In the evacuation center, the townspeople gradually resume their normal activities, albeit with a lingering confusion. Those put to sleep earlier by "André" have woken up, unaware of the exact events that led to their slumber.
Seizing the moment, Celine crafts a comforting explanation to ease their worries. “The strain of the recent events must have been overwhelming,” she says with gentle authority. “You likely fainted from exhaustion and shock.”
Though some townspeople exchange uncertain glances, they are reassured enough to return to their tasks, trusting Celine's calm and confident demeanor.
As the wife of the mayor of the Eñeforte family, Celine knows she has to uphold a strong presence, both as a leader and as a beacon of stability for her people.
However, her heart weighs heavily, and she worries for Maurice and André. She whispers, "I hope Maurice will be safe and that André will regain control."
Meanwhile, members of Les Arcanes Éternels, including Violette, Lumi, Uther, and Arthur, move through the crowds, assisting the injured and ensuring everyone has what they need.
With the [A]-ranked Stargate gone, the disruptive Mana wave has subsided, allowing Commlink to function again. Celine promptly coordinates with neighboring towns in the Golden Fields Region for additional support, and word soon arrives that reinforcements are coming.
In a nearby tent, Célestin is seated beside an unconscious Dominic, who lies swathed in bandages. Earlier, he tended to Dominic’s wounds, gently insisting on taking this duty so Celine could focus on coordinating help and aiding the other patients.
Although they have only recently met, Celine senses unspoken trustworthiness in Célestin’s calm presence, and she feels reassured, leaving Dominic in his capable hands.
“Domy…” Célestin gently brushes a strand of hair from Dominic’s face, a soft smile forming. “So, you have a brother, huh? Didn’t see that one coming.”
He leans back in the chair, arms crossed thoughtfully. “But is he really your brother? He does look like a younger version of Uncle André… though he called Celine by her first name…”
A sudden realization sparks in Célestin’s eyes. “Unless… you’ve got some plan involving Clark, something that might finally end Malignor.”
He chuckles softly, glancing down at Dominic’s still form. “Look at me, talking to you like you’re awake. Guess I’m getting ahead of myself.”
Célestin’s gaze lingers on Dominic, his expression pensive. “…But on the other hand, I hope Professor Maurice pulls through,” he murmurs softly. “Then again… he does have that family spell. It’s a gamble… but if anyone can turn the odds, it’s him.”
“Ngh…”
A faint sound breaks the quiet, and Célestin’s heart skips. Dominic stirs, his eyelids beginning to flutter open.
Célestin’s eyes light up with relief and excitement. “Domy!” he whispers, leaning forward eagerly, his voice filled with hope.
════ ⋆★⋆ ════
Dominic Eñeforte
“Ngh!”
A haze clings to me as I drift back into consciousness, my senses slowly coming alive in fragmented bursts. Colors and shapes swirl together, blending into a murky fog that clouds my vision. I blink once, twice, trying to clear the blurred world before me, but it’s like peering through frosted glass—everything is muted, distant, and surreal.
My mind feels thick, bogged down as if by a weight I can’t shake. Each thought crawls to the surface, unfocused and hazy. I can barely grasp at questions that float just out of reach, elusive and hazy. But one feeling stands out, piercing through the fog—confusion.
“Domy!” The voice is sharp, almost desperate, cutting through the fog like a lifeline thrown to a drowning man.
“Huh?” I mutter, my own voice jarring me further awake. I blink again, my eyes focusing bit by bit until Célestin’s wide-eyed, relieved expression comes into view.
What’s he doing here? And… did he just call me… Domy?
A sudden ache stabs through my head, and flashes of glitching colors swirl in my vision as I instinctively hold my temples.
“Ugh!”
“Domy!” Célestin’s hands steady me, his voice laced with concern.
And then—a vivid, fractured image bursts into my mind: a man with light blue hair holding someone… calling him Domy. The same scene “Chronicle Insight” has revealed to me before.
It hits me like a wave—the man with light blue hair is the person I’ve been forgetting, who haunts those fragmented visions. It was… Célestin.
The headache slowly recedes, leaving my vision clearer and sharper than before.
“Domy…” Célestin’s voice is softer now, full of something unspoken.
I look at him, struggling to keep my emotions in check. “You…”
I have just seen the lives—the painful cycles—that Célestin and the original Dominic have endured. I can barely begin to process it, yet I am expected to carry on where the original Dominic left off, to bear this burden that he has passed down. A raw ache spreads through my chest, like something is gripping my heart, squeezing until it is hard to breathe.
