Temple of the Demon Lord of Wishes

[Reves Summanus: 65%]

[Nathan Summanus: 35%]

Ivaim bit his lip, his mind racing.

'What do I do...?'

Who was going to bare the curse if not one of them?

Darian was dead.

Neli was out of the question as she was the Master of Cruelty.

And neither he nor the Black Veil Master wanted to take on the curse.

That left only two options...

As he wrestled with the decision, a weak voice broke through the silence.

"Ivaim... save... Reves..."

Nathan's lips barely moved as his eyes were still in a trance, trying to fight Reves off of the curse.

The system updated again.

[Reves Summanus: 75%]

[Nathan Summanus: 25%]

Nathan was losing...

'That makes sense, he's quite weak when it comes to his own son...'

Ivaim exhaled.

"Alright."

He activated [Whisper] once more.

'I can't go for an emotionally nice response... Reves would most likely just want the curse even more...'

As someone who could sympathize well with people, Ivaim was the best at figuring out what to say to trigger the hell out of them.

His words slipped into Reves' mind like a silken noose tightening around his thoughts.

"Reves, why aren't you letting go?"

The numbers shifted.

[Reves Summanus: 73%]

[Nathan Summanus: 27%]

Reves flinched, his brows furrowing.

His lips parted as he muttered... shaky, uncertain.

"N-no... I can't! I'm... I'm gonna ruin everything again..."

Ivaim chuckled low, a slow, indulgent sound.

"Ah... so that's what this is about? You think this will fix things?"

His voice coiled around Reves' hesitation, slipping beneath his skin.

"Tell me, Reves... when have you ever fixed anything?"

The system adjusted.

[Reves Summanus: 70%]

[Nathan Summanus: 30%]

Reves twitched. His breath hitched, his trance-like state wavering.

"I just... I just wanted to be strong..."

"Strong? You?"

Ivaim let out a slow, amused hum.

"No, Reves. You're a feeble little boy, grasping for something you'll never reach. A failure clawing at scraps, hoping for a miracle."

[Reves Summanus: 67%]

[Nathan Summanus: 33%]

Reves clenched his fists, his breath ragged.

His mind was in shambles...

"You think your father needs you?"

Ivaim whispered, his voice curling into something sickly sweet.

"No, Reves. He would be better off without you. He wouldn't have to carry your weight anymore."

Reves let out a shaky breath.

"T-that's not..."

"Not true?"

Ivaim chuckled darkly.

"Tell me, then. How many times has Nathan had to clean up your messes? How many times has he bled for you? Because you were too weak, too pathetic to stand on your own?"

[Reves Summanus: 63%]

[Nathan Summanus: 37%]

Reves shook his head weakly.

"But I-"

"Ah, still clinging on? How pitiful."

Ivaim's voice dropped, silk turning to ice.

"You know you're worthless, don't you? You always have. You've just been too much of a coward to admit it..."

[Reves Summanus: 58%]

[Nathan Summanus: 42%]

Reves' form flickered.

His breath came out in short, uneven bursts.

"Stop... it!"

Ivaim continued.

"Oh? Did I hit a nerve?"

His voice toned deeper, relentless.

"Face it, Reves. You're not a hero. You never were. You're just a scared little boy playing pretend, hoping someone, anyone, will tell you you matter. But the truth? No one needs you to do pretentious things like this."

[Reves Summanus: 48%]

[Nathan Summanus: 52%]

Reves flinched, his fingers twitching as if trying to grasp onto something unseen.

"I'm not... listening.. to you..!"

"Why won't you?"

Ivaim voiced a sneer.

"You think clinging to this curse makes you important? That it gives you purpose?"

Reves spoke back as though trying to defend himself.

"I just wanted to help..."

"Help? Hahaha!"

Ivaim's voice let out a chuckle.

"You've never helped anyone! You've only ever been a burden! A liability! Do you have any idea what you're doing to your father?! What you're putting everyone through?!"

The system flickered.

[Reves Summanus: 44%]

[Nathan Summanus: 56%]

Reves' expression twisted with guilt.

"I don't want to be useless..."

"Then stop being useless."

Ivaim's voice was a whisper, curling around Reves like a snake.

"Or better yet... stop doing useless things. That's what you're doing, isn't it? Because you think disappearing makes everything easier?"

[Reves Summanus: 40%]

[Nathan Summanus: 60%]

Reves shook his head, his lips trembling.

"But if I don't..."

"If you don't, what?"

Ivaim taunted.

"You think your father will hate you? You think I_will hate you? You think you were meant to protect us? How absurd."

Reves squeezed his eyes shut, his whole body trembling.

"I just want Father to be safe!"

"And you think this is how you do it?"

Ivaim's tone shifted, a final push.

"Do you honestly believe Nathan would be happy knowing his son threw away his life like a broken toy? If you don't let go, do you know what's going to happen?"

Reves remained silent, his hands clenching at his sides.

Ivaim leaned in, his voice a venomous whisper.

"Your father will hate himself. For you. Every morning, he'll wake up knowing his own son didn't trust him. Didn't believe in him. That you thought he was too weak to survive without you."

His voice softened, laced with cruel mockery.

"Oh, Reves... is that what you want? To be the reason he breaks?"

