The light vanished, stunned by what it had seen, confused and unable to comprehend.
As for Ryo, after he had regenerated himself once more, he felt that something was wrong. He said nervously:
> "What is happening? I feel like I've lost a part of myself... what is this annoying feeling?"
The System sighed in resignation and said:
> "You just regenerated your soul, and it seems you have received a rebirth. Therefore, you have lost part of yourself. Everything has a price, but the greatest price is the fury that will befall you."
Ryo was bewildered and asked, puzzled:
> "Fury of what? What did I do? And what do you mean by being reborn?"
The System answered in a serious tone:
> "Ryo, you have made three grave mistakes. The first: you angered the energy from which everything came. The second: you defied fate and exceeded your limits. And the third: you regenerated your soul by yourself, without any intervention from the Rulers!"
Ryo shouted angrily:
> "I didn't exceed anything! My fate is still the same! And that light… that's not my problem, it was just oversensitive!"
The System said coldly:
> "Congratulations, you have committed the fourth sin."
Ryo opened his eyes in astonishment:
> "Whaaaat?! What did you say?!"
The System replied sharply:
> "Be quiet for a moment and let me explain. You must know that if you regenerate your soul more than five times, you will lose yourself and your identity completely."
Ryo growled:
> "I had to do it! No one told it not to burn me suddenly! It was a painful fire... I can't forget that feeling!"
The System spoke more seriously:
> "Then let me explain. First, the light you faced is the origin of all existence — the origin of beauty, peace, light, justice, and all that is beautiful. It is the source of all powers and abilities in the higher heavens. And you simply challenged it… you even said you would make it your servant and take its power! Worse, you regenerated your soul by yourself, which means you were born anew without any intervention from the Rulers. This means your fate is no longer tied to this universe! You might be exiled outside existence itself! There is no one more foolish than you in the whole world! It also seems it granted you part of its power… I advise you not to use it—"
But before the System could finish speaking, Ryo used that power immediately! As soon as he did, his body burst into flames and began to burn violently.
The System shouted angrily:
> "You deserve that! You should have listened to me!"
Ryo heard nothing. The fire was devouring his body from within, almost reaching his heart. He grew tired from constant regeneration, and was on the verge of collapse. He screamed in anger:
> "Do something instead of shouting!"
After a few moments, the fire finally died out.
The System said in a heavy voice:
> "Ryo… you must stay within your limits. Do not attempt to control the power from which everything came. It is impossible. You are like an ant trying to face a pride of ravenous lions!"
But Ryo clenched his fist and said seriously, with a look full of defiance:
> "I've said it before and I'll say it again… If I want something, I'll get it, even if I have to stand against the whole world!"
The System tried to stop him, but Ryo silenced it with the strength of his will. Then he began again, trying to control that fire. As soon as he did, his body ignited once more — this time stronger and more brutal.
Ryo screamed in indescribable pain, the fire running in his veins as if it were his very blood, until it reached his heart and burned it from the inside.
The torment continued until his body turned to ash, scattered like dust in a raging storm. But the ash began to gather again, and Ryo reformed from it — he had activated his skill: Self-Regeneration. A skill that allows him to renew himself as long as he has existence, even if only a fraction smaller than an atom remains.
Ryo kept burning and regenerating repeatedly, screaming and crying and nearly breaking, until the System asked in a faint voice from the depths:
> "Why? Why do you endure all this? Why do you want power?"
Ryo answered himself, his voice trembling:
> "I want to bring them back… Rin, Yui, Ileria… All my friends who died… I want to bring them back again! This is the only way!"
The System was shocked by his words. More than five years had passed, yet Ryo remembered them as if they had died yesterday.
Ryo said firmly:
> "You said the sun is the origin of existence, right? So it must have something to do with death. My goal is to eradicate death, so I never lose someone I love again. I've tried absorbing cosmic energies in vain… so I want that power!"
At that moment, Ryo did not know he was being watched by the Rulers and the higher entities and angels. Their anger grew moment by moment. What he had done was an open rebellion against the laws of the cosmos.
Elsewhere, Diablo was hearing Ryo's thoughts and the sound of his agony. He smiled mockingly and said:
> "You want to erase me from existence? Let me see how you'll do that! Unfortunately, you have stepped outside the fate of the universe… So I don't know when your death will be, and if I did… I would make your death more horrific than the torments of hell!"
Ryo did not know that this sentence of his was tantamount to a declaration of war on the entire existence.
---
And somewhere else… on planet Earth. There was a small dragon sleeping inside a transparent dome that protected it. It was a shining blue color, majestically beautiful… very much like Rin.
Suddenly, that dragon began to move slowly, opening its eyes for the first time.
To be continued...