-Asher Frostblade's point of view.
One glance and Asher's head nearly exploded at the sight of the being lying on the ground, while Encrid held its neck.
To tell the truth, it was strange.
Why did that happen?
The pain was too intense.
More intense than any pain Asher had ever felt before.
Still, he was curious.
But...
"Who is it?"
That was Asher's question.
Who or what is that being?
Looking at the state of Encrid's body, Asher noticed that it was quite damaged, as if the combat against that being had caused him great damage.
It looked like he had been hit extremely hard, and also that he had received magical attacks of great magnitude.
He was quite injured, but his expression was serious and cold, while mana was pouring out of his body like boiling steam.
The amount of mana emanating from his body was impressive. And not only him, since when observing a part of the body of the being that Encrid had on the ground, an incredible dark green colored mana was also gushing out.
The being was wearing somewhat strange clothing, like ancient Greek style, or something similar.
Encrid was wearing the same black suit as always.
Observing the situation in this memory, which was possibly Encrid's, Asher pondered for a moment.
"It's possible he's getting information from here."
It was possible.
A chance to get information.
However...
"I don't know what place or year I'm in."
Although everything seemed to be in ruins, with a dark sky tinged with red, and a huge golden line crossed the firmament, illuminating the darkness.
Truth be told, everything indicated that this was a war.
"It could be war with the seven gods."
If that's true, then the being Encrid had on the ground was a....
"It's a god."
It definitely had to be that.
The moment he tried to see its face, a sudden pain fell on Asher's head, as if something was preventing him from seeing the face and the rest of the body of the being Encrid had on the ground.
It was as if this memory had a restriction or penalty, something like that.
Although he could not see the face of the being on the ground, Asher could see Encrid's face and the rest of his body, as well as the entire environment around him.
In a sense, it was all unusual.
What was before his eyes were memories of Encrid at the time he was fighting a god ten thousand years ago.
If so, then...
"It's a source of information."
It was, and plenty of it.
But, of course, it was possible that at any moment he could step out of this memory and into another.
Perhaps one of Isabella's memories.
Though Asher found this all strange, seeing memories of his past life, then Encrid's memories, and now Isabella's would be missing.
All of this had to have some purpose.
His mental exhaustion was causing him to see these memories unconsciously, one way or another.
First things first: to see Encrid's memories, Encrid himself had to allow her access to them.
But he had not allowed her to see his memories.
So how was this possible?
In a strange way, Asher believed this was all the fault of his mental exhaustion, somehow allowing him to see Encrid's memories, as well as those of his own past life, and even slowly beginning to lose his own memories.
It was all starting to make sense.
From the beginning, he had to find a way to solve his problem with his mind.
However, no one knows.
No one knows how to cure or recover a person whose mind is running out of steam.
Although it was true that this happened suddenly, it seemed normal.
Although Asher was unlucky and his mental exhaustion was extremely low compared to others.
He blinked and fixed his gaze on Encrid and the being Asher believed to be a god.
Although they both seemed to look at each other without saying a word, Asher tried to overhear some conversation between the two of them and get some information.
"Human..."
The god's voice reached his ears.
Asher paid full attention.
"Although you won, your world is in ruins."
"Being very weak lives and some on the verge of death, you will still all die, just like the other humans like you."
"Humans are weak... They can't even withstand death itself, but you are different. Your friends are different, just like you, human."
"You are the strongest human, I'll give you that, but, just like me, your life is also near its end."
"...."
After that, there was silence.
Encrid remained silent as his face filled with veins of anger standing out.
His teeth were clenched, while his eyes were wide open staring at the god in front of him with pure anger.
Not a single word came out of his mouth. The god then continued:
"I congratulate you, we, the divine beings, regret having come to your world."
"But, though we seven die, "He" will come at some point."
"He..."
Asher wondered what she meant.
Who will come? The god's voice seemed to be referring to someone even more important than himself. However, it was difficult to understand this whole situation.
The memory itself was complicated to process. While it wasn't providing much really valuable information, beyond the god's praise of Encrid, the rest didn't seem important.
However, when he mentioned "He", it had to be someone above this god.
That meant there was an eighth god or someone god-like.
What was all this really about?
No matter how Asher processed it all, he found it hard to understand.
Try as he might, Asher understood very little.
Though the god spoke, Encrid simply looked at him with enormous anger. Exactly what or what his thoughts were, or how great his hatred for this god was, could not be described.
Asher was curious though.
"Who are these gods?"
That was definitely the question.
Beings considered "gods", with powers and everything at their disposal on an unparalleled level. Faced with such a being, there was no way to describe it in mere words.
You had to see it with your own eyes to understand it.
You could not describe a being of this caliber.
Of course, the same was true of Encrid.
