Chapter 1: Aria Carlford

  Amidst the chaos of war, a lone figure knelt, chains binding her to the cold ground. Sweat and blood dripped from her battered form. Her black sword, stained red with both her enemies' blood and her own, lay before her.

  Hovering above her, suspended in silent judgment, was a mysterious crystal—its true name unspoken. It shone brightly, piercing through the abyss with an ethereal glow.

  A voice resonated from within.

  "Kid… I hereby offer you a peaceful life in another universe, far from this war-torn realm. Take care. I wish you all the best."

  The woman, barely able to speak, whispered hoarsely, "we…s-shall…t-tak-e it-t."

  And just like that, a wish was granted. A wish that would echo through eternity, reaching beyond the boundaries of this universe itself.

  Few millennia Later…

  Date: 23/10/2026

  A different time. A different world. No gods. No war. No divine battles.

  Just a girl in a school uniform. Her name ? Aria Carlford.

  Her life appeared mundane—routine, even. But behind the mask of an ordinary existence, an eternal destiny lay waiting to be reclaimed.

  Walking down familiar streets on her way to school, she couldn't help but wonder:

  "I wonder what they're doing in that world right now?"

  Sitting in her usual seat, she pulled out her phone, mindlessly swiping through the screen. No friends. No one approached her. Aria lived in a world of her own, detached from those around her.

  When the final bell rang, she packed her bag and left the classroom, walking straight past the bustling city and into the quiet solitude of a nearby forest.

  Upon reaching her usual spot, her eyes fell upon a wooden carving—an imitation of a crystal long lost to memory.

  Aria knelt before it, her fingers tracing the runes she had painstakingly carved into its surface. The forest was silent, save for the rustling leaves and the distant hum of city life behind her.

  A sigh escaped her lips. "Eighteen years… and nothing."

  No crests. No gods. No war. No resets. Just… normal life. Exactly what she had wished for.

  And yet, day after day, she found herself returning here. Staring at this wooden carving. The only proof that what she had lived through was real.

  Pressing her forehead against it, she whispered, "Are you watching me, hag?"

  No answer. There never was.

  Aria exhaled. "Good. Stay silent. That means I’m finally free."

  Dusting off her skirt, she turned and walked away, leaving the wooden crystal behind. As she returned to the city, the setting sun casting long shadows in her wake, she remained blissfully unaware… that her peaceful life was about to shatter.

  Date: 24/10/2026

  Aria walked alone, indifferent to the world around her.

  A crowd had gathered in front of a shop, their hushed whispers drawing little interest from her—until she caught sight of the scene.

  A thief had taken a girl hostage inside the store. A familiar face. A classmate.

  The onlookers gasped, frozen in fear.

  Aria? She didn’t even flinch. No tension in her body, no flicker of emotion in her gaze.

  But inside…

  "Stay calm. This isn’t my fight. I’m here to live, not to play the hero. The police will handle it. It’s not my problem."

  With a quiet exhale, she turned away, walking past the chaos as if it didn’t exist.

  A cold-hearted woman, some might say. But what had she endured to become this way?

  At school, the whispers followed her.

  "Did you hear?"

  "A girl from our school—she was taken hostage!"

  "What’s going to happen to her?"

  The weight of their words hung heavy in the air. But Aria? She remained still. Unmoved. Neither sadness nor guilt touched her.

  She was simply as she had chosen to be. Calm.

  The news eventually came: the situation had been handled. Relief spread among the students. Aria? Unchanged.

  "I knew it. I didn’t have to act. Just like the past eighteen years."

  Brilliant yet detached, Aria excelled in everything. But there was a problem—she never put in any effort.

  She could score perfect marks in exams but deliberately rewrote her correct answers to barely pass.

  In sports, she held back, never pushing herself beyond mediocrity.

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  Why? Even she didn’t know.

  After Classes: Cleaning Duty

  Standing by the window, a broom in one hand and the other in her hips, Aria idly stared outside as her classmates finished cleaning.

