I wiped my tears, pushing myself off of Grandpa. I remembered everything.

It was hard to wrap my head around, but I simultaneously relived both of my lives at the same time. It's hard to explain, because despite me not having any of "Ken's" memories before this moment, it felt so natural to have them now.

It felt like as if I had finally filled something that was missing, but I hadn't even known that it was missing.

It doesn't make sense, and I kind of get it, but I lived two lives. The life of Kyle Johnson and the life of Ken Kage.

I am Kyle Johnson. But at the same time I am Ken Kage. It doesn't make sense, but that's just how it is.

This stuff is so complicated...

"I'm...I'm so sorry." Grandpa gasped. "That you had to go through all of that...that's horrible."

"It's fine." I smiled. "It's in the past now, and I've moved on. No point in reopening old scars."

"...alright." He slowly agreed, wiping the tears from his face. "I easily think you're worthy. So I better go get the next one before I burst into tears..."

"Oh, okay." I nodded.

He started to walk to the door, getting ready to leave.

"And, Grandpa?" I said. "I'm glad I finally got to meet you."

"I'm gonna go cry now..." He happily sniffled, shuffling out of the room.

I let out a low chuckle as he left. Despite having never met him before in either life, I felt connected to him in a way. He felt like a grandfather figure to me.

One that I've never had in either life.

"I'm glad you finally regained those memories." I heard Loki say in my head.

Thanks.

"But you might want to look at your soul." He stated.

Huh? Why?

I pulled a small bit of pure mana into my eyes and looked down at myself with wide eyes. My soul was no longer a combination of red and black. It had changed to a singular color.

Green.

Wait, what? Why?

"Your two souls fusion must have been incomplete." Loki theorized. "Which is why you couldn't remember 'Ken's' memories. You were partly connected, but still separate people."

"But now, you two have fully combined, giving your soul the proper one color." Loki explained. "At least, that's my theory."

Okay, but why green? Pretty sure red and black don't mix into green.

"No clue. But I like it! Green is my favorite color!" Loki grinned.

Well, can't exactly argue with that. Red and green are my favorites.

But also, I've noticed something else. My aura has changed. It still has that oppressive darkness around me, but the sparking lightning has morphed into green as well. Why?

"My best guess is that it's the same reason why your soul turned green." Loki stated. "And I stick to my theory. But I'm no expert on souls. Magic, yes. Souls, no. So I may be wrong."

Well, it helped. So thanks. Anyways, I now feel...complete. Even though I guess I never noticed before.

"Souls are a fickle, fragile, and strange thing." Loki mused. "They're the root to all of our power, and control over the soul practically grants control over life."

"It's why messing with your soul is so dangerous. If you die, you go to Nilfhiem or something. But if your soul dies? You're gone. Forever." Loki continued.

I don't understand it either. All I know is that unless you have a special skill, you aren't supposed to be able to touch them. I was able to barely grab Kurobei's by pumping my arm full of pure mana. Which hurt, a lot.

"Yeah, it's dangerous." Loki agreed.

The door behind us opened, distracting me from my conversation with Loki. Akashi walked into the room, shutting the door behind him.

"So, what's the trial?" I asked him.

"I've decided something simple. I'll tell you some important things, and gauge your reaction. And don't try to fake anything." He stated.

"Okay..." I replied.

This is strange. I expected to have to perform sparks or something, and the only reason I didn't with Grandpa is because he's my ancestor and has a soft spot.

"I believe it's necessary to take you back to the beginning of our conflict with the Demon King." Akashi stated.

"I thought I knew that." I replied. "Merlin told me what happened to her world and how she got sealed."

"That's the beginning of Merlin's conflict with the Demon King." Akashi stated. "But not ours. Let me explain."

"Okay." I nodded.

"The Demon King used to be the ruler of our world, thousands of years ago. But at some point after he sealed Merlin, after thousands of years of living and ruling, he was going to die of old age." Akashi stated.

Wait, then how is he here now?

"The Demon King has a much larger lifespan than the normal person. However, he's not immortal. And eventually, he was going to die. Of course, as the selfish bastard he is, he couldn't just die forever." Akashi continued.

"So, he used up the last of his power in a desperate attempt to create something. And he did. He created something that would change the course of our world...and yours." He ominously stated.

"What was it?" I asked.

Could it be some sort of super-weapon trump card he's hiding? If so, that's very, very worrying. And then Akashi changed everything with his next words.

"The Arcana System." He stated.

"...what?" I gasped in shock.

"Huh?" Loki gasped.

"I'm not sure how he did it, but he created what we now call the Arcana System. A magical force which allows people of the world to fuse a fraction of the past to themselves to make them stronger." Akashi stated.

"It's why our Arcanas are different from yours. Their of gods from our world. But as our people traveled to your world, abandoning our own, the Arcana System somehow traveled with us." Akashi continued.

"So people like you now unlock Arcanas which are pieces of your world's past. Not ours." Akashi stated. "It's a complicated system dealing with souls and time which by all means shouldn't be possible. And yet, he had created it."

As much as I didn't want to admit it, it made sense. Arcanas never appeared in our world until they crossed over fifty years ago. And even if you aren't a descendant of someone from that world, you could still unlock an Arcana.

But one question still nagged at my mind.

"But why?" I asked in confusion. "Why did he do that? It only gives you power."

"Because he then did one final thing. He sealed himself into a sword." He stated.

