Ragnarok

As Reinhart stood face to face with Lila, the tension in the atmosphere increased.

"Listen, Reinhart," Lila said, turning her back as she began to walk away from him.

"A calamity will soon befall this world," she continued, her voice trailing off.

She stopped and looked back at Reinhart. "And believe it or not, your awakening, and the conclusion of this battle has a role to play in it."

"That boy, Starfall. There's more to him than what meets the eye."

"If he becomes the world's enemy..."

She returned her gaze to its initial position and continued to walk away. "The world will fall..."

A white light flashed and blinded Reinhart. When his vision returned, he recognized the setting. He saw Principal Layla and the others struggling to resist Kai's technique.

He had all the information he needed, yet he still could not do what was necessary. To escape their current situation, he would have to destroy Kai's world. He knew an attack on that level would kill everyone else present there with him.

"Yes... Burn this into your mind," Kai shouted.

"Let your ears digest their screams."

"Let your eyes capture the images of their suffering."

"Drown in despair, Reinhart!" Kai's voice echoed menacingly.

The hesitation and fear Reinhart felt at that moment rendered the King unable to sit on his throne, for he feared what his own power would do. Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed in Reinhart's head.

"Reinhart..."

He gasped, a look of surprise on his face. He immediately turned his eyes to the figure who was now beside him. It was Lian.

She placed her palm on his shoulder. "You still blame yourself for what happened on your first S Rank mission, don't you?"

"You're just too kind," she chuckled, trying to hide the pain she was enduring.

"You really don't remember what happened, do you?"

"You don't remember the truth..."

Reinhart stared at her in confusion as he processed her words.

"I was there. I was one of the sentinels who went on that mission," Lian revealed.

Reinhart's eyes widened with shock as he received this revelation.

"You hesitated, but we urged you..."

"Just like now, you were being kind. You knew what would've happened if you pushed your body to unleash a final attack."

"But we persuaded you, we also had people we wanted to protect..."

"Even after the explosion from your attack went out of your control, you still struggled to save one person."

"That one person was me, Reinhart."

"When I heard of your resignation, it saddened me."

"I saw the smile on your face completely vanish, and it saddened me more," Lian said, her laughter tinged with tears.

She continued, "I joined Rakuzan to return that smile to your face. It was the least I could do."

"But you kept getting more and more distant."

"When you finally opened up to me, I was happy."

"I wanted to return that bright smile to your face."

"The smile I fell in love with."

"But you refused to forgive yourself."

"You always place the burden on yourself."

"Don't you think that's selfish of you?" She chuckled again.

"Reinhart..."

"For once, trust those around you."

Reinhart knew what she meant. He turned his head down and gritted his teeth. He tightened his fist as he struggled with his current inner conflict. He knew Lian was telling him to act and forget their safety. But it wasn't part of his nature.

"Reinhart..." Lian called his name again, as she raised his head gently with her fingers, shifting his gaze back to her.

"I don't want things to end yet," she whispered, tears beginning to fall from her eyes.

"I want to see you happy, and I want us to be happy together."

"So please, Reinhart..." She pleaded.

"Let me finally protect you too."

"Please save us all..."

Everyone on the battlefield watched Reinhart and Lian, including Kai. Their eyes were filled with sadness. Kai, on the other hand, maintained his enraged expression. He heard Lian's words.

He knew it meant his brother willingly gave his life to protect him, but his mind refused to accept. He refused to entertain thoughts that would affect his resolution.

"I'm ending this now," Kai declared, his voice echoing, with a sinister aura.

"What a pathetic state I'm in, " Reinhart thought as the focus of his eyes left Lian and returned back to the sky

"So that's what happened. But It doesn't really change anything. Their deaths are still on my neck."

"But rather than taking responsibility and making sure I become stronger to protect those who they died for," he reflected

"I became a depressed child."

"Laughable..." He chuckled bitterly.

"Leo would burst into laughter and mock me if he saw me like this."

"Lian..." Reinhart turned to her, his voice softening.

"Thank you, for everything."

Kai interlocked his fingers and his lips began to move, "Witness the final effect of my technique"

"An embodiment of my decay ability," he said.

"Bad news..." Silver frowned

"Die with your king, guardians,"

Hope was lost among the students. Some of them began to cry, while some prayed for a miracle. However, it was evident that a miracle happening at this point was an impossibility.

"De—"

As Kai attempted to end it all, he was interrupted by a sudden glow that illuminated his world. Words were not needed to inform anyone of the nature of this new element.

