An inexplicable itchy feeling covered the boy's entire neck, a likely sign that he was about to wake up or something else.

“Annoyance,” replied his interlocutor, “You are experiencing annoyance, the same feeling that others mask in your presence.”

“I do not understand.”

“You really don't understand?” The other asked provocatively, “Don't you hear the nagging voice in your ear telling you that you're wasting your time?”

Cragar's son took a step back, struck by his interlocutor's angry tone.

“You only got this far through the muscle memory stored in your body. You have always known how to use spectral travel ever since you left Uchia. You didn't work to create the tenebrae or control them, you barely know how they work. Was your ‘etheric beat’ really that difficult to master?”

Shirei remained to reflect on those words, letting the reply finish.

“This is how annoying other people feel when they look at you.”

“So the demigods in the park are jealous because I'm more powerful than them?”

Young Shirei sighed, “How many times do I have to tell you?” He asked, “You are not, you have never made an effort to achieve the strength you have now. There have been no real obstacles in your short life,” he said, “This made you weak... but you can't afford to be weak. The demigods you have met, however, cannot stand the simplicity with which you are capable of doing things that are impossible for them. You are not on the same level as others, but that also means you don't have to compare yourself to them. You have a much bigger role to play.”

The dark angel behind the young Shirei disappeared and the boy took a step towards him.

“When you wake up, work to become more powerful. Your skill in battle is unmatched by ordinary demigods, but you are only using a tiny fraction of your potential.”

The boy's figure trembled.

“There's more, there's so much more you can do with your powers.”

The entire scene began to fragment and the background collapsed on itself like a wave after arriving at the seashore. Shirei wanted to know more, he wanted to understand what his subconscious was trying to tell him.

“What exactly should I do? How can I get my memories back?”

The ground beneath their feet cracked and the entire vision began to shake them in every direction. Shirei crouched in an attempt to lower his center of gravity and remain stable as his fake self soared through the air.

“Exploit the remaining time rifts to better understand your powers. Learn to manipulate Aether and Mana simultaneously. Study the tenebrae and seek to realize the true extent of your power...”

The strange cracks traveled from the ground to Shirei's manifestation through the air.

“Become who you are meant to be. Stop limiting yourself to being an extra in a story in which you are the protagonist. Take on the role spoken of in the prophecy...”

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“What prophecy?”

The replica was covered in cracks and began to disintegrate into thousands of fragments, “Call the darkness bringer for help. Walk the path of-“

Shirei was hit by a terrible sound that forced him to curl up and cover his ears. His head was spinning as his body was thrown left and right.

Finally everything stopped.

The sunlight began to gently penetrate Shirei's closed eyelids, forcing him to slowly wake up. The demigod opened his eyes, feeling the familiar heat of the sun on his skin. For a moment, everything was hazy, but then the contours of reality began to be clearly defined.

The battlefield stretched around him, an expanse of terrain battered by signs of recent conflict. Shirei lay among the dust and debris, his heart still pounding in his chest, as if it had just been torn from an otherworldly vision. The sky above him was a deep blue, dotted with a few white clouds that seemed to silently observe the scene below.

Havel and Ada crouched beside him, their faces filled with concern. The expressions in their eyes reflected a mixture of relief and anxiety as they stared at Shirei intently.

Ada, with her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes shining, seemed about to say something, but hesitated, as if she feared her demise.

Havel, whose face was marked by visible weariness, leaned forward slightly, his hands still on his axes.

Shirei remembered the darkness of the Underworld, the sinister frost and the Uchia River, but now, with the sunlight warming his skin and the solid earth beneath him, those visions seemed like a distant, almost unreal dream.

He inhaled, I'm back.

Cragar's son did his best to pull himself up and searched for Reno's consciousness through his mind, however the tenebrae did not respond.

Is it possible that Reno is my Aterdux?

His head was still spinning.

No.

The words of his double, combined with a strange sensation, told him that this was not the case. His general had not yet manifested himself, but Shirei felt he had already met him somewhere.

“Can you get up?”

Ada held out her hand in the direction of Cragar's son, distracting him from those thoughts. Shirei appreciated the gesture and let himself be pulled up to his feet, after which he surveyed his surroundings again.

The rift had been closed, a sign that all the monsters within it had been destroyed. Their bodies had already disintegrated, leaving the battlefield devoid of corpses.

They're probably already headed to the Abyss, where Rakion will be recreating them.

Cragar's son turned to his companions, still visibly worried about him. His doppelganger had mentioned the annoyance others felt towards him, but perhaps his words had been influenced by the mysterious past whose memories had faded.

Ada and Havel did not despise him.

Not even Marina, he thought.

“Shirei…” Ada didn't know how to start the conversation so she got straight to the point, “What happened to you?”

The violet-eyed demigod looked down at his fingers, feeling the mana swirl around his body.

“I'll explain it to you along the way.”

Havel, who fell on the ground with a bleeding leg, let out a faint sigh of relief, “Thank goodness! Finally we're going home."

Sidal's son looked at the boy, his expression changing causing a ripple in the area of his cheek marked by the distinctive scar.

“We go home… why do I have a feeling this isn't the case?”

Shirei approached, “We need to head towards the other time rifts and close them as soon as possible.”

Ada rolled her eyes, “The demigods of the academy will take care of it, we've done ours.”

“And anyway there are only three of us, we can't hope to make it,” added Havel, “We risked a lot and I won't take my team on a mission without hope of being able to survive.”

Shirei shook his head.

“I'll go anyway,” he said, staring at the leader of the Equinox flowers, “But I would like you to come with me.”

Havel inhaled, “What's really at stake?”

The sunlight illuminated the purple eyes of Cragar's son, making the myriad shades within them shine.

“The destruction of the Lilies Park and the Daffodil Academy.”

Sidal's son swallowed.

“Ada text Elaine and tell her to confer with Lyceum.”

“Do I have to warn them that we're not coming back?”

“No, we need the divine Aena to intercede for us and bring back all the demigods of the Daffodil Academy. We will close all the time rifts.”