The weight of it all presses down on me, and for a moment, I feel swallowed by the endless expectations, the haunting legacy, and the knowledge that I’ve somehow been pulled into this ceaseless struggle. I can feel the original Dominic’s intent and purpose, which is suffocating.
“Dom—”
Before he can finish, I slap his hand away, the motion so quick and intuitive that it surprises us both. The look on Célestin’s face is a mix of shock and hurt, mirroring the strange rush of emotions that surge through me.
“I… I apologize… Célestin…” My voice is softer and strained, barely holding back the conflict roiling inside.
I look away, wrestling with the urge to explain, to somehow make him understand the turmoil clawing at me—the memories, the pressure, the suffocating sense of duty left by the original Dominic. Yet, I can only stand there, torn between regret and resentment, hoping he won’t see the vulnerability that has slipped through.
“It’s okay, Domy,” Célestin says softly, his voice steady, warm, as though he can see through the walls I’m putting up.
His reassurance only tightens the knot in my chest. I want to believe him, to let myself lean into that comfort he offers so freely. But the weight of what I now know—the lives, the sacrifices, the expectations—hangs between us, heavy and unspoken.
I look down, forcing myself to steady my breath. “You… you don’t have to call me that,” I murmur, the words barely more than a whisper.
Célestin raises a brow, searching my face with quiet curiosity. “What do you mean by that, Domy?”
A storm of hesitation surges within me. He deserves the truth—no matter how much it will hurt him. He and the original Dominic have been through so much together; they share a bond forged through pain and survival, through the endless cycles that I can barely comprehend. Keeping him in the dark feels wrong, yet I know that telling him will shatter something precious.
But he deserves to know.
Taking a breath, I meet his gaze, feeling the words settle heavily in my chest. “Célestin… I’m not the ‘Domy’ you know. I’m not even… Dominic.”
Célestin’s eyes widen, the shock stark on his face as he processes my words. He stands up and steps back, his expression shifting from confusion to something almost hesitant. “So… you’re not… Domy?”
I swallow, feeling the weight of my truth pressing down on me. “No,” I say, my voice low but persistent. “I’m… not Dominic. I’m… Clark.”
Célestin’s brows furrow, his expression a mixture of disbelief and cautious curiosity. “What… what do you mean, Clark? Are you saying… you’re the same Clark, like the kid I met earlier?”
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So, he met Clark, huh? That makes this easier to explain.
I nod slowly, watching his reaction carefully. “Yes… that Clark was me- well—a past version of me. Somehow, I was transported to this world and… I ended up here along with him.”
“Huh?” His voice is barely a whisper, and I can see the way his gaze flickers, the struggle to process my words etched across his face. It is as if the very foundation of everything he thought he knew has shifted beneath him, leaving him unsteady and uncertain.
I swallow, taking a deep breath. “I’m… from another world. I died there, and when I woke up… I was here. In Dominic’s body.”
He opens his mouth to respond but hesitates, his mind reeling from what I’m telling him. His face shifts between understanding and disbelief, a storm of uncontrollable emotions.
“Wait… wait…” he finally says, holding up his hands, his tone desperate as if clinging to something stable. “Just… give me a moment to process this.”
I watch him closely, the silence stretching between us, knowing that everything has changed with these words. The truth is out, but what it will mean—for him, me, and whatever lies ahead—remains unknown.
“So… if you’re here… then what happened to… Domy?” Célestin’s voice is quiet, almost afraid of the answer.
“He’s in Japan…” I reply, the words heavy.
“Japan?” he echoes, his brow knitting in confusion.
“It’s a country… in another world—my world. He’s there now, living his life to the fullest, in a place without Mana, without any of this.” My voice grows tight, the ache inside me bubbling up.
A part of me feels angry at the original Dominic for leaving everything behind and entrusting me with this life he’d abandoned. He handed off his burdens, his unfinished responsibilities, to me as if they were nothing more than a passing inconvenience. I am left to carry the weight, to make sense of this world I hadn’t chosen.
But another part of me… I can’t blame him completely. I understand, deep down, that he simply reached his limit. The life he lived here, the stress, the battles, the endless cycle pushed him beyond breaking. Maybe he couldn’t bear it anymore, so he made a choice. I don’t have to agree, but I can see the desperation that must have driven him.
