Rin didn't remember when the light faded.
He didn't even scream when the darkness took him.
He just… fell.
Down.
Down.
Down.
Like the world itself had collapsed beneath his feet and nothing would ever catch him.
He couldn't feel his body anymore.
Not pain.
Not cold.
Not even fear.
Just the constant, aching void.
No stars.
No sky.
No heartbeat.
Was this death?
No—worse.
This was corruption.
This was the place where souls went when they began to break.
When even hope forgot your name.
He kept falling through the endless darkness, through centuries of memory and silence, until—
Thud.
He hit something.
Not like bone snapping or flesh bruising. No pain.
Just—impact.
A hollow echo across the emptiness.
He blinked.
Suddenly, he was on the ground.
Stone. Cold. Real.
The sensation flooded back into his limbs. He could feel again.
And then—
"Get up… Leon."
A voice rang through the air like a bell.
Before he could lift his head—
CRACK!
A fist slammed into his face.
He went flying—flipping through the air before slamming into the ground again with a groan.
This time, he definitely felt it.
His back stung, his cheek ached, and he rolled onto his side, blinking rapidly.
He looked up—eyes wide.
A girl stood there.
Arms crossed.
Brows furrowed.
A scowl on her face that only half-disguised the heat in her voice.
She wasn't from this world.
Not the current one.
Not the second life as Hoshimi Rin.
No.
She belonged to someone else.
Someone from before.
"What…?"
He blinked, heart skipping.
"…Himiko?"
His voice was hoarse, raw like it had aged centuries.
He looked down at himself—at the uniform he wore.
Light blue and black, edged with silver trim.
A shining crest over his heart.
A black necktie, half-loosened from endless duels and late-night studies.
This wasn't Rin's uniform.
It was Leon's.
Hoshimi Leon.
The man he used to be in his very first life.
He slowly stood, the realization crashing into him like a tidal wave.
The air shimmered. The world around him came into view.
Stone coliseum walls. Blazing banners of ancient magic. A sky kissed by golden sunlight.
He remembered this place.
The School Arena.
The day of graduation from the Academy—where he and the girl in front of him had trained together as the new generation of heroes.
It was a moment etched in the pages of eternity.
Their final sparring match.
Their last test before they would be named the one of the Heroes of the Divine Era.
Himiko sighed as she stepped forward, long ponytail swaying with irritation.
Her gaze still burned—not with anger, but something deeper.
"What?" she said, voice sharp.
"You're gonna keep your head down? Just lie there like a wounded dog?"
She summoned her spear with a snap. It shimmered, pure and holy, forged by the hand of the Silver Deity of the East.
She reared back and hurled it—not to kill, but to shock.
Boom.
It struck the ground just inches from his foot, sending cracks spiraling outward and dust flying.
Leon—Rin—stared at the weapon, wide-eyed.
He could feel the weight of her mana.
Her will.
Her determination.
The part of him that was lost…
began to remember.
Himiko pointed at him with narrowed eyes.
"Pathetic."
Her voice cracked—not from rage, but from heartbreak.
"To think my partner would be the one moping in front of the final trial."
She turned her head and gestured to the crowd that didn't yet exist—spirits and echoes from the past.
"You seriously want the two of us to embarrass ourselves in front of these many people? You think they'll support us if you're sulking?"
Her eyes glinted, the way they always did when she was about to push him beyond his limits.
"Look up there."
She tilted her chin to the invisible heights.
"You are being watched. After what you did last week you became so popular enough that your past doesn't matter."
She took a step closer.
"So get. Up."
Her hand stretched toward him—not to strike, not to mock.
But to lift.
To remind.
Of who he was.
Who he had been.
And who he still could be.
Rin—no, Leon—stared at her.
And for the first time in what felt like countless lifetimes…
he began to rise.
Rin sighed deeply, his fingers brushing dust from his coat as if it were a habit embedded through countless lifetimes.
The light blue fabric fluttered slightly in the wind, the black coat of arms catching a faint golden gleam.
Then, without another word—
Shing.
His katana appeared in his hand, summoned with a single thought. The sleek blade glinted as he lowered his stance.
"Forgive me, old friend," he said, voice calm.
"I was simply... thinking."
Across the arena, Himiko's brows twitched.
"Damn you, Leon." She exhaled sharply, retrieving her spear with a swirl of her hand as if the weapon was just another limb.
"Just because your sister is watching your graduation doesn't mean you get to start daydreaming."
Her voice was sharp, but it carried a flicker of something else. Familiarity. Concern.
Rin's eyes flicked to her.
"…Why bring her up? She's not part of this."
Magic circles began spinning behind him—silent and swift, shaped like intricate rings with mechanical precision, like artillery cannons humming with restrained power.
"Because whenever you start acting like a brooding idiot, it's always because of your damn family," Himiko muttered, spacing herself with practiced footwork.
