Al’s scream echoed out, shaking the air around the small settlement.

His small body trembled violently, both hands instinctively clawing at his own face as if trying to rip something invisible off.

"ARGGHHH—!!!"

Nuzakha stood firm, his posture unshaken as he pressed something against Al’s face.

"Don’t move!" he barked—sharp and commanding, completely different from his usual laid-back, charismatic tone.

With one hand, he held Al in place, pressing down on the back of his head.

A strange energy pulsed from Al’s body—wild, unstable.

"Just let it... let it merge..." Nuzakha muttered under his breath, more to himself than anyone else.

Al gritted his teeth.

The pain wasn’t just physical—it felt like something was tearing into him, planting itself, fusing with his very existence.

And yet...

He didn’t resist.

Not because he couldn’t—but because... his instincts told him to stay still.

A few seconds felt like hours.

And then—

Silence.

Everything stopped.

Nuzakha pulled his hands away.

Al’s body immediately staggered backward, like a drunk man losing his balance.

"Ghh...!"

He gasped for air, his hand moving up to touch his face.

No blood.

No wounds.

But the pain still lingered—faint, yet undeniably real.

Slowly, Al straightened himself.

His eyes locked sharply onto Nuzakha.

"...What did you do?" His voice turned cold.

The energy within him pulsed, ready to erupt at any moment.

Nuzakha casually raised both hands.

"Relax, kid. You know I wouldn’t do anything harmful to you."

Al stepped forward.

He wasn’t buying it. That pain just now—honestly, it felt like dying would’ve been better than going through that again.

A faint crimson-black aura began to wrap around his body.

"Don’t joke around," he snapped, irritation clear—this time with killing intent.

His energy surged forward, crashing toward Nuzakha as if trying to crush him.

In an instant—

BOOM!!

Nuzakha released his own energy.

The pressure exploded between them, cracking the ground beneath their feet.

But before they could clash—

"Stop!" Nuzakha shouted.

His voice turned serious.

No trace of casualness left.

"What, you think you’ve gotten stronger than me, so now you dare challenge your own teacher? Huh?"

"Or are you just letting all that darkness inside you take over?"

And somehow...

Those words made Al stop instantly.

At his current age, provocation, injustice—especially real pain—could still easily push his anger out of control.

Luckily, Nuzakha always managed to rein him in.

Al was still glaring, but his body no longer moved.

Nuzakha let out a breath.

"Now that’s more like it," he muttered, his tone returning to casual. "I just told you you could find your own way back... but seeing you almost get swallowed by your dark side again, I’m starting to have doubts."

Al understood that himself.

All he could do was grit his teeth.

Yeah... he was a cursed human. Someone who would one day be known as DIAR.

A being with a terrifying dark side.

And if he wanted to move forward, he had to suppress it—and eventually, heal it.

Nuzakha ignored Al’s silence and stepped closer, studying his eyes carefully.

"What I just did... will make your journey a lot easier," he said.

Al narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean? What did you do? I don’t feel anything except the pain you just put me through."

Nuzakha gave a faint smile.

"I just implanted something into you... something that could bring great glory... or great disaster."

Al fell silent, touching his face again, trying to sense what had changed.

Nothing.

"...What is it?"

"Your eyes," Nuzakha said. "You now have something called... a Dimensional Eye."

Al instinctively stepped back.

For some reason, just the name itself carried an overwhelming sense of grandeur in this world of two dimensions.

He touched the side of his eye, then glanced at one of the floating water orbs nearby, staring at his reflection.

His eyes?

Black.

Normal.

No change.

No cracks. No abnormalities.

"My eyes?... Nothing’s changed. What do you mean—Dimensional Eye?" he muttered. "But that pain just now..."

He looked back at Nuzakha.

"Explain."

Nuzakha casually sat down cross-legged. Al followed, sitting in front of him.

And then, Nuzakha began explaining.

"The Dimensional Eye is an ancient thing. Very ancient. Even I don’t know its true origin. You could call it an artifact, or a skill—but at its core, it’s a magical organ."

He paused for a moment before continuing.

"Its function... is to see."

"To see?" Al frowned. "Eyes are meant for seeing. What are you even saying?"

Nuzakha shook his head.

