They stood amidst the destruction. The sky shattered. The ground cracked.
Bianca stared at the figure she once knew. She wanted to call him… Alexander. But her tongue was numb.
He wasn't the same person.
Rina was silent as well. Lugh had already taken a stance, but didn't move forward.
Reed—formerly Alexander—looked at each of them.
"I know what you're thinking."
The voice was the same. But cold. Sharp.
"I haven't changed. I just stopped pretending."
Suddenly, a voice emerged from the shadows. A voice that was familiar to Reed.
"Alexander."
Everyone turned.
Someone stepped out of the mist—Elara, a young mage from the Order of Light, who had been the only one to believe Alexander before he was framed.
Her eyes were red. Her lips were trembling.
"You can still come back."
Reed stared at her for a long moment.
"I will not return to being something weak just for your convenience."
"You are not weak!" Elara retorted. "You are just… you are still human!"
"I am not human."
Reed opened his palm. Shadows flowed out. But in the center… a glimmer of light. A remnant of his old power.
"I am the boundary between two worlds. I am a Lord that even the system cannot categorize."
"F? SSS? It doesn't matter. I am unclassified."
Meanwhile, Val'Tareth, who had been watching, began to step back.
"Interesting," he murmured. "You truly transcend the system. Even I cannot reach you."
He smiled. But not a smile of triumph.
"Then, Reed… we shall meet again. But this time, not as master and heir."
Val'Tareth's shadow exploded and disappeared.
After Val'Tareth disappeared, tension immediately rose.
Lugh stepped forward. "Are you still with us, or have you become enemies?"
Reed stared at him.
"I'm with you."
"But in my way."
Rina interrupted, quietly. "If your way involves killing anyone who disagrees with you—we can't join."
Reed was silent.
"Then you're free to go."
Bianca, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke up.
"Do you think we came here just to watch you become a monster?!"
The voice shook them all.
"You can throw away your old name. But you can't throw away all our memories."
"If you're truly dead, I'll end you myself."
Reed stared at Bianca. For a long moment.
Then he nodded.
"Okay."
"I won't stop."
"But I promise you one thing—I won't betray you first."
In the distance, the sky cracked even wider.
The portal to the fifth world—the last before the Crown—began to open.
Reed stared at it coldly.
"Our destination is the same," he said quietly. "But the means… will be different."
They began walking again.
No promises. No empty hopes.
Just a fragile bond, held together by a past unfinished.
The Fifth World was unlike any other. Not earth, not sky, not hell.
But archives.
An endless space filled with white towers, suspended in the void.
Each tower held a single memory.
A single sin.
A single truth.
Reed and his team stood at the end of a stone bridge leading to a gate.
The gate was guarded not by monsters, but by Reflections—living mirrors that mirrored their hearts.
As they stepped, the air changed.
Rina's heart beat faster. Bianca gripped her weapon. Lugh looked anxious.
Reed? He was calm. But his eyes swept in every direction.
He knew this place would be dangerous.
Not because of the enemy's strength. But because of the truth they didn't want to see.
First Tower: Rina
The first reflection appeared. It was a younger Rina. Clean. Full of hope.
But her eyes were… empty.
"Why did you give up when I still believed?" the figure asked.
Rina fell silent.
"I… I did what I had to do."
"Nonsense." The reflection drew a dagger. "You wanted to survive. That's all."
They fought. But not just with weapons. Every blow carried guilt.
Bianca wanted to help. But Reed raised his hand.
"If she can't defeat herself, she won't survive in this world."
Rina won. But not without wounds. Her body was still strong. But her soul… cracked a little.
Second Tower: Lugh
Lugh's reflection appeared as himself, having killed his comrades because of a wrong order.
Blood dripped from his hands.
"I was only following orders," Lugh said.
"And killing someone who trusted you?"
Lugh raged. But the reflection did not attack.
He only looked.
And that gaze… made Lugh fall to his knees.
"I will never be strong enough…"
Reed approached. "We don't need you to be strong. We need you to be honest. Stand up."
Lugh lifted his face. The reflection disappeared.
Third Tower: Bianca
Bianca's reflection was herself who still loved Alexander.
Who didn't know who Reed was.
"Why didn't you stop him earlier?" Reflection asked.
Bianca didn't answer.
"Because you loved who he was… even after he changed."
Reflection stared at her. Softly. But piercingly.
"And you know, when the time comes… you'll have to be the one to end it."
Bianca gritted her teeth.
"I know."
Reflection smiled. Then disappeared.
Fourth Tower: Reed
The tower was empty.
No Reflections.
Only voices.
"Do you think that by throwing away your name, all your sins will be gone?"
Reed did not answer.
Shadows began to appear around him.
The faces he had killed.
The faces he had let die.
And one face—himself.
Alexander.
"Why did you throw me away?"
Reed stared at him. For a long time.
"I didn't throw you away. I buried you. Because if you had lived… we would have died."
Alexander smiled. Sadly.
"Then at least let me be a whisper in your head."
"So that you remember… who you once protected."
Reed nodded once.
And the figure vanished.
After passing the final tower, the gate opened.
Beyond it—the Crown of the World.
A place where only one Lord may stand.
And there… a figure waited.
Robed in white. Pure. His face was not yet visible. But his aura…
Like a light that gave not hope, but command.
"Welcome, Reed," the voice said.
"I am the System. And I have been waiting for you."