"I thought you two already talked things out. I made sure of it. I worked for that."
A wistful smile tugged at the edge of Rin's lips. His grip on the katana loosened just slightly.
"Don't worry."
He exhaled.
"I'm just… thinking of you."
(…After all, you were one of the pillars that held me together back then.)
Himiko froze.
Just for a second.
"Wha—?! Don't just—"
Dash.
Rin moved in a blink. His sword came down in a clean arc.
"You bastard!" she shouted, already raising her spear. Steel met steel with a clash that shook the ground.
She retaliated with a thrust aimed straight for his chest—
Only to pierce an illusion.
"Tch—!" She spun around too late.
Rin's blade was already aimed for her neck from behind.
She dropped, ducking low and sweeping his legs out from under him with a vicious backswing. Rin lost balance for a split second—but a heartbeat later, a spear came down at him—
He grinned.
With a flash of mana, he vanished, switching places with a glowing dagger embedded behind her. Himiko's instincts flared as she whirled, just barely deflecting Rin's strike.
The two locked weapons—spear and blade pressing, mana crackling in the air between them.
Their smug smiles met in the eye of the storm.
"Slippery and annoying…" Himiko muttered under her breath.
"Can't believe you actually grew strong enough to rival me."
"Thanks for the many pep talks, I owe you a lot." Rin smirked.
Then—snap.
The rings behind him surged, and his eyes turned violet, burning like stars.
A symphony of spells exploded around them—barrages of elemental magic from every direction, raining down with the fury of a miracle-born storm.
Himiko's eyes flared gold.
She twirled her spear, her dance fluid, elegant—deadly.
Each step, each flick of her wrist, intercepted another spell or slash.
She moved like she had done it all a thousand times before.
"Goddammit, Leon!!" she yelled as lightning and flame slammed into her defenses.
"I hate your stupid spell layering and sword-and-magic combos!!"
BOOM!
A fire sphere exploded behind her—she didn't even look. Her spear simply cut through it.
Rin narrowed his eyes, watching carefully.
Each spell he launched was forbidden-tier, the kind of magic most mages wouldn't even dare cast once in their life.
She held her own.
But she was preparing something.
He could see it.
She raised her spear, poured her mana into it until the very air quivered, then swept it across the sky with a clean arc—
WHOOSH!
The battlefield howled.
His magic circles shattered. One by one. Gone.
Rin adjusted his tie calmly, and the audience roared.
They were being watched by those above.
She raised her spear.
Poised. Fierce. Radiant.
"I am Himiko the Spear of Strife!"
"Ascendant Magic: Reverent Spear!"
Dozens. No—hundreds of spears materialized mid-air, all aimed at Rin, glowing with divine judgment.
He didn't flinch.
He raised a single hand, snapped his fingers with a flicker of grace.
"I am Leon."
The magic that surged around him shimmered, warping reality.
He did not name it.
But it was Ascendant-tier.
Magic so deep, even reality had to listen.
The two spells met midair.
The sky twisted.
The arena shook.
And as the clash reached its peak—
Darkness.
The memory ended.
And Rin—lost in the abyss—remembered who he was.
Rin opened his eyes again...
The void receded like the tide, and in its place—light. Dim, warm, flickering as though from a setting sun. He blinked slowly, and there she was...
Himiko.
She stood in front of him, her body pierced by corrupted spears, stained in shadows. Her own spear was lodged into the earth, supporting her trembling frame as she smiled—weakly, tenderly.
It was just like he remembered.
Just like that moment—her fall.
"I didn't want you to see me like this..." Himiko murmured, her voice barely above a whisper.
Then her gaze softened further, brimming with something deeper than regret.
"Hey… promise me that you'll save the world…"
Rin's breath caught in his throat as he stepped closer. His hand reached out, trembling as he placed it gently on her head. Her hair was just as he remembered—silken, windswept, always a little wild. Her smile, still the same.
He tried to speak.
His voice cracked as he whispered—
"I… I will…"
But she couldn't hear him.
This was a memory.
A trace carved deep into his soul.
A moment he longed to rewrite but never could.
He remembered what he did back then.
How he clutched her broken body in his arms, his tears falling like rain—uncontrolled, unrelenting.
He had failed.
The one person he swore to protect...
The only one who never asked him to be anything other than himself...
"I'm sorry..." she said instead, eyes half-lidded now, breath thinner.
"Looks like I'll be going first..."
Her voice wavered, but the smile she gave him—
Was peaceful.
"Tell the others... I tried."
Then she fell silent.
Her chest stilled.
Her head leaned forward. And Rin—or rather, Leon—gently reached up and closed her eyes.
He didn't cry this time.
Because this time, he understood.
He had already cried a thousand lifetimes ago.
He turned away, and the scene melted.
And now—
The memory shifted.
A new one emerged from the ash and grief.
The sky blackened.
The stars vanished.
