Everything had ended.
The sky, the earth, the shadows — all of it shattered and scattered into the air like fragments of glass.
The Trial Realm didn't explode. It erased itself.
Reality folded upon itself, twisting inward until even the sound of existence turned into silence.
For a moment… even existence forgot how to exist.
And within that endless nothingness, only two figures remained — Zeravon and Yue Yin.
The crimson glow in Zeravon's eye was fading slowly, yet trails of scarlet still shimmered through the void — not like fire, but as if the world itself was trying to remember what light used to be.
---
Yue Yin's body trembled. Her breath was fragile.
She whispered, "W-What… what did you do…?"
Zeravon stood completely still. His eyes were open, yet there was no life in them.
No heartbeat.
No aura.
No emotion.
Just silence — heavy and absolute.
She reached out to him with trembling fingers, trying to touch his arm.
But as soon as her hand entered the space around him — the air collapsed.
Her hand passed through him. Through the world itself.
And then she heard it — a whisper.
Not from Zeravon's lips, but from the silence itself.
> "It's… starting again."
Yue Yin's eyes widened. "Who's there!?"
No answer.
Only the echo of that voice, fading into the void.
---
Zeravon's body began to move — not like a living being, but like time itself was reattaching to him.
His hair drifted weightlessly, turning from black to silver as the unseen forces converged.
A faint crack of light appeared upon his forehead — a seal glowing for an instant — and the entire void quaked.
> Thump… thump… thump…
A heartbeat echoed. But it wasn't his. It belonged to the void.
With every pulse, visions flashed around him — a broken world, a red moon, a throne made of ashes… and a voice.
> "You shouldn't have looked inside."
Zeravon's lips parted slightly.
"Who… am I?"
The moment those words escaped, the void screamed.
Yue Yin covered her ears, yet the silence itself had turned into thunder.
Colors bled across reality — countless realms, timelines, and lives colliding and tearing apart before fusing back together in chaotic rhythm.
Zeravon's red eye flickered once more — and in that flicker, Yue Yin saw something else inside it.
An ocean of stars burning in reverse.
A colossal being seated amidst the void, faceless yet watching.
And beneath it — the corpses of countless gods.
Yue Yin's voice broke. "Z-Zeravon… stop… please!"
She tried to move toward him, but gravity had vanished.
Her body floated helplessly toward him.
Zeravon raised his hand — gently touching her face — and everything froze.
No fear.
No pain.
No time.
---
Within that frozen eternity, Yue Yin saw a vision — a memory that wasn't hers.
A boy sat beneath a shattered sky. A woman beside him whispered softly,
> "When the seal breaks, you'll forget who you were.
But if someone calls your name… you'll begin to remember."
The scene vanished.
Zeravon murmured faintly,
> "Yue… Yin…"
Her heart skipped.
The moment he spoke her name, reality trembled.
The void surged. Spirals of light swirled outward like galaxies being born.
Yue Yin cried out, "Wake up! You're not supposed to destroy everything!"
Zeravon's gaze lifted.
> "Destroy? No… I'm remembering."
---
Light consumed everything.
When Yue Yin opened her eyes again, she was lying on solid ground.
The Trial Realm had returned — though the sky was no longer blue, but gray and lifeless.
Zeravon stood before her — calm, human, normal.
"Zeravon?" she whispered.
He blinked. "What happened? Why are you crying?"
"You… don't remember?"
He frowned, pressing his temples. "I remember darkness… and then you."
Wind swept through the silence, carrying a strange vibration between them — a resonance neither could explain.
Whenever Yue Yin's heart beat, Zeravon's echoed with it.
And deep within him — sealed beneath layers of forgotten eternity — something ancient stirred.
---
Far away, two voices spoke from beyond existence.
> "The Seal has cracked… one layer undone."
"Then it begins again — The Forgotten Cycle."
Zeravon looked toward the distant horizon. His expression was calm, yet a faint red flicker pulsed within his eye.
And then — laughter echoed across the realm, though none could tell if it belonged to joy or sorrow.
Yue Yin whispered, trembling,
"Whoever you are, Zeravon… even the heavens fear you."
Zeravon looked at his hand, a faint smirk crossing his lips.
> "Maybe they should."
The world stood still.
The wind froze mid-motion, the light stopped mid-breath, and even silence held itself in place — as if creation itself feared to move.
Then came a flash — soundless, shapeless, infinite.
A Presence emerged.
Not human.
Not divine.
Not a concept that could be named.
It didn't stand anywhere — it simply was.
And the instant it arrived, Time collapsed.
