He stood on the unusually hot ground, feeling the eerie passing breeze and the ominous and familiar energy dominating this world. For the first couple of moments, the man stood there, dazed, deep in thought, his eyes glued onto the blue and illusory window floating inches away from his eye. Despite his lack of sensation, he vividly felt an uncomfortable tingling all over his body and inexplicable suffocation caused by the atmosphere of this foreign yet familiar world.

Even without the System's reminder, it would have taken him but a few moments to recognize this broken world. His memories of it were deeply imprinted into his mind, never to be forgotten… the strange and demonic flames eternally burning this whole place and turning it into ash, the corrupted earth and the withered vegetation, which couldn't handle the passing of time or the effects of the monsters lurking around.

Many, if not all, called this world Oblivion, a place that no one could live in, a place of pure evil, a place reigned by truly sadistic and malicious beings. Its history long forgotten and its name never remembered, only those who lived here would know of it, of its glorious past, how it was once a flourishing and peaceful place where all races coexisted.

This was the first world ever created, though it was small compared to the vast realms that exist in the present, its past splendor could not be denied… Riarravar, it was called.

*Welcome to Riarravar, please proceed with caution.*

*Due to the nature of Riarravar, your stats are decreased for as long as you're here: -10% All Stats.*

Arthur took a deep breath, his got rid of the countless thoughts rampaging in his mind and gazed at the incredibly large figures slowly marching toward him. Without a doubt, they were the higher variations of Cthulhu, the ones which killed him and his two brothers and ended their long journey in this world.

Never did he think that Oblivion was actually Riarravar, however, his situation was different from the past. He has access to all skills and the minor debuffs can be negated with [Eternium] and other skills, not like he needs to use them against those opponents.

Although they weren't a real threat to the current Arthur, their numbers were absurd, especially those hideous Cthulhu with multiple arms. They were madly running toward him, stretching their long arms and waving their weapons.

Arthur immediately got into actions, raising both of his hands and sending dozens of creepy-looking fireballs that detonated all around him, causing hundreds of Cthulhu to explode into a bloody mess. Just when he fly into the sky, to get a better view of his surroundings, he was petrified by the sight before him.

Far, far away from him, there was an excessively gargantuan being, its shadow cast a shadow over the whole area. Its face was ugly and its lower half had hundreds of tentacles, similar to the one which attacked the angel of death earlier. It supported itself using two thick and robust arms which were bigger than mountains, its eyes pulsated with orange light as they focused on Arthur.

For the first time ever, Arthur was actually afraid of an enemy, truly afraid, to the point of being unable to move or gaze directly at this massive entity. After a few seconds passed, which seemed like an eternity to the petrified Parasite, a deep voice rang in his ears.

"My honorable guest, let's play a game."

This being, whose presence was enough to fill Arthur with dread, had the qualifications to scare anyone, living or dead. He wasn't known for his strength but for his intelligence, a being deserving of worship and for many years was he imprisoned here, bored and waiting for someone to come and entertain him.

By a few, he was called 'Timos' and by most, he was referred to as the 'Strategist', one of the six born from the Darkness…

****

In a world of absolute darkness, precisely inside a black manor which melted with this singular dimension, there were two males, conversing with each other. One was laying on a bed, had a sickly face, a fatally injured body and a limited time to live, while the other sat next to the former, his face expressionless yet his clenched fists were a clear indication of his turbulent emotions.

After having fought 'X', Arthur was aware that now, it was truly the time for him to die. No deity, no matter how great it was, could save him from his imminent death. He played with time more times than he could handle and, fortunately, managed to achieve his goals, though at the cost of his own life.

With nowhere to go, he decided to pass his last moments next to his brother.

The youth gazed at Arthur in silence, his eyes lacking their usual calmness and his breathing unusually out of rhythm. Seeing this, Arthur let out a chuckle, which led to a series of cough, and talked after he cleared his throat:

"You're not going to cry, are you?"

In response, Leiu replied:

"It is natural to cry from sadness, laugh from happiness. I'm not immune to such humane emotions."

"Well, that's rare thing for you to say, hehehe"

A bit of blood leaked out of Arthur's lips, his face as white a sheet of paper, like a corpse. His limbs thinner than ever, his skin withered and his bones fragile, no tougher than broken wood.

A short of silence flowed between the two brothers before Leiu raised his hand and hid his watery eyes, however, his 'attempt' was unsuccessful as Arthur was able to see the tears falling from his eyes and trickling down his face.

"I-I truly am sorry, Arthur. I've failed."

Before Arthur could reply, the youth continued

"I've failed you both… I, I wasn't there when you needed me."

It was the first time Arthur saw his brother in such state, his shoulders slightly trembling and his desperate tries to hide his wet eyes, filled with tears.

"You failed no one, brother. I, no, we can't expect you to be there for us whenever trouble arises."

Leiu shook his head and explain

"No, you do not understand. I could've helped you back there but I didn't… I was afraid, afraid that things would repeat themselves again, I'm tired of reliving the same tragedies, never to escape this loop… then there's…"

He stopped mid-sentence, dropping his head and still covering his eyes.

"I wasn't there… I wasn't there for my own brother! When he desperately needed me, I was away, unaware of the tragedy that befell on him!"

The youth took a deep breath, gazed at the ground and spoke with a shaky voice:

"He lost his friends, family, home, everything! He fought for days, expecting me to come yet the only ones that came were more enemies, trapping him, almost killing him, forcing him to flee. If I had answered his silent calls, the Omega Universe wouldn't have been destroyed, he wouldn't have been alone with no place to return to…"

The bedridden Arthur stretched his hand and, with a bit of difficulty, patted the youth's head while saying

"It's the first time I see you like this and I'm glad you emptied your heart and said what's on your mind. Now, after you're done feeling guilty about yourself, why don't you hear his opinion on the matter before you continue blaming yourself for eternity."

Hearing this, Leiu's body jerked and his head turned around, landing on the tall figure who was leaning against the door. He was massaging his temples, his eyes closed and his brows creased.

"Seriously, I was waiting for an awesome speech but all I heard was a bunch of nonsense from a man I deeply respect."

He walked up to the youth clad in black armor, wrapped his arm around the latter's neck and dragged him off the chair.

"I can't believe you're feeling guilty about that. That disaster had nothing to do with you, furthermore, you were busy that Gu fucker."

Leiu didn't resist the Joker which led to both of them falling the ground, the latter trying to 'suffocate' his brother, wanting to snap out of his pitiful lamentation.

A meter away from the two brothers, Arthur, who was laying on the bed, motionless, broke into a soft smoke, his gaze fixated on the two figures wrestling on the ground. Merely a few seconds later, the two battling brothers suddenly stopped, both their head turned toward Arthur.

His eyes were closed and all signs of life in his body expired, however, that soft and calming smile hanging on his face proved that he had a peaceful death.

Without arguing or making any noises, the two of them faced the deceased Arthur, silently knelt and remained in that position for a very long time.

After a while, Leiu snapped his fingers, to which a woman whose face was covered in a black veil appeared in the room. She imitated their actions and knelt toward Arthur, not even raising her head or emitting a sound.

His eye still glued onto Arthur, the youth spoke with a soft yet authoritative voice:

"Prepare the ship, we're going to Heaven."

In response, the woman, still kneeling, replied:

"As you wish."

A couple of seconds later, the woman stood up and left the room, leaving the two brothers alone again, still kneeling, showing no signs of standing up anytime soon.