  The day was ending. Everything was routine.

  Until—

  The doors slammed shut.

  The windows snapped closed.

  A faint purple glow spread across the floor.

  The symbols… they were unmistakable to Aria.

  A summoning circle, rune letters.

  Panic spread through her classmates. Aria froze.

  This power—she hadn’t seen it in eighteen years.

  A strange sensation filled her body. Mana.

  "Mana? What is going on? Don’t tell me… a summoning circle? Rune letters ? But to where?"

  Before she could react, the spell activated.

  Light swallowed them whole.

  A Realm Between Worlds

  Darkness.

  Aria awoke, suspended in a void-like space. The air was thick, yet weightless. A realm of consciousness.

  Her feet found solid ground. A familiar voice echoed.

  "What the hell in the heavens—?"

  Before her, materializing out of nothingness, was a Crystal. The very same she had left behind long ago.

  Aria’s eyes narrowed. "So it’s you, hag. You’re the one who brought me here."

  The crystal pulsed, its light resonating. "You are wrong. It was not I who summoned you."

  Aria tensed. "Then why am I back here?"

  "First, let me welcome you back to your original world… A-."

  Aria’s breath hitched. She hadn't heard that name in centuries.

  "my mistake. should I say… Aria? That is what they call you now, isn’t it?"

  Her fists clenched. "Yeah. But I still didn’t get my answer."

  The crystal hummed. "Ever so impatient. Fine. I will get straight to the point. A new empire has risen since you left. They call themselves the Empire of Heaven. And an oracle is out there in the air. Shadow man will return…"

  "What? That’s impossible. He died. I killed him with my own hands!" Aria exclaimed.

  "Yes. His body perished. But his soul remains. And he seeks an Anchor—a new vessel. He will return."

  Silence.

  The weight of those words crushed her.

  "And so," the crystal continued, "the Empire of Heaven summoned heroes from another universe to defeat him. The spell targeted your world… and by chance, it locked onto you."

  Everything clicked.

  "So I was dragged back here." Aria sighed.

  "Correct. However, I altered your coordinates and removed your "Hero Title". You will wake somewhere in Archiea."

  Aria scoffed. "Archiea still stands? How long has it been?"

  Before he could receive an answer, the realm collapsed.

  A few days earlier

  The Empire of Heaven

  On the vast continent of Kagkal where the Kingdom of Archiea stood, another great force reigned supreme—the Empire of Heaven. Unlike the other factions on that planet that worshipped the God of Eternity, this empire was different. It was devoted to another higher entity—the Goddess of Creation.

  At the heart of the empire, in the grand celestial palace, a priest of the Clear Crystal had received an oracle in his dreams.

  A woman appeared, she wore a golden robe with a spear floating on her back… a tiara on her head… She was none other than the goddess of Creation herself… above her was the clear crystal.

  "Heed my call… He… who is known as the God of Shadows shall return…" the clear crystal resonated.

  The priest awoke in a cold sweat, his heart pounding in terror.

  The next day, an emergency assembly was held in the empire’s grand hall. At the head of the chamber sat Emperor Zarg Nivaras, the ruler of the Empire of Heaven. He is a demi-god, his Great great grandfather was the guardian of the heavenly realm before he descended to the mortal plane to establish this empire.

  Beside him stood his advisor and a council of high-ranking Nobles, including god-candidates and demi-gods. The tension in the room was suffocating.

  The prime minister stepped forward, his voice unwavering.

  "We have no choice. We must summon heroes from another world using forgotten Rune Magic."

  Rune Magic – A Forgotten Power

  Rune Magic.

  A lost and forgotten art.

  Unlike ordinary spells or divine miracles, Rune Magic could accomplish almost anything—anything imaginable. Unlike traditional magic, which relied on incantations and mana control, Rune Magic functioned using 300 ancient symbols. To those who understood its full structure, language itself became obsolete—it was as if they were writing the very fabric of reality.

