The world inside the barrier had now turned into a nightmare. On one side was Adrian’s 'Domain of the Fallen King,' where a scream echoed amidst ruined thrones and fire ash—a cry of neglect. On the other side was Nihira’s 'Eternal Silence of the Abyss,' an infinite stillness capable of swallowing even sound. When these two internal architectures collided, every atom of reality began to tremble. It was no longer just a battle of power; it was a total conflict between two differing philosophies of life.

  Nihira held her katana firmly, but her body was shaking. Adrian’s 'Sovereign Glare' was striking the walls of Nihira’s mind like an invisible serpent. Adrian was not just controlling physics; he was attempting to establish dominance over Nihira’s nerves. Before Nihira’s eyes flashed the dark days of her childhood, when she had to sacrifice all her desires to shoulder the burden of family legacy and protection. That heavy weight sought to paralyze her mentally today.

  Adrian burst into a loud laugh, the sound of which created a vortex of red ash. He shouted, "Nihira, you have carried the burden of this name and nobility your whole life. I know the pain of being alone! Since childhood, everyone neglected me because I was weak. My wish was to play with you, to talk to you normally. But your high-born nobility pushed me away even from your shadow. Today, I will erase that distance. I am not weak; I am the God of this destruction!"

  There was a deep sense of grievance mixed in Adrian’s voice. He did not hate Nihira; rather, he hated the society that deemed him unworthy of her. But today, his stubbornness had pushed the entire city to the brink of destruction. Under the influence of Adrian’s glare, Nihira’s vision was blurring. She felt as though she was sinking into a bottomless pit.

  But at that very moment, Ariyan’s voice resonated in her consciousness. Nihira realized she could not lose. She concentrated all the Ether energy of her existence into her katana. From her 'Abyssal Architecture,' billions of dark hands emerged and began to tear apart Adrian’s iron chains.

  Nihira opened her eyes, which now held no hesitation. She said in a calm voice, "Adrian, neglect turned you into a monster, and responsibility turned me into a warrior. You wanted to play? Then so be it—but the rules of this game will be mine." With her final strength, she unleashed a dimensional slash that tore through the center of the artificial world Adrian had created. The control over Adrian’s mind shattered instantly.

  The artificial world within the barrier smashed into pieces like glass. Adrian’s 'Domain of the Fallen King' was collapsing, and Nihira’s shroud of darkness was slowly receding. Amidst the dust and red ash, Adrian knelt on the ground. The 'Sovereign Glare' in his eyes had gone out, replaced now by tears of blood.

  Nihira lowered her katana. Looking at Adrian, her heart cried out in emptiness. She saw that hidden behind the arrogant warrior of once was an incredibly lonely and hollow teenager. Through the remnants of the barrier, hidden memories from the depths of Adrian’s mind floated before Nihira.

  Adrian was not the child of a poor family. He was the youngest son of an aristocratic family. But since childhood, he had been 'cursed.' While his siblings were born with sharp magical talent, Adrian was ordinary. His father called him the 'shame of the bloodline.' He wasn't allowed to sit at the dining table with everyone, lest his ordinariness stain the nobility of others. On festival nights when the whole house glowed with light, Adrian was kept locked in a dark library. He would watch the laughter of the outside world through the window and think—"Am I that invisible?"

  Once in his childhood, he had dared to go to Nihira’s house simply in hope of friendship. But the guards of Nihira’s family had driven him away, calling him 'weak' and 'unworthy.' That day, he realized that in this world, a person's value lies not in their heart, but in the measure of their power. Adrian had only wanted a little recognition, a little love. But society and his own family had taught him—if you have no power, you are nothing. So he had made a pact with the darkness, surrendering his soul just to prove that he too was 'someone.'

  From Adrian’s trembling lips came a faint whisper, "Everyone hated me, Nihira... I only wanted you all to look at me once. Was I really that bad?"

  Tears welled up in the corners of Nihira’s eyes. She stepped forward and sat in front of Adrian. She lifted Adrian’s face with her blood-stained hands. In a calm but broken voice, Nihira said, "I’m sorry, Adrian. I am truly sorry. We didn't hear that silent scream inside you. In the blind arrogance of nobility, we crushed a beautiful mind like yours. Please forgive me."

  The effect of the artifact ended. The city returned to its former state. But suddenly, all the vessels merged together. That shadow began to drain everyone’s power. Along with it, other shadows started to appear. Seeing this, Adrian used all the power of his eyes to close the dimensional rift he had created. Before taking his final breath, he asked Nihira, "Have I done the right thing this time, sister?" With that, Adrian died.

