At the Eldoria forest.
After Kira pushed her, sacrificing himself to save Riya from the tail coming towards them with a full force.
-------------------
The world didn't move… it shattered.
Riya body stumbled back as Kira hands stuck her shoulder~ Not in the attack but in a forceful desperation. The push sends her sliding across the cracked ground, her boots scraping against stone.
And then.~
A blur.
Not a normal blur~ A violent, monstrous blur.
The serpent's tail tore through the air with a deafening crack, striking Kira head-on. His body bent unnaturally for a split second before being hurled away like a broken doll, vanishing into dust and ruin right before her eyes.
"Kira—!", Her voice didn't come out properly. It broke midways, swallowed by chaos.
Silence followed.
Not outside—but inside her.
Her mind froze, unable to process what had just happened.
Why…? The question echoed faintly in her mind.
Her mind froze, unable to process what had just happened.
Why did he do that...
Her fingers trembled. Her breath grew shallow.
He… pushed me away…
Another thought surfaced, sharper this time.
Even though, I hate him... Then Why...
Her eyes widened slightly.
"...I hate him... right?"
The words felt strong but heavy, Unfitting.
Her chest tightened as if rejecting the very idea.
But why... why I hate him.
Why...
Oh... Isn't it obvious?
He is the one who kill him... My one and only family.
A another voice echoed into her mind, blaming Kira for his horrible sin.
A sin which can never be atone. A sin which can never be forgiven.
Then why...
Why did the image of him being thrown away burn itself into her mind?
Her thoughts spiraled, colliding into each other—questions without answers, emotions without names.
And then a faint voice came emerging through her mind.
A soft yet charming voice of a man who always has a cheerful smile on his face.
A voice was from her forgotten past.
A faint memory full of black and white pictures.
But there was only one colourful thing.
It was that man.
His face attractive yet charming, his clothes were not luxarious but still it was enough to cover himself, around his neck wrapped around was a black scraf, making him look like a hero.
His every steps, his every walks spread the colour in her past.
and then~
"Rika… every person is a slave to their sins.", He spoke.
Her pupils shrank.
That voice…
"…Arc…"
--------------------------
The world around her began to distort.
The ground melted into shadows, the sky twisting into something unnatural. From the cracks of reality itself, they emerged—
Serpants.
A dozens~ No Hundreds.
Their bodies coiled endlessly, their hollow eyes staring directly into her soul. Their hissing filled the air, suffocating, overwhelming.
Illusions yet real.
"Humans act… even when they don't want to," the voice continued, echoing through her mind as the serpents closed in.
Riya clutched her head, falling to her knees.
"Stop… stop it…"
But it continued.
"They carry their sins even when they die."
The serpents lunged, Fangs bared.
Reality collapsing.
And then~
"...Rika..."
The voice softened but it soon starts fading.
"Don't hate anyone… even after I die."
Her breath hitched.
"…please… that's my promise to you."
Everything stopped.
The serpents froze mid-motion.
The world went silent.
Riya's eyes widened as something within her—something locked away—finally broke free.
"...I... can't", A faint voice came through her lips.
Her hands slowly dropped from her head.
"I am not like you... Arc... brother"
Her gaze hardened, tears fell down through her eyes.
and then the tears froze.
"I wish, I can forgive him someday..., Big brother."
A faint mist began to gather around her, the temperature dropping rapidly as mana surged through her veins.
"I don't hate him…"
The ground beneath her cracked as frost spread outward.
"I never did."
Her hand rose.
"It was something beyond the hatred."
And in that instant—
Hundreds of sharp, crystalline spikes formed in the air around her, gleaming with deadly precision.
"I was an idiot to forget my dream of following your path... a dream to become like you. A dream to forgive anyone like you."
With a flick of her fingers—
They launched.
Like arrows of winter, piercing through the serpents. One by one, the illusions shattered upon impact, dissolving into fragments of fading darkness.
"I am sorry, big brother but... I can't forgive him but someday... I wish to forgive him."
She stood up slowly, her breath steady now.
Each step she took froze the ground beneath her.
"I don't have time to hesitate…"
Her eyes scanned the battlefield.
Kira…
The thought struck her again—but this time, it didn't break her.
It drove her.
"I have to find him."
Another spike formed in her palm, humming with condensed mana.
"And sir Draves and Stok."
She clenched her fist.
More illusions lunged at her—but this time, she didn't falter.
She moved.
Like a true hero.
Each motion precise as her ice tore through the false serpents, clearing her path.
And then—
She saw it.
A figure.
Far ahead.
Moving upward.
Climbing.
Floating rocks drifted unnaturally in the air, forming a jagged path toward something unseen above. The figure leapt from one to another, ascending without hesitation.
Riya's eyes narrowed.
Her breath grew colder.
Her instincts screamed.
"Sir Draves...", She muttered.
And then she shifted her gaze towards the serpent position from before.
But a shock came to her mind.
"Where is he...", a voice escaped through her mouth.
The artificial beast of corruption, Mordrath was nowhere to be seen.