Lumine had initially intended to recount the entire story to Furina piece by piece, but then she suddenly realized someone else was far better suited for the task.
"Furina! Lady Furina!"
On the main road behind the Court of Fontaine, several Melusine wearing Maison Gardiennage uniforms were rushing toward them.
The moment they saw Furina, their faces lit up with radiant smiles of joy.
Melusine, being naturally adapted to prolonged underwater survival, had remained largely unaffected by Fontaine's rising sea levels. Moreover, their deep empathy and sensitivity had been profoundly moved by Furina's 500-year steadfast vigil.
When the sea submerged Fontaine, they had immediately discussed coming to check on Furina together.
The scenes they had witnessed in the System Space had been incomplete, the footage cutting off the instant Furina's hat fell to the ground.
As a result, many believed Furina was already...
The Melusine had naturally assumed the same, yet they were the first to arrive.
Regardless of the outcome—even if Lady Furina had truly sacrificed herself—they were determined to handle the aftermath properly!
"W-what do you want?"
The malice directed at Furina during her Trial had left a deep scar. Now, with these Melusine suddenly rushing toward her, her first instinct was to recoil.
"Lady Furina, we're so relieved you're safe!"
"Lady Furina, how are you feeling? Should we get a doctor to check on you?"
"Lady Furina, you've worked so hard!"
"Lady Furina..."
The Melusines' overwhelming enthusiasm left Furina feeling somewhat overwhelmed.
"Everyone, please be patient," the lead Melusine said, turning to caution her companions. "Give Lady Furina some time to adjust." She then faced Furina and bowed deeply. "Lady Furina, thank you for everything you've done for Fontaine."
Furina's confusion deepened, and she instinctively glanced at Lumine.
Lumine handed Furina a small blue orb—the vessel housing Focalors' core consciousness.
Nurtured by the divine power of Morax, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, Barbatos, and Beelzebul, Focalors' condition within the orb had significantly improved.
However, due to her shattered Divinity, destroyed Divine Throne, and fundamentally weakened foundation, she remained confined within the orb.
This blue orb had been created by Fidelle, who had burned her own soul to forge it. It served as an ideal vessel for Focalors' consciousness.
The moment Furina grasped the orb, darkness enveloped her vision. When she opened her eyes again, a girl who looked exactly like her stood before her.
"Furina~"
Focalors tilted her head slightly, smiling at Furina.
"You... you're 'The Me in the Mirror'..." Furina slowly approached, her lips slightly parted.
Focalors: "Yes, Furina. Here, I will tell you everything..."
-
On the other side...
The Intellitron had already entered the restricted area above Natlan, fleeing south under relentless pursuit by Morax and Greater Lord Rukkhadevata.
With the All-Devouring Narwhal neutralized, several combatants were now freed up. Morax and the Dendro Archon maintained relentless pursuit, pressing the Intellitron hard.
To force out the remaining observers, Jiang Mumu needed to make a decisive move.
The reason these onlookers hadn't intervened was simple: they believed Morax, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, and the other gods could successfully capture her.
Since that was their perception, she needed to demonstrate a more overwhelming display of power.
Jiang Mumu left only a small portion of her consciousness to maintain control over the Intellitron, withdrawing the majority of her awareness back into her original body.
Within System Space, she retrieved the telescope.
This time, she didn't intend to descend into the world directly; instead, she planned to create a mere illusion. After all, descending like she had done before would consume a significant amount of Emotional Value, and Jiang Mumu was now determined to conserve every point she could.
-
Above Natlan.
A dark purple meteor streaked across the sky, closely followed by two meteors, one gold and one green.
Scions of the Canopy Tribe.
As twilight fell, the Canopy Tribe's settlement was shrouded in the acrid scent of sulfur. The massive wooden structures cast flickering shadows against the Phlogiston-lit sky.
Kinich stood at the edge of a cliff, arms crossed, his beast-hide cloak whipping in the hot wind.
Pixel Dragon Ajaw, perched on his shoulder, suddenly flicked his tail upright.
"Look! What's that? It looks special! Let's go check it out—"
Kinich instinctively gripped the grappling hook at his waist, ready to agree, when a voice warmer than Phlogiston drifted on the wind:
"Kinich—bring Ajaw back for dinner!"
Ajaw's scales instantly turned gray.
"Tch, this Sister always ruins a dragon's fun..."
Before he could finish his complaint, Kinich had already turned and sprinted toward the village, his grappling hook arcing precisely around burning branches, scattering Nightglow Insects like stardust in his wake.
Ajaw clung desperately to Kinich's shoulder armor, cursing under his breath:
"Slow down! The Contract didn't say I had to die alongside some fool!"
The aroma of stewed meat wafted from the cracks in the wooden hut's door.
Inside, Ishkab bent over, wiping Ajaw's custom-made ceramic dish. The firelight illuminated her cascading braids, making her look as gentle as the soft grass beside a lava river.
"Welcome home."
She pushed the warm plate toward the edge of the table, and Ajaw immediately darted over, devouring the food with gusto, his scales gleaming with golden satisfaction.
"Sister! Just now outside..."
Before Kinich could finish speaking, Ishkab's fingertips brushed away a bead of sweat from his temple. The old scar beneath the headband warmed slightly at her touch.
She placed a bowl brimming with meat and broth in front of her brother, then added the largest piece of meat to Ajaw's plate.
"Eat first. Tomorrow, when we go out, Ajaw can carry you up high to see where the meteorites fell. Would you like that?"
The Pixel Dragon choked, stretching his neck indignantly. "By what right... cough... should this holy dragon serve as a mount?!"
Kinich suddenly fell silent.
His sister still treated him like a child. He was grown up now; he didn't need to be coddled anymore.
He stared at the red mark on her wrist, burned by the earthenware pot. All his arguments about being grown up finally sank unuttered back into his throat.
The boy obediently sat down and picked up his bowl, just like the child who had huddled by the stove a decade ago, hiding from their father's drunken rages.
In the gentle clinking of the wooden spoon against the bowl, the meteor's fiery glow remained shut outside the door, leaving only the warm light of the room to gently envelop the siblings and the dragon.
-
The Intellitron finally stopped in the Sumeru Desert, reaching out to forcefully tear open the Akasha.
It was clear the Intellitron was exerting immense force.
The space first tensed violently, then groaned under the unbearable strain.
A fang-like rift was ripped open with brute force!
Swirling darkness flowed from the torn edges, revealing a chaotic abyss that devoured all.
A terrifying suction instantly seized the surroundings, pulverizing rubble and dust into silent oblivion.
Even more suffocating was the icy, deathly malice that ground against the Laws of reality, bringing soul-deep terror and despair. It felt as though the entire world was about to be devoured by this insatiable wound, plunging into eternal nothingness.
The Intellitron immediately retreated after briefly tearing the rift open, forcefully hurling a small purple sphere into the fissure.
Just as the sphere was about to enter the rift, a green vine snaked out to intercept it.