At the other side, Din was also among the fighters. This time, however, he didn’t have his sword.

It had shattered during the previous battle.

He had already come to terms with the fact that ordinary weapons were useless against these creatures. Now that he was a martial warrior, he could inflict far more damage with his own body than any normal weapon ever could.

Knowing this, Din braced himself as it finally became his turn to fight.

Yet the closer he got to the demons, the more his body trembled.

Flashes of what had happened before kept replaying in his mind.

The giant palm.

The crushing force.

The unbearable pain.

Then darkness.

Complete darkness.

His body tensed.

Din had never experienced this before.

As a military officer who had fought in active war zones, he had come close to death more times than he could count.

Bullets.

Explosions.

Ambushes.

Starvation.

Disease.

He had survived them all.

Each time death reached for him, he somehow escaped.

Because of that, Din had long believed he no longer feared death.

At least, that was what he thought.

But now...

Din lowered his gaze and looked at his clenched fists.

They were trembling.

Slowly, he opened his palms.

Sweat coated them.

His breathing became uneven.

Cold sweat dripped down the side of his face while his heart pounded violently against his chest.

"Why am I so... afraid?" Din muttered to himself.

The question genuinely puzzled him.

Back then, he had stood on battlefields surrounded by corpses.

He had watched friends die.

He had even accepted his own death countless times.

So why now?

What was different?

Then the answer slowly surfaced.

Back then, he had only come close to death.

This time...

He had actually died.

The realization struck him harder than any weapon.

He remembered it now.

Not the pain.

Not the attack.

But the feeling afterward.

The emptiness.

The silence.

The absence of everything.

For a brief moment, he had ceased to exist.

No thoughts.

No emotions.

No light.

Nothing.

And somehow, that terrified him more than any battlefield ever had.

His breathing became heavier.

The sounds of war around him gradually faded.

The charging soldiers.

The roaring demons.

The trembling ground.

All of it seemed distant.

For a moment, Din felt as though he were standing alone.

A lone man surrounded by endless darkness.

"Relax, kid."

Just then, Din heard that familiar voice once more.

Void.

The voice had gone quiet after their previous conversation, almost as if it had disappeared entirely.

But now it had returned.

Din frowned.

Normally, he would have cursed at the voice.

Normally, he would have demanded answers.

But at this moment, he didn’t have the energy.

"Easy for you to say," Din muttered.

"Oh?"

Void sounded amused.

"You seem troubled."

Din almost laughed.

Troubled?

That was an understatement.

"I died."

For once, his voice carried no anger.

Only honesty.

"I actually died."

The battlefield continued moving around him.

Humans charged.

Demons roared.

Yet Din remained frozen.

"I thought I understood death."

"I thought I accepted it."

"But I didn’t."

His fists tightened once more.

"When that thing hit me..."

"I disappeared."

Void remained silent.

Surprisingly silent.

For the first time, Din felt as though the entity was actually listening.

"I don’t want to die again."

The confession escaped before he could stop it.

Immediately afterward, Din felt ashamed.

What kind of soldier said that?

What kind of officer admitted that?

Yet the truth remained.

He was afraid.

Not of pain.

Not of losing.

Not even of battle.

He was afraid of that darkness.

That endless nothingness.

Several seconds passed.

Then Void chuckled softly.

"Good."

Din blinked.

"What?"

"I said good."

Din frowned.

"You’re insane."

"Most likely."

Void sounded completely unbothered.

"But fear is good."

Din’s expression became strange.

"Fear is good?"

"Of course."

Void’s tone became almost mocking.

"Only idiots don’t fear death."

"Every living thing fears death."

"Even gods fear death."

That statement immediately caught Din’s attention.

"Gods?"

"Especially gods."

Void laughed.

"They simply hide it better."

Din remained silent.

The answer wasn’t what he expected.

"You know what your problem is?"

Void asked.

Din didn’t reply.

Yet Void continued anyway.

"You thought courage meant not being afraid."

Din’s eyes narrowed.

"But courage has never been the absence of fear."

"That would simply be stupidity."

The battlefield grew louder.

The distance between the armies shrank.

Din could already see demons tearing through the front ranks.

Blood stained the earth.

Screams echoed everywhere.

Still, he listened.

"Real courage," Void said slowly, "is moving forward despite fear."

Din’s gaze trembled.

"Look around you."

Din did.

The men around him were afraid.

Terrified.

Some were crying.

Some were praying.

