The Realm of Mortals rested at the foundation of all creation—a place of profound fragility. It was so delicate that if any being from the higher Divine Realms were to enter, their mere presence would unravel it completely, erasing the realm from existence in an instant.
Only spiritual beings from the Realm of Spirits could enter safely, and even then, mortals who glimpsed such entities would perish immediately under the weight of their divine essence.
Should any mortal or spirit lay eyes upon a being from the endless Divine Realms contained by the Pathway, their entire existence would be erased. Their very concept would dissolve, even if those divine beings manifested within the Realm of Spirits.
For this reason, those from the Divine Realms often tasked spirits with monitoring the Realm of Mortals for signs of danger. The Realm of Mortals was so vulnerable that even a magiceless being from the Divine realms could destroy the entire Realm of Mortals simply by existing within it.
The Realm of Mortals was considered the first creation of the Almighty Goddess of Life and Creation and the Almighty God of Death and Destruction—the very first realm to exist, predating time itself. Later, the Almighty Gods fashioned the Realm of Spirits, the Divine Realms, and the Pathway. Yet this was not the end of creation, for a place existed even before those two deities: a realm beyond all concepts of time, space, and dimensionality itself.
The recent battle between Aurora and the demon in the Realm of Spirits had nearly shattered both that realm and the Realm of Mortals. The sacred cycle of life and death teetered on the brink of collapse, and the mortal realm suffered immense damage in the wake of their clash.
Though the Realm of Mortals appeared simple and fragile from the outside, its inner structure was infinitely complex. It contained not one, but endless realities, timelines, and possibilities. A single reality housed infinite timelines, each branching into further infinite possibilities—a loop of endless expansion within every thread of existence. Countless such realities existed within the Realm of Mortals, each isolated from the others. Destroying one would not affect the rest in the slightest.
The angels' sacred duty, entrusted to them by the Almighty Gods themselves, was to protect both the Realm of Mortals and the Realm of Spirits, preserving the delicate balance of the cycle between them.
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As the demon vanished before her eyes, Aurora let out a long sigh.
"What a pain," she muttered, scratching her head. "I just hope I didn't destroy the Realm of Mortals in the process."
She surveyed the devastation around her—rifts torn through spiritual space, endless dimensions fractured and cracked, all evidence of the catastrophic battle she had waged.
If Dómvalka had been here instead, such destruction would never have occurred. The General would have erased the demon instantly. Unlike Aurora, Dómvalka was a warrior who sought to end conflicts quickly, sparing others from suffering. Aurora, in contrast, loved the fight itself: the thrill of combat, the sting of injury, the sight of an enemy begging for a mercy she would never grant.
"I should clean up this mess before someone sees it and dies of fright," she murmured to herself.
She closed her eyes, drew a deep breath, and opened them again.
"Vadlet," she whispered.
A blinding light enveloped both the Realm of Spirits and the Realm of Mortals, vanishing almost as quickly as it appeared. When it faded, everything was restored. The spatial rifts sealed shut; the cracks across infinite dimensions vanished without a trace.
Vadlet was a hereditary power within Aurora's family—the ability to rewind time itself. She could restore everything to a prior state, send consciousness back through time, heal injuries by reversing their occurrence, and much more.
"Looks like everything's back in order," she said, scanning the now-pristine expanse.
"Time to go back."
She stretched her arms overhead, her back and joints emitting a series of satisfying cracks. Lowering her hands, she summoned her sword into her right palm.
With a vertical swing, she sliced through the fabric of space itself. A gleaming rift opened before her—a direct passage back to the Divine Realm of Angels.
She stepped through, and the portal sealed behind her, leaving the Realm of Spirits in tranquil silence once more.
—
In the Realm of Fate, the ceremony had begun. Seiichi and the others stood several meters away from the Stairs of Fate as Grey called forward the names of the children whose destinies were to be determined that day.
From the outside, the Stairs of Fate appeared as a majestic, towering structure within the realm, but in truth, they existed in a separate dimension layered inside the Realm of Fate itself. When someone stepped onto the first stair, they vanished from sight, drawn into that other reality.
Time flowed differently within that hidden dimension. A single day inside equated to only one minute in the Realm of Fate. Adding to the challenge, the gravity within was already one hundred times stronger than in the Realm of Fate, making each step an immense trial of endurance and will.
"Celestina," Grey called.
A girl stepped forward, about Seiichi's age, with long, flowing orange hair and striking crimson eyes.
"It is your turn now," Grey said gently.
With a steadying breath, Celestina ascended the first stair. In an instant, she disappeared from the realm, swallowed by the dimensional threshold.
Approximately twenty minutes passed in the Realm of Fate. Then, a soft white light materialized and faded just as quickly, leaving Celestina collapsed on the ground. She gasped for air, her face glistening with sweat, her clothes damp and clinging to her.
"Celestina," Grey announced, his tone carrying a note of gentle disappointment. "You have achieved D-rank. Do not be disheartened. Lacking control over fate is not a failure. Your journey continues regardless."
After a respectful pause, Grey straightened and called the next name.
"Aron."
All eyes turned to the blond-haired boy. Aron strode confidently toward the stairs, a determined smile lighting his face. "I won't fail like that girl," he whispered under his breath.
Without hesitation, he stepped onto the first stair and vanished from sight.