The realm trembled under the weight of silence. The five stood together—bloodied, exhausted, but wide-eyed—as the towering figure of Entity 404 leaned forward. His presence bent the air itself, like gravity had decided to bow only for him. Shadows writhed at his feet, stretching unnaturally across the cracked floor.
"I am going to tell you a secret," 404's voice was both thunder and whisper, heavy enough to still the breaths of everyone present. His gaze fixed on the five as though testing their worthiness. "A secret I once swore I would never reveal."
Bachi, his body barely holding itself upright, forced himself to stand. He clutched his ribs, his face pale, yet his hand rose, trembling. "Then… tell us," he croaked. His voice was weaker than he wanted it to be, but there was something unshakable in his eyes.
Kaguro, standing close beside him, narrowed his gaze. "Yes. Tell us, Entity 404."
The group leaned forward unconsciously. Their hearts pounded, every breath dragging them closer to the answer. It was not simply curiosity—it was instinct, a pull that told them this truth mattered.
Entity 404's massive hand enveloped Bachi's frail one. The sheer size difference was absurd: a god clutching the hand of a broken mortal. The ground quivered when 404 took a step closer, his shadow swallowing them whole.
When he spoke, his words echoed as though carried by invisible corridors.
"This secret was never written in scripture. Not in books. Not in prophecy. It was never meant to be known to your kind. Because it is sacred. Forbidden."
He opened his mouth to continue, the darkness behind his teeth pulsing with some ancient resonance.
"The secret is that there was another—"
The words shattered as a piercing, high-pitched sound ripped through the chamber. The five clutched their ears in agony. It wasn't mere noise—it was vibration, a frequency that pressed against their very bones.
Entity 404's eyes narrowed. He turned slowly.
Out of the void stepped another being.
Entity 05.
His arrival bent reality like glass under heat. His form radiated light not of warmth, but of judgment—a sterile brilliance that scoured everything it touched. Beside him slithered a figure clad in shadows: the Midnight Demon, his presence sharp and oppressive, like a dagger pressed to the throat of existence.
"Pokravoski, yamashilshki entito!" Entity 05's words rang out in the harsh cadence of Reamism, the language of entities. The walls seemed to recoil at the sound.
The five looked at each other in confusion. "What… what did he just say?" Alan whispered, his voice breaking.
Entity 05's eyes blazed, and he repeated in a harsher tone, "Mrikashki?"
Entity 404's expression darkened. He answered in the same tongue, his voice molten steel: "Astagar."
Kashimo stumbled back. "What is happening? Who is this… this thing?"
Kaguro's fists clenched. "Doesn't matter. We can't stay here. This is beyond us."
"Are we… are we going to die?" Alan asked, almost in a whisper.
Entity 404 turned sharply to them, his gaze sharper than any blade. "You five—leave. Now!"
He raised a hand and chanted in Reamism, his voice resonating like bells forged from black iron:
"Lumina Astrae Viatora, Portalem Aperi, Transitio et Redemptio!"
Light split the air into cracks, forming a spiraling gate. Before the five could protest, the portal pulled them in like a tide.
---
The Abandoned School
They stumbled back onto familiar desks, gasping for breath. But the relief died quickly.
The school they once knew was now empty. Hollow.
The halls stretched in eerie silence. Desks sat covered in dust, chairs overturned as if abandoned mid-lesson. No teachers. No guards. No laughter. No footsteps.
Not even the faintest chirp of a bird outside.
Alan looked around, his throat tight. "This… this doesn't feel real."
Bachi dragged himself toward a cracked window. Outside, the courtyard lay still under a sky the color of ash. "Where is everyone?" His voice was flat, almost lifeless.
Kaguro answered with a low growl. "Gone. Everything's gone."
The clocks on the wall ticked with mechanical precision, each second sharp and unforgiving. They kept perfect time, as if mocking the stillness of everything else.
The five exchanged glances. Their reality had been rewritten.
---
The Dark Realm
Far away—though distance was meaningless here—two titans faced one another in a place without stars.
Entity 404's voice rolled like a storm: "Say what you want, 05. There is no one here but us." His aura rippled outward, shaking the ground as if even the void feared him.
Entity 05 glared, his light scorching against the black. "Why were you telling those mortals the forbidden secret? Even the Midnight Demon has forbidden it!"
404's eyes narrowed. "Because I see potential in them. They are not ordinary children—they are tethered to him. You think I don't see it? Midnight Demon has corrupted the system. He bargains with entities, manipulates with words, buys loyalty like trinkets. And you… you still play his lapdog?"
The ground cracked beneath his anger.
"I am tired of it. Tired of him. I will shatter this rotten system. And those children—they are my key."
Entity 05 raised a hand, his light pulsing brighter. "You overstep. You think defiance makes you righteous, but exposing Fujism is treason. If you want them, abide by the laws."
404 sneered. "Laws? Did laws stop the demons of your realm from attacking me? You lined the border with monsters and sent them across. Don't deny it."
Entity 05's expression faltered for a fraction of a second. Then his features hardened. "Enough."
His hand snapped forward, unleashing a torrent of searing light.
404 did not flinch. He absorbed the strike into himself, shadows devouring the brilliance until nothing remained. Then, with a motion sharp as a blade, he exhaled:
"Darkness Manipulation—Equivalent Damage!"
The darkness surged outward, wrapping around 05 like chains forged of despair. The enemy entity convulsed as shadow pierced his luminous form.
Gritting his teeth, 05 forced out a counter. "Goodwill of Light!"
The chains cracked. Radiance burst forth, shredding the dark tendrils and filling the void with blinding purity.
404's lips curled into something almost like a smile. "Impressive."
He vanished in a blur. In less than a breath, he reappeared, running through shifting boundaries, forcing 05 to spin desperately to follow.
Again, the darkness struck.
Again, 05 countered—his voice raw, strained. "Goodwill of Light—two hundred percent!"
The explosion of energy broke the chains once more. But this time, 404 was ready.
He surged forward, his fist cloaked in unending night. When he struck, the punch reverberated across existence. The sound tore through the human realm, rattled the bones of mortals, and echoed even in the halls of Fujism itself.
Entity 05's chest caved inward, his brilliance sputtering like a dying star.
The battle raged for eight long minutes—light clashing against dark, each blow rewriting the landscape of the void. But 05's light dimmed with every strike, while 404's shadows only grew deeper.
At last, 404's hand pierced through 05's chest, consuming him entirely.
The light was extinguished.
What remained was only a bare, destroyed soul.
It screamed in silence.
404 absorbed it. Tradition demanded it. The victor claimed the power of the fallen, merging essence with essence, until one grew stronger and the other ceased to be.
The void quieted. The darkness bowed to its master.
Entity 404 stood triumphant.
---
The Two Secrets
His voice was low, almost reverent, as if speaking to himself.
"I had two secrets all along."
He lifted his gaze toward the unseen heavens.
"The first—there were two Midnight Demons. One real. One false. The true one perished in fifty A.D. The counterfeit in fifty-two. Their deaths split across dimensions, tangled in mysteries the mortals cannot yet understand."
His tone darkened. "The second secret… I am done standing beside the Midnight Demon. Once, he was my closest ally. No longer. From this moment, I stand against him. I will bring him down."
The shadows writhed around him like serpents, eager to obey.
"And when the time comes… the children will know the third secret. But not yet."
His eyes glowed with finality.
The darkness swallowed his words whole.
Arc Four ends .
Chapter 30 Ends — To Be Continued