On planet Earth,
While the human continent was on the verge of destruction and annihilation from the monsters of the Lower World that had invaded it, the rest of the continents lived in peace. And among those continents, there was one known as the Continent of Light, or the Paradise of Earth—Arcadia.
It was a beautiful continent… beautiful in every sense of the word, free of any flaw or sin.
Its inhabitants were life-forms not entirely human, or more accurately: half-humans and supernatural beings. Humans might think they are merely myths, but Arcadia manifests all of them in the best possible form.
Its inhabitants were the purest, closest to the heavens, unable to comprehend war or bloodshed. They lived a simple life, far from development and science.
While the sea of the human continent was about to turn into a lake of blood, war, regret, ruin, and corpses, the sea of Arcadia pulsed with life like a white heart, free of all sin, pure in essence.
And its sky, telling you that there is no need for worry or sorrow—its sun warm and calm, and its land like a mirror that reflects beauty because of how beautiful it is.
In one corner of the continent, there was a small dragon protected by a dome, asleep. He resembled "Ren" unbelievably, with only a slight difference in wing color: they were black.
While an elf named Elnais was watching him from afar, the dome opened.
He tensed at first, but noticed that the dragon was still asleep. He approached cautiously, poking him three times in the face as he circled around him.
Suddenly, the small dragon opened his eyes.
Elnais panicked and backed away, hiding between the trees.
The dragon began to fly and released a gentle roar; he seemed hungry.
Elnais felt there was no need to worry, so he approached him again and extended his hand carefully.
The dragon came closer and placed his head on his hand. Elnais began to pat him gently while smiling:
"Are you hungry? Good thing I brought some food with me…"
He waited a moment, then opened his bag and found a piece of meat:
"Here you go, this is all I have. I hope it fills you!"
The dragon ate the food instantly, with innocent ferocity.
Elnais laughed nervously:
"You seem dangerous sometimes."
The little dragon smiled at him gently.
"By the way, my name is Elnais!
And you?"
The dragon replied in a language Elnais didn't understand, but it didn't matter. What mattered was that the dragon could speak. Elnais said in shock:
"You… you can talk???!"
The dragon replied again, but the language was strange—similar to human language in some ways.
Elnais decided to take him to the village. He held him and prepared to run:
"Let's go, little one. Here I go!"
Elnais launched forward at tremendous speed, leaving behind a wave of fierce wind.
---
In the human continent,
The war continued, and the sky looked as if it were about to collapse. The earth was sick, and the seas evaporating from the heat released by the gates of the Lower World.
Humans had given up everything to survive—even children were abandoned, families no longer caring for them. Owning twenty gold coins hardly bought some bread and water, while in the past it was enough to live more luxuriously than nobles.
Elsewhere, at the gate of the Great Fire Kingdom, Ryo was hugging Serafiena like a child in his mother's arms. Amid destruction, they were the only peace, the only paradise, the only mercy amidst torment.
Light surrounded them, not allowing them to be stained by the world's sins.
Serafiena felt danger and a terrifying shiver running through her body. She looked at the sky cautiously:
"I didn't expect them to arrive this quickly!"
The sky suddenly opened—not a normal opening, but as if space itself had been torn apart.
Behind the rupture appeared a blazing golden light that wiped out all the demons in the continent in a single moment, and the gates of the Lower World closed. The sky returned white, the seas regained life, and peace returned to everything.
For humans, it was mercy—but for Ryo, it was the beginning of the true war.
After the golden light shrank, millions of higher entities and angels—the Rulers—emerged, filling the sky with their majesty.
Their radiant wings covered the heavens.
They were vast, terrifying legions; anyone who saw them would surrender instantly. But Ryo and Serafiena stood before them without fear.
One great angel stepped forward toward Ryo and Serafiena.
Serafiena bowed respectfully, but the angel said to her in a terrifying voice:
"Raise your head, Serafiena."
She raised her head cautiously, and anger was clearly visible in his eyes:
"You are one of the twelve Messengers, the heir of the Messenger, symbol, and star of the previous life—Hinary, the Symbol and Star of Life… Serafiena!"
He was enraged by her intervention in Ryo's life, as the heavenly laws forbade any Messenger from descending to humans or meddling in their lives.
"You know you violated one of the heavenly laws, correct? You will come with me to be judged later."
Then he looked at Ryo:
"After we finish with him…"
Ryo took a defensive stance and said:
"Who are you?"
The angel looked at him with contempt and said:
"Who permitted you to speak? In the presence of the Higher Authority, beings like you are not allowed to look at us without permission! Know your place!"
Ryo smiled:
"And do you think anyone is capable of giving me a place? You are the one who should not overstep with me."
The angel was stunned and said with surprise:
"You truly deserve to be our enemy from the beginning! Even though you are blind, still a child, your energy unstable, and your power restrained in many ways—yet… you possess such courage!"
Ryo replied:
"There is no fear or weakness! In a world ruled by magic, the strong win and the weak lose without exception—even if the weak is the hero."
Serafiena smiled confidently and said with courage and without hesitation:
"And I will not be judged anymore! I declare my withdrawal from my role as one of the Twelve Symbols and one of the Rulers' Messengers!"
That sentence was a clear declaration of rebellion.
Serafiena did not merely abandon a sacred rank—she shattered its sanctity with her own hands.
Her resignation was not just withdrawal, but a symbolic execution of the heavens themselves.
A type of rebellion even the rulers of the sky didn't dare commit.
The angel was shocked, as if struck by lightning, and said while laughing:
"You withdraw? Do you know what happens to the one who withdraws? Your fate is death!"
Then he said coldly, carelessly:
"That's not a problem. Honestly, I was thinking of killing you after reading the Cosmic Text Book— a forbidden book for the heirs."
Serafiena laughed loudly with a terrifying smile full of confidence, arrogance, and mockery:
"Really? Show me how you'll do that."
The angel tensed slightly at her confidence, and said:
"I can revoke your agency easily…"
The angel fell silent, stunned, his thoughts scattering.
Serafiena laughed:
"You know that revoking my agency or killing me in this way means erasing one of the cosmic laws and fundamental concepts!"
The angel began to understand:
Serafiena is the embodiment of Life here. Any mistake against her or killing her will destroy the universe—and the punishment is worse than death.
Revoking her agency would force the universe to reshape itself to match the new laws, making everything immortal… and that too is a crime: creating immortal life and altering heavenly laws.
And leaving her alone means ignoring a clear enemy… and that is also a crime!
And Serafiena was no longer incomplete—she had become a true, complete embodiment of Life!
She is now one of the fundamental pillars…!
Any wrong against her is a full rebellion against the heavenly principles.
The angel was placed in an unenviable situation.
He looked at Serafiena and saw her smiling confidently, as if saying:
"I defeated you before the game even began, you fool…!"
She had played him perfectly and completely.
To be continued…