Jian’s expression changed instantly. Without hesitation, he thrust his hand through the bars toward Nine’s cell.
"Check my future!"
He urged.
"I’m sure I’ll meet Kyle."
At that moment, an unfamiliar, slightly hoarse voice spoke from behind Jian.
"It’s no use."
Everyone immediately turned toward the voice. It came from the white-haired man chained inside the prison cell where Jian had been thrown. Until now, the man’s head had remained lowered, his hands chained behind his back, causing them to overlook him.
But he had been awake the entire time. He had sensed everything from the moment they were thrown into the prison and chained, and he had even heard every word they had discussed until now.
Not only that, but the man’s strength far surpassed theirs, causing his presence to become extremely faint. However, now that he had spoken, his previously unnoticed presence finally became apparent.
Jian glanced back at the man.
"Who..."
Before Jian could finish, the white-haired man lifted his head. Beneath his disheveled, bloodstained hair, a handsome face was revealed, carrying an unexpected calmness despite his battered state.
A pair of amethyst eyes gazed back at them, serene and unreadable. The quiet strength hidden within them stood in stark contrast to his tattered clothes, countless wounds, and the chains binding his body.
"Me? Just someone irrelevant."
He paused.
"But..."
His gaze swept across everyone inside the prison.
"It’s truly useless."
A heavy silence fell over the cell.
"Because the Calamity he defeated was none other than Azazeal."
Everyone’s eyes contracted the moment they heard those words.
Without hesitation, Jian rushed toward the man and grabbed him by the collar. Unlike the white-haired man, who was unable to move due to the chains binding him, Jian and the others still had some freedom of movement within their cells.
His voice was filled with urgency.
"You know Kyle and Azazeal?!"
The man, however, remained completely calm.
Ares let out a soft chuckle as he glanced down at the hand gripping his collar. Then, his amethyst eyes shifted toward Jian and met the crimson eyes. The moment their gazes met, Jian’s body instinctively froze.
That calm, cold gaze carried a pressure similar to that bastard Ruler who had sent them here. It was a power that surpassed his own—and even the combined strength of all his companions. Jian immediately released his grip and took a step back, his expression becoming serious.
For a moment, everyone thought the white-haired man would ignore the question.
But unexpectedly, he answered.
"Well..."
Ares spoke calmly. The initial burst of powerlessness he had felt long ago had since faded. After spending years trapped in confinement, he had been given more than enough time to reflect, process his emotions, and regain his composure.
"If you count the fact that I waged war against many Rulers alone with a crazed mind and eventually ended up in this cell because of it, then yes... I know Kyle."
His gaze lowered slightly.
"As for Azazeal..."
A faint pause followed.
"I don’t know much about him."
Alec stared directly at Ares and asked.
"A friend?"
Ares chuckled.
"More than that. He saved me when I thought it was the end. Not just me, but many of my people as well. But amidst everything, he failed to return."
"This life... I owe to him."
Jian processed the white-haired man’s words, and his anger finally subsided. His voice was low, but everyone heard it clearly and felt the heartache behind his words.
"He... Kyle came here to kill Azazeal. He said he was going to stop him. He never said he would disappear alongside him."
Ares lowered his eyes and let out a sigh.
"Azazeal... that Dark Celestial was truly powerful. Not just powerful—he was also insane. I still wonder how your universe managed to create such an existence."
"And then there was Kyle... Somehow, he was even more crazier than Azazeal."
Alec smiled sadly at his words.
He looked at Ares and asked slowly.
"Did you witness their last battle? Can you tell us what really happened?"
Alec’s voice carried a hint of bitterness.
"I have spent all this time chasing after Kyle, trying to grow strong enough to become his equal. And now that I have finally become a Celestial... I can’t even challenge him to a battle."
He clenched his fists slightly.
"And I’m not the only one who wanted that chance."
Ares glanced at the blue-haired man.
"I didn’t personally see their battle. But I heard that Azazeal fell first. Even though he had split his soul into many fragments and created multiple bodies, with every single one reaching the End, Kyle still defeated him."
He paused briefly.
"After Azazeal disappeared, Kyle was still there. But then, without warning... his soul scattered. And it happened in front of those greedy Rulers who sought to divide his soul among themselves to obtain the immense, cold, ethereal power he had shown them."
Everyone closed their eyes.
They couldn’t believe it.
Those damn Rulers!
Those bastards... they called themselves the Rulers, yet... they didn’t even want to spare Kyle’s soul after everything he had done. After he had saved their lives...!
How could someone be so ungrateful?
Alec silently called out to the system residing within his mind space—the system created by Odiak. Over time, it had grown alongside him, gaining full consciousness and evolving into a powerful existence of its own. Yet, it had never left him. It remained by his side through everything.
’I feel like I was too late to come here.’
Alec lowered his gaze.
’Wasn’t I the strongest at the beginning? But then, Kyle appeared and changed everything. He carried burdens I could never imagine.’
His hands tightened.
’But I... no, none of us ever wanted him to carry the weight of everything alone.’
The system remained silent. It knew Alec didn’t want its consolation; he was simply venting his emotions by talking to it. Alec did this from time to time, and the system had long since grown accustomed to it.
Still, even the system felt saddened after hearing Kyle’s soul had scattered. Based on its analysis, there was a high chance that Kyle had truly died. After all, a soul was the fundamental core of any existence. Without a soul, there was no existence.