Aaron gazed down past the iron railing.
Below stretched the plaza of Townia's vast waiting room. People lined up in clusters, quietly entering their respective dimensional gates.
A disbandment ceremony, was it?
His grip tightened around the railing.
Fifteen days ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ ago, news had spread across all servers that the Möbius headquarters had fallen—taken by someone.
And then... the broken worlds had been restored, as if it were all just a lie.
On this floor alone, at least hundreds of heroes had gathered.
Similar scenes were likely unfolding in every waiting room.
Guided by Möbius staff, the heroes were now returning to the places they once called home.
All they had to do was walk through those dimensional gates—and they’d be back where they came from.
Of course, their memories of the waiting rooms would vanish, and fragments still lingered here and there across the regenerated worlds. But compared to the days when the walls were endlessly breached by invasions, this was a difference as vast as heaven and earth.
"You're not going back?"
Aaron turned to look at the boy standing beside him.
Dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans, a newsboy cap pulled low over violet eyes. A long spear was slung diagonally across his back.
A member of Niflheim’s Floor 13—and Aaron’s master—his name was Müden Naidelk.
Now a week after Möbius's fall, Müden had taken it upon himself to serve as a caretaker, remaining in Townia with Aaron.
"You said you had a little sister, didn’t you? What was her name again? Nana?"
"Nina."
"Ah, right. Nina. My bad. Getting old—I forget things these days."
Müden scratched his cheek and smiled.
"The Master handled things well. Seems to have wrapped up somehow. Anyway, you really not planning to go back? I bet your sister’s desperate to see you."
Aaron didn’t answer.
A strange emotion swirled in his chest.
"Kid."
"Yes?"
"Any regrets about coming under me?"
"What do you mean, sir?"
"You crawled through dirt and worked your ass off, and in the end, you didn’t even get to swing your spear once."
Aaron fell silent.
If I had just been a little faster...
It would be a lie to say that thought had never crossed his mind.
Was I... too late?
He had left to become strong enough to help his brother, but the timing hadn’t worked out.
By the time he returned to Townia, everything was already on the verge of ending.
He left without saying a word to me.
If he had returned sooner, if he had been at his brother’s side...
If he had earned his trust...
Maybe this ending could’ve been avoided.
"Not answering? Guess that means I was right."
"No, Master! The fault is mine. I was just too slow to learn. You gave me everything. If only I’d trained harder—if I hadn’t slacked off—I might’ve been able to stop him."
"Stop someone who was already leaving? You gonna smack him over the head with your spear?"
Müden shrugged.
"Well, if it weren’t for him, we’d all be dead. His sacrifice was moving. Whether you accept it or not doesn’t matter—the fact remains, we owe our lives to the Master."
Aaron let out a sigh.
But even so...
He already knew, from Yurnet, what sort of fate had befallen his brother.
Locked in a twisted space-time distortion, battling Fragments endlessly with no end in sight.
I wasn’t enough.
Aaron clenched his fist.
To gain power that might’ve satisfied him—would’ve taken countless years and effort.
So many that listing them would be meaningless.
And finally,
He awakened to “업 (Obligation).” But by then, the one he needed to protect... was gone.
If I’d only been faster...
Even sleep, food, and breath should’ve been sacrificed.
If he’d just reached that realm sooner—
I’m sorry.
His brother had given him a chance to grow stronger.
And Aaron, lacking in every way, had betrayed that expectation.
The endless weight of regret gnawed away at his insides.
"Why the long face? It’s not a good look."
"But..."
"Didn’t I tell you before? Bad habit, that. Beating yourself up all the time. You’re allowed to walk tall. Search all of Möbius—you’ll find only a handful who can match spears with you. I’m one of them."
"But isn’t strength meaningless now? My brother is gone. Townia’s restored. My spear has... lost its path."
"Meaningless, huh..."
Müden echoed the words and then smiled faintly.
"Well, you’re not wrong. The game’s shut down. The mission’s over. Who knows if we’ll ever get the chance to fight again. Niflheim got what it wanted, after all."
Aaron already understood what he meant.
The Bifröst, that black demon sword Loki had left behind. Its interference power could sustain Niflheim’s waiting room for hundreds of years at least. Compared to other accounts that were vanishing now that their connection to the Master was severed, it was a far better outcome. The others had no choice but to return to their original worlds.
"If you’re going back, do it fast. This place’ll be gone soon. Reopening a closed dimensional gate is no easy task, you know?"
"I..."
"What’s keeping you?"
Müden met Aaron’s eyes.
The boy’s violet gaze shimmered with an unreadable emotion.
"You’re the one who said you wanted to see this through. I didn’t stop you. If it was your choice, you should accept the outcome too."
"..."
"The Han Israt you knew is already dead. By now, the Master’s probably turned into a wraith out in the Boundary. That was his decision. He left without even talking to us."
Aaron lowered his head.
The words sounded harsh, but they weren’t wrong.
"Tell me, kid. What regret has you still standing here?"
"It just feels... unfair."
"Unfair?"
Aaron spoke quietly.
"Doesn’t it seem like my brother... was the only one forced to sacrifice everything?"
It wasn’t anger.
Just... bitter.
That was the truth of Aaron’s feelings.
One man’s sacrifice had saved countless others.
But what about that one man?
"No one forced him. He chose it. We offered to send him back to Earth—he kicked it away with his own two feet."
"..."
"It’s what he wanted. No regrets. Not that he could regret in that state."
"Master... no matter what, please don’t speak ill of my brother."
"What, you gonna take a swing at me?"
Aaron fell silent again.
"Right."
Müden leaned back against the railing.