Mathew’s cries echoed through the ruined orphanage like the final mourning of a broken soul.
The courtyard was silent now.
Not the peaceful kind of silence… but the kind born after death had finished its feast.
The flames consuming the buildings crackled softly in the distance.
Blood flowed through the broken stones of the courtyard, mixing with rainwater and ash.
Corpses of nuns and children littered the once warm home that had raised them.
And in the middle of it all—
Mathew knelt there motionless.
Miss Irene’s lifeless body rested gently in his trembling arms.
His blue eyes had long lost their focus.
For the first time in his life… Mathew truly felt powerless.
He had formed a Divine Core.
He had gained monstrous strength.
He had awakened a power feared even by the church itself.
Yet despite all that…
He still failed to protect the people he loved.
A shaky breath escaped his lips.
“…Mom…”
No answer came.
Only silence.
Mathew lowered his head onto her chest, his shoulders trembling violently as tears continued pouring endlessly from his eyes.
Why?
Why did everything always end like this?
Why did the people he cared about always suffer?
What crime had they committed just for existing?
His fingers tightened around Miss Irene’s bloodstained clothes.
The pressure became so intense that space around his hands began to distort slightly.
Golden and purple light flickered around his body uncontrollably.
The atmosphere itself became unstable.
The clouds above the orphanage slowly twisted into a spiraling vortex.
The world was responding to his emotions.
And somewhere deep within his shattered soul…
Something answered him.
A voice.
Unfathomable.
“You have tasted loss.”
Mathew’s eyes widened slightly.
The voice did not sound human.
It echoed directly inside his soul.
Golden particles floated around him.
“Hatred…”
“Pain…”
“Rage…”
“All necessary.”
The ground beneath Mathew cracked apart.
His Light Core began pulsating violently.
The broken remains of soul essence lingering throughout the battlefield started flowing toward him like rivers returning to the sea.
The dead essence of fallen warriors…
The lingering hatred…
The fear…
The despair…
Everything was being absorbed.
Mathew slowly raised his head.
His expression had changed.
The tears remained…
But the weakness behind them was gone.
In its place was something colder.
Something deeper.
Something terrifying.
A pair of glowing golden rings slowly formed within his blue eyes.
“You are incomplete.”
The voice continued.
“But one day…”
“You shall become the light that transcends all laws.”
BOOOOM!!!
A massive shockwave erupted from Mathew’s body.
The remaining buildings around the orphanage collapsed instantly.
The clouds split apart across the night sky.
Far away—
Within the Imperial Palace.
The Imperial sitting upon his throne suddenly opened his eyes.
An overwhelming pressure had appeared in the world.
“…What is this presence?”
Elsewhere—
Deep beneath a frozen mountain range.
A man covered in chains slowly lifted his head.
In the Western Quadrant—
A woman meditating beneath a waterfall abruptly opened her crimson eyes.
And hidden within the darkness of an ancient ruin—
Several monstrous Night Creatures lowered their heads in fear.
As if acknowledging the birth of something that should not exist.
Back at the orphanage—
Mathew slowly carried Miss Irene’s body in his arms and stood up.
The wind blew softly through his blonde hair.
His face had become eerily calm.
No anger.
No sadness.
Only silence.
He looked toward the direction where the Pope escaped.
Then toward the distant horizon where Anika and Kane were taken.
“…I’ll get stronger.”
His voice was quiet.
But absolute.
“I’ll find them.”
“And every single person responsible for this…”
Golden light flickered violently around him.
“…I’ll kill them all.”
The moment those words left his mouth—
His Light Core pulsed once more.
And for a brief second…
Behind Mathew’s back—
A massive divine silhouette appeared in the sky.
An existence made of endless golden radiance and flowing purple darkness.
Its eyes slowly opened.
Watching the world below like a god awakening from eternal sleep.
Then—
It vanished.
Leaving only the ruined orphanage…
And the boy who had just taken his first step toward becoming something far beyond human.