It turns out that Cepheus is the one who determines Tanaka's checkpoint contrary to what he told him before, which means that he lied about it, to a certain extent. It's true that he can't just go reset the loop, let's say for example all the way to the mansion in arc 1. He's constantly updating the check points but after he does, the loop can't be designated before an updated checkpoint (I hope this makes sense). So him getting caught by the witch cult, the constant short loops in Pristella, they could have all been prevented.
-Cepheus and Odglass lied about that, the other things they said before could be a lie, it could be the truth, it could be both. You can come up with theories but the mysteries will be slowly revealed.
-Was Odglass a dumbass in revealing that fact? I think I need to address this because one would think, what kind of goofy way is this to reveal this? Well, what you need to know is that Odglass genuinely cares about Tanaka, but she can't just tell him this because after all, she is a spirit contracted to Cepheus, and when she blurted it out in this chapter, she caught him off guard. But yeah, she did it while knowing that she will have to take the fall.