  Legends whispered that Rune Magic was the power of the Clear Crystal itself. Yet, it had been lost to time, even forgotten by some of the gods.

  Only a few beings in the entire universe even knew of its existence.

  And out of those few…

  An even smaller number knew how to use it.

  And out of them all—

  Only two mysterious person had ever mastered every rune.

  But that is a secret for now… and their name shall remain unspoken.

  The Emperor’s Dilemma

  The emperor narrowed his eyes.

  "Summoning heroes? Using a power we barely understand?"

  His voice was firm. "You know Rune Magic is a forgotten language. We have demi-gods and god-candidates—do you think that isn’t enough?"

  The Grand duke stepped forward. "Your Majesty, it’s not a matter of whether we are ‘enough.’ During the Great War… he killed gods. Do you think we can take him head on? We may be demi-gods, but fighting with him ?"

  A tense silence filled the hall.

  A god-candidate said "even the goddess of creation couldn’t stop him, and goddess of time barely managed to kill him"

  The emperor raised an eyebrow.

  The grand duke spoke again "we need someone as same as The Ariana Prime, The Goddess of Time or even The infinity legion."

  "you must be out of your mind, the infinity legion the army of the goddess of time will never interfere, we cant depend on them nor that god of theirs." the count said.

  The emperor sighed "the relation between any nation and infinity legion is bad we cant do anything about that. What is in our hands."

  The priest, still shaken from the oracle, spoke with urgency.

  "Desperate times call for desperate measures. We’ve been researching Rune Magic for years… we've experimented with the few letters we could decipher. This might actually work."

  The emperor exhaled sharply, deep in thought. "Fine. Do as you please. But make sure the summoned heroes remain loyal to us. If they turn against us, we will have created our own downfall."

  The priest nodded. "Understood. We don’t have all the letters, but we’ve managed to interpret enough to open a temporary gateway between worlds. The success rate is slim… but it’s possible."

  The emperor’s gaze darkened. "What do you need?"

  The priest took a deep breath before responding.

  "One hundred magic users to fuel the spell with mana.

  All high-ranking church officials, demi-gods, and god-candidates to supply their divinity.

  And lastly… we will require the Clear Crystal’s consent."

  A heavy silence followed his words.

  Then, the emperor finally gave the order.

  "Begin the ritual."

  The Ritual – Summoning the Unknown

  Days later, under the open sky, the empire’s greatest magic users, holy knights, and priests gathered at a vast ceremonial ground.

  Ten glowing Rune Symbols floated mid-air, aligning in an intricate formation. The priest stood at the center, holding a tome filled with ancient inscriptions.

  Raising his hands, he began the incantation.

  "Oh… Almighty Clear Crystal, guide us… lend us your power… open the gate…"

  As his voice echoed across the field, the atmosphere changed.

  The air grew thicker.

  The sky darkened.

  Mana and divinity from everyone present were rapidly drained into the runes.

  For a moment, nothing happened. But then

  The runes danced.

  The ground shook.

  The sky cried.

  The clouds parted as a beam of radiant light erupted from the center of the formation, piercing into the heavens.

  And yet—something was wrong.

  The priest’s expression twisted in alarm. "This… this is taking too long! Did we do something wrong?!"

  A surge of power burst outward, knocking several mages to the ground.

  Then, with a final pulse of energy—

  The ritual completed.

  At the very center of the spell, where the runes had once floated, fifteen unconscious individuals now lay on the cold earth.

  Among them—

  ? One boy and two girls from Aria’s class.

  ? The remaining twelve were students from the same school, but different classes.

  The summoning was a success.

  But were they ?

  Because somewhere far from that summoning site...

  In a place near Archiea...

  A girl opened her eyes.

  She, too, had been brought into this world.

  There was no mistake.

  There was no doubt.

  She had been summoned.

  The one who was locked away…