Jin picked up the unconscious Luke and carried him beyond the shattered barrier.
After walking some distance, he gently laid Luke down on the road and sat beside him, one knee raised as he watched the boy's face in silence.
"Hey, you. Wake up," Jin said firmly, giving Luke a slight shake.
Luke stirred, his face twitching as murmurs escaped his lips.
"Ahhh... wait, no, no, please... I beg of you... don't kill me... Mom... Dad... please..."
Tears streamed down his cheeks as he whimpered in his sleep, his face twisted in anguish that came from somewhere far deeper than the physical world.
"What the—? Hey, wake up!" The voice shouted, although it was meaning less.
Jin exclaimed, a trace of alarm slipping into his voice as he began shaking Luke more vigorously.
With a sharp gasp, Luke bolted upright, drenched in sweat, his breathing ragged and uneven. He looked around in confusion, as if the nightmare still clung to the edges of his reality.
"Where... where am I?"
"You alright?" Jin asked, watching him closely. "You were screaming in your sleep."
"Oh... I see. It's fine. I'm fine... probably just a nightmare," Luke muttered, his voice still trembling.
Jin eyed him intently. "You're not able to increase your harmony completion, are you?"
Luke blinked, frowning. "What's harmony completion?"
"It's what you people call a 'level,'" Jin replied calmly.
Luke lowered his gaze. "No... no, I can't," he admitted, clenching his fists. "Maybe I've already hit my limit. Maybe I just don't have what it takes to go any further."
"That's not true," Jin said, his tone quiet but steady. "Anyone can reach the Harmony state—as long as they truly understand themselves."
Luke looked up, doubt written all over his face. "You think I could ever become as strong as you?"
"I'm not that strong, to be honest," Jin replied with a slight shrug. "Besides, I'm just a level 1 with a spiritual energy output of below average."
Luke stared at him, disbelieving. "What are you talking about?" he asked sharply. "You have to be using a skill to hide your real power."
Jin didn't respond. He turned his gaze upward, silently watching the stars shimmer in the vast night sky.
"You need to go home. Things are getting a bit dangerous around me," Jin said as he extended a hand, helping Luke to his feet.
[Time Dragon Heart: Time Stop] In an instant, time halted. Everything in the world froze.
[Mathematician: Auto Counter] Even within the stillness, Jin's perception stirred. His thoughts began to function in the void of silence.
"Someone stopped time! The Mathematician's auto counter must've activated to shield me from the effect." The voice said.
A lone figure, suspended mid-air, gradually descended into the frozen world.
"So beautiful..." The voice stared, stunned by the man's appearance.
The newcomer had long, flowing red hair that cascaded down in soft waves, its fiery hue accentuating his flawlessly symmetrical features. A sharp jawline, high cheekbones, and porcelain skin gave him an almost divine allure. But most striking of all were his eyes—vivid lime green, glowing like emeralds, deep and impossible to look away from.
"Hello there. I am Albedo. And you must be Jin, correct?" The man's voice carried a calm yet profound authority.
'Albedo... he means Albedo Samael—the Thirteenth-Headed King,' Jin thought with growing dread.
"Exactly. It's me," Albedo said, answering Jin's thoughts directly.
[Mathematician: Mind Attack Resistance × 1,000,000,000] Jin instantly reinforced his mental defenses.
"The auto counter didn't work this time... Why? That's not normal—it only fails when I deactivate it myself." The voice echoed.
"Oh my. I can't read your thoughts anymore," Albedo said with a note of disappointment. "You must've multiplied your resistance millions of times."
Jin wanted to respond—How did you know?—but quickly realized he couldn't speak. He was still frozen in the suspended flow of time.
"Jin analysis him. This hottie... I ment this man is dangerous."
[Mathematician: Information Calculation]
Information floated towards him in that suspected world. Even the world was sealed, the knowledge was free.
In an instant, knowledge that Jin had not before was their. As he analysed it Jin's emotionsless crimson eyes twitched.
"Th—That's Divinity." The voice screamed.
'A God... He is a god.'
"Don't warry. It's not like it's your first time meeting one."
"And we don't want to meet another." The voice sighed. "Jin, free yourself."
[Mathematician: Numerical Manipulation]
Jin altered his body, rendering it free from the constraints of both time and space. Instantly, he moved—his form flowing within the stillness like water through a broken dam.
"Oh, wow. You actually freed yourself from time stop," Albedo clapped in delight, his hands producing no sound in the silent void.
Yes, now tell me... Jin mouthed, but no sound emerged.
It struck him—sound required air, and in a frozen world, even air was motionless. No medium, no sound. Speech was impossible.
Some Awakened used spiritual energy to project their voices. But even that wouldn't move without the flow of time. Thought transfer? No—that too depended on spiritual energy.
Albedo, however, was speaking without issue.
It meant he wielded a power beyond spiritual energy—something untethered from the current of time itself.
