Chapter 104: The Betrayal That Repeats

"Wait a moment..."

Rin stood completely still, staring at the empty place where the castle had once existed.

"Ever since I appeared here and left the Demon Realm, I’ve been dragged into one mystery after another."

He slowly rubbed his forehead.

"And considering that I don’t remember anything from my past lives... I clearly need to figure out what I can actually use from all the information we’ve gathered so far."

The others remained silent.

Sol, Kaan, Lucien, and the twelve former Divine Knights watched Rin carefully. Even Kaelith said nothing.

Rin’s mind was racing. The fallen god, the underground prison, the pale eyes, World, the erased timeline, the strange name Ael, the memory that shouldn’t exist.

And then—

Kaelith. Rin suddenly remembered something.

The eyes.

They were the ones who had said Kaelith betrayed him. Not Kaelith himself.

The pale eyes had told them about a timeline nobody else remembered and then there was the other revelation.

The Rin from another timeline had apparently erased Kaelith’s memories. And, most importantly ...there was another Kaelith.

The one Lucien had seen. A Kaelith chained somewhere beyond their world. Rin’s expression slowly became serious.

Think, Rin. Think. Remember the events from the book. Do they resemble something?

His eyes widened.

The name of the book suddenly returned to his mind. Not just the title. The title he had seen countless times before everything began.

Betrayal.

Rin’s breathing stopped for a moment.

"Of course..."

He whispered the word.

Betrayal.

The book was called Betrayal.

Kaelith had been accused of betraying Rin. A mysterious timeline existed where Rin had erased Kaelith’s memories.

There were lies. Secrets. Curses. Deaths. Disappearances. People being erased. World resetting everything.

And Rin himself repeatedly returning without remembering anything. Rin’s eyes slowly widened.

This isn’t random.

His thoughts raced faster.

The betrayal. The lies. The secrets. The curses. The deaths. The disappearances. Everything keeps repeating.

His expression became grim.

"We’re inside a loop."

Everyone looked at him. Rin took a breath.

"Listen to me for a moment."

Sol immediately tilted his head.

"What is it?"

"I know this is going to sound insane."

Rin looked at all of them.

"But as I’ve said countless times since I arrived in this world, I don’t remember the events that all of you know."

He paused.

"Sometimes I get flashes. A name. A place. A feeling. A memory that doesn’t belong to the life I remember living."

His eyes lowered.

"But I don’t know if those memories are actually mine."

Kaan frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"I don’t know whether they’re fragments from one of my past lives..."

Rin touched his chest.

"...or whether this world is simply trying to swallow me and make me part of something I was never supposed to know."

Nobody interrupted him. Rin looked toward the twelve children.

"But there’s something else."

He took a deep breath.

"You’re all characters from a book."

Silence.

"And the name of that book..."

Rin’s voice became quieter.

"...is Betrayal."

Kaan’s eyes widened. Lucien slowly looked at the others. Sol was unusually quiet. Rin continued.

"Don’t you find that strange?"

Kaan was the first to answer.

"You mean..."

He hesitated.

"You think all of this has a reason?"

"I don’t know."

Rin shook his head.

"I don’t know how this world works. I don’t know how to break curses. I don’t know how to undo what World has done."

His eyes became sharper.

"But one thing is obvious from everything we’ve seen these past few days."

He looked around at everyone.

"We repeat."

Nobody spoke.

"Betrayal."

Rin raised one finger.

"Lies."

A second.

"Curses."

A third.

"Deaths."

He lowered his hand.

"Secrets."

His voice became quieter.

"Every time we think we’ve discovered an answer, we only find another mystery beneath it."

Rin looked toward the empty place where the castle had been.

"We think we’re getting closer to the truth, but instead, we fall deeper into another layer of the same nightmare."

He looked at the others.

"Doesn’t that seem strange to you?"

Lucien lowered his gaze. After a few seconds, he answered quietly.

"You’re right."

His voice was almost a whisper.

"Somehow... it does make sense."

Sol crossed his arms.

"I hate when Rin starts making sense."

Rin glanced at him.

"You say that like it’s unusual."

"It is."

Kaan almost smiled. Then Rin’s expression became serious again.

"That is why, before we dive even deeper into these mysteries, we should take them one at a time."

He pointed toward the twelve children.

"The most important thing right now is figuring out how to return the Divine Knights to their original forms."

