In the Land of the Gods, silence didn't feel peaceful.
It felt heavy.
Like the world itself was waiting for something to break again.
Jhonathan sat alone in his room.
Hands trembling.
Breathing uneven.
Eyes unfocused.
"…How could I let that happen…"
His voice cracked.
Grimmy's face kept replaying in his mind.
The sacrifice.
The distance.
The helplessness.
"I trained… I got stronger…"
A pause.
"…But I'm still losing."
Something inside him shifted.
Not power.
Not skill.
Something deeper—
his sense of control.
His soul trembled.
Then fractured slightly.
Not destroyed.
But destabilized.
He forced himself to stand.
Wiping his face quickly.
"…No."
His voice sharpened.
"…I'm not done."
He began training again.
Not physically.
But internally—
forcing his body to stabilize Phase 2 contract synchronization.
Trying to master what he barely understood.
Meanwhile—
far away, in a collapsing battlefield outside normal time—
Grim Reaper stood alone.
Thirty days had passed.
The war with Victoria had not ended.
It had simply stretched beyond time.
Her scythe was shattered.
Her body was covered in wounds that refused to heal properly.
Her breathing was unstable.
Victoria stood opposite her.
For the first time—
unstable.
Exhausted.
Then—
Victoria collapsed.
Fainting mid-presence collapse.
Grim Reaper stared for a moment.
Then let out a quiet breath.
"…I won."
A pause.
"…I actually won."
Her knees almost gave out.
But she remained standing.
Barely.
Back in the Land of the Gods—
a presence arrived.
Arthur, God of Benevolence.
He stepped into Jhonathan's room without force.
Just presence.
"You are forgetting something important," Arthur said calmly.
Jhonathan looked up.
"…What?"
Arthur raised a hand slightly.
Three symbols appeared in the air.
"Contracts have three stages."
"First: you begin. No control. Only borrowing."
"Second: the god lends you half their power."
"Third: full synchronization."
A pause.
"You are currently between Stage One and Two."
Jhonathan clenched his fist.
"…Then I'll reach Stage Three."
Arthur nodded slightly.
"…You will."
Then his tone shifted slightly.
"…But you've forgotten something."
Jhonathan frowned.
"That elf dancer girl."
Silence.
Arthur's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…She is going to die soon."
Jhonathan's expression hardened instantly.
"…No."
He stepped forward.
"…I will protect her no matter what."
Arthur didn't respond.
Instead—
he placed a finger on Jhonathan's forehead.
A vision struck instantly.
A monstrous entity.
Unfathomable.
Jhonathan's party.
Destroyed.
No resistance.
No chance.
Jhonathan staggered back.
"…What… is that…"
Arthur's voice lowered.
"…The future."
The clouds above the Cloud Islands trembled.
A massive castle in the sky shook violently.
An invading presence appeared.
Draco May.
He stood at the edge of reality.
Then glanced once toward Jhonathan's direction.
Before vanishing—
he left one message behind.
"To change the future… you must be killed while in Phase 2."