*Where… is this place?*

A dark void engulfed her, with nothing visible.

Ah… so, that’s it.  
I lost, didn’t I?  
It was impossible after all.

Birdel thought back on her situation. The struggle for dominance that ensued the moment she touched the holy flame…

And as one could see, the outcome was clear.

*Sigh.*

So, was this place hell?  
Well, if this level of darkness was hell, then perhaps hell wasn’t so bad.

She floated, adrift in a space filled with pitch-black emptiness, her consciousness suspended in the void.

Is this… the end?

Thinking this brought a strange sense of relief. The only regret she had was that she never got to meet *him* in person.

She had so wanted to see him.

A life spent trapped in a cage, forced to endure and suffer.  
A hellish existence that had lasted far longer than her brief time in the real world.

In that pit of despair, the Community had been her only world, her only solace.

However…

Reality was always harsh, and the virtual could never become the real. Her world was a false one, an illusion.

No matter what she achieved in that fabricated world, it bore no relevance to reality.

And then she met *him*.

A great presence who made the Community feel real.  
The one who made her world seem more than a lie—a reality.

Kalstein Babylon.

*Should I have listened to his advice?*

He’d told her there was no need to fulfill the promise.

But her desire to meet him proudly led her here.

If he were to say, "You’re useless!" she’d have no excuse.

After all, she really had been useless.

…

So, this is the end, huh?  
Am I content with this?

…

In the midst of this dark void, painful memories pricked at her like needles, and a torrent of thoughts swirled around her mind.

A place where her consciousness seemed to float, surfacing like bubbles, only to sink deeper as if in a dream.

And just as she was about to lose herself completely, sinking further into the depths…

*[…Backup… system… activated.]*

A mechanical voice.

*[ERR… OR]*  
*[ERR… OR]*

*[…Forcing… awakening… process… initiating…]*

Ha. Haha.

Why did she feel like laughing?

It almost felt as if she could hear his voice.

—"You’re my forever assistant."

What are you doing, taking a break like this?  
Did you think you could escape without my permission?  
Why aren’t you waking up this instant?

Though the voice from the suit was clearly not his, it sounded strangely like him.

Right. My life… wasn’t mine to lose.

—"First rule: don’t get yourself hurt."

…And here I am, disqualified.

He may have been selfish, a tyrant in his own way.

But to her, who had lost family, friends, her entire clan, his words became a guiding star.

Perhaps he had seen through her, recognizing her lack of will to live.

Just one sentence from him was enough to spark her spirit back to life.

In a bleak world devoid of color, he became the reason for her to move forward.

*Beep—*

*[Emergency recovery system activated]*

So, this was the minimal protection he’d mentioned.

She could feel a faint sense of awareness returning.

…Yes. I won’t give up until he’s the one to tell me I’m useless.

To prove her worth, to receive the purpose she longed for.

This was the unspoken contract between them.

In the pitch-black void, her silhouette began to re-emerge.

In her hand was a dazzlingly bright sword.

—"Interesting. You’ve got talent. I’d even like to introduce you to someone I know. They’re quite a big deal in this field."

Yes. The talent he acknowledged lay in this hand.

Whoever he’d meant by “someone I know,” it didn’t matter. What mattered was that he’d taken an interest in her skills.

—"Just don’t push yourself. Do what you want."

His casual words carried a note of “concern,” “acknowledgment,” and “interest.”

*So I can’t help but wonder…*  
Who is he, really?  
Why did he show kindness to me?  
What kind of person does he see me as?

To answer these questions, it wouldn’t do to give up here.

*Inhale—exhale—*

In the dark void, her outline fully emerged, taking on a clear form.

She demonstrated the brilliant achievements she’d gained from studying the stone.

*Swish—*

No, this isn’t enough.

She needed to incorporate the knowledge and insights gained from the mysterious realm she’d crossed into this martial world.

The strange corridor that felt both painful and awe-inspiring, where her body had been torn to pieces. It was bizarre but enlightening.

The experience of traversing the dimensional passage inspired her to decode and absorb the stone’s inscriptions.

And she poured all that experience into this moment.

The inscriptions weren’t just about tearing through dimensions. She sensed a deeper essence, a purpose.