Célestin’s fists clench, his gaze hardening as he processes my words. “So… he just left me after everything that happened?” His voice wavers, and he looks up at me, a mixture of hurt and anger in his eyes. “And now, he left you to face it all? You don’t even know what this world is like, yet… all of this—every responsibility, every burden—he just passed it on to you.”
He’s right. I wasn’t ready, and I’d been fooling myself into thinking that I was. I thought I understood this world because it was the setting of a web novel I had read on Earth. I believed I knew what lay ahead because I had “read” it.
But now… now it dawns on me. Those events—the battles, the struggles, the sacrifices—aren’t just fiction. They were Dominic’s real-life experiences. He lived every hardship, every moment of danger that I once read for entertainment. The web novel didn’t omit him because he was unimportant; it omitted him because he was the one narrating it, the one who created it.
A shiver runs down my spine as the truth settles. He left that story as a guide, a way for me to navigate this world and find the necessary tools. But… the System I have? That has never been part of the web novel. It’s something else, something entirely unexpected, a twist he hadn’t prepared me for.
“Célestin… I know what will happen in this world… because it was a web novel back in my world.”
Célestin’s eyes widen, shock and disbelief flashing across his face. He opens his mouth to speak, but I press on, knowing he needs to hear it all.
“I know about your enrollment at Verdant Arcanum, your battles… even your dates with Lumi.” My voice softens. “I’ve seen it all. Well, everything except… the cycles between you and Dominic.”
He stares at me, confusion and hurt in his gaze. “Are you… are you serious?” His voice is barely more than a whisper.
I nod slowly, bracing myself. “Yes. I know it sounds impossible, but… the life you’re living here was a story in my world.”
He blinks, his expression darkening as he tries to understand it all. “Did… Domy write it?”
“Yes…” I hesitate, feeling the weight of that answer settle between us. “He wrote it as if it were just a tale of heroes and battles. But now… I think he left it behind for me, like a guide.”
Célestin looks away, his hands clenching into fists. “So, he left… all of us, his life here, his responsibilities… and wrote them down like we were characters?” He shakes his head, the hurt evident in his voice. “And now you’re here, carrying the weight he abandoned?”
“Yes,” I say quietly, the words feeling heavier than I’d imagined. “I thought I knew this world, but I realize now… it was just a glimpse. Dominic didn’t tell me everything, and I’m discovering things he never wrote about.”
Célestin’s gaze softens, though his eyes still flicker of hurt. “So… you’re here, in his place. And everything you thought was fiction… it’s real.”
“Yes. And… I’m sorry. For the confusion, everything he left behind… and for whatever part of him that’s missing here because of me.”
Célestin looks like he wants to cry. His lips tremble slightly, and his gaze softens, weighted with many unspoken feelings. But he takes a deep breath, steadies himself, and, to my surprise, smiles—a small, bittersweet smile that holds both acceptance and quiet strength.
“Well, there’s nothing we can do about that…” he murmurs, his voice steady but touched with lingering sadness. “It’s not like I can punch Domy right now… but I’ll just have to help you then.”
His words catch me off guard, and a surge of gratitude and relief washes over me. I hadn’t realized how desperately I needed someone who understood, someone willing to stand with me through this.
“Célestin…” I start, my voice almost breaking, “Thank you. But we’ll do more than that… we’ll help each other.”
He looks at me, the hint of surprise giving way to a hopeful glint in his eyes.
“We need to work together,” I continue. “I’ll tell you everything I know from the web novel—everything Dominic left behind. There might be parts he didn’t write, parts he never told anyone, things even you don’t know about. And… you can tell me about the cycles, what you and the original Dominic went through. Your point of view could help me understand what he couldn’t bring himself to say.”
Célestin’s smile grows, a flicker of determination sparking in his gaze. “If Dominic left pieces of this world for you to find, then maybe… maybe we can use them to stop this cycle. Together, we might have a shot at ending the endless suffering he and I kept repeating.”
A sense of purpose, something strong and unwavering, settles over us. This cooperation between us could bridge the gaps in our knowledge, giving us insights neither of us could reach alone. I realize, in that moment, how much we could accomplish together. I have the story and all its hidden threads; Célestin has the lived experience, the memories of pain, survival, and hope that Dominic left out. And maybe, just maybe, with our combined knowledge, we can unravel the pattern, discover a way to finally break free.
For the first time, I feel a spark of hope. This isn’t just about taking on someone else’s life; it’s a chance to end the cycle that has bound Célestin and the original Dominic, once and for all.
—whoosh!
