Let's do a recap of what actually happened in FLF Second Arc.
Elara had already found almost everything he needed to refine his divine-rank essence stone, Ago.
But there was still one crucial thing missing—the last material.
A person with a special affinity.
Without it, he couldn't complete the refinement.
So, what did he do?
Since he was a Rank S awakened with hundreds of years of experience, he came up with a dangerous plan.
He created a clone of himself—one that was also Rank S.
This clone allowed him to act freely without anyone suspecting him. Even Lilith, one of the strongest beings in the academy, had no idea what he was doing.
Then, he started kidnapping students.
He took them one by one, choosing those with unique talents or unusual magic.
Deep inside the academy's basement, he built a secret base where he gathered all the resources he needed. There, he experimented on the students.
He wanted to see if any of them could serve as the missing ingredient for his essence stone.
Each time he tried to refine the essence stone, something terrible happened.
Since his actions broke the laws of nature, the world fought back.
Every time he started refining, a monster horde attacked the academy.
These weren't ordinary attacks. It was as if nature itself was punishing him.
But strangely, while the monster hordes were large, they were never truly life-threatening.
No powerful monsters appeared—only weaker ones. There were also small-scale natural disasters like sudden earthquakes or storms, but nothing the academy couldn't handle.
It was almost as if nature was warning him rather than outright stopping him.
And every single time, his refinement failed.
The failure caused the monster hordes to disappear eventually, and the natural disasters stopped on their own.
Each failure also injured Elara.
But since he always failed in the early stages of refinement, the injuries were minor. He would recover in a few days and try again.
The academy was unknowingly acting as his shield—fighting off the disasters and monsters, while he remained hidden in the shadows, continuing his dark experiments.
Elara wasn't just refining the essence stone—he was also experimenting with new ways to increase power.
He was the mysterious person who created "Magic Power," an artificial substance that could increase a person's strength.
And one of the people who received it was Corin.
Corin, desperate to become stronger, took a large dose of Magic Power.
Something unexpected happened.
He underwent a second awakening—something extremely rare.
And in doing so, he transformed into a Wolf-man.
Elara watched this with great interest.
A Wolf-man…
After Corin transformed into a Wolf-man, chaos erupted in the academy.
He lost control, going on a rampage and attacking students and teachers alike.
The academy did everything to stop him.
Eventually, after a long struggle, they managed to subdue him. (Or how you perceive it, Out of the three conclusion, Either Subdue, Captured Or Banished from the kingdom)
The situation finally calmed down.
But Elara wasn't done yet.
He had one final plan.
This time, he wouldn't fail.
This time, he would pour everything into one last refinement attempt.
And for that, he needed the perfect last material.
He found it—Violet.
Yes!
Violet had an affinity with the gravity element.
Elara thought, "What if gravity is somehow connected to time?"
"Maybe it can help stabilize the refinement."
A slow smile spread across his face.
This had to be the answer.
So, he kidnapped Violet.
Once again, he set everything into motion.
He had already gathered all the other materials—the Red Dragon Queen's son, the Divine Flame Phoenix's egg, and many more rare treasures.
And once again, the academy took the full brunt of nature's punishment.
Monsters attacked.
Disasters struck.
But his clone, safely hidden in the basement, continued refining the essence stone.
The academy was struggling to survive, but Elara didn't care.
Just like this time, he even managed to kill Lilith.
But wait.
If Lilith was dead and Lortell wasn't there at that time, then…
Who stopped him?
There was only one answer.
Ethan.
Yes!
Ethan was the one who saved everyone.
While searching for Violet, he discovered Elara's secret.
And just when Elara was about to use Violet as the last material—
Something unexpected happened.
Pa!
The purple vortex in front of him—the heart of the refinement process—rejected Violet's body.
Cracks spread across the vortex.
The refinement had failed!
Violet wasn't the crucial person after all.
BAM!
The backlash was immediate and brutal.
Elara was already in the final stage of refinement, and the failure caused a powerful explosion of energy.
His clone was destroyed instantly.
And his real body—
It was badly injured.
His strength fell drastically, from Rank S to Rank B.
And at that moment, Ethan arrived.
A fierce battle broke out between Ethan and Elara.
Elara was still strong, but he was weakened.
And Ethan—
Fueled by rage and determination, he fought with everything he had.
The battle was intense.
It pushed Ethan to his limits.
But in the end—
After a long and grueling fight—
Ethan won.
Elara was defeated.
And that was the end of the second arc.
Ethan became the hero of the academy.
For his bravery, he was given the title of Marquess, instantly making him a noble.
He also saved Violet's life, which was a great relief.
But the victory wasn't without loss.
Many students and teachers had died.
And among them—
Was Lilith.
---------------
In reality, things played out very differently from what happened in FLF.
The reason?
Esdeath.
Not Maruti.
Not Lortell.
Not anyone else.
The one who completely changed the flow of events was Esdeath—Esdeath alone.
Of course, Maruti made a mistake.
And yes, Caramel fell in love with her.
But that? That was a minor thing.
Nothing too important.
Nothing that could change the course of everything.
But Esdeath?
She was the true reason everything went off track.
------------
Elara was searching for the last and most crucial material for his refinement.
The one person who could complete his divine-rank essence stone.
And then—
His clone saw Esdeath for the first time.
And in that moment, only one thought filled his mind—
"Perfect material."
Yes!
This time, his target wasn't Violet.
It was Esdeath herself.
Of course, it made sense.
She was far more unique than Violet.
She had black hair—the same color as the Demon King's.
What if she had a special body?
What if she carried a power unknown to the world?
That's why—
His target was Esdeath.
-----------
But capturing Esdeath?
That was a different story.
It wasn't going to be easy.
