But the soul consumption was complete. Jin's soul was devoured by Sahara. With a thud, his lifeless body fell to the ground.
"You're too late for that," she whispered coldly.
Sahara gazed at Jin's body with cold, detached eyes.
"Leaving your body like this could cause problems."
A surge of spiritual energy gathered in her palm, ready to obliterate Jin's body.
"Now, now, I can't let you do that," said Albedo, suddenly appearing right in front of her.
"Oh? And who might you be?" she asked with a smirk.
As she spoke, spears of spiritual energy rose from the ground, poised to pierce Albedo from all directions.
"That won't do."
With a wave of his hand, Albedo effortlessly destroyed all the spears.
'Interesting! Who is he? He's been watching this whole time but didn't act until now,' she thought.
"I suppose I forgot to introduce myself," Albedo said with a calm smile. "I am Albedo Samael, just a humble researcher."
"Albedo Samael? Stop lying! I can't sense any Divinity from you," she proclaimed, clearly confused.
"You can't, huh..."
Albedo sighed, then fixed her with an intense gaze.
"Very well. I grant you permission to gaze upon my true form."
Sahara stared at Albedo, and for a moment, her eyes widened in shock.
'What?!' she thought in horror.
Her bright golden eyes darkened, then suddenly cracked and shattered. Spiritual energy poured from her shattered pupils.
"How?! How is this possible?" she screamed in horror. "How could you possess thirteen souls? A-And all of them have Ascended!"
'How could a monster like this exist in the human realm? Even in my true form, I doubt I can defeat him,' the realization struck her, sending a chill through her entire being.
"Leave," said Albedo, glancing at Jin's lifeless body. "Hurry, I won't say it again."
"You're letting me go?"
"I could kill you, but you have a role to play in the future."
Not daring to ask further, she vanished into the shadows.
With that, time resumed its flow.
Mira approached Albedo, accompanied by Luke.
"What happened to him?" Luke asked in disbelief.
"His soul is gone," Mira replied.
"What? So we can't... he's dead."
Albedo, who had been glancing at Jin, suddenly smiled.
"Would you look at that? He did the impossible again."
"What do you mean?" Luke asked.
"I will be performing a forbidden art."
"No, you can't," Mira interjected. "Forbidden arts are banned by O.R.D.E.R. Have you forgotten that?"
"Oh, come on. It's not like anyone is going to know about it."
"Lord Albedo, they're banned for a reason..."
"Mira, silence."
Mira stopped arguing when she heard the serious tone in Albedo's voice. She didn't dare to challenge him further.
She had been with Albedo for years, but she had never heard him speak like that before.
***
"Oh well, looks like I'm dead."
Jin lay down in the endless white void.
[Innate World: Blank Page]
There's still so much I need to do. I haven't freed her yet. But… I guess it doesn't matter anymore.
The thought lingered, heavy and still, as Jin exhaled. He glanced at the fading Blank Page—once vibrant, now pale as if even memory abandoned it.
"So, why did you bring me here? Can't you at least let me die in peace?"
"Sorry about that," the future Jin said gently.
Jin turned toward his future self, a translucent silhouette of light and shadow—fragile like stained glass under a storm. Yet in those abyssal black eyes, there was no sorrow. Only a faint, bittersweet smile clinging to a vanishing soul.
"You look... satisfied. Does my death amuse you or something?"
"You misunderstand," the future Jin answered softly. "I'm smiling because I am no longer your future."
"...Is that so."
The future Jin stepped closer and sat beside him, eyes drifting to the frayed red thread wrapped around Jin's right hand. He smiled, faint and wistful.
"So, now that you remember her…"
"I haven't remembered everything," Jin interrupted. "I still don't understand. How… how did she die? Why?"
"Of course," the future Jin murmured, gaze falling like dusk.
"Hey." Jin's voice steadied, sharp. "Look at me—and tell me who… who dared to take my sister's soul and body?"
The future Jin met his gaze and exhaled with the weight of eternity.
"You already know. An Abyss Lord. Its name is... fkgdididifkgurrogtihghk."
His voice fractured into unspeakable sound—syllables that bled madness.
"Because of that fragment of his innate ability?"
"Yes. And now… it has our soul too."
"Chh." Jin clicked his tongue, the way that voice taught him.
"You're still acting."
He turned away, crimson eyes dimming.
"That's all I know. Don't you remember?
I'm but an empty shell—hollow and futile."
A hush fell over them. Jin, trying to recall what the voice might've said next, continuing his acting.
"That's it then. I've lost Mathematician. And now... I'm about to die."
"Not yet," the future Jin said, calm and still as snow.
"What do you mean?" Jin asked, feigning surprise.
"The Mathematician isn't gone. Not completely."
"So what? I can't use it on her because of the soul contract. I can't use it on myself either. That'd break the rules."
"I know... but let me ask you—do you want to live?"
"Of course I do! Why would you even ask that?" Jin barked, his voice turned toward irritation.
The future Jin's gaze deepened—obsidian pools with storms buried within.
"Didn't I tell you before? Don't wear those fake emotions in front of me. "It gets under my skin."
Jin said nothing.
He let go of the masks he'd been wearing—masks stitched by habit, shaped by necessity. Silence crept in.
If the voice had been there,
it might've whispered, "You fool... do you know how hard he tried to learn that?
It wasn't easy—none of it was."
It would've suggested something—maybe told him what to do next. It would've panicked, scrambled for an answer.
Perhaps anyone else would've panicked.
Anyone… except Jin.
Even then—even in silence, it would've found the answer. It always did.
But I was not there.
