Chapter 3: A Promise

His thoughts continued as he walked through the hallways. The interior was absolutely gorgeous, but the young orphan had no idea about aesthetics.

[--Vorst--: "What a strange place. Why are the walls painted? Why are there carpets on the wall? Why are there so many golden flowers on the floor? Why is that shiny stone set into the wall? It looks like a wolf... I have no idea why someone would make something so useless."]

If Marc could hear the boy, he would definitely curse him to death. After a while, Vorst found himself in front of an enormous black door. The white arrow flew towards it and opened the doors. Inside, at the far end of the room, there was an enormous Red Throne. The arrow urged him to move forward... As Vorst approached, he noticed them. On the lavish throne, atop violet pillows, seven girls were sleeping. In front of them, a man was kneeling with his head resting on the throne. He was also asleep.

[--Vorst--: Hello?]

The boy called out as he advanced. He didn’t want to look like a thief, and it was that arrow that led him to this place, after all. As he got within about 200 meters, the arrow shot towards the sleeping man, waking him up. As he turned around, his green eyes inspected the boy who stood before him...

[Time: Unknown]

[Place: Unknown]

[--Marc--: Curse you, FATE!]

He howled and then tried to gather Flow around him, but he soon realized that he almost couldn’t sense any Flow.

[Marc: "That’s right, this is a different world after all."]

But it wasn’t as if there was absolutely no Flow, or more accurately, he found something akin to a substitute. Anyway, he didn’t have time to spare—anything would be fine. Normally, for people from this world, it was totally impossible to sense nano-photons without a Photon Core, but thanks to his abnormal sensitivity towards magic, Marc managed. This time, he was lucky too—his soul was floating right in the center of a White Dwarf (an extremely dense and hot celestial body, a dying small star), and thanks to the high density of nano-photons, the Demon Emperor could somehow get a hold of it bit by bit despite the lack of a Photon Core.

He tried dozens of methods at once but found that most of his powers were useless...

[Marc: "I can’t control it? Wait... Runes... They’re working properly."]

At first, he was shocked. In his previous world, Marc had attained complete domination of the Flow; he had forgotten that something like lack of control even existed. But then he noticed that the magic system known as 'Runes' was functioning properly.

[Marc: "Well, it’s not that surprising. Runes never needed any sort of control; after all, their power is derived from the knowledge and understanding of the magical equations."]

Using his unwavering determination, he collected nano-photons and made them form 'Runic formations.' His body was burning. Flow—the substance that his body was made of—was not only disintegrating because of the natural 'Purge' reaction of foreign matter, but also because of the intense heat that reached hundreds of thousands of Kelvins. But who was Marc? In his old world, he was one of the five Dragon Monarchs, and the title of the Adamantine Dragon wasn’t just for show. Despite feeling pain that could drive any man to the brink of insanity, he tirelessly formed the 'Runic formations.' His arms were already gone, his legs halfway disintegrated, his head long dissipated, but his unyielding soul forced the Runes to arrange in a neat fashion.

Thousands of Magic circles of the highest class floated around in orderly fashion, and just as the 'Purge' finished eliminating his Flow Body, the Magic formations shone brightly and compressed to the size of a tennis ball. Inside...

[--Marc--: Made it...]

At that instant, an enormous pressure landed on his soul, as if thousands of mountains were pressing on his shoulders. He collapsed in front of the throne. After a while, his breathing became steady. Now, he just had to wait for a suitable candidate to appear...

[Time: Unknown]

[Place: Inside Marc’s soul, Floating Castle, Main Chamber]

Jade eyes carefully inspected the boy standing in front of him. On the other side, Vorst was absolutely stunned. Who was this man? He had never heard of a sub-race with eyes like those... Even though there were examples of vertical pupils, all of them were only mildly different from the usual, but the ones before him... they were incredibly sharp, as if they belonged to a real animal...

[--Vorst--: H-Hello.]

The boy was visibly terrified; he was inside an unknown place, with no information, and in front of a complete stranger. What’s more, from an objective point of view, he was certainly trespassing...

[--Marc--: You’re dead.]

That was the first thing he heard—a threat... As far as Vorst knew, he was already dead indeed.

[--Vorst--: I-I’m sorry! But this is the afterlife, right?]

[--Marc--: No.]

[--Vorst--: It’s not?! T-Then are you God?]

[--Marc--: No.]

[--Vorst--: Then are you alive?]

[--Marc--: Barely.]

[--Vorst--: ...]

[--Marc--: My name is Marcdrak Euharm Maxkael Adajax Emerald Vegyla. Just call me Marcdrak.]

