The dark elf boy, Gaizerus, who absorbed the attacking monsters and seemed to regain his memories, watched as the world around him quickly changed, centered around him and Legatia.
It all began with the scene where he knocked down and subdued the dark elves of the underground city, taking them under his command.
Then, leading them, he broke through the blockade at the entrance and ascended to the surface.
As a conflict was about to erupt between the elf army on the surface, Safira used her status to prevent the clash with her power.
With the time they had bought, Russ and Safira managed to persuade the elves.
Countless memories rushed by like a fast-moving parade.
"I was reckless back then," the boy reflected with a distant expression.
"If Safira hadn't been with me, and if there hadn't been a rift between the high elves caused by Arcilla's tyrannical rule, we would have been in even more danger," he added.
"D-Dark Elf...," someone murmured.
Inside the memory's illusion, the boy gradually gathered more elves under his command.
They couldn’t stop—they had to avenge the mothers slain by Arcilla.
He gained more and more elf supporters, and before long, they had risen to a position equal to Arcilla and her faction.
"From the beginning, elves were one. Whether high elves or dark elves, we all had our own strengths. The two kinds of elves used to help each other and grow together," Gaizerus said, reflecting on the current system of elven governance.
Legatia thought back to the current ruling system of elves—a system built on cooperation between one dark elf and one high elf.
"Though elves were divided by disputes and conflicts long ago, our true foundation was cooperation."
Rather than ruling alone, Safira led the elves alongside her kin, a leadership built on unity.
More and more elves gathered, attracted to this ideal.
Finally, the balance tipped, and even Arcilla's followers turned their backs on her, hastening her downfall.
"It wasn’t easy, but we did it. We erased the deep-rooted discrimination and united all the elves," Gaizerus reflected, now growing from a boy into a young man.
When the time came, the boy and girl led their followers toward Arcilla.
They wished they had more time, but Arcilla, in an attempt to prevent her downfall, began massacring anyone who stood against her.
"We had to stop her. For our cause, and for the well-being of the elves," Gaizerus said with resolve.
Looking up at the sky, he saw two moons merging into one.
"The day the two moons overlap happens only six times a year," he noted.
The two moons of the Reiphania continent met every two months.
"The fifth of those days became our day of reckoning."
Now grown into adult elves, Gaizerus and Safira pressed their foreheads together late at night, their determination clear.
The conflict between their forces escalated, and elves fought Arcilla’s followers.
Eventually, they broke through the formidable defenses and arrived at Arcilla’s chambers.
She was the source of everything—Gaizerus’s enemy and his mother’s killer.
The battle with Arcilla, the worst enemy, was fierce.
Both Safira and Gaizerus were historical geniuses, but Arcilla was no different.
[But! Just this much!?] Arcilla sneered, undeterred.
Despite the combined strength of the two elves, they couldn’t withstand Arcilla’s overwhelming power.
[Die, lower races!] Arcilla shouted, infuriated.
[No, Russ!] Safira cried out, but Gaizerus blocked the attack aimed at her with his body, changing the course of the fight.
[This power...!]
Through the trigger of sacrificing himself for another elf, the ancient power of the first elves awakened in him.
[Such nonsense!]
[Safira.]
[Yes, Russ!]
As the boy and girl clasped hands, an immense power surged around them, more potent than anything before.
[This can’t be! No lower race could wield this kind of power!] Arcilla's disbelief was evident.
The power of two different elves joining together, their strength broke down the barrier of the hybrid elf who sought to rise above.
The combined moons bathed them in beautiful light, symbolizing the hopeful unification of their race.
The harmonious image, witnessed by Legatia through the illusion, was so beautiful that it warmed her heart.
"Back then, I thought everything was over," Gaizerus reflected, his voice tinged with sorrow.
However, his memory didn’t end there.
"Why did Arcilla pursue such an unreasonable ideal, even at the cost of everything?" he wondered.
Arcilla had treated all the other elves as inferior, using them as stepping stones to ascend to a higher position.
It was strange that someone who had been accepted by the Baraklava organization suddenly began to change so drastically.
"Was it really her will that led to all the tyranny, losing her people’s support?"
The events she orchestrated to rise to power were all part of a meticulous plan, but her actions near the end of her reign were far too irrational to believe, even if they had been carried out by an elf.
Legatia was confused as well.
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She knew that the [Constellation of Thievery] died on the day Safira and Gaizerus defeated Arcilla.
