The battlefield was finally silent.
No more screams.
No more roars.
No more trembling earth beneath Aizen's feet.
Only the cold wind brushing across the ruins remained.
Aizen stood in the center of it all, the clouds parting around him as if the sky itself feared the storm within him. His golden eyes dimmed back to their natural warmthless glow as he stared down at the two broken bodies before him.
Zelfhar, the Dragon King, split cleanly across the torso, his once-mighty red and gold scales shattered like cracked gemstones.
And beside him lay Asmodeus, the Demon King, his dark obsidian armor torn apart, demonic wings shredded and limp, his black-purple blood staining the cracked stones beneath him.
Both rulers—monsters feared by the entire continent—now lifeless beneath Aizen Arcime's feet.
Aizen exhaled slowly, frost curling from his breath. The adrenaline faded, leaving exhaustion behind, but his face stayed cold and unreadable. His battle form had lasted long enough to topple kingdoms, but that form was beginning to collapse now. He still hadn't realized something far more terrifying:
The past was watching him.
And not just the past.
A force far beyond time itself.
But Aizen simply rolled his shoulders and turned away from the corpses. Beyond the scorched horizon stood the towering grey mountain where his family should be waiting—Lyra, Lina, Theodore, Mikaela, Crystal, and Amethyst. The thought of them was the only thing softening the tension in his face.
"Finally…" he murmured, voice low. "I defeated the Big Army. Now I can rest… and see them again."
Aizen's Detransformation
As he walked, the golden flames flickering from his body weakened. His black armor—inscribed with the blazing sun symbol—faded piece by piece into golden dust until it vanished entirely. His long, wild battle hair, once thrashing like a beast's mane, shrank and softened back into his usual length. His claws shortened. His tail dimmed, losing its bright golden fire. The monstrous aura around him dissipated into gentle sparks.
He shivered lightly. Without that form, he felt… small.
But at least he could see clearly now that his hair no longer covered his vision.
The mountain's mansion came into view.
Aizen felt relief rise in his chest.
"Everyone… I'm home."
He broke into a desperate run.
The Watching Celestial
The world suddenly pulled away—as if an invisible camera were yanked backward through time, space, and reality.
The land became nothing but a speck.
Then a distant shimmer.
Then a floating bubble of light.
Finally, the image stopped inside a destroyed palace—where thrones once belonging to gods now sat empty, cracked, and dust-covered.
In the center of the ruined hall sat a woman with long, silver-white hair flowing to her waist. Her eyes were a tired, faded purple. Her armor was broken. Her robes torn. Her wings—once radiant—were shriveled and dull.
In her trembling hands, she held a purplish crystal ball showing Aizen walking to the grey mountain.
Olivierr Auralisse.
The Second Leader of the Celestials.
The only survivor of her universe.
She let out a slow exhale, voice trembling.
"…So I see now… why both Aizen and Miss Lyra's bodies disintegrated," she whispered. "They weren't erased. They were… transferred. Pulled across the void and planted in a universe similar to ours."
Her eyes darkened as she gazed around the empty palace.
"Too far… far too far for me to reach. If I step outside my universe… I lose eighty percent of my power. I would die before I even crossed one percent of the void."
She tightened her grip on the crystal ball as Aizen's image flickered inside it.
"That world… it looks almost identical to ours. But their Celestial Gods…"
She paused, bitterness cracking her voice.
"…they aren't like us. They are corrupted. Evil. Unbound."
Her gaze moved toward the largest throne—burned and shattered at the back of the palace.
"Because of her… the Great Destroyer Goddess… I am alone now. My aunt. My sister. The one who consumed entire realms in madness."
A lone tear slid down her cheek.
"All my comrades… all the Celestial Gods… they fought valiantly."
Her voice broke.
"And now they're all dead. And she disappeared after killing them."
She touched the crystal ball gently, as if caressing the image of Aizen.
"I just wish you and Miss Lyra can defeat my… other selves. The alternate versions. Before they destroy your world too."
Her expression softened—a mother's sorrow filling her eyes.
"I must go now… My daughter, Seraphira… she's dying. I need to help her recover, while she still breathes."
She leaned forward and whispered her final words to the crystal ball:
"Goodbye for now, Aizen Arcime."
Her tears hit the floor softly as the image faded.
Back to Aizen
The world snapped back.
Aizen reached the mansion, pushing open the huge wooden doors.
"Everyone! I'm back!"
His voice carried through the halls.
"I defeated the big army! So I'm very tired… I can't play with Lina or Theodore right no—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
The mansion was silent.
Completely silent.
"Lyra? Mikaela? Theodore? …Lina?"
No answer.
He frowned and walked deeper inside.
Then faster.
Then running.
He checked every room:
—Bedrooms
—Kitchen
—Storage
—Hallways
—Behind curtains
—Under stairs
Nothing.
Not a single sign of life.
His heartbeat quickened.
"…Stop joking around."
He forced a laugh.
"Playing hide and seek now? Seriously? This isn't funny!"
He inhaled deeply and activated his magic.
"See Through Walls Magic… Haya!"
A wave of shimmering gold spread through the mansion.
Aizen scanned every corner—every floor—every shadow.
"…No one?"
His voice cracked.
"N-No one is here?!"
His hand trembled.
Then he saw it.
Pinned to the door of his and Lyra's shared bedroom—
A red paper.
Stained with blood.
Slowly, he approached.
Each step felt heavier than the battlefield he had just survived.
His fingers hovered above the note.
His breath shook.
"…Please… don't be what I think it is."
He lifted the paper.
The handwriting was not Lyra's.
Not Mikaela's.
Not anyone from Earth he knew.
It was elegant… sharp… mocking.
Written entirely with someone's blood.
Aizen read the words silently, his expression collapsing.
"Hello Fellow!
Your quite a strange Lion from my lineage!
So I took your family and friends just because I could annoy you.
Written by the Heavens Celestial God
—Olivierr."
The paper crumpled violently in his shaking fist.
Aizen froze.
His breath stopped.
His vision blurred with rage.
Something in him—
something sealed—
something ancient—
began to quiver.
No storm powers.
No transformation.
No armor.
Something else.
Something that should never awaken.
Aizen's teeth clenched so hard they almost cracked.
"…You took them…?"
His voice was barely a whisper, yet it shook the entire room.
His tail flickered—black fire crackling at the tip.
"Lina… Theodore… Lyra… all of them…?"
His knees trembled—not from weakness, but from how violently he tried to bottle his rage.
"…Damn it…"
His aura began to pulse.
"…DAMN IT!"
A shockwave burst from him, cracking the floor tiles.
His breath grew heavy.
"I'll find whoever did this…"
Lightning coiled around his arms like serpents.
"And I'll tear apart their heaven…"
He stepped outside the mansion.
Above him, the sky shuddered—
as if a gateway were forming.
"…no matter what."
End of Chapter 88.