Ark: The Cycle of Light and Darkness

Light is poison.

In the darkness, a sudden light shone in, tearing apart the originally stable and sinking darkness - this did not mean salvation. For the darkness itself, this beam of light was poison, sin, and an evil that could not be avoided..

Regulus Harvey tore open the skin of the dream, exposing the bloody reality...but if this is the end that the man chose for himself, it is not completely unacceptable.

——However, light is poisonous.

When that piece of light finally passes through the endless fog and shines into the darkness, the darkness will not be grateful for the salvation it brings. It will only feel fear and hatred for the burning heat that tears itself apart, and then it will engulf it at all costs.

Light is a mortal enemy and poison.

At this moment, in the dark space, the two"Theresia" were sitting opposite each other.

Different from the rage and anger after Levi revealed his identity, the inner demon at this moment showed unusual calmness and even a little indifference when facing Theresia.

Although Levi's self-destruction failed due to the arrival of the other party, the inner demon did not show much emotion of"regret" and"hate". In other words, the complex emotions in his heart could not be simply caused by someone. A summary of one or certain emotions.

And Theresa just looked tenderly at the shadow in front of her that acted in her own image and identity, without saying a word. a long time——

"……well."

The first one to sigh was"Theresia" who was Levi's inner demon. Compared with the real Theresia in front of her, even if she was just facing each other in silence, the pressure between authenticity and falsehood was overwhelming. But it is real.

She is real...and he is a fake

"So...it's all over, right?"

The inner demon looked at Theresia in front of him, and the latter just nodded slightly.

"For you...yes. Your mission has ended, and I...cannot continue your existence."

This sentence is true.

The inner demon was born in Levi's unconsciousness, swallowing up his self-blame, regret and fear and growing stronger. But the existence of this power depends on Levi himself. This, even if he has and Theresa, who has the same power as Levi and is almost equal to a god, cannot interfere with the reversal.

In other words, Levi is not unable to wake up, but voluntarily sinks into nightmares and self-blame, unwilling to wake up again.

He would rather accept Living with never-ending mental torture and unwilling to wake up, because——

"‘I can't bear it anymore, a world without you’……This is true for him and for me."

Theresa showed a smile, but what overflowed from the corners of her eyes was sadness, joy...or various other suppressed emotions.

"That's it……"

The inner demon shook his head, but there was not much surprise in his expression:"Sure enough... you are just as crazy as that man."

"I can remember the number of times that man fell into nightmares and died...a total of 18,672 times"

"——He also stood up again eighteen thousand six hundred and seventy two times"

"I was once very curious - how much obsession could the existence named 'Theresia' give this man, so that he could not be completely driven crazy even after so many deaths?"

"But seeing you - I really understand that it's not that he's not crazy... but that he's already crazy."

Theresia listened quietly to the words of her inner demon. Until then, she finally showed a faint smile.

"Yes - we are all madmen, so no matter how many times he escapes, I will catch up with him and then pull his soul back from reincarnation...from hell."

"Before that, no matter if it's a thousand times or ten thousand times... I will do it - I will definitely catch him."

"How about it? It's amazing, right?……‘We're persistent."

The inner demon is silent.

This is an emotion he can understand - because this obsession exists not only in Theresia in front of him, but also in the figure who has always been tortured by nightmares and annihilated by reincarnation.

"Incomprehensible, incomprehensible……"

At this moment, as an inner demon, her sense of existence has become extremely thin. She knew she had no time. Her disappearance means that Levi has completely transcended the pain, regret, hatred, fear and despair of the past, and moved towards another level of awakening.

"Then... he... I'll leave it to you……"

"If it were you... you could do it, right?……？"

"The real...Theresia……"

The figure of the inner demon completely dissipated with the intermittent words, but Theresia always watched all this without saying a word.

Immediately, the figure of the moon turned into particles and dissipated, and the dark space fell into eternal silence.

————Dividing line————

——The being named"Regulus Harvey" slowly opened his eyes.

What came into view was no longer the burning bridge, nor was the smell of burnt blood intruding on the sense of smell. Everything was so calm, as calm as if the previous nightmares were all hallucinations.

Then, he met her eyes.

That sense of reality is undoubtedly not a dream, nor is it an illusion in her mind, but something that truly exists in the world. She

——his obsession

——his pain

——His remorse.

And his...unattainable dream.

He just stared at the scene in front of him infatuatedly, as if he wanted to freeze time and freeze this moment. He was afraid of losing...even if the scene in front of him was not an illusion.

The lover in front of him is no longer an illusion that can only be seen in dreams, nor is it an image that exists only as a soul, but a life that truly exists in the world like him.

Or, in a sense...a higher level of existence.

He saw her smile, her tears, and her raised palms, which finally fell gently and wiped away the tears on his face.

The long-separated figures gently embraced each other. At this moment, thousands of words pale in comparison to the joy of reunion.

"……I'm back"

"……Well, welcome back, Revy."