Vorst’s eyes widened. What was that long name for?! He knew that adults usually had two parts to their name. Children had only one—their family name—and at the age of fifteen (naming age), parents would give them their private name. For orphans, they decided that themselves... But he had never heard of names that long!

[--Vorst--: Then Marcdrak-san, I-I’m Vorst.]

[--Marc--: Your soul is about to disappear.]

Vorst was confused... Soul? What was that?

[--Marc--: For one to live, a soul is necessary. The soul forms from the sense of self; without a soul, you will just be a non-moving puppet.]

Marc explained to the child.

[--Vorst--: Oh, you mean the core crystal?]

Marc realized that this was the New World’s definition of soul.

[--Marc--: Indeed... As you might know, for a soul to continue to exist, it needs a body to nourish itself... I lost mine.]

The young boy was shocked.

[--Vorst--: No way! There’s no way for a core crystal to exist without a body! When the body dies, the core crystal inside the Photon Core dissolves into the crystal liquid. It’s a fact! You’re dead!]

Green eyes showed a bit of amusement as Marc shook his head.

[--Marc--: I’m just barely alive.]

With a flip of his hand, both of them appeared on a large terrace. With another, a low table appeared in front of them. Vorst was totally surprised—at first, he thought the man in front of him was just escaping from reality, but after what happened, he didn’t know what to think anymore.

[--Marc--: Sit.]

Two violet cushions appeared on the floor. The mysterious man sat down, and the boy followed after a brief moment of hesitation.

[--Marc--: I’ll say it again. You’re dead.]

[--Vorst--: ...]

[--Marc--: If... If the crystal core is strong enough and an appropriate method is used to preserve it, then it allows the crystal core to last a while without a body.]

For souls as strong as Marc’s, it would actually last an eternity.

[--Marc--: But if your crystal core is lost, no matter how strong your body is, you’re dead.]

[--Vorst--: Then my core...]

[--Marc--: Yes, it’s dissolving right now. In this place, time flows differently. That’s why you still have a while before you completely disappear, but in the end, nothing can be done about that...]

There was a long silence, but in the end, the boy forced himself to ask a question.

[--Vorst--: Then why am I here?]

[--Marc--: ... I need a body.]

The boy twitched as he turned his head to look at the man sitting beside him. Marcdrak was calm and composed. At that moment, Vorst finally believed that the man wasn’t lying about being alive.

[--Vorst--: I see...]

[--Marc--: In exchange, I’ll grant you a wish.]

[--Vorst--: Wha...?]

[--Marc--: I’ll take your body, and there’s nothing you can do about it. However, I’m not the type to be ungrateful, so in exchange, I’ll grant you a wish. As long as it doesn’t go against my principles and as long as I can do it, I’ll grant you any wish you want. Revenge. Greed. Wrath. If you wish for somebody’s death, they’ll die. If you wish for the destruction of an organization, they’ll disappear. One wish. Anything.]

The young boy looked at him in astonishment, but Marcdrak wore a serious expression as he watched a pair of moons moving across the night sky. Vorst’s first thought was about living... But according to the other man, there was no way to save him now... Well, that last alert he saw also confirmed that... Vorst quickly remembered the Black Scorpion... That particular one might be dead, but if he wished for it, then maybe this mysterious man would be able to kill all of them... And the bullies... Being a Neo-Aris made him suffer many times... Rage and hatred boiled within him... Just as he was about to voice his wish, he remembered a face. It belonged to the girl he had given his life for... How she had nearly lost her life... Serenity returned to his soul.

[--Vorst--: Mersa...]

Marcdrak heard and remembered the name. He knew it was important—as he said, any wish would be granted.

[--Vorst--: Marcdrak-san, she is my friend, so please... protect her.]

Marc was surprised; his formerly indifferent attitude warmed towards the small boy. For the first time since their meeting, the mysterious man showed a smile as his irises lit up with a violet hue.

[--Marc--: Done. I swear that I, Marcdrak Euharm Maxkael Adajax Emerald Vegyla, will protect her or die trying.]

At that moment, two cups and a bottle of sweet sake appeared on the table.

[--Marc--: Little brother. Although our meeting was short and there won’t be another one, drink with me. You are the first brother I’ve made here...]

Under the night sky, the two of them drank until Vorst’s soul shuddered and dissipated. The jade cup fell and shattered on the marble table. In response, Marc raised his cup.

[--Marc--: This one is for you. Farewell, little brother Vorst. Our promise—I’ll absolutely honor it.]

And with this, Marc ended his first drinking session in the new world.