Part 1
After the plaza slowly emptied, the coronation crown still resting untouched on its pedestal, Masashi stood on the palace balcony again — this time not with Clara, but with Selvaria.
The stars above Dusk-Land Kingdom flickered gently, quiet after the storm of voices.
Masashi spoke first, voice low but steady.
"…Now that everyone's gone. Tell me everything."
Selvaria leaned against the cold marble rail, her expression distant. The chains on her belt glinted in the moonlight. The seven muskets floated silently behind her like sleeping spirits.
"This isn't the first time I've seen this world," she admitted quietly. "Not for me."
Masashi frowned slightly. "You mean…?"
"Loops," Selvaria answered. "But not the kind Elra deals with. Not short resets. Full timelines. Complete routes. I've walked through this world… dozens of times."
Masashi's grip on the balcony tightened just slightly. "And each time, you saw me."
Selvaria's voice dropped further, the weight in it clear.
"Yes. Each time, you gathered allies. You defeated Virroga. And each time… you took the crown."
Masashi's brows furrowed, his pulse quickening.
"What happens when I take it?"
Selvaria turned her head slightly, eyes glinting with violet frost under the moon.
"You die."
Silence.
Masashi's breath caught in his chest.
"The Witch of Darkness… she only ever appears after the coronation. After you bind yourself to the kingdom. It's not a coincidence. The crown isn't just a symbol. It's a key — tying you directly to this world's mana cycle. Once you accept it, you stop being Masashi the writer. Or Masashi the Phoenix Knight. You become…"
She looked away for a moment.
"…The Core Sovereign. The last anchor holding the world together. The Witch of Darkness kills you not for revenge. But because it resets the world."
Masashi's voice was quieter now:
"Why didn't anyone else know?"
Selvaria finally looked at him fully, her expression sharp — but also honest.
"Because I'm the only one left from the original cycle. The one before all of this."
Masashi's breath slowed.
"…The original?"
Selvaria nodded once.
"I was meant to take the crown once too. But I refused. And the world… changed."
The moonlight cast silver edges along both of them now — Masashi standing steady, Selvaria framed by floating weapons and invisible chains.
Masashi finally asked:
"Then why help me now? Why not just end it on your own?"
Selvaria answered without hesitation:
"Because in every route where I stayed silent… I watched you die."
Masashi's gaze shifted downward, staring at his own hand. His pulse calmed slowly.
"…So if I refuse now, the cycle breaks?"
Selvaria nodded.
"If you choose freedom over fate, the world writes a new path."
Masashi exhaled, closing his eyes for a long moment.
"…It's strange."
Selvaria raised an eyebrow. "What is?"
Masashi gave a quiet smile — not forced, not bitter. Just tired but real.
"I always said I wasn't a king. But maybe I'm still just… a writer."
Selvaria actually allowed herself the faintest smirk now.
"That's one way to look at it."
Masashi opened his eyes again, meeting hers directly.
"Thank you, Selvaria."
Selvaria's smirk faded into something softer.
"…Don't thank me yet. The Witch of Darkness isn't gone. And now, she knows we're breaking the pattern."
Masashi nodded once, steady as ever.
"Then we'll write the ending ourselves."
Two figures standing beneath a sky full of floating lanterns, no longer bound by old crowns, old curses, or closed chapters.
The world quiet. But the story… still moving forward.
The next morning arrived gently, as if the sky itself was unsure how to rise after a night of revelations.
A faint wind stirred the banners above Dusk-Land Palace, but the coronation stage remained untouched. The crown still shimmered atop the pedestal, ignored yet powerful, like a forgotten spell left unfinished.
Masashi didn't sleep.
He stood alone in the Hall of Light, facing the stained-glass window depicting the ancient kings of the realm. His reflection shimmered there — part of the glass, part of the world, but never truly embedded in it.
A soft knock behind him.
Selvaria entered with her usual silence. Her floating muskets hovered low, less threatening, more like loyal birds. Her expression was unreadable.
"You didn't sleep," she said, not as a question.
Masashi shook his head. "No. Too much history in my head. Yours, mine, and the world's."
Selvaria stepped beside him. "You're already thinking differently. That's good."
Masashi glanced at her. "And you? Are you sure this time will be different?"
A beat passed.
"…No," Selvaria admitted. "But I've never told you before. Not like this. That already changes something."
Masashi turned to face her fully. "Then it's time we tell the others."
Selvaria's brow raised faintly. "You trust them with this?"
Masashi gave a tired but certain nod. "They followed me through fire, illusions, time ruptures, and a false death god. They deserve the truth."