Rin stood at the center of a ruined divine city, its marble towers reduced to twisted rubble. In front of him—
The Absolute Corruption.
It loomed like a fallen god. A crown of void encircled its head, and in its hand, it held a corrupted spear. Its face was hidden beneath a shroud of black flame—
But it was something he couldn't ignore.
Twisted.
Mocking.
"You..." it spoke, voice like knives scraping metal.
"Are, and forever will be... a failure."
Rin raised his gaze slowly.
Then raised his hand—towards the heavens.
"When a world needs a hero..."
He began, voice ringing like a sacred oath.
"One shall rise—
To die for its sake."
And then—
Light.
A golden brilliance flared from his hand, cutting the darkness like dawn. His back straightened. His body, though weary and broken, was radiant. Behind him, a golden crown floated above his head.
Divine.
His sword shimmered in his grip as he lifted it toward the black-cloaked shadow.
"I am Hoshimi Leon."
"And I—
Am this world's Miracle."
The Absolute Corruption roared and hurled countless spears into the sky, raining down like a divine execution.
But Rin—
He didn't flinch.
He matched the volley.
One for one.
Each corrupted spear was answered with a radiant counterspell—his Divine Magic, perfectly mirrored.
Two souls. One corrupted. One pure.
The battlefield became a duel of fate.
They looked the same.
But their aura—their will—could not be more different.
Rin remembered everything.
How Leon's soul began to crack—each invocation of Divine Magic fracturing it further.
How even then, he kept moving forward.
His blade danced. His heart burned.
Even as pieces of his soul splintered away...
He kept going.
Through the storm of shadow and ruin, Rin advanced. Magic swirled behind him in cascading brilliance, while spears of corruption fell like rain.
He slashed—deflecting one. Then another.
He bled.
But he did not stop.
And when the moment came—
One attack.
That was all it took.
He pierced the heart of the Absolute Corruption.
One final strike followed—clean and true.
A miracle.
And the corruption shattered.
The darkness faded.
And the Divine Era was saved.
Rin let out a breath.
Long. Quiet. Heavy.
He had lived that moment.
He had died that day.
Before he was Rin...
He was Leon.
When the void returned to his sight once more—
He smiled.
Not in sorrow.
Not in regret.
But in acceptance.
Because even if the world had forgotten—
He never would.
Rin returned to the endless void—
Falling again.
Silently.
Endlessly.
But this time…
A light sparked within him.
Faint. Flickering. But alive.
Like a candle's final glow in an eternal night.
He reached for it—
Held it close.
And his soul responded.
A flare.
A piece of himself restored—
Not as Rin. Not as Leon.
But something in-between.
He sighed, his mind drifting back…
To Himiko.
The one who stood by his side when no one else would.
The one who never asked for anything except that he keep going.
The one who held him together when he was crumbling.
"Thank you… for being by my side back then."
From darkness—his eyes slowly shifted.
Black to violet. Violet to gold.
That same gold of conviction.
Of sacrifice.
Of miracles.
Of his ascension as the World's Miracle.
But with the memories… came another.
The Corrupted Azure Empress.
Suzuki.
Suddenly—
Rin's eyes snapped open.
He was back.
Back in the Imperial Courtship—but not as it should have been.
Chaos tore through the battlefield.
Pillars of magic scorched the sky.
Blood and cries filled the air.
And there she stood—
Azure Empress Chinen Suzuki.
But not the real one.
This was her corrupted form.
An echo from a timeline where she was twisted by the Absolute Corruption.
A memory turned flesh.
And in front of her—
Officer Tsutomu, broken but unyielding, shielded Crown Prince Kazuo, drained and helpless after holding her back.
Her hand glowed with Psychic magic—
A deadly spell that would erase Tsutomu's mind in an instant.
But then—
She froze.
A shadow appeared behind her.
Rin.
No longer falling.
No longer lost.
His katana was already drawn.
His eyes burned gold—pure, sharp, unwavering.
A Hero's Conviction.
Like in the Divine Era.
Like when he faced the darkness and gave his soul for the world.
He didn't hesitate.
SHHK—
The blade pierced through her back, clean and precise, bursting through her chest.
The corrupted Empress gasped.
Rin's voice was cold.
Wounded.
Resolute.
"You made me remember a painful memory…"
His soul flared—
The old power of Hoshimi Leon, just enough to push back the corruption.
Not enough to win a war—
But enough to protect what mattered.
He snapped his fingers.
SNAP—
Thousands of magic circles appeared instantly—
Orbiting above like a second sky.
Most of them were Supreme-tier spells
"Dismantle this."
His voice rang like judgment.
And the heavens fell.
Light rained down like fire.
Spell after spell detonated, carving deep into the battlefield.
The air cracked.
The ground split.
The sound was deafening.
The corrupted Empress screamed—
But the magic was relentless.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
A storm of divine judgment.