And suddenly I realized how similar that was to Loki. Was the Demon King an Arcana himself...?

"And by that, he became a piece of the past. But unlike others, he wasn't a fragment. He was completely whole." He continued.

"Wait, he himself became an Arcana?" I asked for confirmation.

"Yes." Akashi nodded. "But different from the rest. In another level. Unlike other Arcanas which didn't have a consciousness, he did."

"But how do you know this?" I asked.

"Because with that consciousness he took over the body of the poor person who had finally awoken him." He stated. "And that can only be done if the arcana has a consciousness."

Loki...thank you for never trying to take me over.

"I may be the God of Trickery, but I wouldn't do that." Loki replied. "Besides, someone with strong willpower could stop that. And if anyone has strong willpower, it's you."

"He replaced the soul of that poor person with his own. And then he started to slowly regain his power. But we weren't going to go down with a fight. Especially since we had our own Arcanas." Akashi stated.

"So we started to engage in a war against him, but we were losing. That was, until the rifts started to open." Akashi continued.

"And we came to this world. Whether that was a good idea or not remains to be seen. Because while it allows for us to create a device to seal the Demon King into the void, it also gave the Demon King a new goal." Akashi stated. "He wanted to take over this world even more than our original world."

"Why? Advanced technology?" I asked.

"No." Akashi shook his head. "Because your world is something very special. It's a Nexus."

"A Nexus?" I asked.

"Yes." He nodded. "A Nexus. Now, let me give you a picture of the multiverse."

A whiteboard materialized in his hand as a marker appeared in his other. He drew multiple lines on the board, all parallel.

"I'm sure that Merlin told you about it, however I'm guessing a simple version. Each world is separated from each other, each has varying levels of magic, and the only way to go from world to world is through rifts." Akashi stated.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"It's a little more complex than that, but I'll give a simplified version, though one slightly more detailed than Merlin's." He stated.

"To our knowledge, these are parallel realties. There can be countless of these. Each one is very similar to the other, but with a couple differences. An example would be if we never crossed over. A single change, but makes a big difference." Akashi continued.

"These realties are similar to ours, but who knows just how different?" Akashi shrugged. "When a single change can make a big difference, there's no telling."

That means that the anime Heaven's Hell would be one reality, and this one would be a parallel one to that. Because I arrived.

I'm starting to get an existential crisis.

"Don't overthink it." Loki replied. "It'll only bring headaches."

"These realities, due to their nature of being parallel, we have no idea how to access them. Yet we know they exist." Akashi continued.

He drew a circle around the parallel lines.

"This is one dimension, or as an easier way to say it, world. There are a countless amount of these, each one with their own rules and laws." Akashi stated.

He drew multiple circles around the one that he had just drawn. He drew an arrow from one circle to the first one he drew with the lines.

"This is what happened when we crossed over." Akashi added. "We went from one dimension to another."

"Wait, so we can't go through parallel realities but we can go through dimensions?" I questioned.

"Only because of rifts." Akashi stated. "And, it's because the fact that these dimensions aren't parallel. This allows with the access of a rift to go through."

"And this area inbetween worlds is the Void." He stated, pointing to the blank space inbetween the circles. "It's an infinite empty space. It's why it's the perfect place to seal someone like the Demon King."

"Unfortunately, with help from your world he's gained the power to re-enter your world. He was able to create an artificial rift, something incredibly hard to do. You are quite literally you are punching a hole through a dimension to enter another one." Akashi continued.

"That's why it's so dangerous if someone like the Demon King gains the power to create artificial rifts." Akashi added. "Especially if he conquers your world."

"Because our world is a Nexus?" I guessed.

"Yes. While there an infinite number of worlds, not all of them are close to each other." Akashi stated. "But a Nexus is unique. Not only does it contain more mana than most worlds, but it is located in an area which the void crosses over itself."

"The void isn't some flat space. It twists and moves in strange ways." Akashi explained. "So when a world is located where a void crosses itself, it allows it to be very close to multiple other dimensions."

I realized what he was trying to say. "So if someone can travel between dimensions, with a Nexus they could easily travel to multiple more and conquer them."

"Exactly." Akashi sighed. "That's why it's incredibly important that we win this. Not just for your world, but for countless others."

"So, knowing this..." Akashi said, looking me in the eyes. "Do you still want to fight? Even after everything you've learned?"

I felt my fists clench. I couldn't get the image out of my mind of Lupercio easily torturing me. I was nothing but a pest to him.

But if I didn't, I'd lose everything once again. And since I was transported here, this world must be close to "Kyle's" original.

Maybe I could find Kira. Fulfill my promise of protecting her. Have her meet Irene, Erica, and the others.

No. Especially after regaining all of my memories. I can't lose everything again. And it doesn't matter how strong that damn Demon King is.

He's made this personal.

"Of course I'm giving to fight." I growled. "I'm going to kill that bastard. I don't care if he's already killed me. I'm going to take him down."

Akashi looked at me in slight shock before starting to chuckle, before it broke out into full blown joyous laughter.

"Amazing!" He laughed. "I didn't expect that!"

I was getting kind of creeped out by his laughter.

His laughter died down as he wiped his teary eyes. "You...I find you worthy. You are much better than I expected. I'll go grab Isamu. Good luck. I hope you succeed."

He walked back through the door, leaving me alone as I waited for the grandfather of my fiancé and whatever trial he may hold.