Later — War Room, Eastern Wing of the Palace
Clara, Elra, Yulleus, Crystella, Vellia, Sev, Mikka, Onin, and Lyrren stood in a wide semi-circle.
Tension was palpable.
Selvaria stood off-center, letting Masashi speak.
He told them everything.
The loops. The crown. The Core Sovereign. The Witch of Darkness. The reset cycles. Selvaria's warnings. Her dozens of walks through the same history, with him dying every time.
No one interrupted — not even Sev, usually the first to scoff at "fairy-tale logic." Clara's expression was hardest to read. Her eyes darted between Masashi and Selvaria more than once, questions forming silently in her mind.
When Masashi finished, he said simply, "I chose not to wear the crown."
Silence again.
Then Yulleus stepped forward. "Then we fight fate. Like we always have."
Elra nodded. "We already changed the sky continent path. This is just another locked gate."
Crystella flicked a blade of ice from her palm and shattered it with her other hand. "No crown means no bindings. I'm fine with that."
Even Vellia, quietest among them, finally spoke. "We don't need a king. We need Masashi."
Clara said nothing. She simply walked forward, placed a hand over Masashi's, and whispered, "Thank you. For staying."
Masashi looked at Selvaria, who had remained watching — the ghost of tension around her eyes melted just slightly.
That Night – In the Deep Archives
Selvaria and Masashi walked beneath Dusk-Land's palace archives, deeper than any of the others had ever gone. Only those with access to the First Regalia — the core administrative seal — could enter here. Selvaria held that seal.
Between ancient columns and glowing records, she stopped at a locked gate. The runes on it pulsed in black and violet — forbidden magic.
"The Witch of Darkness comes from this place," Selvaria explained. "The Palace Substrata. Underneath all mana streams. This is the echo of the world's first cycle."
Masashi stepped closer.
"If we want to end this loop… we'll have to face what it really is."
She nodded.
"Not just fight it. Understand it."
Suddenly, one of Selvaria's muskets floated higher, its barrel glowing red-hot.
Masashi looked at her.
"What is it?"
Selvaria's voice was a whisper.
"She knows we're here."
The coronation stage trembled—not from any enemy—but from the immense power that now surged from a single figure. Selvaria. Her black-and-purple mage dress shimmered with pulsating veins of amethyst energy, the heart-shaped gem at her chest blazing like a miniature star.
Behind her, nine metallic muskets hovered in the air like loyal sentinels. Each one crafted with dark metal and laced in glowing violet sigils. They spun slowly, their muzzles glowing with condensed magical bullets—one for each point of pressure on the battlefield. At the center, forming above her right shoulder, the tenth weapon emerged.
A colossal magical bazooka, etched in arcane runes and shaped like a dragon's jaw, roared into existence. The gem veins lit the barrel as the bazooka aligned itself with Selvaria's line of sight.
The crowd gasped, backing away as the ground cracked beneath her heels. Her presence alone seemed to warp the air.
Then it happened.
Her form glowed—then erupted into a radiant pulse of violet light. Her dress transformed, taking on sleek armor plating fused with mystic silk. Her boots had a runic glow, and her arms were covered in gauntlets with wing-like filaments extending behind her. Her silver hair floated like it was underwater, her eyes like twin eclipses.
Clara stepped forward, eyes wide. "That's... not normal magic…"
Elra narrowed her gaze. "No. That's something else."
Yulleus looked at Masashi with a rare seriousness. "She's awakened her Armor."
"Armor?" Masashi repeated.
Vellia nodded, stepping beside Crystella. "It's the name of the highest form of magical potential. Rank SSS. Armor is the manifestation of a soul's truest power… It's rare. I've only seen it once before."
Crystella turned her head slowly toward Masashi. "And the truth is… every one of us has that potential."
Selvaria's voice echoed through the air—no longer sharp and defiant, but calm and steady, like someone fully awakened.
> "This is the reason I came here. To stop you, Masashi… but not because I doubt you. I saw your fate. You're not meant to wear the crown, not yet. If you do… the world ends in fire."
Her muskets rotated behind her, forming a spiral sigil of protective magic. A radiant ward shimmered across the coronation stage.
Masashi stepped forward. "Why tell me this now? Why show all of this now?"
Selvaria looked at him—no anger, no pity—only resolve.
> "Because only someone who understands their true power can shape the future. That includes you, Masashi. I saw your 'Armor' once. In another time. A time that never came to pass…"
She extended her hand to him.
> "Come with me. Let me show you what you're really capable of. What Armor truly means."
Everyone stood silent. Shocked. Inspired. Confused.
But deep inside, each of them felt it—the calling. A warmth in the chest, a vibration in their spirit. One by one, their souls stirred, like seeds waiting for light.