  Nihira held Adrian’s cold hand and remained motionless. She could not accept this death. He gave his life to save those who had always been unjust to him. Nihira began to call out to Adrian while weeping, but Adrian had fallen into an eternal sleep.

  ?The sky outside was not exactly copper, but rather painted in the colors of a peaceful twilight. There was no clamor of war there, no burden of nobility. Nihira and Adrian sat facing each other at a table by a glass window. Adrian was not wearing those old clothes marked by neglect, but a pristine white shirt. In his eyes was not that bloodthirsty 'Sovereign Glare,' but a strange tranquility. Nihira, leaving her usual grave persona, smiled gently.

  Steam rose from two cups of coffee placed on the table. Adrian gazed at the street outside, where perhaps his lost childhood was playing. Nihira knew this moment was not real, yet it wasn't a lie either. It was that secret room of the heart where defeat means liberation.

  Adrian turned the pages of a small book on the table. On the cover of the book was a picture of a bee—the eternal metaphor of the 'Rival Bee' and the 'Prince Bee.' One was born to be king, and the other was born to make that king realize the importance of his throne. Complementary to each other, yet eternal enemies. Adrian’s fingers stopped at the page where the two bees finally sat on the same flower.

  After a while, Adrian stood up. It was time for him to go. Nihira stood up as well. No words were spoken. Language had become unnecessary there, where souls had recognized each other. Adrian walked toward the back door of the cafeteria—a door leading to a bright world inside where everything he ever wanted existed. And Nihira walked toward the bright glass door in front, which opened to the hustle and bustle of life.

  Placing his hand on the door handle, Adrian paused once. He turned his head and looked at Nihira. Nihira was also at the threshold. Their eyes met. That pure, innocent smile appeared on Adrian’s face, one he perhaps had never given anyone in his life. Nihira smiled back with a faint but deep smile of recognition.

  They bid farewell from the same place, but their destinations were now in two different horizons. Adrian stepped into the peace he never found while alive. And Nihira returned to that blood-soaked world where she still had to remain the shield for an 'incomplete' brother.

  In the real world, Nihira embraced Adrian's lifeless body and looked at the sky. That red ash was fading away like the steam from the cafeteria coffee. Nihira felt that Adrian was no longer alone; he had written his name in the history of heroism with his own blood.

  Nihira still sat like a stone statue beside Adrian’s lifeless body. Her tears rolled down onto Adrian’s cold forehead. Ariyan could not bear it anymore. He had never seen this broken version of Nihira before. "Nihira! Sister, calm down..." Ariyan tried to move toward Nihira on trembling legs. But with one step, the old wound in his chest flared up like a volcano.

  Suddenly, the air all around dropped below freezing. That infamous liquid shadow emerged from the cracks in the ground like coal tar. In an instant, Rayan became alert and cut his own palm to draw blood. "Ariyan, get back! This isn't a weak shadow like before!" The shadow darted toward Rayan, weaving like a snake. Rayan used his blood manipulation to create a sword, but the shadow slipped under his weapon without any form and wrapped around him tightly. Ariyan jumped in to help, but with every touch of the shadow, it felt as if the bones in his body were turning to ice.

  On the other hand, while Nihira was grieving for Adrian, a heavy footstep was heard behind her. The son of the old man with dementia, who was now a powerful vessel of the Void, emerged from the heart of the darkness. Although his body was human-like, his skin was gray and his eyes were hollow, from which white fire emanated.

  Rayan was busy saving Ariyan, and Nihira was collapsed on the ground, trying to regain her breath. As the vessel extended its clawed hand toward Nihira, a frail, trembling body stood between them.

  It was the old man with dementia.

  Surprisingly, the confused look in the old man's eyes was gone. In the presence of the Void, his long-accumulated memories perhaps flared up for a moment. He straightened his hunched body. A strange blue glow began to emanate from his pupils—his hidden Optical Axiom: 'The Reliquary Sight.' The old man reached out a trembling hand and touched the vessel’s cheek. The vessel froze, a demonic groan escaping its throat.

  "Son... I had forgotten your name," the old man's voice dripped with deep affection, "but I can still recognize your heartbeat. You're in a lot of pain, aren't you?" The vessel roared, but at the old man's touch, its dark heart seemed to tremble. The old man realized there was no other way to save his son. Darkness had swallowed his soul; only this painful body remained. "Forgive me, son... I won't let you go alone."

  The old man smiled. But with that smile, his body began to turn to ash because his 'heart' was no longer in his own body. A horrific scream was heard, but it wasn't from a vessel; it was one of ultimate liberation. A moment later, in a massive explosion, both father and son turned into red ash and vanished into the air.

