Inside the Supply Castle, now engulfed in a sea of flames—thanks to Dante, who slaughtered all the inhabitants and burned down every house—he walked through the still-flickering inferno. He seemed to be waiting. Waiting for something.
"Come forth. Destruction."
•.
Meanwhile, Joshua remained in the forest, gazing at the Supply Kingdom, which now blazed brightly against the night sky.
"What is he thinking?" he muttered flatly, showing no surprise. Closing his eyes, he uttered, "Eeegriez." And in an instant, his body vanished from where he stood.
•.
Joshua arrived at the kingdom's entrance. The once-roaring flames had begun to subside, though they hadn't completely died out. The castle gate stood wide open, as if welcoming an honored guest. He stepped forward slowly, yet his movements felt unnatural—disjointed, out of sync with his footing. His feet barely moved a few centimeters, yet with a single step, his body shifted forward by two meters. It wasn't teleportation like Eeegriez's ability, but rather sheer speed—one that rivaled the speed of light.
Minutes later, Joshua spotted Dante—his uncle—standing amidst the flames.
"Yo, so you came after all," Dante greeted casually.
"Why did you burn down your own kingdom?" Joshua asked, his tone emotionless.
Dante chuckled, utterly indifferent. "Have you ever heard of the Root of Life?" he asked condescendingly.
"Yeah, a little. Why?"
A smug smile crossed Dante's lips. "Let me explain. The Root of Life is the fundamental concept behind every individual's existence. Every living being has its own life concept, making them completely independent. Magic also falls under this concept, as it originates from the deepest layers of the Root of Life—far beyond the reach of ordinary beings. However, powerful sorcerers can control their own roots, even reincarnating with full memories from their past lives."
"So, you mean they will all be reincarnated?"
Dante snapped his fingers, pointing at Joshua. "Exactly."
"How foolish," Joshua responded coldly.
Silence. Neither of them spoke, leaving only the crackling flames and the eerie quiet of the night.
Then, suddenly, Dante pulled a magic pistol from his pocket.
"Roar!"
He fired without hesitation.
The bullet tore through space, twisting along an impossible trajectory. Yet, in a swift motion, Joshua unsheathed his wakizashi, deflecting the bullet and even slicing it in half. Sparks of metal clashed in the air.
"Roar... a gun that ignores both distance and time," Joshua murmured.
Dante smirked. "Huh, seems like you understand a little. But your knowledge of me is still shallow. Roar can also distort spatial dimensions."
Joshua examined the space where the bullet had passed. "No wonder that area looks… strange," he whispered.
Dante grinned, proud of his weapon. "But don't think that's its only ability. Roar can erase a person's very existence—down to their Root of Life. Anyone hit by its bullets will be completely annihilated. Their life concept will be destroyed… and they will never reincarnate."
"So that's how it is... Thanks for the information," Joshua replied casually.
Dante looked surprised. He had just realized his bad habit—talking too much and revealing his own secrets.
"Ugh..."
Without hesitation, Dante fired his pistol twice more. However, before the bullets could reach Joshua, he whispered:
"Time will stop."
In an instant, everything froze. The bullets hung motionless in the air, Dante stood still, and the flames halted mid-burn. Even the wind currents became visible, as if the world had turned into a frozen painting.
"Time stops for 2.5 seconds."
Joshua leaped to the side, moving out of the bullets' trajectory.
"Time resumes."
As time flowed once more, the bullets missed their target, while Joshua had already relocated.
Dante smirked and chuckled. "So this is your magic? Time stoppage?" he sneered.
"What's so funny?" Joshua asked.
"Nothing. I just acknowledge that it's quite impressive," Dante admitted. "But what if I use two pistols at once?"
Dante pulled out a second pistol—identical to the first.
Joshua simply whispered, "Time Erase."
At that moment, everything vanished. The two of them stood in an empty void, outside the conventional concept of time.
"Time has been erased... From here, I can see everything," Joshua murmured.