So, she thought Safira must have single-handedly reformed the elven political system and glorified the late Gaizerus’s accomplishments.
But now, in this memory, wasn’t Gaizerus clearly defeating Arcilla?
"...Could it be?"
As Arcilla fell, strange voices echoed inside Gaizerus’s head.
[Now you are the pinnacle of elves!]
[Kill that annoying white one!] the voices urged.
[Then you will become the elf king!]
As Arcilla fell, Gaizerus heard strange voices in his head.
[...No.]
[No? What do you mean 'no'! Tear them apart and kill them!]
[I'll never...!]
It was then that the boy realized the truth.
The Shadow Elves were not just legendary beings passed down through stories—they were real demons that had existed from the past.
They were the ones who had caused the elves to split and fight each other.
The evil that must be eradicated from this world.
With superhuman patience, Gaizerus barely managed to suppress the rising urge.
The demon’s will spread rapidly, taking over his body.
If he continued like this, it wouldn’t be long before the evil spirit completely took control of him.
The demon would control him, just as Arcilla had controlled her body, and harm the other elves.
Even Safira would not be safe from the demon’s threat.
"It was then that I had to make a decision. Fortunately, the demon needed time to transfer its control, and if there were no dark elves nearby when the host died, it couldn’t escape."
[Russ! We did it!]
Safira ran towards the boy with a bright smile, but he pushed her away with a solemn expression.
[...Russ?]
"I'm sorry, Safira."
"My final mission left for me... it is to erase the last seed of chaos."
[Russ, what are you...!]
With a swift strike, Gaizerus knocked Safira unconscious, then propelled himself into the sky, engulfed in flames.
"By sealing myself, I will also trap the demon inside."
Amidst the light of a single moon, Gaizerus’s body burned alone.
As his memory ended, the world of illusions shattered like a broken glass.
Legatia returned to the bookshelves of the Archive.
"Then, you are...?"
Legatia finally understood how everything had unfolded.
This was the isolated space of the Archive.
The boy had sealed himself here, in Sector 21-5, continuing an eternal struggle against the demon, the Shadow Elf.
Losing and regaining his memories repeatedly.
--- - - - -- - - -!!!
From a distance, a monster roared and began charging toward them.
‘That’s the Shadow Elf.’
What the boy absorbed in the story was his memory.
He had trapped himself in this prison of eternal struggle, constantly regaining and losing his memories, repeating the cycle.
During this time, the monster tried everything to escape: it comforted him, soothed him, and even threatened him, desperately attempting to get out. But the boy resisted, erasing his own memories to keep himself bound in this place.
‘I sacrificed myself to seal away the demon that caused the division among the elves and will continue to do so.’
It wasn’t just about losing his life—it was about the eternal repetition of death and pain.
Legatia could never truly comprehend the boy’s feelings in that noble sacrifice.
"I'm sorry. You must have been swept in here unknowingly," Gaizerus said as he took a book from the bookshelf.
"I’ll send you back."
"What? Wait a minute! Didn’t you explain this to me so we could fight together?" she exclaimed.
Wasn’t I just about to kill that demon? she thought. Isn’t this the boss fight timing?
As he opened the book, light poured from it, engulfing her.
"Wait a second!!!"
The bright light consumed her vision, and when Legatia opened her eyes again, the empty bookshelves stood in front of her.
21-5
Just moments ago, she had been with the dark elf boy here. But unlike before, when the shelves were filled with books, there wasn’t a single one left now.
Panicking, Legatia hurried to the neighboring shelves.
21-6 22-1 22-2 22-3
But no matter how much she searched, the shelf with him, 21-5, didn’t repeat.
It felt as though it was all just a dream.
Her mind, which had forgotten that she was broadcasting, became fuzzy.
Had I seen a phantom or something?
What exactly was I doing just now...?
At that moment, a crumpled note flew out of her pocket.
When she spotted the wrinkled paper, her mind suddenly cleared.
"No, it’s not a dream," she whispered to herself.
She grabbed the paper.
He’s still fighting inside there. Sacrificing himself to seal that demon away.
How could I leave him in there?
"If that’s the case..."
She unfolded the note.
Earlier, she had only glanced at it quickly, but now, she needed any clue she could find.
A clue to enter that world again.
"I found it."
After carefully scanning the note, she found a sentence that sent her running toward a destination.