Others could barely hold their weapons.

Yet they were still advancing.

They were still fighting.

Not because they lacked fear.

But because they refused to let fear stop them.

Void chuckled.

"You think you’re special because you’re scared?"

"Look around."

"Every human here is terrified."

"The difference is that they’re still moving."

Din looked down.

His fists slowly relaxed.

For some reason, those words struck him harder than he expected.

The fear didn’t disappear.

Not even slightly.

His heart still pounded.

His palms were still sweating.

The memories were still there.

Yet something changed.

A tiny shift.

Almost imperceptible.

The fear was no longer controlling him.

He took a deep breath.

Then another.

Then another.

The pounding in his chest slowly stabilized.

Not gone.

Just manageable.

"Besides..."

Void suddenly spoke again.

"What?"

"If you die again..."

Din’s eye twitched.

"I’ll drag your soul back myself."

For several seconds, silence followed.

Then Din laughed.

A genuine laugh.

The first one he had made since waking up.

"You really are insane."

"Thank you."

"That wasn’t a compliment."

"It is now."

Din shook his head.

The fear was still there.

But somehow, it felt lighter.

He rolled his shoulders.

Flexed his fingers.

Then clenched his fists.

Power flowed through his body.

He was Warm, alive,real.

He wasn’t dead at least Not yet.

And as long as he was alive, he still had things worth fighting for and with that thought , din Slowly lifted his head.

The battlefield stretched before him.

Countless demons charged towards the waiting humans as their body clashed, although one was superior but the other even when fearful still stood their grounds. And slowly with beings like hajun appearing the humans were actually killing the demons.

Now it wasn’t a one sided massacre but war with death waiting on every side.

And at this time, din took a step forward, then another and another. Slowly, the trembling gradually disappeared as heartbeat steadied.

His breathing stabilized as Void’s amused laughter echoed faintly. To him, this was much more fun then sitting in the abyss, passing time with studying about rules which here he could participatein an ongoing.

Din cracked his neck,a faint grin appeared on his face.

"Alright then."

"If I’m going to die again..."

His eyes sharpened.

"I’m taking as many of those bastards with me as possible."

And with that, Din charged into the battlefield.

******

Azar World of Magi...

Osiris was in his library as he picked up a book, his expression serious.

Magi Ranks...

Tier 1 — Basic Magic

Simple elemental control

Fireball, water burst, wind slash

Weak constructs and basic healing

"I can use magic."

Tier 2 — Advanced Basic Control

Slightly complex manipulation

Barriers, enhanced weapons, tracking spells

Stable spell shaping

"I can shape magic reliably."

Tier 3 — Intermediate Spells

Multi-effect spells (burn + push + shock)

Summons (basic entities or constructs)

Conditional activation spells

"I can design spells, not just use them."

Tier 4 — Silent Casting Stage

No chanting required

Instant mental activation

Spells become reflex-based

"Magic becomes instinct."

Tier 5 — Multi-Layered Spells

Stacked spells (defense + offense + control)

Spells within spells

Adaptive casting during battle

"One spell = multiple realities of effect."

Tier 6 — Advanced Magic

High-stability large-scale spells

Area domination techniques

Complex formation magic (battlefield control)

"Magic becomes strategy, not attack."

Tier 7 — Continental Destruction Magic

Spell output affects entire continents

Weather, geography, and ecosystems collapse

Long-range catastrophic casting

"Magic becomes a disaster-level force."

Tier 8 — Planetary-Class Magic

Rare beings in the world

Planet-level destruction or creation potential

Extremely few exist at this stage

"Magic can shape worlds."

Finishing the book, Osiris took a deep breath, his expression solemn.

The book had wrinkled pages, a sign of how old it was and how long it had been around.

It had been a thousand years since this book was recorded. The reason was to write down the Magi path for future generations to read and learn from.

Yet in those thousand years, nothing had changed.

No new rank had been added.

It seemed Tier 8 was the end of it all for the Magi.

The absolute peak.

For existences at this level, yes, the world was fragile. A single spell could change continental plates, while a stronger one could erase them entirely.

Each of them was monitored, and it was not easy to make a move.

But all Tier 8 Magi were filled with worry.

It seemed this was the end of the Magi path.

Their lives were coming to an end, and yet a solution still had not been found.

Osiris also wanted to see the other path.

To see the Magi path evolve and become stronger.

His fingers brushed against the book’s cover, his eyes distant.

"Is this the end path of the Magi system?"