After those final words, the black void that had felt so restless until now suddenly became silent.
But the silence was unnatural.
It felt as though some vast existence had suddenly fixed its gaze upon them.
The countless stars spread across the dark sky began trembling strangely.
The leaves around the massive tree and the orbiting spheres slowed down—
as if something had forced them to stop.
Unease spread through Raijin's chest.
"They…?" he repeated softly.
"Who are they?" Raijin asked Zephyrus.
Zephyrus did not answer.
Instead, its ever-changing form became more stable than before.
As though some unseen existence had turned its attention toward it as well—
and was constantly pressing down upon it.
Among the countless stars in the dark sky above,
one black star—
the same one that had opened like an eye—
fixed its gaze directly upon Raijin.
At that moment—
Raijin felt as though every part of his body had been seized by invisible hands.
His breathing did not become heavy…
instead, the air itself suddenly became unbearably dense.
Faint whispers echoed through his ears.
In a language he could not understand.
And yet—
his mind feared hearing it.
The invisible pressure upon him grew stronger.
Under that pressure, the chair beneath Raijin shattered,
and he collapsed onto his knees.
His senses screamed violently.
Do something quickly, or we will die.
That voice was his own—
but not completely his.
Raijin tried to resist the pressure,
but another voice rose from within him.
Don't resist… or we will die.
After some time,
everything slowly calmed down.
Raijin raised his gaze—
but he didn't even dare look at that star.
Instead, he looked directly at Zephyrus.
"What… was that?"
Zephyrus stared straight into his eyes and replied,
"You wished to know who had sensed you."
"Do you wish to know more?"
Raijin shook his head no.
Zephyrus continued,
"Do you now understand how dangerous it is to fall under the gaze of a Vale?"
"Would you still like to know about the Vale?"
Raijin again answered with a shake of his head before asking,
"What are you talking about…? What is a Vale?"
"You know nothing about the Vale, and yet you still do not wish to learn about them."
"That alone shows how terrifying what you just felt truly was."
"Vale…" Zephyrus repeated quietly.
"Vale are beings you must neither think about… nor speak about."
"Because the moment you do—
you may fall under their gaze."
"And once that happens…"
"Either immediate death—
or you become nothing more than their puppet."
"After that, you will still remain yourself…"
"but you will no longer truly be you."
Hearing those words, goosebumps spread across Raijin's body.
He finally understood—
death was not the worst thing in existence.
At least… not after hearing Zephyrus speak.
Now, Raijin didn't even have the courage to look toward that star anymore.
Zephyrus seemed to understand what he was feeling.
"There is no need to fear while you are here."
Raijin looked toward Zephyrus and asked,
"Then why has nothing happened to you until now?"
Now, Raijin didn't even dare repeat the name Zephyrus carelessly in his own mind.
Under that pressure, he had nearly died—
yet this being had remained completely calm.
In fact—
it had even protected him.
Those thoughts raced through Raijin's mind like lightning.
Zephyrus looked deeply at him—
as though it had heard every single thought.
Then it turned its gaze away and answered,
"There are two major reasons."
"First…"
"I exist within this place."
"No one can enter here. And no one can leave."
"Time flows very differently here."
"You could remain here for countless conversations while only one or two seconds pass in the outside world."
"Or…"
"You could remain here for thousands of years while only a single moment passes outside."
Hearing that, a cold shiver ran down Raijin's spine.
He quickly regained control of himself and continued listening.
"Second…"
"My Level is extremely high."
"So high… that you cannot even imagine it."
He said those words without pride—
as though he were merely stating an ordinary fact.
And somehow…
that made it even more terrifying.
But Raijin barely paid attention to the rest of Zephyrus's explanation.
His mind froze upon a single word.
Level.
"Level…" Raijin repeated slowly.
A strange feeling surfaced within him.
As though he had heard that word countless times before.
The moment he repeated it—
broken voices flashed through his mind.
> "Level Up…"
"Requirement Failed…"
"Current Level…"
Then everything vanished again.
Raijin looked toward Zephyrus.
"The word you just used… it feels familiar."
"It feels like I've heard it many times before."
"I think I even used it for myself…"
"But at the same time… it feels like I'm hearing it for the very first time."
Instead of answering, Zephyrus asked another question.
"Why do you believe you have heard and used that word before?"
Raijin fell silent for a moment,
as though searching through his memories.
He tried hard to remember—
but nothing came back.
Memories.
A faint smile slowly appeared on Raijin's face.
As though he had finally found the answer to his question.
Raijin looked at Zephyrus and said,
"You told me that even learning about the Vale could destroy us."
"Can you at least tell me what I should be cautious of?"
"And when I first arrived here, you said I came far too early."
"What did you mean by that?"
Zephyrus replied,
"Never attempt to uncover certain truths by force."
"As you continue moving forward, information appropriate to your level will naturally reach you."
"This has happened to you before as well."
"You learned far more than you should have…"
"And because of that, you were forced to forget your memories."
Raijin silently nodded and asked another question.
"How will information reach me according to my level?"
Zephyrus answered,
"That… is one of the laws of this world."
"And what did you mean when you said I arrived here too early?"
Zephyrus replied calmly,
"The answer to that question was already within my previous answer."
Raijin repeated those words in his mind—
and finally understood.
"So… I was not yet capable of reaching this place."
"But because of the Servant of the Earth God… I ended up here anyway."
Zephyrus nodded.
Raijin then looked toward the sky above.
"All the stars in the sky…"
"Are they my memories?"
Once again, Zephyrus nodded.
"I truly did not expect you to figure that out yourself."
"How did you realize it?"
Raijin stayed quiet for a moment,
carefully choosing his words.
Then he began speaking.
"When I first arrived here, I remembered almost nothing."
"I only had memories from the last few days."
"Then I touched one of the stars…"
"And most of my memories returned."
"Later, I touched other stars as well."
"And each time, more memories came back."
"But just when I was about to fully understand it…"
"I was pulled toward you."
"And earlier, when you said you would restore my memories…"
"you raised your hand toward the sky."
"The moment I saw the stars react—
I became certain."
Zephyrus listened silently to everything Raijin said.
When he finally finished,
Zephyrus laughed softly.
"You are quite intelligent."
"I would have already restored all your memories…"
"But before I could…"
"the Vale had already noticed you."
"That is why I did not help you recover them yet."
Raijin looked at Zephyrus and said,
"Thank you… truly."
"Can you tell me how I can recover all my memories without attracting the gaze of the Vale?"
Zephyrus fell silent for a few moments.
Then it spoke slowly.
"If you truly wish to reclaim all your memories…"
"Then you must touch every star… and absorb them into yourself."
"It is possible…"
"that within those memories, you may witness something so terrible…"
"that you once wished to dismiss it as nothing more than a nightmare.
.
.
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Thank You For Reading This Chaptar.