The final glimpse of Orsted’s memories as the Pure Vessel faded ..and for the first time since his birth, Snow Lionheart finally discovered the truth. The roots he had long groped for snapped into focus. After suffering so long under shackles forged by ignorance of his origin, here it was at last ..and what a truth it was.
"I can see you have something you want to say," Orsted said, standing face to face with Snow, whose mind stalled for a few seconds.
Snow rubbed the back of his head with a strained smile.
"Yeah... I have a lot I want to say, but I don’t even know where to start."
With a quiet laugh, he tried to process what he had just seen and heard.
"I lived my whole life assuming I was human ..only to realize I’m nothing of the sort. I’m a Lightbearer. And not just any Lightbearer, but one of the greatest Vessels to walk since the dawn of history. To be honest, what you showed me is hard to believe, Lord of Light."
He wanted to deny it; what he’d seen was simply too much. But denial wouldn’t come.
"I want to reject all of it ..but the funny thing is, somewhere inside, I believe you. The heart doesn’t lie."
To those memories, to those scenes, Snow felt kinship ..an intimacy he had never felt for any human. That only deepened his conviction that everything Orsted had shown him was true.
He was the second half of the Pure Vessel, who had once fought the Demon King, Agaroth ..and survived only because Audrey sacrificed herself for him.
Even so, knowing the truth didn’t change the fact that Snow was still himself. No ancient consciousness awakened, no special memories flooded back. Orsted had simply revealed the truth and let him understand his origin.
"What am I supposed to do now?" Snow asked, feeling the weight of it all.
What he’d seen had widened his horizons. Now he knew what he was—and what final enemy stood across the board from him: Agaroth, the Demon King.
Even when the Pure Vessel was at his absolute peak, he had barely managed to face Agaroth one-on-one ..and lost miserably in the end. Now people whispered that the Demon King had grown far stronger than on that day. News like that brought despair more easily than hope.
"Do I live as a Lightbearer now and build my strength on that path? But to what end? Even when you and I were one, we couldn’t defeat Agaroth. So what’s supposed to be different now?" Snow said, a sharp ache blooming behind his eyes as he thought himself in circles.
Live as human? As Lightbearer? Or both?
What fate was he walking toward ..and how were they meant to topple that damned demon?
What happened after the War of Fission they lost? What became of Audrey?
Questions multiplied, each one a spike in his skull ..until Orsted cut him off before he spiraled any further.
"There’s no need to overthink it. You are my other half. Your true name is Snow, and your original title is Lord Vessel."
"The first marks your human side; the second, the legendary Lightbearer you are. Even though you’re my other half, we can’t become a single person again ..you and I have become separate living beings," Orsted said, extending his hand as he gathered the golden power of the World Tree.
"Don’t jump ahead. Don’t fixate on an enemy beyond your current horizon. Focus on the war in front of you now—the human war."
"That’s the perfect crucible to accelerate your growth. Defeat the enemies before you, and the path ahead will clarify. You’re a legendary Lightbearer with potential beyond what was allotted to me ..because the Light Soul chose you, not me. It’s there, inside you." Pointing to Snow, Orsted poured the World Tree’s power into him.
"Once that world-breaking ability fully stirs, you’ll wield one of the strongest auras in existence ..the anti-demonic force, the sharpest weapon against them."
"The World Tree will help draw out your true potential. But first, understand this: the War-King Form you use is not a mere battle stance ..it’s your true state, the one you must live in from now on if you intend to walk the Path of Light properly."
Following Orsted’s guidance, Snow anchored the War-King Form, letting it steep deep into both skin and soul.
At the same time, the golden World Tree shuddered violently outside, gathering all its sacred power and bending it to Snow at Orsted’s command.
"Find the right path, Snow. Feel the grandeur of what’s within you .. and know you have enough to reach the summit."
Orsted spoke with certainty. Even split in two, the Light Soul remained a lethal weapon ..its force far beyond the realm of men.
"Once you master this power, you won’t be inferior to the likes of Frey Starlight in any way. Live with pride, and win the war at hand."
Leaving Snow to absorb the titanic surge within him, Orsted began to fade; he could no longer maintain this form.
"Become stronger. The next time we meet, the end will be near, and everything will be on the line."
As his body disappeared bit by bit, Orsted slowly closed his eyes.
The cosmos was changing day by day. Since the last war ..the battle between Agaroth, the Demon King, and Nameless, the lone fighter who could contest him .. the world had slipped into a lull, a strange calm that let the races breathe at last.
Agaroth had been inactive since that clash ..rumor held that Nameless had done something to him. As for the other demon, Crimson, whose presence was said to rival Agaroth’s, he too went dormant, never leaving Helmond.
That left only the Upper Ranks and the Duchy of Hell for the races to resist. With the king and his strongest shadow withdrawn, the demonic invasions slowed; the era of apocalyptic wars receded.
That peace lasted a long time, but the clear-sighted knew all things end. It was only a matter of time before wars fiercer than those of the past erupted anew.
For the Vessel of the Pure Vessel had appeared ..and, likewise, what might be a new Nameless.
Demons began to stir in force again. The Great Ones acted strangely, as if something were on the verge of happening. The name of Odin .. the enigma the ancients feared and none had ever reached ..echoed more and more of late.
All signs pointed to something coming .. something ominous that would rewrite history and change the world’s fate forever.
And the beginning would likely be on Earth, a planet tucked away in a forgotten corner of the cosmos.
Knowing this, Orsted had to ready his other half for the next phase. And so ..
The Empire’s hero finally awakened his true potential. Bathed in the golden light of the World Tree, a wondrous radiance welled up from within Snow’s body, and the Light Soul that had slumbered in him all these years surged free at last ..rising to the surface and announcing itself to the world anew.
Orsted vanished completely, leaving Snow alone to wrestle with the flood of power.
Time crawled ..second after second, minute after minute, then hours, then several days, with Snow confined inside the World Tree. His body became a vessel for that terrifying golden might, undergoing a series of transformations that altered his very being.
No one knew what the Empire’s hero would be once he emerged from seclusion .. but one thing was certain: he would not be the same man.