Suddenly, Edward could feel the warmth on the inside of his eyelids, and instinctively opened his eyes wide. The deep blue sky greeted his eyes, along with the familiar color of the mysterious outer walls. Unconsciously, Edward found himself outside the ruins, lying on the ground.

He felt extremely confused and cautiously tried to raise his right hand, which moved... and then he raised his other hand, which was also fine? "What's going on?" Both hands moved, but why couldn't they... He slowly sat up from the grass, feeling slightly dizzy, but... the ground was actually damp, it was real grass!

He sat there motionless, propped up by his hands on the ground, pondering what had happened. Edward recalled observing around the ruins earlier and then? The entrance of the mysterious ruins was open, and he walked in. Afterward, he climbed several steps, crossed several passageways, activated a device emitting blue light, displayed patterns of purple light, continued upward, moving towards the depths...

He saw a gigantic crystal coffin emitting a snowy white light. His memory was interrupted there, as if it were severed by that light. What exactly happened then... and what was that light all about? "Escaped huh... oh!" The voice echoed in his ears. Was it a dream? Maybe. Because his consciousness was somewhat blurry at the time. Also, he did not sense any human presence in the mysterious ruins. Furthermore, there was an incredible image he saw right before losing consciousness. No, describing it as 'incredible' is not quite appropriate.

It was something dreadful, something repulsive... The name of that thing was! "Impossible," but Edward couldn't help but recall his recent experience. His current presence here was evidence of the 'mysterious power' within the ruins, so who brought his unconscious self out of there? Edward desperately delved into his memory. Besides, he seemed to hear something... "Kill... kill... kill wildly!!" Lucifer? Was it that guy? How could it be! Edward shook his head. Lucifer's tomb was merely an ancient legend, more akin to myth and folklore.

An unremarkable, mild sense of pain emanated from deep within his brain, perhaps from hitting something when he fell, right? "Humph, the human body is indeed too fragile for just these few... Were there no injuries elsewhere?" Slowly attempting to move his entire body up and down, but he felt no pain. Edward stood up, leaning against the outer wall of the ruins, though slightly unsteady. Thankfully, it wasn't severe enough to prevent him from standing.

Finally without any injury, as he sighed in relief, he suddenly noticed the black stain on his left arm. "Really annoying..." Edward furrowed his brows, then tilted his head. "What's this?" Runes in purple appeared on his arm. If this was a prank, the intricacy of these designs was too elaborate. Wait... the tattoo on Lyor's body slightly differed from the one under my shoulder. "It should be fine if I wash it off. But what if it can't be washed off?" Edward touched the runes with his fingertips and suddenly felt like he had seen them before. The design of the runes was intricate and seemed to be composed of multiple components.

Although not exactly the same as the pattern on his left arm, it was very similar.

Yes, it was the runic symbol depicted by the blue light that was seen many times in the ruins.

What exactly happened in that room, and what kind of significance did this symbol hold...

"Ah!"

Edward muttered softly, gradually recalling.

Why did he feel like he had seen this symbol somewhere before when looking at it, but could hardly remember where.

During the era of dark rule, there was talk of imperial slaves, and once branded with such runes, they became almost like puppets of the empire...

"I am the empire… Wait, what?"

And not very competent at that, absolutely useless!

"How could this be. This is impossible!"

This was clearly a malicious prank, surely the work of the owners of the voices heard in the demon ruins.

“Why would I be inexplicably resurrected?”

Edward, in a tense state, felt his heart pounding.

The words meant that Lucifer himself should not have been resurrected, which meant that somewhere in the ruins there was someone else pulling the strings.

“This is…”

Edward found a hexagonal stone by his left foot that resembled an elemental stone, except the elements stored within it were chaotic.

"What a fantastic discovery, here lies a precious source of power that can bestow strength upon countless individuals, as long as they possess it..."

It seemed that this ruin was salvaged from an era even earlier than that of the dragon clan.

From this perspective, there was no treasure more valuable inside the ruins than these, re-granting a portion of godly power to some was also achievable!