I turn around, eyes widening as a red portal crackles into existence, casting an eerie glow across the room. The air thickens with the scent of burnt mana, tingling with power that makes the hair on my arms stand on end.
Out of the portal emerges Professor Maurice, levitating effortlessly with a dark blue tophat perched on his head, his eyes glinting with determination. In his arms, he carries André, his form slack and unconscious, as if he’s been through something unimaginable.
What just happened?
“Professor!” Célestin’s voice rings out, filled with pure relief and joy as he rushes toward them.
The portal flickers and disappears, leaving a lingering red glow as Maurice gently lowers himself to the ground. With deliberate care, he places André on the empty bed beside me, casting a quick, assessing glance my way.
“Dominic, I see you’re safe,” he says, his voice steady.
“…Yeah…” I reply, still staring at André’s unconscious form. “What happened to Andr—Dad?”
Maurice takes a deep breath, his gaze darkening. “Dominic, your father… he has someone inside him, something dangerous. You’ll need to get stronger if you ever hope to face him.”
His words send a chill through me. “What… what do you mean? Who is this ‘someone’ inside him?”
Maurice’s expression tightens as if he’s choosing his words carefully. “…I don’t know exactly. But they’re… evil, like a demon.”
A demon? The thought shakes me. André, possessed by some demonic force? This is something the original Dominic never written in the web novel. Yet, there is an edge of truth to it that I can’t ignore.
I glance at Célestin, and he meets my gaze, his expression thoughtful. He seems to sense my questions, giving me a subtle nod as if to say, We’ll talk about this later.
—rustle!
The tent flap is suddenly pushed aside, and Celine appears, her face filled with worry. Her gaze sweeps over the room, and the moment she sees André lying unconscious, her breath hitches. Tears begin to gather in her eyes, and before I can process it, they’re flowing freely down her cheeks. Her eyes then lock onto me, filled with relief and heartbreak.
“Dominic!” she cries, rushing forward and pulling me into a fierce hug. Her arms wrap tightly around me, and I feel the full weight of her fear, love, and desperation all at once.
I freeze, a pang of guilt twisting deep within me. I’m not her Dominic, not truly. Yet, here she is, her entire heart laid bare as if I were her flesh and blood. That weight presses on me, the unspoken truth lodged in my throat. I feel like I’m lying to her just by standing here, allowing her to believe in someone I’m not.
“Oh, Dominic,” she whispers, her voice breaking. “I was so worried… I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you, or your father. Seeing you both here… it’s like my heart has finally found peace, even for a moment.”
Her words strike me, and I have to swallow the impulse to tell her the truth. It isn’t fair to her, to all the hope she’s poured into me. But I can’t break that illusion right now—not when she needs it most. I’ll have to keep up this facade, at least for now, to give her something to hold onto.
I promise myself I’ll try to keep this secret, feeling the weight of her trust. As much as I can, I’ll protect her from the truth—for now.
—rustle!
The tent flap shifts again and Clark steps in, his face a mix of concern and relief as he scans the room. His gaze lands on André’s unconscious form, then shifts to me, still wrapped in Celine’s embrace. For a moment, a flicker of uncertainty crosses his face.
He hesitates at the entrance, lingering as if unsure whether he belongs here. But after a beat, he takes a cautious step forward, his hands fidgeting at his sides in a way that reminds me of the younger version of myself he truly is.
“Clark…” I murmur, gently pulling back from Celine’s embrace to meet his gaze. He offers me a small, reassuring smile, though his face is tight with worry, as if he, too, feels the heavy atmosphere weighing down on all of us.
Celine looks up, her tear-streaked face softening when she notices him. She nods, acknowledging his presence, and Clark’s expression grows more determined. He moves closer, his shoulders squared, bracing himself as if ready to face whatever lies ahead.
As I watch him, a thought stirs within me—a painful but undeniable realization. Clark doesn’t belong here. He’s the younger version of me, pulled into a world of dangers he shouldn’t have to face. I was given this second chance here, but Clark… he deserves to go back to where he belongs, to the world that’s his, untouched by the threats that lurk in Sylvestria. He’s a piece of my past, and though he carries a version of my memories, he still has his own life to live—a life that shouldn’t be entangled with the chaos and responsibilities that are now mine.
For him, this place is a nightmare waiting to happen. He doesn’t deserve to be caught in a world haunted by demons, cycles, and powers beyond reason. I need to find a way to bring him back, I resolve silently. Clark deserves safety, a life free of the burdens of this universe. And no matter what it takes, I’ll make sure he finds his way home.