Night 344

Everything Was Part of the Plan (全ては布石 Subete wa Fuseki) is Night 344 of the Magi manga series.

Characters in Order of Appearance
'' Characters in bold denote the character's proper appearance. Characters in italic are only seen briefly and have yet to make a proper appearance. ''

Magic
'' Magic in bold denotes the magic's first appearance. ''

Summary
Alibaba continues telling Arba about what happened to him when he died. He was sent to a strange place, where he was surrounded by people he didn't know. These people seemed to have been there for quite a while already, as there were mushrooms and other fungi growing from different parts of their bodies, and in their boredom, they were stacking stones one on top of each other. Alibaba recognized some of them as people from Alma Torran. He identified Wahid as the person who was always bossed around by Falan, and Setta as Ithnan's younger brother. He recognized Tess as the child who died during the war, but the boy reassured him that it is fine now. Then, he proceeded to stack stones with his father. Alibaba asked why they were doing that and they tell him it's because they had nothing else to do there. By looking around, Alibaba could see that everyone was performing mundane tasks. Turning back to the group, he asked if they were inside Ill Ilah, and they confirmed that to be the case. Alibaba wondered whether he could meet his parents, but they told him they weren't there, because they weren't from Alma Torran. With that, Alibaba realized that he was actually dead, and Wahid told him that it is impossible to leave the place. Shocked, Alibaba remembered everything he still had to do, recalling his friends. He didn't want to die just yet, and in his attempt to find a way, he turned to the group. Setta told him there was an exception, a person who managed to leave and come back to life.

Delighted to hear that because it meant there was still hope, Alibaba asked them who it was. Setta and Wahid looked at each other, then told him it was David. Alibaba asked them whether they meant the same David he was thinking of, king Solomon's father and the evil magician from Alma Torran. Wahid confirmed it was indeed the same David they were speaking about and told him he was here until recently, but then returned to the living world. Setta continued, explaining that the people who originally died in Alma Torran became black rukh and returned to Ill Ilah's side, including David. However, despite being a hated enemy for them while they were still alive, they forgot their hatred after entering this place. Along with it, they parted with their other emotions, such as sadness and attachment to life, perhaps because they sensed that time was infinite. However, David was different, continuously talking about an idea of his: that he was connected to a singularity fallen into depravity - and if he becomes connected with it, he will be able to return once more, as soon as they open a hole between dimensions. Everyone thought he was crazy, but at some point, a hole was indeed torn into the world, and David returned to the world of the living, according to his prophecy. Before going, he said he planned to obtain the power of the Sacred Palace to become a god, and that the key to it was Solomon's Wisdom. He thanked the people from Alma Torran for their deaths, which put his plan into motion.

Wahid mentioned he was horrified. He thought David was just a mere criminal or religious fanatic, who liked to see others suffer, but it turned out that he was different from everyone else, because everything he believes in, becomes reality. He wondered whether David was a special being, born with an important mission on his shoulders, as he was the only person who believed he would be revived for so long, even though everyone else already gave up on coming back to life. Setta added that he was a terrifying man, the embodiment of destiny. Suddenly, Alibaba asked what David meant when he said once he becomes one with the singularity, he will be able to return back to the world of the living. Wahid told him it meant exactly that, word for word. Alibaba asked it meant when he said he will be back. Wahid revealed that he planned to take control of Sinbad, with Setta adding that David will destroy Alibaba's world, making it a repetition of Alma Torran. He said that for David, slaughter was nothing but means to achieve a greater goal. Shocked Alibaba yelled that he has to stop him, but Wahid waved with his hand and told him it was impossible, because he could not breach the wall between the dimensions. Setta added that with time, he will become just as emotionless as everyone else in this place, because of the infinite time at his disposal. Alibaba exclaimed that this can't be happening, while the others watched him, noting how odd it was that he still had so much energy, while everyone else lost their will to return to life the moment they set foot in this place. Watching him, Tess happily exclaimed that it looked like a strange big brother had arrived to their world.