He had to be careful.
So, he planned to kidnap her in the dead of night.
At 4 AM—when everyone should be deep in sleep—
He moved.
Silent. Hidden in the darkness.
But when he arrived—
Esdeath was awake.
He didn't know why.
But he knew—
He had to retreat.
Something wasn't right.
Then, a few hours later—
He discovered something even stranger.
Esdeath had disappeared.
She had run off with a student named Maruti, searching for her missing friend, Luna.
That meant she was outside the academy.
So, he waited.
And after days— Esdeath finally returned.
This time, he was ready.
He would make his move.
But as he followed her—
He noticed something unusual.
"Two hundred investigation-type essence stones?!"
Who did this?
Who knew his target was Esdeath?
Who was watching her so closely?
Lortell.
It was her.
She had placed all these essence stones on Esdeath to keep an eye on her.
Tracking her every move. But who would tell him that?
And because of that—
Kidnapping Esdeath became nearly impossible.
First, he had to deal with all those essence stones.
That meant removing them one by one without alerting their owner.
A difficult task—
But not for someone like him.
He was a master at this.
A true expert.
So, he prepared a powerful move—
A technique that could neutralize all the essence stones in one go without informing it's owner.
And just when he was about to use it—
Something unexpected happened.
Something that shocked him to his core.
In the middle of the forest—
He saw Corin, He was on his knees., begging Esdeath to spare him
Elara froze.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
That delicate-looking girl—
So cold.
So ruthless.
So… cruel.
She was toying with Corin.
Humiliating him.
And he realized—
She wasn't just some normal girl.
She was dangerous.
Smart.
And obsessed.
Obsessed with Lortell.
But none of that really mattered to him.
What truly mattered was the realization that struck him like lightning.
An idea—
A possibility—
That changed everything.
"I've been searching for a person with special affinity this whole time…"
"But what if—"
"The crucial person isn't someone with a special affinity at all?"
"What if the crucial person… is a Wolf-man?"
His eyes widened.
Yes!
Wolf-men had a natural connection to the space element.
It was in their blood.
It wasn't just an affinity—
It was something deeper.
Normal people with a space element affinity had to train hard to use space magic.
But Wolf-men?
They could instinctively use it.
Space magic affects time.
Wormholes.
Teleportation.
Closing distances in an instant—
All of it was related to time itself.
And then—
Everything made sense.
One after another, the missing pieces of the puzzle fit together.
The story he read—
It was from nine hundred thousand years ago.
Back then, affinities weren't fully understood.
Wolf-men's natural talent for space magic wasn't even discovered yet.
So, the writer of that story—
They must have described it as "a person with special affinity.
But in truth—
It was always a Wolf-man.
And what Esdeath did?
Esdeath had left Corin behind, abandoning him to be devoured by that monstrous rat-bear. She didn't care. In her eyes, he was nothing more than a stepping stone, an insect beneath her feet. But fate had other plans.
Elara's clone had been watching the entire time, hidden in the shadows. He had seen everything—the humiliation Corin suffered, the way he begged for his life, and how Esdeath had mercilessly walked away.
But instead of letting Corin die, Elara made a different choice.
He saved him.
Not because he cared about Corin's life. No, he only did it because he needed him. And in doing so, he erased all traces of his own presence. Every footprint, every drop of evidence—gone.
But there was one unintended consequence.
He also erased the proof that Esdeath had been there.
To ensure no one suspected anything, he poured a ridiculous amount of blood over the scene, making it seem as if Corin had been torn apart and devoured. As far as anyone was concerned, Corin was dead.
So while Esdeath and Maruti later argued about why Elara hadn't kidnapped Violet, the truth was simple.
He had already found his answer.
Violet wasn't needed anymore.
Esdeath figured it out too. She wasn't stupid. She realized Elara had identified the real crucial person and was about to succeed. She wanted to make a plan, to stop him before it was too late.
But before she could even act—something unexpected happened.
Something no one could have foreseen.
The real Esdeath woke up.
And just like that—everything changed.
All of Elara's careful planning, all his patience, all his efforts—it all bear fruit.
And now, here they were.
Elara had completed his refinement.
There was no backlash. No interruption.
His plan had worked.
And now, with the essence stone fully refined, there was only one question left.
Who could stop him now?
The essence stone floated in the air, radiating a soft, almost hypnotic glow. Its presence was overwhelming, filling the entire battlefield with an eerie silence.
For a moment, no one moved.
No one spoke.
Every eye was locked onto it.
Then—
A mad rush.
Everyone bolted toward it, their bodies moving at full speed, desperate to reach it first.
The world itself seemed to slow down.
Time stretched impossibly thin.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.
The rhythmic pulse of the essence stone echoed in the air, beating like a second heart.
Just one touch.
That was all it would take.
Elara's clone reached out, his fingers trembling, mere inches away from claiming his ultimate victory.
Then—
Pain.
A sharp, searing pain tore through his arm.
Bite!
Something clamped down on his flesh, teeth sinking deep into his skin. His hand jerked back on instinct, eyes snapping downward in shock.
Selene!
That damn girl had bitten him!
Her jaw was locked, her grip unyielding, her teeth embedded so deep that blood dripped freely from the wound.
Elara's face twisted in rage, but before he could shake her off—
Another hand shot forward.
Pale.
Delicate.
White as fresh snow, yet carrying an unnatural chill.
Elara's clone felt his breath catch.
His real body—Elara Alonso—felt an unbearable pressure crash down on him.
It was too late.
The moment that hand touched the essence stone, the battlefield fell into absolute silence.
Fingers wrapped tightly around the glowing core.
A chilling voice rang out, calm yet impossibly heavy.
"XX days ago."