Hearing that, Reves' body immediately trembled as though Ivaim's final words hit a deep spot in his heart.

He would never want to be the reason why his father breaks...

The system notified once again.

[Reves Summanus: 0%]

[Nathan Summanus: 100%]

The moment Reves' sync rate reached zero, his body gave out.

His legs buckled, and he collapsed forward, barely conscious.

Ivaim caught him before he hit the ground, his own breath coming in ragged gasps.

Using [Whisper] over and over had drained him, leaving a dull ache behind his eyes and a heaviness in his limbs.

Reves trembled in his arms, his fingers weakly clutching at Ivaim's shirt.

Then, the system chimed.

[The Main Task has been cleared.]

[Due to the prevented birth of the Master of Cruelty, the current Reality Master is now Nathan Summanus.]

Ivaim barely had time to process that before the notifications turned red.

[Warning! Error! Warning! Error!]

[Warning! Due to incompatibility, current reality will now disintegrate!]

A surge of energy pulsed through the air.

Nathan's form, standing in front of them, began to distort... his body warping like a reflection in shattered glass.

Then, a shockwave erupted from him, blasting outward in a massive wave of force.

Ivaim barely had time to brace before the Black Veil Master moved to protect both of them.

A dark, shifting veil of power wrapped around him and Reves, shielding them as the fractured world trembled around them.

The sky cracked, fragments of existence peeling away like burning paper.

"The Fractured Reality is shattering..."

She murmured, her voice as calm as ever despite the chaos surrounding them.

[You are now allowed to exit the Fractured Reality.]

The Black Veil Master wasted no time.

Her form twisted, dissolving into streaks of color as she vanished, leaving Ivaim and Reves behind.

Reves, still weak, shoved against Ivaim's hold, slipping from his arms and hitting the ground with a painful thud.

He didn't seem to care.

His hands scraped against the fractured earth as he tried to crawl forward, his eyes locked onto Nathan.

"Dad! Please!"

Reves' voice cracked, desperation spilling out of him.

"I won't do things on my own anymore! I won't cause trouble, I promise! Please, let's go!"

Nathan remained silent, his face unreadable as he looked at the system's latest message:

[Cannot leave the Fractured Reality due to being the curse-bearer.]

Reves' breath hitched.

He scrambled closer, tears blurring his vision.

"I-I won't be reckless anymore! I'll stop messing with the company's machines! I'll even give up being a Reality Walker! Just—just come with me! Please!"

His voice broke completely, raw and helpless.

But Nathan didn't move.

Reves sobbed, pressing his forehead to the ground.

"Dad, I'm sorry... just come back with me... please..."

Nathan exhaled, his expression dark with something unreadable.

Then, he raised his hand.

Before Reves could react, his vision blurred as his surroundings started to look saturated.

"No! No, let me stay!"

Reves fought, trying to grab on to the dirt, but it was too late.

Nathan was already using his authority as the Reality Master.

[Reves Summanus has been forced out of the Fractured Reality.]

Ivaim, still catching his breath, as he simply stared at Nathan.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then, Nathan finally turned his gaze to him.

"The other Throne Holders will send their Walkers the moment they realize I'm gone. Reves won't be safe."

Ivaim didn't respond, but he listened.

"Go to the company headquarters. Find Chief Elara. Tell her the password to the chamber below is 758312. She'll understand what it means. She'll give you a mask."

His voice was steady, but there was a finality to it... as though he knew this was his end.

"All the riches of the Summanus company, every artifact in its vaults... you can take them. When I die here, I will become an artifact, one that can control metal. When that happens, I give you permission to use it."

Nathan took a slow breath before his next words.

"But I only ask for one thing."

His gaze met Ivaim's, steady, unshaken.

"The mask Chief Elara gives you will allow you to transform into anyone. I need you to pretend to be me. Don't let the outside world know that I'm dead."

Ivaim's fingers twitched at his sides.

"You want me to become you?"

"Not forever. Just long enough to protect Reves until he's strong enough. If the prophecy is true, then he will be. He'll be strong enough to take on the Throne Holders. But until then... he needs someone to shield him."

Ivaim was silent for a long moment.

Then, he let out a quiet chuckle.

"I can fool the outside world. But I won't be able to fool Reves."

Nathan closed his eyes for a moment.

When he opened them, there was something softer there.

Acceptance.

"At the very least... someone will protect him."

Ivaim didn't get a chance to reply.

A pulse of energy shot through him, and before he could resist, his body was yanked out of the Fractured Reality.

[You have been forced out of the Fractured Reality.]

His vision blurred, the world dissolving into color.

He was finally back in the real word.

For a brief moment, everything slowed. Everything stretched.

And for the first time, Ivaim finally understood...

Cruelty was not just pain. It was not just suffering.

It was forcing someone to walk away when they wanted to stay.

It was silencing their pleas, tearing them from the one thing they couldn't bear to lose.

It was knowing the truth, holding it in your hands, and choosing to lie because the world needed that lie more than the truth.

It was watching someone accept their own end, not with fear, not with anger, but with quiet resolve.

And in that moment, Ivaim realized—

The cruelest act he had ever witnessed… was loving someone.

[Volume 1 : The First Fall (Complete)]