He stood up from the bed in confusion.
'Where did she go?'
Many questions rushed through his mind. Where did Selpe go? Is she hiding something? Is she on some secret mission? Or what?
He hurriedly left the bedroom and quietly looked down.
The kitchen's door was open—and there, on the shelf, a girl was sleeping. Her knees were drawn up to her shoulders, her arms wrapped around her legs and her head resting on them.
'There she is… huh? But why is she sleeping there? Why didn't she come to the bedroom? Well… should I wake her up? No, no… that wouldn't be good. Uhmm… oh, right!'
He had always preferred not to wake anyone once they were asleep. He could wait until they woke up on their own—not because of some rule or kindness, but simply because that was what he believed in. His long-gone parents had once told him the same.
'I have to act like a real husband—even though I'm not,' he thought, and with that, he walked toward the kitchen.
He noticed traces of tears still glimmering at the corners of her closed eyes.
'Huh? Was she… crying? Crying for what?'
He gently lifted her into his arms. Her body felt so light—like a feather. The warmth of her skin brushed against his, soft and fragile.
As he carried her back to the bedroom, his thoughts wouldn't stop running.
'Is something bothering her lately?... What could it be, man? Why's she hiding something that's hurting her so much?'
He opened the door with his foot and paused for a moment, looking at her sleeping face.
Just as a question—who was she really?
Ibaan only knew a part of her story, the weight she'd been carrying all this time.
Selpe was the daughter of a swordsmith from the Clan Light, who had died before she was even born. Her mother couldn't bear the grief and took her own life soon after. Since then, Ibaan's parents had raised Selpe as their own.
But even so, there were many things he didn't know about her. She had always cried when alone, even as a child. He used to wonder what haunted her—
Were her parents cruel? No, that couldn't be; they had loved her. Maybe… maybe it was the curse. Maybe she feared it would kill her, kill everyone.
He laid her carefully on the bed and pulled the blanket over her shoulders.
'Ahhh! I think I won't get any sleep now! Damn it!'
He had always faced a problem that if he'd wake up in the middle of sleep, he couldn't sleep again.
Sinking back into his own bed, he sighed and sat up, thinking of something to tire his mind enough to rest.
'Oh yes… I'll check the Bookmarks—and Selpe's status.'
He thought maybe the system could tell him more about her true self. If she was from his world, she would have Name Powers. But if she was from the Mythic Era, she would hold Concept Powers.
With that thought, he summoned the relic through his mind. A familiar construct shimmered into view within his consciousness.
He scrolled through the options and selected [Mask of Dusk] to check Selpe's status.
—————
[???]
[Status:]
Name: Selpe de Light
Mark: Mark of Oblivion
[Sealed Contract]: Mist of Autumn
[Contracted Party]: Unknown Being
Mark Rank: Elite Branch
Codename: Mask of Dusk [Co-Leader]
> Members: Mask of Dawn [L]
> Discussions: |Open□ Close■|
Space: [The Judgment]
—————
'Huh? Elite? She's reached the Elite Branch? How the hell did she manage that? And in the Mark of Oblivion, of all things… no wonder she's the idol of so many students.'
His eyes widened as something else caught his attention.
'Wait… could it be that the unknown being is acting as her? If that's true, then she might be planning something against humanity…'
But before the thought could go any deeper, his mind blurred.
It was as if someone had erased the idea before it could take shape.
He forgot what he had just seen, forgot what he had realized—his thoughts slipped away like a smoke.
Without even noticing, he moved on to the next panel.
He didn't look back—how could he, when he'd already forgotten that he needed to?
And the next panel read:
_________
[School]
School of Thoughts and Perseverance
User ID: 01-A
Class: A
Achievements: Obtained Title [The Paragon of Heaven], [Youngest Strongest]
[School's Astral World]
Username: Autumn
Duels: |Win 271|Lose 06
Floor Number: 89
—————
He didn't even stop to react after reading it. He didn't feel a thing—his mind was blank, silent. Without realizing, he closed her status section and moved straight to the bookmarks.
[Bookmarks:]
Bookmark 1:
Charlie takes admission in the School of Thoughts and Perseverance in mid-1911 and becomes the treasure of SOTAP. All five presidents from the different cities of the State of Heaven recognize his hidden Duality Mark talent!
Bookmark 2:
While bearing the Mark of Anima, Charlie awakens it before the school's official tournament. He forms a bond with the Spirit Dragon, the terrifying unknown being, and survives where the entire Light Clan once perished to the curse—becoming the lone survivor of the terrifying sealed contract, even though he was never a part of the Clan Light…
His face darkened, and his chest tightened.
'Huh??? Before the tournament? He was supposed to awaken it after the tournament! And the Clan Light going extinct before it? Hell no! How? In the original story, it all happened after!'
His expression grew heavier, breath sharp and uneven. A cold shiver crawled down his spine as the truth sank in—
they were going to die.
Just like that? Was this his fate?
'I'm not accepting that!'
He wandered around the bedroom, pacing aimlessly, his thoughts running wild.
Sleep? It didn't even exist in his mind anymore.
'What to do? What to do?...'
He thought hard, countless ideas flashing through his head, but none stayed. Every conclusion felt uncertain, every plan hopeless.
Finally, he dropped back onto the bed, covering his face with both palms.
'Just go with Dead Eye. Whatever happens, happens.'
It would be his second time reaching out to Dead Eye—actually, Dead Eye of the Fallens. The real Ibaan used to shorten the name, since the true one was far too long to even speak.
This time, he had made up his mind. He would contact Dead Eye again…
But he wouldn't order nature. He would stay still—and endure whatever came.
He stood up and walked to the washroom.
'I've faced the Angle of Chaos, my ancestor is the Nemesis of Angles, I'm in a bunch of clothed monkeys, I have the blessings of the Lord—this is nothing.'
With that thought steadying him, he closed his eyes and recited the lines from the Relic:
"The Dead Eye of Fallens… The Name of the Dead… I ask for the seal to be lifted."
At that critical moment, darkness wrapped around him. His heart felt a cold, ghostly touch.
His heartbeat quickened, but the cold did not fade.
Then countless invisible gazes pierced him from all directions—some from infinity, some from just a few meters away.
And then, voices—deep, ethereal, and unending—started shrieking in his ears:
"&@+##&@&Walk@_$&@"
"$#@#$#-@-@-@"
")()¥£€¢¢To..w.rs@#$&"
"[email protected]+(@+@"
The voices were terrifying, powerful enough to shred him in seconds.
His heart burned. His mind screamed, feeling as if it might split into pieces.
Then, suddenly, the shrieking stopped.
And then—the empty eyes began to blink, closing one by one, from infinity to just meters away. And then… the world shifted completely.
A greyish-red sky stretched endlessly above. Empty eyes floated across it. One massive crimson eye glared down upon the world. Ahead, a towering structure rose, crimson and stretching into the sky. Around it, red plants grew wildly, spreading across the land as far as the eye could see.
Ibaan found himself standing in the middle of that strange world.
'Where the hell am I? What is this place?'
Before he could even process it, lightning struck, thunder roared—and a storm shook the world, though there were no clouds in the sky.