The world tried again.
It was subtle this time—careful, restrained—like a wounded animal testing whether its fangs still worked.
Anos Voldigoad felt it before it happened.
A pressure settled over the capital, invisible to human senses but heavy enough to bend causality. Time did not rewind. Instead, it hesitated, searching for a branching path that no longer existed.
"So you're learning," Anos said quietly.
He stood atop a stone bridge overlooking the canal, hands at his sides, coat unmoving despite the wind. Below him, life continued as if nothing had changed. People laughed. Merchants argued. Fate pretended it still had control.
It did not.
From the gap between seconds, something observed him.
Not a body.Not a soul.
An obsession given form.
"You are loud," Anos said without turning. "For something that hides behind death."
The pressure spiked.
A shadow stretched across the water beneath the bridge—not cast by the sun, but by attention. The Witch of Envy did not appear, yet her presence soaked into the world like ink.
She reached out.
Not to bind him.
To understand him.
Anos allowed it—for exactly one moment.
The connection snapped.
The shock echoed across reality.
Far away, chains of shadow shattered against nothing, and a scream twisted into silence.
"…Curiosity is dangerous," Anos continued calmly. "You peer into things that predate your authority."
The Witch recoiled.
The world convulsed.
Spirits cried out as contracts trembled. The artificial order that governed sin and virtue flickered, briefly revealing how fragile it truly was.
Anos stepped off the bridge.
He landed without sound.
"So," he said, eyes cold, "this world is ruled by a spectator who resets the board whenever she dislikes the outcome."
He looked toward the horizon, where the royal castle stood.
"That ends now."
Elsewhere, Reinhard van Astrea paused mid-step.
His chest tightened.
Every Divine Protection he carried stirred at once—confused, unsettled, unable to identify the threat.
"This feeling…" Reinhard murmured. "The world is… off."
Deep beneath the land, an ancient dragon stirred uneasily in its sleep.
And in the capital, a black-haired boy looked at his hands, realizing something terrifying.
He was still alive.
And for once—
He had no second chance waiting.
Anos Voldigoad continued forward.
"Observe carefully, Witch," he said to the unseen presence."This is how a world moves forward—without you."