When the raven flies over.
Ian looked down at his own hands, his fingertips trembling slightly.
He felt his consciousness clearer than ever, as if a thin veil covering the world had been torn away, allowing him a glimpse of some more authentic outline.
Yet.
When the raven and the God of Death had a clash, then turned to look at him, Ian's mind was somewhat blank; he originally thought he was beyond the world.
Now, it seems.
Can the raven even gaze into the future within a fixed history?
A suspicion in the heart.
In the black and white world.
The raven's eyes, however, had a crimson not belonging to the surroundings.
"Awake."
The raven's voice echoed in Ian's mind, like a spell tearing through reality, as if coming from the world's end. That voice carried an irresistible will.
As if fate itself were summoning.
Making Ian feel a familiar sense, yet with a hint of resistance—indeed, it was a talking bird; the description by Female Titan Claire of the raven was not wrong.
Moreover.
The raven's voice was still a superb bubble sound.
"Who... are you?"
Ian asked softly.
The raven did not answer and merely flapped its wings gently, its tail feathers brushed through the air, leaving a faint ripple.
Ian's heart skipped a beat.
This was not an ordinary "awakening".
This was some deeper awakening—not waking from sleep, but breaking out from illusions, from false reality, Ian just felt his thoughts were dazed.
The next second—
The world collapsed.
Not a slow disintegration, but a sudden breakdown. The sky of black and white shattered like glass, countless sharp fragments hovered in the void, but upon touching Ian, they turned to dust. The ground beneath collapsed into ashes; he felt himself falling, yet there was no wind, no sound, only eternal silence.
Then—
Everything halted.
Ian abruptly opened his eyes.
The world was shattered.
Yet still retained its outline intact.
Around him was still that interwoven black and white world, with no color between heaven and earth, only the grey and white twined into a void. The air carried a blazing aura, the land beneath solid as iron, afar was a massive extinct volcano, within the crater black fog churned, lava boiled deep down as if some sleeping giant beast was awakening.
He found himself still standing at the volcano's edge.
The God of Death, who once stood atop the tower, was gone, and the freshly forged scythe emitting the breath of death vanished without a trace. The diving raven was also nowhere to be seen, leaving not even a shadow of feathers. The black and white hue still enveloped the whole world, as if time here was eternally fixed at some moment.
"Raven..."
He softly uttered the name, his heart beating uncontrollably faster.
The bird's gaze, that word "awake," all seemed hauntingly real. But if that was indeed some message, why was he still trapped in this eerie black and white world?
Not reaching the proper colorful Misty Illusion Realm?
In the volcano's crater.
The pitch-black lava surged silently, without warmth, without light, only the dark hues like ink slowly creeping. The air carried the scent of sulfur.
Yet bizarrely, there was no trace of heat.
"What was that earlier?"
Ian's voice echoed within the barren crater, receiving no answer. He looked down at his own hands—still in black and white shades, like his entire being was trapped in an ancient monochrome photograph.
He looked around.
Attempting to find any clue. But there was nothing here, no chains, no signs of forgery, not even where the God of Death once stood had any anomaly.
As if... none of it just happened. Perhaps upon entering the Misty Illusion Realm, Ian triggered something, hence witnessing a past from the past?
That sounds a bit convoluted.
But it was clear Ian understood the scenes he saw were definitely not what he should encounter in the Misty Illusion Realm; it might even have happened in a much earlier past.
Only because of unknown reasons allowing him to see—perhaps due to some influence from Female Titan Claire, or perhaps due to being in the past causing some kind of chain reaction.
No matter what.
Ian knew he probably caught a glimpse of a previously unknown secret. That period must be immensely ancient, possibly so old no life had ever reached the Misty Illusion Realm.
To know.
Ian did see.
Saw the God of Death still forging his widely known and iconic scythe, that weapon was even still like a semi-finished product, who can say how ancient a past it was.
After all, certainly older than the current ancient era, an age where the gods had yet to become gods.
Which also explained why he wandered inside for a long time, not only did he meet no soul, but didn't even hear the voices of animal spirits.
Estimating that life had yet to be created by the Titans.
And the Misty Illusion Realm was yet to be developed.
Only some "natives" still enclosed inside.
"Wonder if the God of Death, or the raven, was involved in sharing the Creator?" Ian couldn't help but speculate with a deep curiosity about these things.
Since the Titans first encountered the Creator of Earth, and gained the Creator's authority, naturally it proved that originally all authority on Earth should have concentrated on the Creator.