The tower pulsed with an unstable energy, as if it realized that something beyond its laws had begun to move within it.
Ikar stood in the center of the throne, his body glowing with layers of light, while Lin stood facing him, his dark aura growing darker and darker, as if it surrounded him as an extension of the shadow energy that had materialized within him.
Yume, Rin, Maru, and Celestia, who was injured but didn't let her injury slow her down, watched silently.
Then Lin disappeared.
In an instant, he became a series of moving black lines, an entity that flowed between the spaces as if it were flowing between the spaces themselves.
He appeared behind Ikar, then above him, then beside him, then in every direction, his sword moving with uncanny speed, and the attacks were relentless.
The king's armor was ripped off, another strike split his shoulder, a third hit his leg, and then a continuous series of attacks that Ikar couldn't dodge.
But Ikar was no ordinary opponent, he was the master of the reflection, and inside the tower, his sheer power controlled the laws of space.
He suddenly raised his hand, causing the reflection to swallow the light itself, turning the entire tower into a radiant arena, devoid of any shadows, impossible for Lin to merge with.
"It's over." Ikar whispered confidently, before charging at Lin, using light as a deadly weapon, cutting through the void like an inescapable blade.
But suddenly, the king felt a pain inside him, as if he had torn himself apart without realizing how or why.
He looked down, and one half of his body was separated from the other, completely severed.
Lin appeared in the shadows, his sword dripping with dark energy, his eyes unblinking.
Ikar fell, leaving the tower trembling behind him, as if his fall was a sign of the collapse of the system itself.
Moments later, the heroes entered a chamber deep within the tower, where huge paintings dotted the walls, each with a symbol representing a part of the world's story.
They stood silently, staring at the design of the entire universe, a giant circle, the world of balance in the center, light and shadow at the edges, and the rest of the spheres distributed in an infinite geometric pattern.
"It's not just a map..." Maru whispered, his eyes shining with sudden realization.
"It's a whole system." "Each sphere contains infinite universes, and each universe contains infinite galaxies... This is beyond even our understanding of the cosmic scale!"
Lin, who was still feeling the effect of the shadow energy within him, stared at one of the paintings that described the Emperor of the Dark Realm who started taking over worlds 70 years ago.
"That's not just history." Ren said in a low voice, "It's a warning... Something is happening right now, and we may be caught in the middle of it."
Celestia, though injured, was still silently observing, then said, "This place... It seems to represent a greater order than we could have imagined. Every world here has a master, but if this information is true, it means that..."
She paused for a moment and then continued: "The master of the Dark Realm, seventy years ago, began to contaminate the souls in the other realms."
There was silence, before a door appeared at the end of the room, pulsing with transitional energy, like a passageway out of this world.
Celestia looked at them, her face was tired, but she wasn't broken, she was holding it together despite the pain, and said in a voice that was calm but held a strong certainty: "Are you ready to leave?"
With a unified "yes" and they entered the gate
The golden sand turned pitch black, the clouds became a moving gray, and two glowing eyes appeared in the sky, looking at them as if measuring their very existence.
A strange figure wearing a reflective glass mask appeared, slowly advancing towards the group.
"Energy? "Energy? What is the meaning of great energy? Body? What does a strong body mean? Strength?... What does world-shattering power mean? What does it mean to be the best? Smart, strong, nothing will save you if you are forgotten... Nothing will save you if you disappear."
He lunged at Lin with unnatural speed, stabbing him straight through his heart, Lin's body began to crack, and an overwhelming pain engulfed him, screams that could be heard across worlds.
The unknown person withdrew his sword from Lin's chest, a mysterious light shot out from the cracks**, and Lin completely disappeared.
The wind calmed down, but in the center of it a new person appeared. White hair, slender body, wearing a white tunic.
"Feed him well. "Feed him well... Here's this bracelet, give it to him after he regains some of his health."
Yumi, in a trembling voice: "Who are you? What did you do to Lin?"
Yumi with a trembling voice: "Who are you? "Here he is in front of you, you can see for yourself."
Everything began to disappear, and the unknown disappeared with it.
Everyone got on the boat and rushed back, filed the report, and Lin was taken to the hospital.
A few hours later, Lin woke up, and Yumi was beside him.
She hugged him tightly, shocked by the coldness of his eyes, Yumi: "I was worried about you!"
Lin, in a steady but empty voice: "Who are you?"
Yumi froze, her face shrinking in horror. Yumi, in a broken voice: "I'm... Yumi, your childhood friend, your family!"
Lin: "Yumi? My family? Who am I? Do you know anything about me?"