  When the father's warm memories and love crashed into that cold abyss of the Void, a miraculous event occurred. The vessel's form slowly began to shrink. For a moment, a human shadow returned to those dying eyes. The boy looked at his father, and a single word escaped his voice in a terrified tone— "Father?"

  Nihira saw this scene lying a few feet away. She wanted to scream, but no sound came from her throat. Tears fell in an unending stream from her eyes. She had just lost a 'God' equivalent, Adrian, but now she realized how trivial her 'infinite power' truly was. She couldn't save an old man and his son. Nihira began to mutter, "Why couldn't I? If I am to be powerful, then why did this room become so empty?"

  The warmth of the old man's final breath still lingered in the air. Nihira felt that there was no difference between Adrian’s dark world and this real world. Both were cruel.

  Amidst that ruin, Nihira was now like a lifeless stone statue. Her body was paying the price for using her superhuman 'Internal Architecture.' The crystal-clear glow in her eyes had faded, replaced by a deep exhaustion. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't move a finger, only looking on with a heart full of emptiness at the fight of her brothers, Ariyan and Rayan.

  The copper color of the sky had now turned into a thick dark purple. That liquid coal-tar-like shadow coming from the void was rushing in from all sides like clumps of insects from a dumpster. Rayan was throwing dozens of blood spears created from the blood of his own chest, but the shadows were swallowing every strike. "Ariyan! Get away!" Rayan shouted.

  Blood was now gushing from the wound in Ariyan's chest. His vision was blurring, but inside his brain, that inhuman entity was clawing at the walls again. One of the shadows suddenly grabbed Ariyan’s leg. With that ice-cold touch, Ariyan felt as if the marrow inside his bones was freezing. "No... I won't lose!" Ariyan grit his teeth and kicked the shadow away. But right then, ten to twelve small shadows emerged from the heart of the darkness. None of them had faces; only sounds of lamentation came from the void.

  Nihira saw from a distance that a shadow had extended its clawed hand toward Ariyan’s neck. Nihira let out a faint scream, but no sound came out. Her body was now paralyzed, as if she were bound to this earth by an invisible chain. At that very moment, the dark form inside Ariyan reached its completion. His pupils vanished completely, replaced by an eternal void. He recited no mantra, raised no weapon. He simply extended a hand and touched the existence of that small shadow.

  Within a moment, that shadow was no longer a shadow, but turned into 'nothingness' or a void. Ariyan began to mutter, "You wanted liberation, didn't you? I will give you that eternal emptiness where there is no pain, no existence." Rayan watched in amazement as everything that came near Ariyan was erased from the ledger of the universe. But Ariyan was paying the price for this power. Blood was pouring from his mouth, as if his own existence was being used as fuel for this power.

  Nihira saw through her blurred eyes that her brother was no longer human today; he stood as a god of destruction. Nihira thought to herself, 'Ariyan, stop! If this continues, your soul will be lost forever!' But Ariyan was beyond reach then. He was erasing those shadows falling like rain with his 'Nothingness,' and with every erasure, his own body was becoming paler. The wound in Ariyan's chest wasn't just burning then; a bluish smoke was emitting from it—signaling that the 'incomplete' entity inside him was now frantic to become complete.

  On the back veranda, where the clamor of the outside world does not reach, stood Abdur Rahman, Razia, and Sabuj. There was no fear in their eyes, only a quiet resolve. Abdur Rahman put his old prayer beads in his pocket and looked at the sky. "The time has come," Abdur Rahman said gravely, "time to return the Master's trust."

  Sabuj buried his gardening sickle in the ground and smiled. "Grandfather used to say, when the roots of this tree want blood, it's time to understand that the lamp of this lineage is about to go out. We were only the guardians." Razia wiped her face with her veil and looked at Maliha and Malisha. The two sisters stood like stones, tears in their eyes. Razia went to them and placed her hands on their heads. "Listen, children, from today you don't need to mix your own life span into Master Ariyan's food anymore. The responsibility to keep that small wound quiet is now ours. You have done a lot, wasted many lives."

  Maliha sobbed and said, "But Aunt, if you all leave, the soul of this house will die! Why are you leaving us alone?" Abdur Rahman smiled gently and said, "Alone where? Ariyan’s future is in your hands. We are only acting as a culvert. We must take the original curse of this house with us. Forgive us for leaving all the responsibility on you, children."

  Nihira heard the conversation within the inner house with her superhuman senses, which crushed her mentally. "No! Uncle! Aunt Razia!" Nihira wanted to scream, but her voice was blocked.