To reach a higher dimension.  
For a mortal to challenge the immortal.  
Like her desire to reach a person she couldn’t otherwise touch.

A martial art designed to surpass the insurmountable.

That was the will and conviction of the one who created these inscriptions.

In the darkness, she began to perform an unfamiliar sword dance.

*Swish—swish—*

The sword of light cleaved through the darkness.

Just like his hand had cut through the shadows of her life.

*Swoosh—*

A flash of light cut through the void without hesitation.

*[Aaaaaaaah!!]*

Yes. This feeling.

---

Moments before Birdel awakened…

The woman, now in possession of the girl’s body, was admiring her new form with a satisfied smile.

"Heh, did she really think she could resist?"

Humming joyfully, the woman reveled in her success at claiming the girl’s body.

"Ah, finally, I feel alive again."

After sustaining a fatal wound and barely escaping, the mental struggle over control had been taxing.

Still…

A mortal was just a mortal.

The girl’s defiance had been amusing, so she’d given it her all.

The girl’s consciousness was likely trapped deep within her subconscious, her sense of self gradually fading.

"Hm? But…."

The woman looked down at her new form.

"I thought the body would be as naturally talented as the spirit."

*Crunch—crack—*

"Feels… a bit uncomfortable?"

Her brow furrowed as she adjusted to the girl’s body.

"Well, I suppose I’ll be using this body for a while, so I might as well make some adjustments."

Oddly, she could sense a faint essence of her clan within her new vessel.

"A remnant root, perhaps?"

Compared to the Fruit, it was nothing. But still, it was something.

Thanks to this, she could make the necessary modifications to her new body.

Using the holy flame, she began burning away impurities within her.

As long as she was doing this, she might as well do it thoroughly.

More pure.  
More refined.  
More perfect.

*Fwoosh—*

She started adjusting the bones and muscles.

*Crunch—crack—*

"This is why mortals are so… inconvenient."

As she refined the structure of bones and organs, optimizing the body to wield the holy blood, she began to transform it.

Any martial artist who witnessed this would be horrified, calling it a true rebirth.

*Crunch—crack—*

"Ah… can’t forget this, either."

With the remaining power of the **Fruit**, she began scanning for the coordinates of the battlefield.

"Once I open and stabilize this link? Haha."

Everything was falling into place.

As they say, every misfortune brings opportunity. The crisis on the battlefield now felt inconsequential, as everything seemed to be aligning in her favor.

If she regained her strength and claimed the treasures of that battlefield…

Haha.

She wouldn’t envy the lofty "Branches" anymore.

Just as she thought this—

"Hm? She’s still there? Impossible."

She frowned, sensing traces of the girl’s consciousness lingering in the subconscious.

"Did she really think she could—"

Before she could finish, she felt herself being torn apart at a soul-deep level.

*[Aaaaaah!!]*

---

*Hah… hah…*

What… happened?  
She didn’t know.

Her head throbbed, and her stomach churned.

*Stagger—*

What was this?

Her body felt unfamiliar, as if it wasn’t truly hers.

A sense of unease.  
A feeling of discord.

Oddly enough, though, it felt more comfortable than ever.

*Stagger—*

She would need time to adjust, it seemed.

*Ha… haha…*

Forever…

It was still valid.

Struggling to her feet, she accessed the Community and began typing a message to him.

---

“What’s the status?”  
*[Unstable signals are still being detected.]*  
“Hmm…”

Kalstein pressed his fingers to his temples, deep in thought.

“It’s near the barrier, so we can’t just ignore it.”  
*[Indeed.]*

Hmm.

An unstable astral fluctuation near the barrier…

What on earth had happened? This had never happened before.

Given the barrier's importance, this couldn’t be overlooked.

“But there’s no clear solution, either.”  
*[All measures on our end have been implemented.]*  
“The barrier can never be too secure.”  
*[Or perhaps… this is the opportunity.]*  
“…”

That again.

Kalstein knew exactly what Aria was suggesting.

War.

A plan to

 push beyond the barrier and drive out the beasts.

*[We’ve been preparing for this for a long time, haven’t we?]*  
“Well… yes.”

The Galactic Empire was far from weak. They were fully prepared for a full-scale war with those creatures.