"Master..."
A voice.
A familiar voice echoed in the darkness.
It hinted at recognition, but Rey could not find any record of it in his memories.
This wasn’t something from his world.
It didn’t belong to H’Trae.
"Of course, Master. To tell you the truth... I am not from this world."
"What?!"
Rey’s eyes widened in the pitch black world.
He found himself in a void.
And within that void, a scene was playing.
The time and place were familiar to Rey. This was the ruins of Earth—a place that only existed after he defeated the Dragon Emperor and Seraph.
It was right before he found a way to return to H’Trae.
But—
’What are these new scenes? I don’t remember them happening...’
Rey watched himself.
A younger, brighter version.
’He’ was speaking to someone—a stranger according to his own memories.
But there was a familiarity that came with their discourse. The stranger had a tone of reverence when addressing Rey.
He called him "Master"
’Who is this person?’ Rey thought to himself as he watched the scene in the void.
"I don’t belong to any of the worlds under the System’s control. I originated from the world beyond it."
The man who spoke had red hair.
His skin was ebony brown, but it glistened with an ethereal-like hue. It was difficult to explain, but this was only how the current Rey perceived him.
He was also very handsome.
Perhaps the most handsome person he had ever seen. His beauty could charm anyone.
His deep red eyes narrowed seriously as he spoke, and he kept a composed demeanor at all times.
He had a black suit on, with a black shirt and a black tie. Everything around him radiated darkness—the unfathomable kind.
Rey felt a resonance while watching him.
Like they were related.
Like they were the same somehow.
’But how...?’
’What world did he say he was from? Did he mean the True Realm? The world I currently occupy?’
This was without a doubt Ater.
The blot in his memory.
As if sensing the observing Rey’s thoughts, Ater’s crimson eyes gleamed with something unreadable.
He continued speaking.
"More importantly, I know that your [Doppel] is the key to unlocking my memories... and truly saving H’Trae."
The Rey within the screen processed that information carefully.
His Skill was indeed the key.
After all, [Doppel] was a type of framework for the worlds within the System. But then, why had he received it in the first place?
Initially, he thought it was by some dumb luck, but with everything getting exponentially more complicated, he could no longer dwell on that assumption.
There was something else at play here.
’When we were all summoned to save H’Trae, I ended up getting that Skill in a stroke of luck. But I eventually discovered it wasn’t luck at all, and it was an error of the System.’
Rey remembered it all.
Because of the error of the System, Seraph was sent to hunt him down.
The same Seraph who was responsible for his and his classmates transmigrating to this new world as heroes.
’I defeated her, though. I returned to H’Trae and saved my world too. But it was too late at that point. The higher-ups that Seraph served caught wind of my actions and sent their messengers to deal with me.’
Rey sighed.
This was what ultimately led to the destruction of his world..
’Let’s continue listening to the conversation. Maybe I can glean more information from all of this.’ He told himself, though he didn’t even know what the point was.
After all, he was already dead.
"Haa..." Rey from within the screen exhaled. "Alright. Then what exactly do I have to do?"
"You need to obtain the same level of authority as an Administrator. In other words... you need to reach beyond S Class and SS Class. You must obtain the SSS Class." Ater’s gaze sharpened.
The younger Rey’s eyes widened. "SSS Class..."
That was beyond even the highest-ranked individuals he knew of. The power that came with it had to be on an entirely different scale.
"Even the Dragon Emperor and The Oracle only had SS Classes."
"And that’s not all," Ater continued. "For you to reach SSS Class, you need more than just your current abilities. You need to obtain all of the other Primeval Skills."
"I used to have The Oracle’s [Clairvoyance] Skill." The younger Rey’s mind reeled. "There are more?"
Ater nodded.
"Five more, to be exact. None of them are on the same level as [Doppel]. You need to collect them all to reach SSS Class and gain Administrator-level authority."
"And where exactly am I supposed to find these Skills?" The younger Rey added sharply.
"That part, I don’t know," Ater admitted. "But I do know that all of them exist in H’Trae."
The Rey within the screen clenched his fists.
Everything led back to H’Trae.
"And there’s something else, Master." Ater’s voice softened. "There’s a reason you were given [Doppel] in the first place. It’s connected to my lost memories. Once we complete this mission... everything will make sense."
Rey stood in silence, absorbing everything.
As he watched the scene unfold he found it ironic that he couldn’t remember Ater the same way Ater couldn’t remember who he was as well.
After a moment, he exhaled and turned his gaze back to Ater.
"Alright. One last question." His younger self asked with a serious tone.
"Go on." Ater tilted his head.
Younger Rey’s expression was unreadable as he asked, "Can I trust you?"
Ater’s usual smirk faded.
Instead, he took a step forward—then, to Rey’s surprise, he knelt.
His crimson eyes locked onto that of the younger Rey’s as he spoke with absolute certainty.
"I am and will always be loyal to you, Master. You can trust me."
Rey stared at him, searching for any sign of deception, but there was none. His words simply carried a sincerity that Rey couldn’t ignore.
A small smile crept onto Rey’s lips. His younger self reached out his hand.
"Then stand, Ater."
Ater rose to his feet and took his Master’s hand, shaking it firmly.
Rey’s grip tightened as he met Ater’s gaze.
"We’ll go according to the plan. We obtain the other SSS Skills. We save H’Trae. And in the process... we uncover the truth."
"Now that’s what I like to hear." Ater smirked.
As their hands separated, a silent understanding passed between them.
—Unwavering trust.
Then the scene ended.
’What was that?’ Rey was still confused, but he felt some clarity appearing in his mind.
He processed the entire scene once more.
’It turns out I had an ally, or rather a servant, who came from the True Realm and wanted to help me save H’Trae. What happened to him?’
Rey scrunched his eyes.
’Was he... present when my world was destroyed?’
The moment he had this thought, another scene appeared in front of him.
This time... it was H’Trae’s destruction.
All fell.
Everything burned.
The screams of the world faded into smoke.
The corpses of deities, legends, warriors, leaders, commoners, and beasts littered the ashen ground, bones disintegrating into powder under the weight of cosmic fire. Everything alive was already gone.
Now the world followed.
At the center of the dead world knelt Rey.
The wind did not touch him. The flames passed around him. Yet, he could not move.
Chains—invincible and unseen—bound him to the last surviving platform of land in the midst of the crumbling world. Above him, the dark sky cracked with red lightning, and high above it all, two figures stood watching.
Zagan and Bal’aam.
Together, they were the end incarnate.
They had won.
At their feet, bound and gagged, was Ater.