If that was the case...

"Within the ruins?"

In this way, everything began to make sense, be it the crystalline particles dancing in the air or the enormous crystal he saw before losing consciousness, as long as it was Lucifer in there, everything fell into place.

In a world hated by all living beings lay infinite potential, which had been twisted by the Evil Entity, creating a despised paradise that brought disaster upon the world.

And those Evil Entities were the so-called 'Judicators', commonly known as the forsaken of the gods, simply put, the minions of demons.

"Me? Come on, this can't be."

Edward rubbed the runic marks on his left arm with his palm... but they wouldn't fade!

"How could this be, it's just a mere curse!"

About to rub harder, Edward was suddenly startled as the black runes underwent some changes, not only did they not disappear, but their shape and depth changed again.

"It's spreading so fast?!"

This wasn't ordinary graffiti. He was certain that this was an ancient curse!

"You think something like this can curse me, hm..."

Without the slightest hesitation, Edward ripped off his entire arm, hoping it was just impossible, surely a mistake.

Although he desperately thought so in his mind, the branded runes on his arm destroyed all his thoughts.

With only half-baked knowledge, he was unable to refute what was happening to him.

If he didn't know anything at all, things might have been easier.

"Even my abilities can't undo it..."

Edward's shoulders trembled uncontrollably, although he wasn't in much pain at the moment, he couldn't think of a better solution.

"…What should I do if this body is no longer usable and I need to find a new one?"

Indeed, a curse that not even the Demon King could lift was truly something out of the ordinary.

Liao Xiu was about to return soon, and Edward didn't want him to see him in this state, with the ominous mark, nor did he want anyone else to find out.

After comforting his almost powerless legs, Edward stood up with all his might.

He had to leave this place quickly before Liao Xiu returned, with only this thought driving his actions.

"My daughter, my dear daughter, hmm…"

"Old Sa... when did you become so loving?"

"Liao Xiu, the things here are especially worthy of us extracting and utilizing, the chaotic spacetime is about to come to an end!"

...

Where would Yukari go?

Just the thought of it brought a smile naturally to my face.

Walking through the city center, my steps became much lighter than before.

Although it was my first time visiting the shops in the shopping center with Yukari, the staff's attitude became exceptionally friendly, enhancing her mood for the day.

Soon, the attendant found several destination options that could be enjoyed even on a short break.

Yukari and I had the data sent to our phones, so we could refer to it on the night of her birthday while planning our trip.

This being our first trip together, Yukari must be as happy as I am.

Just picturing Yukari's smile brightened my dark and lonely heart, making it feel warm and illuminated.

With that in mind, I made a silent vow to myself.

I was truly sorry, Yukari, for not cherishing the time we had together before, and even in the future, I wouldn't have much time to be by her side, because...

I looked silently at the black rune in the center of my palm; everything was set!

Thinking back, ever since I left ordinary life behind, I had been looking ahead and continuously seeking answers.

Perhaps it was time to slow down a bit, to pause occasionally, for Yukari, for myself, and for everyone.

"There's not much time left..."

"Hmm, not much time for what?"

"Oh... nothing, I just meant it's getting late, so shall we go and meet everyone after playing for a bit?"

In reality, I was already a puppet with no choice, hoping to use my last existence to pass away in this world. Apart from that, I had no other options!

...

I vaguely remember having a dream, a very long and enduring dream.

The world of dreams? If not for waking up one day, I might have actually believed it was the afterlife... or perhaps a corner of the universe.

In the dream, a creature resembling a crawler once had a conversation with me, revealing the truth of the world to me.

"Still feeling lost..."

"Yeah... I can't go on like this, at least not in front of Yukari."

"Ah, so, you are not the only one overwhelmed by sorrow and despair. Many beings are experiencing the same pain. Are you still determined to give up your human identity?"

"Based on what you just said, do I have any other choice?"

"......Hehe, alright then, I can grant your wish, but at what cost... What are you willing to do?"