The shadows of the bullets, moving faster than their physical forms, appeared before him. Joshua stepped forward, and in an instant, he was right in front of Dante.
"This is the end."
He swung his wakizashi, but the blade stopped—something was preventing him from cutting Dante.
Then, time resumed. Everything that had happened within Time Erase rewound to its original state. Joshua's eyes widened.
"What just happened?"
He was now back in his previous position, and Dante's bullets had just been fired.
Joshua was too late. Ten seconds had passed. His Time Erase was about to expire.
"You will never reach reality," a voice echoed, but Joshua ignored it.
"Damn... I made a mistake," he thought.
"Time will return to normal."
Time Erase disappeared.
Dante's bullet pierced Joshua's body.
"This is the end," Dante declared victoriously.
•.
Hibiki's body was thrown far, crashing through several trees before finally stopping. As consciousness slowly returned, he felt something strange about his body. His hips felt wider, and his chest felt heavier.
"Ugh… Why does this feel so weird?" he muttered.
He noticed that his armor had disappeared, replaced by a white cloth draped over his entire body. The unfamiliar sensation became even more real when he looked down. Two large protrusions were on his chest. With trembling hands, he lifted the cloth—and his face instantly turned pale.
"Huh? …Eh!?"
Fear and confusion overwhelmed him. Hibiki slumped against a tree, his breath shaky.
"I… I'm a girl?" he whispered repeatedly, as if his mind refused to accept the truth.
His mental state was in chaos. He trembled beneath the white cloth—not from cold, but from sheer shock. Worse still, he was wearing nothing beneath it.
Too many questions swirled in his head without answers. Was this related to the demon he fought? His newfound powers? The mysterious voice that whispered to him? Or… could this be Ibuki's doing?
His eyes narrowed as he glared at Ibuki's sword, now exposed to the night air.
"Heh… You're the culprit, aren't you?" he muttered coldly, full of suspicion.
Of course, there was no response. The sword was just an inanimate object.
Finally, Hibiki let out a long sigh, trying to calm himself. He closed his eyes, hoping to rest for a moment and process everything that had just happened.
•.
Joshua fell onto his back, unconscious. Dante only grinned in satisfaction as blood slowly trickled from his opponent's body. Gradually, Joshua's Root of Life, deep within his soul, began to vanish—along with his physical body.
"Hah… So it was this easy," Dante scoffed. "Honestly, he was far easier to defeat than I expected."
Aside from being a king, Dante was also a demon hunter and a sorcerer. He had a deep understanding of how his enemies fought, especially those who dared to challenge him. However, this time, he had yet to realize what was about to happen next.
As he was basking in his victory, a bright light suddenly appeared in the air. Within seconds, Joshua's body reformed, as if his death had never even occurred.
Dante's eyes widened. He stammered, unable to believe what he had just witnessed.
"W-What?! Why are you still alive?! Your existence should have been erased!"
Joshua stared at him with an emotionless expression.
"You're right—you did manage to erase my existence," he said calmly, "but the flaw in your bullet is that it only erases what comes after."
His flat tone only irritated Dante further.
"What do you mean…? Did you manipulate your Root of Life?" he asked, still shaken.
"The opposite of 'after' is 'before.' I did attempt to reverse time, but my Root of Life didn't return—only my life energy recovered. However, at the same time, I discovered a loophole in your pistol."
Dante clutched his head in frustration. He turned away, gazing at the sky, which was gradually brightening.
"Unbelievable…" he muttered.
Slowly, he began to walk away. The raging flames died down, and the sun began to rise. In the distance, the people from Supply—who were previously thought to be dead—began to reappear.
"This fight… was actually a draw," Joshua murmured. "I couldn't reach him because the law of cause and effect didn't allow me to touch the point of his existence. But at the same time, he couldn't kill me either."
Looking around, Joshua saw that the civilians were still alive. He could only think:
"It seems he had no ill intent."
Everything affected by their battle had been restored, appearing as if nothing had ever happened.
~