Masashi clenched his fist and smiled. "Then show me, Selvaria. Show me everything."
And with that, the world's next transformation began—not with war, but with revelation.
Part 2
The training field behind the palace of Dusk-Land shimmered beneath the twilight sky, as the coronation ceremony had passed and whispers of the coming age stirred in the air. Masashi, though officially named a candidate to the throne, had felt a change since Selvaria's sudden appearance—especially after her astonishing battle display and declaration about "Armor."
Now, Selvaria stood in the training field, her 9 magical muskets hovering in a radiant arc behind her, the purple magic glowing faintly. Her long dark mage dress had shifted into a more ornate version: plated with dark silver lining and purple corestones that pulsed like a heartbeat. The massive bazooka floated behind her, silent but imposing.
Opposite her stood Elra, the timeless witch of memory and fate, and Crystella, the quiet guardian of frost. Both carried a noble yet vulnerable air as the wind teased their hair and cloaks.
"Let's begin," Elra said, stepping forward. "You wanted to understand what lies beyond Armor. Let's start with what we know."
Selvaria raised an eyebrow. "You two—witches with the greatest magical lineage—haven't unlocked Armor?"
Crystella nodded, arms folded. "No. But we've tasted something else. A twisted mirror of power."
Elra closed her eyes. "Inverse."
Selvaria tilted her head. "Inverse? You mean... the corrupted version?"
"It's more complicated than that," Crystella said softly, drawing a circle in the air, revealing a memory.
A vision opened up—an image of Elra during her darkest trial, her eyes blackened with time-runes, her body cloaked in wild energy.
Elra explained, "Inverse is born from imbalance. When your heart, magic, and memories aren't aligned... your power turns against you. I nearly erased myself from time when I used it."
Crystella added, "And I nearly froze the entire sky when mine broke free."
Selvaria watched the images fade and felt the tremble in her chest.
"You're both unstable," Selvaria muttered. "Even now, I can feel it. Your magic pulses like... broken glass. Shimmering, beautiful, but dangerous to hold."
Elra flinched slightly, but she didn't deny it.
"I don't mean to insult you," Selvaria said. "But if you truly want to awaken Armor... you have to fix your foundation."
Masashi, who had been silently watching, stepped forward. "So... Armor isn't just raw strength. It's harmony?"
Selvaria nodded. "Exactly. When your heart, your will, and your magic walk the same path—Armor will awaken naturally. It's your truest self, unchained."
Masashi clenched his fist. "Then I'll do it. I'll learn what it means to be one with myself."
Crystella looked at Elra, then back at Selvaria. "Then teach us."
Selvaria turned around slowly, her nine muskets shimmering and vanishing behind her back in motes of purple light.
"I will," she said. "But first, we have to visit the Echo Pools. The place where the heart reflects the soul. Only there... will you face your true imbalance."
Elra smiled faintly. "So we're going to the edge of the world then."
Masashi breathed in. A new journey was about to begin—not a battle of swords or magic, but of spirit.
And the path to mastering Armor had just begun.
Suddenly, Selvaria paused mid-lesson.
Her eyes narrowed.
A chilling sensation slithered down her spine — a distant gaze, ancient and sharp, watching her from far beyond the mountains. It wasn't just magic… it was awareness. Someone — something — was observing them.
[Elsewhere… atop a black obsidian tower shrouded in mist]
Two figures stand side by side, veiled in shadow. One cloaked in ragged silk, the other armored in bone-plated black.
Pawn: (smirking)
"Finally… the time has come. The Author meets the main character."
Witch of Darkness: (coldly)
"Silence, Pawn. Don't you dare speak that name aloud."
She gazes into the distance — eyes glowing with twisted insight.
Witch of Darkness:
"Masashi may not have awakened his Armor yet… but once Selvaria teaches him everything…"
(She smiles faintly, as if admiring a trap being sprung.)
"Then the real story begins."
Pawn:
"Imagine if he finds out he's the one who wrote this world…"
Witch of Darkness: (dark laughter)
"That will not happen. Not on my watch. I won't allow him to comprehend that truth."
Pawn:
"How will you stop him? Say 'hi' and hope he doesn't blast you into the sun?"
Witch of Darkness:
"No. I'll shift… take on another form. A new body. A different persona — with my essence, my mind fully transferred."
(She raises a hand — a shadow begins to twist and form a new silhouette beside her.)
Pawn: (awed)
"You really are amazing… Witch of Darkness."
[Back at the training grounds…]
Selvaria turned back toward Masashi and the others.
That dark feeling in her chest... she shook it off.
Selvaria: (softly)
"Just... my imagination."
And so, the training continued — unaware that fate had just turned its page.