"More than just seeing," he continued. "It can see everything."

He pointed at the ground.

"Objects."

Then toward the forest.

"Living beings."

Then into the empty air.

"Energy."

His gaze sharpened.

"Everything in this world—not just what exists in your dimension, the human world... but also what exists in this one—Azzaleth."

Al fell silent.

Slowly, he began to grasp the scale of it.

"...So that means..."

"Yeah," Nuzakha cut in. "You can see across two dimensions at once—far beyond what anyone else can perceive. And for someone who’s going to travel between dimensions... that’s going to help you a lot, right?"

Al had to admit—it sounded incredible.

It would definitely help him.

But he still didn’t understand what had actually changed. He couldn’t see anything different—aside from the strange turbulence of energy in his head, which he assumed was just a side effect of what Nuzakha did.

Silence lingered for a moment.

Then Nuzakha continued, laying out everything Al needed to know about his new magical organ.

"And that’s just one of its basic functions. As its current owner, you’ll discover the rest yourself over time."

Al raised an eyebrow.

"There’s more?"

Nuzakha nodded.

"The Dimensional Eye has several special abilities... though unfortunately, even I don’t fully understand them," he said.

"Huh? Why?" Al wondered.

"Right now... that eye is split into several pieces," Nuzakha explained. "Fragments. Each one carries its own special function."

"And as far as I know... there are four fragments in total. But I only have information on three of them."

He raised three fingers.

"First—the fragment you have right now. It doesn’t just let you see existence... it lets you see the essence of everything. Every detail. Every piece of information."

He lowered one finger.

"Second—marking entities."

Al tilted his head.

"Marking?"

"Yeah," Nuzakha replied. "Who deserves to die, who still has a chance to live... and who must never be killed."

Al fell silent.

"...That’s terrifying."

"Exactly," Nuzakha said casually.

"And the others?" Al asked again.

"This is probably the one you’d want the most—unfortunately, your fragment doesn’t have it," Nuzakha answered.

"Hm?" Al murmured.

"The ability to open dimensional rifts."

This time, Al’s eyes widened.

"...!"

"And more importantly," Nuzakha continued, "it protects your body from energy distortion when traveling between dimensions."

Al clenched his fists.

That...

That was exactly what he needed if he ever wanted to return to his own dimension.

A function that could give him an instant way out.

And yet... the fragment he had didn’t possess it.

"...What a shame," he muttered, slightly disappointed.

Still—even without that, the ability he did have was already terrifying and incredible.

To see the essence of everything...

That alone was monstrous.

But—

"Wait. If it’s that powerful..." Al narrowed his gaze. "Why give it to me? Wouldn’t it be better if you kept it for yourself?"

Nuzakha chuckled.

"Because I’d like to live longer."

Al frowned.

"The Dimensional Eye... is something far too powerful. And because of that, it becomes a target. Anyone who holds it... becomes one too." Nuzakha explained.

That made something click in Al’s mind.

"So that’s why you chose to live deep in this creepy forest? You’re hiding... and hiding it too?"

Nuzakha nodded.

"Exactly," he said with a resigned tone. "And that’s also why... the eye ended up splitting into fragments in the first place."

"Yeah... that makes sense," Al admitted.

In a dimension where war was practically normal, something as valuable as the Dimensional Eye would obviously be fought over relentlessly.

Getting damaged... even shattered... was only natural.

At least it had only broken into fragments.

"Oh right... then where can I find the other fragments? Especially the one that can open dimensions?" Al asked, suddenly more excited.

Nuzakha shrugged and shook his head.

"I don’t know for sure. Most likely, powerful factions already have them... or like this one, they’re hidden in places that are extremely hard to reach."

"Ah... so no real leads. That’s unfortunate," Al sighed. "Hmph, anyway... how did you even get this one?"

Nuzakha looked up, his thoughts drifting back.

"I got it... from a human."

Al turned to him.

"A human?"

"Yeah. A man who was on the verge of death. We were lucky enough to save him," Nuzakha replied.

"Wow... you guys really save people without caring about race or origin, huh?" Al said, giving a double thumbs up. "Respect!"

Nuzakha smiled faintly. "That’s just who we are," he said, a hint of pride in his voice before continuing.

