A few hours earlier.
A vast meadow with a few trees standing among the weeds. The wind blew, sweeping every bit of grass, some even flying away, unable to withstand the force of the wind.
A brown-haired man, wearing a dark blue shirt deliberately unbuttoned—lying on the green grass, his red eyes staring at the clear blue sky.
He remained silent, but his thoughts acted as if he were talking to himself.
What am I doing now? Isn't staying silent useless? Haa... I don't understand.
Inadvertently, his own thoughts reminded Infori of something unilaterally. Because when Infori remembered it, he was quite surprised. He clearly remembered when he was in an unknown dimension when the man whose real name was Takechi released dark energy into him and transported him to another dimension.
The memory was still a little hazy, because to see clearly, he had to see it directly. However, at least Infori had the big picture.
I remember it, that was the time I was forced to fight a legendary creature that had disappeared for hundreds of years—the Core.
Infori continued. Maybe I should have died, but... That doesn't make sense. Maybe. He thought. He then considered the possibility that he hadn't survived the incident.
It might have been worse than it should have been.
Infori shook his head, trying to banish the dirty thoughts. He then roused himself and began to think positively.
Well, if that had happened, I might never have come to a realm between the physical and the nonphysical. But, everything got even more chaotic once I entered there. He thought. Noya... Why is that woman in a place like that? Even 'that person' called her a queen...
Infori closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He still couldn't comprehend what he had seen before, because everything had happened so suddenly.
"Haah..."
But just before Infori took a step forward, his movements suddenly stiffened. A sharp glint flashed across his widening eyes. "?!" The man's head immediately turned, his eyes sweeping across the grassland with as sharp a gaze as possible.
He felt a strange aura, and at that very moment, a deep voice rang clearly in his ears.
The voice said: [You should be aware, young man.]
Infri's eyes widened upon hearing those words, but when he looked around again—he found no one but himself in this vast grassland.
...?! Who...?! He wondered.
Then, the voice rang again in his ears, saying something he had never known.
[You once called me. At that moment, I was reborn.]
"What? You... Who?" Infori asked the voice that appeared in his mind.
Amidst his confusion, the voice spoke again in a serious and heavy tone. Infori had never heard such a serious and heavy voice before.
[The fate that restrains you has awakened me from my isolation in the void. The light within you, is proof that a being like me—can rise again to Orleans.]
Infori still hadn't realized who was speaking to him, telling him things related to destiny and light. The voice wasn't familiar at all; in fact, it sounded more like an echo in his ears.
He tried to locate the source of the voice he heard, thinking someone was jokingly speaking to him in a stern tone from behind, or using some kind of magic.
Infori swept in all directions, but still—he was alone in this place. This made him even more confused.
After confirming this, Infori asked the voice a question.
"What do you mean? Who are you... exactly? Why are you suddenly speaking to me through your mind like this?"
The voice then answered.
[Believer. Perhaps that's who you are now. Even though you haven't reached the final stage, you're still a Believer.]
Infori was shocked to hear those words again from someone else. But, amidst his shock, the voice spoke again. This time, Infori was even more shocked than before.
"...?!"
[I, Initium Bahamut. One of the immortal beings of the Core race—knowing who you truly are, Infori Atziluth.]
Hearing the name Initium Bahamut made the hairs on the back of Infori's neck stand on end. His eyes widened, his body stiffened, and his hands trembled violently.
"...?!"
He never expected to find that the being of the Core race he had once summoned was inside his mind without his knowledge.
But just as he was surprised by Initium Bahamut being able to speak to him, Infori was startled by his body suddenly becoming hotter, his insides turning bright red.
"Wh-What?! What's going on...?! My body... It feels hot inside!"
Quickly, Infori took off his shirt and black undershirt. Once removed, he finally saw his entire body—his body was now flushed, as if about to evaporate.
"..?!"
Unexpectedly, bright red particles began to emerge from the center of his chest. The tiny light glowed softly on the green grass, floating slowly into the air before multiplying.
What is this?! Infori asked frantically.
Within seconds, thousands of red particles swirled around his body, forming a vortex of light that grew ever larger. The red glow then spread from his chest to his shoulders, arms, waist, and legs, enveloping every inch of his body without leaving a single spot exposed.
Until finally, thousands of particles enveloped his entire head, and Infori was completely helpless.
"?!"
However, the unexpected happened again.
His closed eyes now saw a memory of a battle between two beings from the Core race—Initium Bahamut and the Dark Chimera. However, something was strange. She wasn't watching them fight; it wasn't as if Infori was viewing the battle from his own perspective.
Huh?!
Instead, he was watching from Initium Bahamut's perspective.
What was happening...!
From his perspective, his massive body was completely out of her control. Because this time, he was simply watching from a different perspective.
He saw with his own eyes that he (Bahamut) was about to launch his final attack.
Hovering in the air, the red parts of her wings glowed brightly. Every red part of her body slowly glowed, and her red eyes glowed, and the rhombus-shaped center of her eyes was filled with a constantly gathering dark energy.
Unbeknownst to Infori, at this moment, a black line appeared, moving in a specific pattern across her red eyes. Finally, it formed a black rhombus-shaped line in the center of her eyes.
However, his memories were still playing out as he remembered them. Bahamut issued an ultimatum to the Dark Chimera.
BOOM!
The explosion caused the sky of this dimension to crack again, which then shattered into tiny particles that disappeared into thin air.
Infori couldn't hold it in anymore, and his vision turned white, just like that time.
"....!"