Every god that existed across countless planes froze.
Even the whispers of the Forgotten Cycle went mute.
One heartbeat echoed — not from reality, but from that Being itself.
It first looked at Zeravon… then slowly turned its gaze toward Yue Yin.
Its eyes contained no color — only the reflection of existence itself.
A faint smile crossed its lips — serene, yet laced with destruction.
> "The time hasn't come… not yet.
If he awakens now, creation itself will die."
Its words vibrated through the air, and even the molecules of existence seemed to understand.
It raised a hand.
A flicker of energy danced between its fingers.
> Tch.
And with that single sound — everything began to reverse.
The broken fragments of the Trial Realm reassembled.
Connections between realms rewove themselves.
Timelines rewound.
Memories folded back into order.
Across the multiverse, existence returned to its rightful place.
The Being stepped closer to Zeravon and gently placed a finger on his forehead.
A spark of divine light entered him.
> "Soon, you'll understand everything…
You are the one the world forgot — and the world has no right to remember."
A new Seal formed upon Zeravon's forehead — glowing with infinite glyphs from countless realms.
The Being turned to Yue Yin.
For a moment, its expression softened — as though it recognized her.
> "Stay with him… until he remembers on his own."
And then, without sound or trace, it vanished.
No light.
No fade.
It simply ceased to be — as though it had never existed at all.
Time and space resumed their rhythm.
Wind whispered again.
Light flickered.
And silence became ordinary once more.
Zeravon turned to Yue Yin, both of them wearing the same expression of confusion.
Together, they spoke,
> "What just happened?
And why is the Trial Realm… dissolving again?"
The ground beneath them trembled.
The walls of the realm began to dissolve into light.
A blinding flash consumed everything — and in that instant, Yue Yin noticed something on Zeravon's forehead:
A new mark glowing faintly — an ancient eye, quietly sleeping.
The Trial Realm now seemed like a broken illusion, fragments of shattered reality still glimmering faintly in the air, as if time itself hadn't completely returned.
Zeravon and Yue Yin gazed into each other's eyes — both asking the same unspoken question:
What just happened?
But there was no time to linger. They had to leave.
They began flying toward the realm's teleportation gate — when Yue Yin suddenly slowed down.
Her hand went to her chest, her expression darkening as if something painful had returned to her memory.
"The pill…" she whispered.
Zeravon turned immediately. "You remembered something?"
Yue Yin hesitated. "The pill I was searching for… it's gone."
"A pill?" Zeravon asked curiously. "What kind of pill?"
She looked away, avoiding his gaze. "Why should I tell you?"
With that, she sped ahead, her movements swift and graceful.
"Hey, wait!" Zeravon called after her, half irritated, half curious.
"I can't fly that fast! At least tell me what kind of pill it is!"
For a few seconds, there was only the sound of the wind — and distant lightning cracking across the fading sky.
Then Yue Yin finally spoke, her voice soft.
"That pill… is created naturally. Born from the Universe's own Life Energy."
Zeravon's eyes widened. "From Life Energy?"
She nodded faintly. "Yes. It takes millions of years to form.
Only one can exist in the entire universe at a time.
And when it's born, no one — not even Higher Beings — can sense it. It has no aura, no trace. It simply exists."
Zeravon murmured, "Then the one who finds it… must be destined to."
Yue Yin smiled faintly, her voice weakening.
"Exactly. And for me, that pill is everything."
She paused. "I was born with a wound in my heart — one that never heals.
I've tried countless high-grade pills, but nothing worked. Then one day, I read an ancient text — The Book of Celestial Elixirs.
It said: 'The Universe Life Pill can heal even the wounds that time itself cannot.'"
Zeravon fell silent. Her words carried a quiet ache, a trace of desperation hidden beneath calm strength.
She continued, "If I don't find that pill… I won't live more than twelve years.
That's why I came here. Every clue led me toward the sea.
Something inside me kept saying — the pill will appear there.
That's where I found you… and got trapped with you."
She gave a faint, tired laugh.
Zeravon watched her silently.
In her eyes, he saw pain — and unshakable determination.
"Your heart injury… it's still there?" he asked softly.
She nodded.
Zeravon looked away, closing his eyes for a moment.
A strange vibration echoed inside him.
He focused inward — and for an instant, a soft blue light flickered within his mind.
His heart whispered — Life… Blue… Colors…
He opened his eyes slowly.
"The pill… it was blue, wasn't it?"
Yue Yin stopped midair, turning to him in shock. "How do you know that?"
Zeravon looked equally confused. "I… don't know. It just felt like I've seen it before…"