The magic cards I made are absolutely flawless!

It felt like a dream, yet it didn't feel like a dream.

Because in dreams, one is less likely to have such a clear mind to doubt the reality of one's perceptions in the first instant.

"...?"

After looking around, Dekan noticed something.

His hands felt inexplicably light; when he raised his palm, they even seemed somewhat transparent, as if starlight could be seen through them.

This feeling is almost like being a spirit...

Or rather, it's a spirit!

So, did he perish together with the Goddess of Life, Scythe, in that battle just now?

Dekan tried to understand the current situation.

Finally, in the [Illusory Barrier], after Sisina could not bear the torment of 4,800 times the pain and chose to commit suicide, Dekan, in his hazy consciousness, saw the message that mission objective 3 had been successfully completed.

So this time, the ninth-order shadow world should be successfully completed.

None of the three missions in the Shadow World require the challenger to survive to the end.

Dekan, who was blessed by the goddess of reincarnation and fate from the beginning, will remain in a ghostly state until the end of the Shadow World if he dies in the Shadow World.

So, in theory, he only needs to wait until the Shadow World ends.

But where is this?

The only thing Dekan couldn't understand was that after his and Lenn's pyrrhic victory, the illusory barrier should have been dispelled.

Even as a ghost, he should still be in the Holy City's palace.

"..."

"On the other hand, I really miss this place."

Dekan looked around again, and for some reason his gaze was suddenly drawn to the picture-perfect starry sky. He couldn't help but look up and murmur in amazement.

There's this strange feeling, like I've been here before...

"Yup!"

Thinking about it this way, Dekan realized that if Deloitte had made the same choice as him back then...

He sacrificed himself to protect the Holy Kingdom and his friends.

It is very likely that Delois also came to this place after his death.

Dekan wanted to observe this beautiful, almost otherworldly place of death one more time.

The dark water beneath my feet, reflecting the starry sky above, gradually revealed a blurry light.

Appearing and approaching from behind Dekan.

Dekan immediately turned back.

All that could be seen was a figure carrying a lantern.

She was dressed in a long robe, and her head covering covered her eyes.

Surprised.

Even without much thought, Dekan already knew who it was.

"Goddess Tike..."

Dekan bowed slightly, performing a priestly salute to the goddess.

Although he didn't know if it was appropriate for him to consider himself a priest, since he had always been guided and favored by the goddess and had been blessed with protection, he should be considered her priest.

【…】

The goddess did not respond to Dekan.

However, Dekan could probably sense that if the other party didn't deny it, then it must be correct.

This familiar feeling of understanding the other person's attitude without needing to say a word made Dekan suddenly pause in his thoughts.

Unbeknownst to him, a scene that seemed to have been seen before was resurfacing in his mind.

—He had indeed been under this starry sky before! Guided by this goddess.

After Dekan had sorted out his thoughts, the goddess turned around and walked in the direction where she had just appeared.

However, before Dekan could even ask his question, he had already started walking.

This unconditional trust seems to transcend thought.

"My Goddess, should I follow you?"

【…】

The other party seemed to be a taciturn deity.

Or perhaps he knows that without needing to say anything more, Dekan will naturally understand everything.

She just kept walking forward.

Dekan followed behind her without saying anything more.

He didn't sense any indifference from her; on the contrary, her steps, as if confirming and considering whether he could keep up, were full of her care and love.

During this quiet period of progress, Dekan made an unexpected discovery.

Floating in the distant night sky are not stars, but a world that seems to contain countless universes, countless stars and planets, like a star map on a giant celestial globe, slowly moving and evolving.

Dekan was certain that his mental strength had become stronger.

Perhaps it was the expanded perception resulting from the liberation from the shackles of the body that allowed him to clearly understand everything.

Occasionally, tiny, luminous sparks would drift between galaxies that were close together, before disappearing into the galaxies on the other side.

The light was clearly very faint, yet for some reason it didn't make Dekan feel ethereal or illusory; instead, it gave him a powerful feeling.

"That is......"

Dekan seemed to be talking to himself, his gaze fixed on the distant starry sky with a somewhat dazed expression.

Even now, the goddess has not answered any of his words.

He still blurted it out unintentionally.

The transmigration of the soul is both destiny and reincarnation.

The goddess answered.

But for some reason, Dekan wasn't surprised.

He had a feeling that the other person would answer him this time.

"So this is how the soul... wanders around."

Dekan looked up at the starry sky and saw dazzling little sparks drifting out from one world.

Light and airy, as if it might go out at any moment, yet full of pulse, it flickers as it flies towards another world.

The countless worlds, like the starry sky, and the countless souls that traverse life and death within them, are like the beating of a heart.

It flows repeatedly and continuously.

Each spark seems like a blessing from heaven, flowing ceaselessly like time, until they converge and surge forward on the dazzling starlight to reach the horizon and even further.

Dekan thought it was a sight so beautiful it made his heart skip a beat.

But more than amazement, there was a sense of nostalgia.

"My Goddess, is this our second meeting?"

Dekan asked, as if confirming something with a goddess.

【…】

After taking a few more steps, the goddess Tike stopped, showing no intention of leading Dekan forward.

She gently raised her hand and pointed in a direction.

It was as if it were suggesting that the answer was right there.

Dekan looked in the direction the goddess pointed.

next second.

It was as if the lights had suddenly illuminated the night sky, only to be abruptly extinguished and dimmed again.

When vision returned.

Dekan saw that he and the goddess were both standing in the darkness.

But unlike the previous world where the dim sky was dotted with bright stars.

This place, with its darkness and the sound of rain, was all too familiar to Dekan—

He returned to the darkness of that holy city.

Moreover, this was after he and Len had finished their battle against Sthena!

Two figures lay on the ruins of the distant palace.

The Holy Maiden of Light has arrived. She should have been waiting outside the illusory barrier for a long time, waiting for Lunen and his powerful enemy to settle their score.

At this moment, she is trying her best to rescue and call out to Len.

She was quite certain that Lenn was not dead; he had ended the fight before his life was nearly over.

However, his condition was too abnormal. It seemed that the magic circuits that had been built up in his body for a long time were being forcibly twisted by a rule that was beyond reason. In order to adapt to this extreme change, Lenn fell into a coma-like sleep and could not be woken up no matter how hard he was called.

The one lying on the other side of the ground was not human.

Instead, it was a being that would never dare to appear here—a demon!

In his half-open eyes, the golden demonic aperture seemed to be almost extinguished.

The knights around him were extremely vigilant, surrounding him from a distance and keeping their distance.

Even a demon on the verge of death.

Many officers also harbored strong hostility towards the demon race.