'I could use that... but it's dangerous. Maybe I have no choice but to restart the flow.'
"Yes, that would be a wish choice." The voice agreed.
[Mathematician: Flow of Time +1]
Jin snapped his fingers—silently—but the world resumed its rhythm. The trees swayed, sounds returned, and reality moved forward again.
The voice coughed, slightly embarrassed by the theatrical finger snap that produced no dramatic sound.
"Incredible," Albedo praised. "You restarted time by incrementing its value from zero. Fascinating."
"Wait—you understand my ability?"
"Of course. I am—"
"Lord Albedo! When did you get here?" Luke interrupted, eyes wide with shock.
"Hey Luke. You fought brilliantly today," Albedo said warmly.
"Did I?" Luke hesitated. "But I lost..."
"Yes, but you gained experience, didn't you?" Albedo met his gaze. "Now, let's go somewhere better."
Suddenly, a colossal wooden door rose from the ground, towering above them. As it creaked open, a blinding light engulfed them.
***
Blinding light overwhelmed Jin, forcing his eyes shut. When the brightness subsided, he slowly opened them—and gasped.
"Wow..." The voice whispered.
A magnificent waterfall surged in the distance, radiating mysterious energy. Flowers of every color blanketed the land in vibrant, glowing rows. On a platform near the waterfall, Albedo sat, sipping tea with serene grace.
Jin approached, eyes scanning the surreal beauty around him.
"Your clothes are a bit ruffled," Albedo remarked casually.
"More than a bit," the voice sighed, glancing at Jin's torn and bloodied outfit.
"Well, yes... I was in a—"
"Don't worry."
In a blink, Jin's clothes repaired themselves, holes vanishing, bloodstains erased—as if nothing had ever happened.
Looking at it, the voice laughed. Its disapproval towards Albedo vanished. Which Albedo's lady like face didn't ofcourse.
"Choose wisely—tea or coffee?" Albedo offered with a smile.
"Go for tea. Coffee is for high class idiots." The voice suggested.
"Tea... please," Jin replied, sitting opposite him.
Albedo poured the tea into a graceful porcelain cup and handed it over. Jin took a sip, his eyes wandering once more.
Near the platform, he spotted grass pulsing with a faint glow. He leaned forward for a closer look.
It was spiritual grass, a rare plant used in powerful healing concoctions—and poisons.
He looked around again, realization dawning.
Everything around them—every flower, leaf, and even the air—was saturated with spiritual energy.
That was weird. The human world didn't had any spiritual energy. Spiritual energy only came from the soul of Awakened afterall.
"Incredible," Jin breathed. "So this is a king's domain..."
"Oh no," Albedo replied. "My domain isn't that special."
Jin raised an eyebrow but didn't press. After finishing his tea, he glanced around, puzzled.
"Where is he, by the way? Luka—or Luke?"
"I sent him to his room," Albedo replied.
"So, he's your disciple?"
"Yes. My only one, for now."
Jin picked up a slice of cake from a nearby basket, eyeing Albedo carefully.
"So... about my innate ability—"
"You mean Mathematician, right? The one rumored to be the strongest of all?"
"How did you know that?"
"I'm a king, dear boy. I know more than you've ever heard of," Albedo said with a smile. "But I am curious about the innate abilities of today's generation."
"Oh? Then why not ask someone from your O.R.D.E.R.?"
"That would be the logical move. But here's the thing—in the last ten thousand years, fewer than twenty people have had innate abilities."
"Fewer than twenty?" The voice exclaimed.
'I knew it was rare... but not that rare. No wonder they were after me,' he thought.
"I'm more surprised you didn't know," Albedo said. "You, who wandered the Forbidden Land for twenty years."
"I'm not very familiar with the human realm," Jin admitted.
"Of course," Albedo said, pausing briefly. "But I didn't bring you here just to chat. I wanted to ask you something."
"About the Forbidden Land?" Jin guessed.
"No. I already know all there is to know about that place. What I want to know is..." Albedo leaned forward slightly. "Why are you suppressing your own memories?"
Jin's expression froze. "W-What do you mean?"
"Let me put it differently," Albedo said calmly. "Do you remember your mother's face? Or your sister's name?"
"Jin.." the voice's sound grow warry for some reason.
Jin sat in stunned silence, struggling to summon those memories—his mother's smile, his sister's laugh. All he could recall were fragmented images. Shadows of a past just beyond reach.
"Of course you don't remember."
Jin shot to his feet. 'My memories... he's right! I can't recall so much. But why? Why would I—?!'
His breathing quickened, chest tightening.
"This doesn't make sense," he muttered. "Mathematician would've removed any cause for memory loss."
"Yes," Albedo agreed. "Except for yourself."
Jin fell silent. Deep down, he had suspected it. But hearing it confirmed...
He didn't want to believe it. He couldn't believe it.
'Mother... I want to remember how you looked... But all I see—'
All he saw was oblivion.