The twelve children immediately looked at one another. Rin continued.

"And, more importantly, we need to figure out how to drive that Fallen God out of this world."

Lucien’s expression darkened.

"You don’t think he’s gone?"

"No."

Rin shook his head.

"Do you really believe he disappeared just because the castle did?"

He pointed toward Kaan and the others.

"If he were truly gone, shouldn’t Kaan and the others have returned to their original adult forms?"

Everyone looked at the twelve children. They were still children. Their memories remained. Their personalities remained. Their identities remained but their bodies had not changed.

The curse was still there. Rin folded his arms.

"They’re still trapped in these forms."

Kaan looked down at himself. His expression became serious.

"So the Fallen God is still connected to us."

"Exactly."

Rin nodded.

"And until we understand how, we can’t assume that we’ve won."

The group fell silent but someone wasn’t listening to the conversation.

Kaelith.

He stood slightly apart from the others. His eyes remained fixed on Rin.

He listened to every word. Every theory, every conclusion but his thoughts were somewhere else.

Why do you always have to help everyone?

His gaze followed Rin.

Why can’t you just look at me? Why do you always choose something else?

The Divine Knights. The mysteries. The Fallen God. World. The forgotten timeline. Always something. Always someone.

Everything seemed capable of stealing Rin’s attention. Everything except him.

Kaelith’s expression remained calm. But the insecurity beneath it was obvious.

Why? Why do you always choose anything except my love?

His fingers slowly curled. He knew Rin didn’t understand. How could he?

Rin remembered nothing. Not their past lives. Not their promises. Not the countless times Kaelith had found him. Not the countless times he had lost him.

To Rin, this was the beginning.

To Kaelith...It felt like the continuation of an eternity.

Rin suddenly turned toward him. Their eyes met.

Kaelith immediately softened his expression.

Rin frowned.

"Were you listening?"

"Yes."

"What did I say?"

Kaelith answered without hesitation.

"You’re worried about the Divine Knights."

Rin stared at him. Kaelith continued.

"You’re worried about the Fallen God."

A pause.

"You’re worried about World."

Rin blinked. Kaelith’s gaze softened.

"And you’re trying to find a way to protect everyone."

Rin smiled slightly.

"See? You were listening."

Kaelith said nothing.

I always listen to you.

Rin turned away again. He didn’t notice the way Kaelith continued watching him.

Because Rin had something else on his mind.

The other Kaelith. The one Lucien had seen. The one chained by World.

Rin was the only person among them who suspected who that Kaelith truly was.

The first Kaelith. The first Kaelith who had existed in this world. Rin remembered the side story from the book.

Or at least, he remembered that there had been something about him.

A name. A real name. Something important. But no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t come.

Rin closed his eyes.

Come on... What was his name?

He searched through every fragment of the story he could remember.

Nothing. The name remained just beyond his reach.

Then—

A voice entered his mind. Soft. Tired. Yet filled with an overwhelming amount of love.

Rin’s eyes snapped open. The world around him seemed to disappear.

The voice whispered:

"My love..."

Rin froze. His heart began pounding.

"I will wait for you even after death."

A pause. Then the voice became even softer.

"No one and nothing will ever separate us."

Rin’s breath caught. He knew that voice. Not from this life. Not from any memory he could consciously access.

But somewhere deep inside his soul... He knew it.

Rin slowly turned toward Kaelith. Kaelith was already looking at him. His expression had changed.

For one impossible second, he looked as if he had heard the same voice. Then Rin heard one final whisper.

"Find my name, Ael."

And somewhere beyond the boundaries of their world, something chained in the darkness opened its eyes.

Far beyond their world, the chained man slowly opened his eyes.

He tried to speak. His lips moved, but his voice was barely more than a broken whisper.

"Ael..."

He pulled against the enormous chains surrounding his body. They were thick enough to bind a god, stretching from the ancient walls of the prison and disappearing into the darkness above.

The cell was endless and cold, with no door, no windows, and no light except the faint glow of World.

Then World appeared before him. Its presence filled the prison with hatred.

"You will never be with him again."

The chained man raised his head. His eyes remained filled with longing. He tried to speak his lover name once more.

But World tightened the chains.

"Never."

The prison fell silent.

Yet the man continued staring into the darkness, as if he could somehow see Rin through countless worlds.

And then, with the last strength in his voice, he whispered—

"I will wait."