The secret to awakening Aether lay in the surrender to the energy that binds all things, in the harmony between the self and the universe. Reinhart had found harmony with the world around him, but the fear he had for his own power prevented him from finding this same harmony within himself.

After his encounter with Lila and his brief conversation with Lian, the situation changed. He was finally able to find this harmony.

As the light spread, a figure rose up to the sky. It was Reinhart. He stood amidst the ruins in Kai's world, his silhouette a stark contrast against the darkened sky. His figure bathed in the celestial glow.

The expression on his face was ecstatic, "So this is it..." He said to himself.

He looked like a man who was drunk on power and freedom. At that moment, Reinhart felt like he was above the universe, itself. He felt like a god.

"This is the energy I've always perceived but ignored..."

"The energy I refused to breathe."

At that moment, no one could sense the energy coming from Reinhart, for it was something far above them. Something that existed on another plane.

It was like he had zero mana left in him. Yet, they were all aware that he was now more powerful than ever. Rather than sensing it, they could feel it.

Kai stared at him, with a momentary look of awe, before he frowned.

"Don't you ever give up, Reinhart?!" Kai shouted, his anger and frustration becoming evident

As Reinhart rose to the sky, he spread his arms like a divine entity being worshipped while basking in his glory.

The aether within him surged, awakening with a ferocity that set the very air ablaze. Golden waves of light danced around him, a spectrum that roared with the power of a thousand suns.

They clung to his form like a second skin, casting a radiant glow that illuminated the destruction around him. His eyes, once a soft shade of hazel, now mirrored the fierce golden inferno, reflecting the untamed energy that coursed through his veins.

The fire mage, once a mere whisper in the annals of arcane lore, had now become the embodiment of the aether's might, a beacon of unbridled elemental fury.

Kai's world began to burn before his eyes. One would think this was Reinhart destroying it, but it was only something else. Reinhart was altering it. Everyone stared at Reinhart, unable to fully comprehend the current situation.

Cosmic verity created what looked like a world, but it was simply just the mage's energy being moulded into that form, thus, the objects and beings that existed in that world lacked the true essence of life.

"This power..." Kai whispered, recognizing the futility in struggling against Reinhart.

"There's really nothing I can do," he said, surrendering himself

What Reinhart was doing was creating a world of his own. A world which posseses the true essence of life, as a preparation for his final attack. A powerful spell passed down in his family, said to only be used by sun god slayers, Ragnarok.

In order to use Ragnarok at its full potential, two things were needed; Solar energy, and Stellar energy.

In Kai's world, the suns and stars were simply objects moulded to resemble them, with mana. In Reinhart's modification, it was different.

While he didn't have enough stamina—due to his fight with Kai—to utilize the energy to recreate everything in Kai's world, making it his, he had enough to alter the suns and stars, thereby laying the foundation for Ragnarok.

Reinhart's preparation became complete, and his chant thus began, "By cosmic force and starfire's blaze."

"Ragnarok's wrath, the end of days."

"A chant of power, a chant of fright," he added.

"To unmake worlds in endless night."

The air crackled with energy as Reinhart continued to chant.

"Let heavens fall, let earth be torn,

In this dread hour, destruction born."

Kai looked at Ryder as Reinhart's voice continued to echo, "So you're the one he's interested in."

"I see..." He chuckled.

"When you stepped out of that barrier, I felt it. You're a monster, just like him."

"Brace yourself boy, what awaits you..."

"Is a life of carnage," Kai looked at Ryder, a hint of pity in his eyes.

And with a final, thunderous cry, Reinhart

sealed the fate of his battle with Kai.

"A chant of doom, a chant of spite."

"An age undone, in darkened light."

A flash of light spread throughout the battlefield, destroying everything in its path. When everyone opened their eyes, they saw nothing but ashes left where Kai was.

They were blinded by another flash of light and found themselves back within the walls of their prestigious school. The other students and teachers left behind immediately noticed them but their eyes were also met by a sight that made them hesitate from approaching them.

The others from the island noticed the look on their faces and all turned to see what was behind them. A man with bright white hair, covered in injuries—while bleeding heavily— was walking towards them.

In his arms was a woman with long hair, and skin visibly burnt, almost beyond recognition. It was Reinhart carrying Lian in his arms. As he got closer to them, he stopped moving and fell to his knees.

"Once again mother, I failed to protect that which I loved," Tears rolled down Reinhart's cheeks as his eyes closed.

Upon seeing this, the students burst into screams and tears. The adults gritted their teeth and closed their eyes trying to maintain their composure. It was finally over. The king was victorious. The battle was won, but the war was lost.