Several minutes before the golden ray of light came down from the heavens and before Rosalin Flora first arrived at the center of the terror attack, just after the emergency meeting of the main heads and other relevant personnel of the Obelisk Organization.
"S-stop-!"
Han Jiho's cry reverberated throughout the imaginary Dark World when Zebel slowly decapitated one of the students from the Sky Academy.
At that time, feeling despair and seemingly experiencing and reliving the tragedy of the distant past, Han Jiho just helplessly watched the cruelty transpiring in front of him.
Then, after some time, when they were lined up in front of Zebel, being forcefully brought by the shadow figures that appeared when Zebel had used the skill: Dark Moon, Han Jiho repeatedly, seemingly nonstop, muttered the same thing all over again when the terrified, almost driven mad, students, who barely recovered, were possessed by the summoned shadows and were killed as their bodies burst, turning the area into an art that was painted with crimson blood.
The atmosphere was dull, as though life itself had become a manifestation of dread.
Then, after a few minutes, when Zebel was speaking regarding the parents of Samantha and the others, as well as about Jiho himself and his relationship with Alexander Akalchelt, Chancellor of the Obelisk Academy, he received numerous System messages that told him something he had no idea about.
[You can trigger the Glory of Light upon accessing the ancient power of the Glory Fragments that you currently possess.]
[Glory Fragment: 7/100]
[Due to the number of Glory Fragments in possession, only a part of a certain memory will be forcefully triggered.]
Han Jiho, who didn't know what the System meant, didn't ponder making such a decision, especially when the situation they were currently in was dire and their lives could be snuffed out of existence at any given moment.
'Please, whatever it is, trigger it!'
With an unrelenting will, Han Jiho shouted firmly in his mind.
And with his cry of desperation, various System messages echoed in his head, which seemed to also reverberate throughout his entire soul.
[You have triggered the Glory of Light that is within the Glory Fragments!]
[Random Memory Enactment will be selected!]
[Memory Enactment: Invasion of the Stars!]
[After the Memory Enactment, part of your Constellation's power will be bestowed on you!]
[The Memory Enactment will now commence!]
At that moment, Han Jiho's nonsensical, repeated words finally changed. Moreover, it was not only his words but also his voice that became more mature and dignified, as though he were possessed by a being that ruled over him for countless years.
"M-my people..."
[The theater of the ancient past has been set.]
***
Zebel became cautious because of the sudden change that was happening in front of her. Samantha and the others also looked at Jiho with dumbfounded expressions as though they had forgotten the dire and life-threatening situation that they were in at this very moment.
"Heretic... Such a disgraceful stigma as a protector of my people..."
"I stopped adhering to the old ways, thus all of you wanted to erase me from existence?!"
Han Jiho's words continued to echo inside the imaginary Dark World. Although he had no control over himself at this moment, he was aware and seeing with his eyes the scenes in front of him. Additionally, he felt the gaze of the others that were all dumbfounded except for Zebel, who was looking at him with cautiousness.
The different set of sentences continued to leave Jiho's mouth. It was told as though he was in a theatre, enacting a certain story that would be considered an odyssey.
But, as he was being let do the peculiar performance, making him look like someone who lost his mind, fiery golden light started to emanate from his body.
Zebel's heterochromatic eyes constricted as she instinctively and quickly launched an attack against him. She vanished from her spot, unable to be seen by the others even by Samantha.
In less than a second, appearing in front of him, Zebel slashed her dark scythe aimed at the neck of Jiho, who was still saying incomprehensible words while kneeling.
At that moment, before the dark scythe made contact with Jiho's neck, a burst of fiery golden light exploded from his body.
It hit Zebel, sending her a few meters away. Although it did not manage to do much damage, it was still shocking from her perspective since Jiho was someone with an inconsiderable rank as a player.
Then, her eyes widened at the notification that sounded in her ears.
[The Unique Skill: Sphere of Darkness can not contain the mysterious power of light!]
[The imaginary Dark World will collapse on its own after approximately three minutes and forty-two seconds.]
'...What?'
Zebel thought, dumbfounded. But without wasting any time, although she didn't understand what was happening with him, she instinctively felt that Jiho must be extinguished from this world.
Attempting to make countless attacks that couldn't be seen, Zebel failed in penetrating Jiho's body, who was still muttering sentences that seemed to be a story of an ancient past that was written by someone, at least from their perspective.
With every attempt, Zebel was only being sent away. For some reason, the other remaining students didn't weren't affected but rather were feeling relieved except for Leon, who was looking at Jiho with intense dragon eyes.
After the time that the System had told Zebel about the destruction of her imaginary Dark World, the last sentences of the seemingly grand performance were finally in its last phase.
"The law of glory that I will create will be always absolute!"
"This is my will, my Sentinel."
"I will return, and when I do, the Great Universe will be changed forever!"
The last words of the Memory Enactment, which Zebel and the others had no idea about, came to an end. And with its end, a crack in the imaginary Dark World appear and a ray of golden light that came from the heavens, which was sent from somewhere in the Great Universe pierced the Dark World, bringing it into destruction.
***
[The random Memory Enactment according to the number of Glory Fragments you possess has come to an end!]
