just walking.

Her broken wings scattered fully into light.
Her halo cracked, dimmed…

…and quietly went out.

A single feather — half white, half black — drifted down before Ryu.

Not as a threat.
Not as a warning.

As a farewell.

Cael whispered, “So… will we see her again?”

Yoru nodded.

“Without the silence guiding her? She will wander. She will learn. She will change.”

Ryu caught the feather between two fingers, eyes thoughtful.

“And one day,” Yoru added softly, “she may choose a side.”

Ryu tucked the feather into his coat.

“Then we’ll be ready.”

The News That Shook the World

The Guilds were always fast with rumors—
but this wasn’t a rumor.

This was a worldquake.

Within a single day, every nation, every city, every wandering caravan heard the same words echoed again and again:

“Ryu Aetherion has returned.”

“The Arcane Sovereign defeated a Fallen Luminary.”

“The Angel of Death—Seraphel Nocturne—fell to him.”

But the detail that spread like wildfire…
the part that ignited awe and fear:

“He reached over 90% of his limit… and created a new sorcery on the spot.”

People didn’t just whisper it.

They revered it.

They feared it.

And as the story inflated with each retelling, new titles were born—
the one that stuck the most:

Origin Paragon.

Because who else could push reality that far?

Who else could defeat an executioner of the heavens and still stand?

Who else but the man who vanished for centuries…
only to walk out of the Ethereal Mountains stronger than the myths said he was?

Recovery

The quietest valley was supposed to be peaceful — but peace never reached Ryu completely.

Yoru sat beside him on a crooked boulder, stuffing her face with dried fruit like nothing serious just happened.

Cael sat a few meters away, cleaning the blood off his sword for the fifteenth time, pretending he wasn’t watching Ryu closely.

Ryu’s expression?

Cold.

Distant.

Haunted.

Every time he closed his eyes…
he saw Seraphel’s expression from the moment the fight ended.

Not the anger.
Not the fury.
Not even the divine wrath.

But the fear
and the regret
that slipped through in that last moment.

She didn’t try to finish him.

She hesitated.

Someone forced her.

Someone powerful enough to command an Angel of Death.

Someone influential enough to twist a Luminary’s creed. And that single thought echoed in him like a curse.

Ryu’s Mind

Even as his wounds stitched themselves with residual astral energy…

Even as Yoru poked him with a stick, saying “Stop thinking about edgy stuff, old man…”

Even as Cael quietly muttered, “Ryu, you’re scaring the wildlife again…”

Ryu’s thoughts spiraled back to that single point.

Seraphel was not a pawn.

She was a weapon with her own will.

So whoever pushed her to this…

Was either:

A god.
A Luminary.
A primordial.
Or something darker.

And for the first time in centuries—
not even during the fight—

Ryu felt something unfamiliar.

Not fear.

But anticipation.

Because whoever did this…

He would find them.

And when he did—
the world would witness why the name Origin Paragon would be carved into history forever.

Night settled over the valley like a soft blanket,
but Ryu’s thoughts were anything but soft.

Cael and Yoru argued over whether they should make dinner or just let Cael burn another pot.
Normal, familiar noise.

But Ryu?

He sat alone on the ridge, staring at the horizon as if it owed him answers.

The world called him the Origin Paragon—
yet right now, even he couldn’t understand the people closest to him.

First Seraphel.

Now…

Eira.

The betrayal that cut far deeper.

The one he still couldn’t wrap his mind around.

Eira—
who laughed beside him,
trained with him,
fought beside him during the Aetherfall Wars,
once vowed to “follow him beyond the stars.”

She didn’t hate him.
She didn’t fear him.

So why?

The more he tried to recall the final moments before she vanished,
the more his head throbbed.

Her eyes.

That split second before she left—

Not cold.
Not cruel.

Terrified.
Not of him…
but of something else.

Something she refused to speak of.

Something she couldn’t speak of.

And that terrified Ryu more than he’d ever admit aloud.

Yoru walked over, tail swaying lazily—then bonked him on the head with her staff.

“Stop brooding,” she said. “You’ll wrinkle your forehead more than your age already did.”

Ryu didn’t look up.

“What do you think I’m brooding about? And I’m good-looking.”

Yoru blinked once.

“Seraphel and Eira, duh.”

Cael nearly choked on his drink.

Ryu didn’t react.

He just closed his eyes…
and whispered, barely audible:

“Eira… what were you so afraid of?”

Because now betrayals weren’t coincidences.

They were patterns.

They were connected.

And somewhere in the shadows of the world—
someone was pulling strings strong enough to make even the strongest bow.

The Seraphel thing was one thing.
But Eira?

That wound hadn’t even begun to heal. As Ryu trusted her, even if it’s only a bit…

Ryu opened his eyes.

“…Someone’s moving,” he murmured. “Behind Seraphel. Behind Eira. Behind all of this. The same mysterious figure from 1,500 years ago…”

Yoru and Cael fell silent.

Outside, the wind shifted—subtle, but wrong.
A faint tremor in the world’s balance.

Ryu stood.

Not fully healed.
Not fully calm.

But certain.

Ryu didn’t disagree.

Because somewhere out there, the same force that bent Seraphel…
had terrified Eira into betrayal.

And it was coming.

For all of them.

He exhaled.

“Next time,” he said quietly, “I’ll find whoever’s pulling the strings.”

The lantern beside them flickered.

The End of Chapter 4

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