"We're leaving the realm tomorrow at sunset."

Orion spoke in front of the twins and the Tree of Life, Tiohr-nam.

"So it is finally time. After the mess you kept creating, it certainly will be quiet without you."

Tiohr-nam's Avatar smiled warmly at him.

"I apologize for everything that happened while we were here. Thank you very much for giving us a place to live. We won't forget your hospitality."

Orion and Amelia bowed together to the three people in front of them.

"You don't need to thank us. Instead, we should be thanking you for saving Tiohr before it was too late."

"Orion, thank you very much for saving our friend."

With a sad smile on her face, Dramia leaned forward, too.

"I've had so much fun since you've come. Thank you, Orion."

Used to the habit of Drania appearing behind him, Orion turned his head to look at her.

"Likewise, I've had a lot of fun learning about you, this realm, and the fairies."

She had a bright smile on her face, knowing her feelings were reciprocated.

"Orion, I have a question for you."

"Yes?"

He turned to look at Tiohr-nam's Avatar this time.

"Tell me, what do you intend to do after your goal is reached?"

That question took everyone in the room by surprise. He glanced at Amelia, who was by his side.

"I have no idea. I don't know if I will be alive, and I never thought about such a thing until now. My vengeance is all I have to think about currently."

This answer displeased Tiohr-nam greatly.

"Think for yourself. No one in this world can sustain themselves with vengeance alone. There has to be something you like— a desire deep inside you, a wish you want to fulfill, anything."

Orion had no idea why he was asked this question. He understood that only having thoughts of weakening Elliott by killing his Apostles was not healthy, but he had nothing else.

Or so he thought, before a few desires surfaced, hidden deep inside his mind.

"If..."

The words formed by themselves, as if they waited for this very moment to appear.

"If possible, I would like to teach what this world is to the next generation. I would like to explore the world and record everything to one day teach it."

"And if, after everything is done, I am forgiven for the lives I have taken, I would like to have a family. Like my parents"

The memories kept surging in his mind: the smiles of his parents, their apparent love toward him, the warmth of his mother's hugs

He wanted to share all of this with someone else.

Amelia turned her face slowly to look at his face, her eyes wide open. She had never heard Orion speak of his deepest desires until now.

His expression took her breath away. He was looking at the ground, his fist clenched— the saddest expression he ever made on his face.

It was so heartbreaking that Amelia instinctively moved and hugged him.

"Amelia?"

Orion looked at everyone in the room.

Tiohr-nam had her eyes closed with a satisfied expression.

Dramia was looking on her right while pursing her lips, and Drania was looking on her left, hiding her tears.

The twins had no idea about Orion's parents, but just the words he shared emphasized that Orion felt intense guilt toward his future. The path he had chosen was one of bloodshed.

Tiohr-nam, who knew his father personally, even though they never talked, knew the sacrifice they had to make to save the man in front of them.

In their hearts, they were praying that his wishes would be granted.

Amelia, strongly hugging Orion, began to cry silently.

"Of course you will be forgiven! Even if the world doesn't, I will!"

She removed her face from his wet shirt and looked into his eyes.

Her pearl-colored eyes glistened, catching Orion off guard.

'It's fine for now, I guess.'

He stroked her blonde hair gently, keeping in his heart the rest of his desire.

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"You should keep this as your motivation for the future. Never forget your wishes. They will keep you from sacrificing your life needlessly."

Tiohr-nam opened her eyes, fulfilled by his answer.

"Now I understand why he wanted to find the remaining factions."

Dramia spoke to Tiohr-nam.

"Indeed, if he wants to record most of the creations of this continent, then he will have to discover what has gone missing."

"Orion, I have another piece of information to give you."

He stopped caressing Amelia but ignored her, still hugging him. He wasn't feeling like pushing her away.

"And what could it be?"

The Avatar's body, which had her lower body and arms stuck in the trunk of the tree, leaned forward.

"There might be new factions that have been created but are hidden, just like us."

"..."

The perspective of new factions being founded never appeared to him as being possible.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. If other Remnants moved to different realms, there is a chance they would have created children too."

"I said it before, but most of the factions were created by Remnants, all but the exception being humans and beastmen, as we don't know where they came from."

"Humans were here even before Noah appeared. There is no record of their creation. They could be as old as this world for all we know."

Dramia explained.

"Noah? Who is that?"

That name caught Orion's attention.

Drania was next to explain.

"Oh, have we forgotten to tell you? It's the name of the first Hero. Noah Stralicht was the man who defeated Miasma three thousand years ago."

Orion pondered with a hand in front of his mouth.

"I knew about him, but there were no specifics whatsoever about him. It's like he never existed."

"The only ones having a relationship with Noah were a few people. The records most likely didn't survive as the conflicts between angels and demons grew stronger."

Dramia dropped a bombshell. Even Amelia turned to look at her.

"Sis, we've never explained to them, so they don't know."

Drania flew back to her sister, notifying her.

"You're right. This might be in their best interest to know. Tiohr, can we?"

Tiohr-nam simply nodded. They were meant to know.

Drania was the one to start.

"Sis and I were humans to begin with."

"What? How is that possible?"

Orion and Amelia were confused.

"We'll explain in a bit. For now, just listen."

They both nodded, still questioning if what they had heard was a mistake on their part.