A human who had surpassed the power of those gods who thought they were absolute.
No matter how you think about it, Encrid was also like a god, the god-killer.
In fact, that title fit him quite well.
"He'll "come one day."
Encrid's voice echoed in the overwhelming silence that reigned in the atmosphere. It was a heavy silence, and the air burned.
"Exactly."
"He will come someday. I don't know when, but he will come."
"..."
Encrid didn't really pay much attention to his words.
His gaze was fixed on the face Asher could not see.
His whole expression was that of someone eager to get revenge, to kill, to save everyone.
An emotionally charged expression, ready to banish the being he held in his hands, who at any moment would die at Encrid's hands.
"My name is..."
"Harg."
Then, Asher's head ached again.
The moment the god spoke his name, instantly his head throbbed so hard it felt like it was about to explode. The pain was so intense that it was stronger than death itself.
An indescribable pain.
"Haa..."
Asher gasped heavily, his vision was blurry, and his entire body, from his eyelids to his muscles, was hard to bear.
"You think I care about your damn name?"
"Well, I'm your enemy, and I thought humans told each other their names before they died."
"You are not human, and you never will be. You are a mass of divine energy with a human body and appearance."
"That's true, but..."
Burst!
An incredible wave of pressure shook the place. The ground shook and cracked as it sank deeper, large chunks of earth flew out and soared hundreds of meters into the sky, as if a bomb had exploded.
A shockwave of such magnitude that it all happened just by moving his fist towards the god's face. Encrid simply struck a blow.
However, it looked like an explosion.
Asher didn't cover himself or anything. After all, nothing in this memory affected him at all. Then, he watched as the whole atmosphere calmed down.
Both the god and Encrid were still in the same position. However, the crater had sunk deeper and widened.
"You are not human."
"It is true that I am not."
"Then why do you say so?"
"It's of no consequence."
Despite saying that, Encrid struck the god again, and the same thing as before happened again. The radius of the crater began to get much larger than before.
"Don't you think that's enough? You've tortured me, and now I'm about to die."
"I told you I don't care. You killed almost all of humanity. This is what you deserve for coming to my world."
Encrid simply voiced his thoughts.
He was beyond furious with this god.
Of course, who wouldn't be?
The being that had destroyed almost all of humanity. The being that perhaps killed one of his friends or someone close to Encrid.
Whatever it was, Asher understood all that rage.
"Oh, looks like it's time for me to go. I'm seconds away from dying."
"But remember, "He" will come someday, and if humanity doesn't recover, then it will be the final end this time."
"Hahaha."
"..."
The god looked at Encrid, confused.
"You think I'll let you die?"
"The magic of darkness, an energy that devours the very life of any being. With this, I devoured one of you before I fought you."
"What do you mean?"
"It means that your existence will disappear from reality itself. All your power will be devoured by me."
"Heh, you damned human..."
"I'll be happy for you to die soon, human.... Harg..."
In an instant, a gigantic radius was covered in dark mana. The whole place began to distort as the mana spun like an incredibly powerful tornado, and then....
"It's gone."
Asher saw that the god was gone.
Just... his body was gone.
That meant Encrid had definitely eliminated the god.
"Unbelievable."
Everything that had happened was simply unbelievable.
Though, of course, it was unfortunate all the death at that moment.
All the humans seemed to have died, though, as the god had mentioned, some had survived.
However, it looked like a desolate world.
Perhaps there were monsters left, but very few, and the humans who survived were a significantly small number.
After a few seconds, all was silent as Encrid stood, gazing up at the dark sky with red hues.
"The rift."
It was the only word he uttered.
"Rift...? Then that light in the sky is a dimensional rift."
So, the golden line in the sky was the same rift from which the seven gods descended.
Asher watched in amazement.
A phenomenon that had brought incredibly powerful beings, along with monsters of unimaginable power.
That straight line of golden color.... Asher was witnessing the first dimensional rift in the history of this world.
The extent of that rift was colossal, probably running the length of the world. However, its width was not that wide.
"Haa..."
Asher heard Encrid's sigh.
His gaze was still fixed on the sky, and then, a few words escaped his lips:
"It seems the others... are dead, as are the other gods. I am alone."
"Haa... Shit, I have little time left to live. I must at least close the rift and restart the world."
"..."
Restart. Close the rift.
For starters, is it even possible to close a dimensional rift? Simply put, a dimensional rift opens the very fabric of reality. This rift split the very fabric of reality in half.
Secondly... restarting the world.
Is that even possible?
And if so, how is it done? How is it even possible?
However, Asher's vision began to slowly darken as Encrid uttered a few last words before Asher lost all his vision.
""If I will die and everyone is dead, then I will restart all of this... and let it all begin again.""
Those were the last words Asher heard before he plunged into full darkness....