"And because of that, you should be a lot more grateful. If it had been another tribe that found you back then... best case, you’d be a slave right now. Worst case... beast food," he added.

Al could only let out an awkward laugh.

...He wasn’t wrong.

Meanwhile, Nuzakha simply continued his explanation.

"That man... he explained everything to me. Then he entrusted the eye to us before he left. He said... one day, someone worthy would come."

"And we were to wait. To pass it on to that person. Not letting anyone else touch it before the destined one arrived."

A faint smile appeared on his lips.

"Because only the chosen one could wield it... the one who would bring greatness to this world."

Al crossed his arms.

"Woah... what was he, some kind of prophet or seer? Knowing destiny and the future like that? And... you just believed him?"

Nuzakha chuckled.

"Not entirely."

He looked straight at Al.

"Not until one of us tried to use it."

Al met his gaze.

"And what happened?"

Nuzakha shook his head grimly.

"He almost died... in just a few seconds. His body couldn’t handle the power."

Nuzakha’s expression hardened.

"And what convinced us even more... was the energy surge from that incident."

He glanced toward the vast forest.

"A massive explosion of energy—like it could tear the sky apart. That’s not something a normal object could produce."

"Seriously?" Al asked, amazed.

Nuzakha nodded.

"Yeah. And because of that... powerful beings sensed it and came. We were nearly wiped out that day."

Silence fell.

"Half our tribe was slaughtered. The rest fled deeper into the wilderness. And since then... we’ve been hiding here."

"Waiting."

His gaze returned to Al.

"Waiting for the chosen one."

Al pointed at himself.

"Wait. Since you gave it to me... does that mean... me? Why me?"

Nuzakha shrugged casually.

"Honestly... I don’t know if it’s you or not, hehe."

"Huh?" Al blinked, confused.

"I’m... testing it," Nuzakha replied.

Al’s expression darkened instantly.

"...Testing? Don’t tell me you’re—"

"Yup. Using you as an experiment," Nuzakha said, letting out a small laugh.

Al was beyond annoyed—he was this close to snapping at the man who had taught him so much in this djinn dimension.

But Nuzakha raised a hand and continued more seriously.

"I didn’t do it completely at random. I have my reasons."

He paused.

"If that eye can control both dimensions..."

"Then its owner—the chosen one—must be someone who possesses power from both dimensions as well."

He pointed at Al.

"And you do. Human energy... and djinn energy."

Al went silent.

...It made sense.

He pushed the explanation aside for a moment and focused inward, trying to feel it himself.

At the very least, whether this power truly suited him... or would just bring destruction to this tribe again.

He sensed the flow of energy around his head.

No negative effects.

In fact—

"...Weird," he muttered. "I feel... more alive."

Nuzakha smiled.

"Try using it."

Al nodded slowly.

He closed his eyes.

Trying to grasp something.

Nothing.

He frowned.

"Wait. You haven’t even explained how to—"

"Just try," Nuzakha cut in. "Trial and error."

"I wasn’t told how to use it either. I figured... if you’re the one using it, you’d naturally understand."

Al clicked his tongue.

"Useless."

But he still tried.

He began channeling his energy.

From his human core—Entra, Vita, Arma—each flowing with their respective functions.

At the same time—

From the djinn core that had grown within him... Helos.

In a single moment—

BOOM!

His black eyes changed.

Golden light burst forth, rapidly spreading and enveloping his body—faster, brighter—filling the tent and spilling outside.

"—!!!"

Nuzakha reacted instantly, a hint of concern flashing across his face.

He deployed layered barriers across the entire settlement.

One layer.

Two.

Three.

Dozens.

The energy was contained—for now.

Outside, the tribe members stared as the faint golden glow kept expanding, growing denser—

But then—

Suddenly.

The pupil changed.

From gold—

To blood red.

At the same time, the warm energy twisted—black energy began to crawl over it, as if devouring the golden light.

It burst outward, flooding the entire settlement.

"...Not good," Nuzakha muttered.

Al gritted his teeth.

"Ghh—!"

That warmth from before...

Gone.

Replaced by a far more brutal pain.

"Al! What’s happening?!" Nuzakha shouted.

He tried to suppress the energy—

But—

BOOOOM!!!!