[A part of the power of the Constellation, "???", will temporarily be bestowed to you!]
[You have become a transcendental being!]
[The fragment of the Sword of Glory will be temporarily in possession!]
[Warning: The transcendental power will only last for three seconds as the Echo of Glory will commence if it exceeded the given duration.]
The System's messages kept flooding Jiho's head, but he couldn't care less about it except for the last message.
Feeling an overwhelming power that his body almost instantly adjusted to for some reason, Jiho held in his hand the Glory of Light or the so-called fragment of the Sword of Glory.
Without wasting the three seconds according to the System's warning which he had no clue about, Han Jiho vanished from his spot as the fragment of light in his hand quickly aimed at Zebel's heart.
***
Artorious Hall, Rosalin Flora, as well as the others, including the Chancellor of the Obelisk Academy who just arrived, looked at the unbelievable spectacle that was screened in front of their eyes.
Specifically, Chancellor Alexander had a worried yet proud look on his face. It was subtle, and one wouldn't be able to understand the true meaning behind his expression unless it was Scarlet Netherdawn, Han Jiho's General Overall System Theory professor, who saw it.
Zebel, on the one hand, felt her life flashes before her eyes as she instantly teleported out. At least she attempted to successfully leave unscathed but then failed as the light that was shaped like a sword managed to thrust her.
And as someone in the realm of S Rank, specifically, an SS+ Rank, she barely managed to dodge the strike aimed at her heart. The strike, though, pierced through her left shoulder. But Jiho was persistent as he aimed at her heart again, but also barely able to hit it as the dark scythe, with every ounce of Zebel's strength, changed the momentum of his strike.
Giving her a slight opening, Zebel activated the teleportation skill she possessed, which was interrupted by Jiho's first strike.
[Activating Skill: Call of Darkness]
With her skill, covering herself with darkness, she disappeared from the spot while being heavily wounded.
And as though the time that seemingly freeze for a moment finally continued to move, Rosalin quickly approached Rumia with eyes of relief.
It was the same case with Eliana, who approached Elizabeth; Draxian, who approached Leon; Makoto, who approached Anya, and lastly, Artorious, who approached Samantha.
Apart from being worried, serious expressions were painted in their eyes due to the scenery that was screened in their vision.
Bodies and heads were scattered around after the imaginary Dark World was destroyed.
It was a psychological hell for Samantha and the others, who were only fighting monsters from within dungeons up to this point.
Although Rumia and Elizabeth were an exception that they had already killed people, it was entirely different in the sense that those people were guilty of severe crimes and deserved death.
***
Russell Moon, with his younger sister, Amelie, and Ken, was standing from afar as they saw what had transpired before their pair of eyes.
With their triggered Attribute: Nihility, their presence was something that couldn't be felt or even seen, at least at this moment.
"Let's get out of here."
With his words, they leave the scene as they entrusted the clean-up of disaster to the higher-ups, as well as various guilds.
As they walked for a few minutes, Russell saw Azalea, who was walking with a confused expression. Then suddenly, he remembered the numerous calls and texts from her.
As he remembered, he made time to tap his smartwatch and sent a message to her, telling her not to look for him for some time.
'Sigh... I don't know if I'll be glad or what that it happened according to what I had written.'
Feeling dejected towards the death of numerous people, which seemed to be considered sacrifices for the sake of the alignment of the story, Russell's mind turned blank, wanting to have mental rest.
***
A few days had passed since the terror attack against humanity, and the supposedly relaxing and delightful school trip that turned into a bloody disaster happened.
In the Obelisk Organization's conference room, Han Jiho was being questioned due to the display of unknown power that made Zebel instinctively flee the scene.
She did not even manage to glance at Rosalin and the other familiar faces due to the urgency of the situation as her life was on the brink of ceasing.
"Young man, I'm asking you a question."
Draxian's voice seemed to go from Jiho's right ear and left to his left ear as he was in his little reverie.
His thoughts were a mess because of the System messages that he received after Zebel fled.
[You have used the bestowed transcendental power for approximately three seconds and one millisecond.]
[You have exceeded the given duration!]
[The Echo of Glory will be triggered!]
Although he did not know what the Echo of Glory meant as the System didn't tell him rather than it was triggered because of that one millisecond, Han Jiho felt that it was something he couldn't ignore.
What made it dangerous in his perspective was that its effect was obscure. It was simply unknown.
"Jiho..."
Tapping one of his shoulders, he was jolted awake by Anya's words, who was sitting on his left side.
"Ah, sorry! Yes, it was a power given to me by my Constellation."
With his apology for spacing out, he answered Draxian's question regarding the unknown power's origin.
***
The time when Zebel fled from Jiho.
"Zebel! What happened?"
Appearing at the headquarters of the Black Sky Disorder, Zebel was approached by a woman.
"There's an urgent news I need to deliver. Tell the Lord that I request an emergency meeting."
"Wait! Let me heal you first."
The woman felt the urgency of the situation based on Zebel's voice, but she healed her first, making Zebel feel whole again.
"Alright. Done."
"Hmm... Thank you."
"No problem. By the way, I'll call the Lord."
With a nod from her, Zebel contemplated what had transpired as she muttered some words only she could hear.
"He's similar to the beings of the other side."
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