And so he sat, still and quiet, like a void without its echo, a mind without a muse.
Just as he said: hollow… futile.
"...You know, you were right," Jin said finally, crimson eyes steady. "Everything you said. From the beginning… to the end."
"We were right. I am a blank page—silent, untouched.
And the voice… the voice was the pen.
Its ink spilled across me, shaping my lines,
I followed—a character in a tale not mine to tell.
A dream etched in borrowed ink,
a whisper in the margins of someone else's story. Like a puppet, strings woven from shadow, veiled in silence,hollow in purpose.
A name without meaning—a ghost that breathes."
His voice quivered—then firmed.
"But when I saw her... beyond that shattered mask... something shifted. This blank page of mine… it bled ink. A drop at first. Then a flood. I saw poems where there were none. Some beautiful, some sorrowful. For the first time… I felt. A volcano erupted inside. And the tears… I didn't even know I could cry."
He laughed softly, voice twisted with wonder and ache.
"It hurt. Gods, it hurt. But somehow… it was pleasant too. I hated it. But I loved it."
He leaned in close, a whisper from soul to soul.
"This empty void that is my heart… was filled by her. And in that moment, I felt one thing—desire. A desire to live. To save her. To keep that promise."
He stared hard.
"So I must live. We must live. That is my answer."
The future Jin chuckled softly, smiling as if he had waited eons to hear those words.
"I can't believe I was this pathetic back then."
"Then what?"
"You fool. You'll live. We'll live. We'll save her—like we promised our mother. But for that… we need a new soul. We will create a new soul."
Jin blinked.
'What a moron,' he thought, shaking his head. He rubbed his eyes.
'You were right. I can't be like you. No way I was this big of a fool.'
"What's wrong?" the future Jin asked, amused.
"Am I going to hit my head really hard sometime in the future?"
"No. Why?"
"Because how else could I become this much of a moron?"
Annoyed, the future Jin smacked him.
"Listen to me, you piece of garbage. You have no idea what Mathematician can really do."
"Even so, nothing can create or destroy a soul. That's a fundamental law."
"You fool," the future Jin sneered. "Mathematician isn't—" He paused. "...Forget it. Just know this: it can create a soul."
Jin blinked, stunned, as he tried to absorb the impossible.
"So… we can recreate my soul... and even modify it?"
"Yes," future Jin confirmed. "Maybe I wasn't as hopeless as I thought."
"Why are you talking like I'm a fossil? Just how old are you?"
"Hmm..." He scratched his chin. "Stopped counting after 300 billion years."
"300... What?!"
Jin's eyes widened, but no emotion followed. He'd forgotten to add one. The voice was not their to instruction. So he remained in silence.
"Yes. Why?" the future Jin asked, playfully innocent.
Jin sighed and moved on.
"So… can we bring back Mathematician again?"
"No. We can't."
"Why not?"
"There are things you don't need to know yet," the future Jin said, eyes glinting with secrets buried beyond time.
***
"Lord Albedo, are you really serious about this?" Mira asked, her hands steady as they traced the lines of a mystic circle—yet her voice trembled, still trying to dissuade him.
"Yep, pretty sure," Albedo replied casually, entirely unfazed.
"B-But, my lord..."
"Enough."
Silencing her, he raised his hand.
[Shiddhi: Prapti]
In a glass bottle, a strange purple liquid shimmered into existence—thick, glowing, and otherworldly.
He handed it to Mira without a word. She accepted it and completed the final sigil.
The mystic circle sprawled across the barren earth in intricate lines, glowing faintly beneath the open sky. The purple liquid pulsed within the carvings, as though alive, casting a ghostly light.
At the center lay Jin's body—lifeless, still. Carefully placed.
The air turned heavy, almost reverent. Even the earth seemed to hold its breath.
"Wh-What are you going to do, Master?" Luke asked, voice unsteady.
"I'm bringing his new soul back—from the Unseen Realm," Albedo answered, calm and unwavering.
"New soul?! What?! What do you mean—"
"We're about to begin the Ritual of Awakening."
"R-Ritual... of...?"
Luke stumbled back, panic overtaking him as he fell to the ground.
"No... no..." he whispered, clutching his chest, his breath erratic.
Albedo knelt beside him and gently placed a hand on his head.
[Mystical Art: Calm Mind]
Luke's breathing steadied. The tremor in his limbs faded.
"Still afraid of this?" Albedo sighed quietly.
Mira stepped forward, helping Luke to his feet. Her eyes searched his face, tender with concern.
"Are you alright?" she asked softly.
"Y-Yes," Luke murmured, still shaken but nodding.
Meanwhile, Albedo turned back to the circle, his gaze locked on Jin's still form.
"Now, it's up to you," he said, voice low. "I can guide you to the threshold of the Unseen Realm... but finding your soul—that part is yours alone."
He pressed his hand to the edge of the circle. Divine energy flowed from his palm, entering the markings like ink into ancient parchment. The purple liquid surged, glowing brighter, throbbing with hidden power.
[Forbidden Art: Astral Projection]
***
Jin's eyes slowly opened.
Before him stood the broken gate of a city—familiar, yet wrong. The stone was cracked, the sky above dim and swirled in shades of night. He knew this place was not the human realm.
The very air felt dense, heavy with unseen presences. Not just one—many.
The darkness clung to every edge of the world.
Then, he looked up.
And froze.
A single colossal eye stared down from the heavens. Its iris stretched across the sky, glimmering with hues he couldn't name—watching him. Judging him. Knowing him.
That gaze peeled away everything, down to his soul, making him feel infinitesimally small.
'So… this is the Unseen Realm.'