"We were orphans, like you. We had lost our parents early on from a pack of corrupt beasts that attacked our village."

"We managed to survive, thanks to Noah. He exterminated every single corrupt creature in front of our eyes and rescued us from near death."

Dramia took over from there.

"As we cried in his arms, he decided to take us with him. We were still young at that time, so we agreed to follow him, as we had nowhere to go anymore."

"We became his companions for the rest of his journey. We grew up, we learned to use magic to help him, and we fought the corrupt beings by his side."

The sisters had a look of melancholy on their faces, which led Tiohr-nam to continue for them.

"Since I know the rest, I will take over from here."

"After ten years of roaming the continent to locate the source of corruption, Noah found himself facing Miasma."

"During his last attack, he unleashed his total power, disintegrating Miasma... and himself at the same time."

"From what they explained to me yesterday, he might have tried to do the same as you but failed."

Orion recalled himself trying to create a new element. The disastrous explosion that was created when he released his control over the magic could be enough to wipe someone out of existence.

"As I possess memories of my past lives, I remember that explosion vividly. And I remember those two girls being flung in my direction by the resulting shockwave, injured to the point where it was a miracle they were still alive."

The memories, even though partially missing, were enough for her to frown.

"The only reason they are alive is that I transformed them into fairies. By merging the genes of fairies with them, I managed to preserve their lives until they fully recovered."

"These two are the very first fairies to have been created."

The sisters kept looking away, biting their lips.

Recalling the past was always painful for them, and that was the reason they chose to forget until Orion came into the realm.

Dramia was the first to switch moods and explain something significant to Orion.

"Noah was close to being a Remnant in terms of power. Since he possessed the seven elements, he was able to manipulate everything. By saying that, do you see where I'm coming from?"

One thought formed in Orion's mind.

"Life? Was he able to manipulate life too?"

Drania laughed.

"Not exactly, but close enough. What Noah did was take a considerable number of orphans to a deserted island and infuse them with magic."

"He wanted them to be able to grow strong to defend themselves."

'A deserted island? Infusing magic?'

His mind shifted toward the most plausible result.

"Eogis? Did he create the angels and demons by infusing magic in the children?!"

Drania, who had finally recovered, nodded.

"Bingo. Congratulations! You've realized who your ancestor is."

As if the world fell on his shoulders, the full picture began to appear clearer in his mind.

"I see, that's why the 'Shackles' and the 'Key' were in possession of both factions."

Dramia crossed her arms.

"We don't know how they fell into the hands of the angels and demons, but it was fortunate."

"I'm pretty sure he would have loved to see someone like you. You are both similar in what you do with your power. The way you train is also relatively the same."

Amelia wanted to ask one question.

"How was he?"

Drania was the one to answer.

"Noah? He was always making a long face, as if he were missing something. He never explained anything to us."

"We don't know anything about his life except that he was human."

Dramia joined in.

"He rarely smiled and always focused on his task, as if that were the only thing he had in his life. If he had one thing, it was his kind side."

"He saved countless people— beastmen, humans, elementals— no one was discriminated against."

With a smile, Drania recalled something else.

"Oh, he loved touching the fluffy hair and tails of the beastmen. It was difficult to stop him when he did that."

She laughed, remembering the little quirks Noah had. Even Dramia showed a smile.

"Do you understand more about Noah now?"

Tiohr-nam asked him.

"Yes, knowing that he was the reason for my parents' happiness is enough for me."

'It is thanks to him that I am here today.'

Orion sincerely thanked Noah for being a kind person. He began to greatly respect him for protecting children.

"That is great."

The Avatar nodded, but she was not done yet.

"I have one last question. There is something I did not understand from our last conversation."

"Why do you intend to hunt for corruption? Was it not your goal to attack the subordinates of the human named Elliott?"

Orion grabbed Amelia's shoulders and made her move back to his side. He gave a serious expression and explained his complete reasoning.

"The corruption might be linked to the Apostles. I have a deep feeling about this being true."

"From what I've seen during the 'Ceremony' they performed, they drink a sludge made from corrupt cores once a year."

"What did you say?!"

The sisters couldn't contain their surprise.

"If what you say is true, then you are right. The corruption has managed to infect the humans after so long. This is not good news."

Tiohr-nam thought of the past, and the reason for the world being in chaos.

"Maybe Miasma had already corrupted the humans two thousand years ago. It is mindlessly killing everything that is not contaminated, but since it is half-awake..."

Her face cramped.

"Wait, that might be wrong."

"What do you mean by wrong?"

Dramia asked Tiohr-nam as she turned around with worry.

"I do not know, but here is something off-putting about the whole thing concerning the humans."

A rare frown showed on the Avatar's face.

"Orion, be cautious. I have a feeling something bad is going to happen."

He shrugged and smiled sarcastically.

"We have four months before the seal breaks, so how bad can it get?"

Everyone laughed.

"If you say it like that, there is nothing more dangerous, indeed."

Tiohr-nam returned to her neutral expression.

"I still wish for you to be careful. If the need arises, I should be able to help through the gate in your soul."

"Even if it is just to replenish a depleted magic storage, just call my name. I will respond to your call."

Orion bowed, knowing he had made a powerful ally.

"Thank you very much."

"Please take care of Karteira for me."

The Avatar bowed her head, ending the conversation.

All that was left was to wait until the portal leading to Triazils opened.