Raine stood still, breathing slowly, his eyes locked onto the man before him. But his mind was still drowning in what he had seen moments ago.
That other version of himself… it wasn't just an illusion.
It was something else. Something he knew but couldn't name yet.
On the other side, the mysterious man watched him silently, as if he knew exactly what was running through his mind.
"You saw yourself, didn't you?" he said in a calm voice.
Raine didn't answer immediately, but his hand clenched slowly.
"What did I see?" he asked, his eyes flickering with a faint glow.
The man didn't respond right away. Instead, he took a step forward, and the Black Butterfly on his shoulder flapped its wings once more.
"You saw something you weren't supposed to see yet."
"Why?"
"Because you haven't reached that point yet."
In an instant, everything changed.
Without warning, a surge of dark energy erupted from the man's body, sweeping through the entire space. It wasn't just an aura—it was like a wave of pure darkness, something that didn't belong to this world.
Raine didn't step back.
Instead, he raised his hand, and behind him, the Black Butterfly let out a silent scream, its ripples tearing through the approaching darkness as if shredding the very fabric of reality.
But the man wasn't surprised.
He had been expecting it.
"So, even the Black Butterfly has begun to realize its true place," he muttered, his tone carrying a hint of amusement.
"Tell me, Raine… do you think you're the only one cursed with this?"
Before Raine could answer, he saw something he never expected.
Another butterfly—but it wasn't black.
It was white, glowing, its wings reflecting light as if woven from the very fabric of the sky itself.
And it was hovering above the man.
"Impossible…"
"Do you see now?" the man said, his eyes radiating the same light carried by the white butterfly.
"You were never the only chosen one, Raine."
But Raine wasn't in shock. No—something else was burning inside him.
"So… you're not just another person."
The man gave a faint smile. "Of course not."
"I am—"
But before he could finish, Raine moved.
With an unimaginable speed, he appeared before the man, his fist glowing with an energy unlike anything before. Before the man could evade—
The strike landed.
—And space itself exploded.
This wasn't just a clash of energy.
It was the collapse of the very rules governing the world.
For a moment, Raine felt his body disintegrate, as if reality could no longer contain what was happening.
But the man didn't disappear.
He was still there, staring at him. But this time… he was silent.
"You really did break the seal," he finally said, his tone unreadable.
Raine didn't answer.
But he could feel it too.
He was no longer just someone walking the path of power.
He was becoming something else.
Something that was never meant to exist.
The man stood still for a few moments, then closed his eyes briefly.
And when he opened them again, something had changed.
"This is enough for today."
With a single motion, he vanished.
As if he had never been there in the first place.
Raine didn't move.
He didn't need to.
Because he realized that this battle wasn't the end.
It was merely the beginning of something far greater.
To be continued…
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