A flashback.
Before arriving at the 2nd Division base, Captain Rion stood in a dim, quiet meeting room facing Hazelsun. The commander had just extended an invitation.
"Captain Rion," Hazelsun began calmly, "I want you to come to the 2nd Division facility of the Aether Raiders."
Rion shook his head.
"I appreciate the offer, but I can't accept it. I don't trust the Aether Raiders. I know you're human… but the way you move—the power you wield—it isn't human. Not until I understand where that strength comes from."
His voice dropped into a deeper, colder tone.
"So tell me everything I want to know."
Despite respecting the Aether Raiders as an organization, Rion still couldn't trust them. The fact that they had survived this long—across eras where civilizations collapsed—was suspicious enough. If the Raiders were still alive, then someone continued to lead them. And Rion knew one thing:
The leader of the Aether Raiders was always the strongest among them.
He knew this because he himself had once been an Aether Raider.
But now the leader was someone entirely different—
someone stronger, someone unknown—
and that uncertainty kept Rion from making any reckless decisions.
Hazelsun sighed, accepting the refusal.
"I see. It's your decision. I won't force you. And… don't apologize. I didn't expect you to agree anyway."
He gave a small, understanding smile before turning toward the door.
But as soon as Hazelsun stepped into the hallway, he nearly collided with a cloaked figure—wrapped entirely in bandages from the neck down, leaving only his face and mouth exposed.
Hazelsun's expression hardened immediately.
"And what exactly are you doing here?"
The bandaged man grinned.
"Is that any way to greet a fellow commander? I'm simply here to speak with the leader of the humans. Same as you."
Hazelsun's eyes narrowed further.
He clearly disliked this man.
"Do whatever you want," he muttered and brushed past him.
The bandaged commander smirked as he pushed open the door Hazelsun had just exited, disappearing inside to meet Captain Rion.
Hazelsun paused mid-step, doubt tightening his chest.
Should I really leave him alone?
He turned slightly, watching the bandaged man vanish into the room.
I hope this ends well, Hazelsun thought, before continuing down the long hallway.
The scene shifted.
Maria Vale lay on her bed, drenched in sweat, her face pale with fear. The room around her began to distort—stretching, bending, dissolving—until she found herself floating in a vast emptiness.
Fragments of memories drifted around her like falling snow, silent and delicate, brushing lightly against her skin.
She slowly looked upward.
Above her, a gigantic black hole churned, pulling everything toward its devouring core.
Then a voice echoed.
"Maria Vale."
She flinched, startled.
The voice came from the black hole itself.
"Who… who are you?" she asked, trembling.
"I am you."
"I am the heart. The heart of this world."
Maria shook her head in confusion.
"What do you mean, 'the heart of the world'?"
The voice deepened, resonating through the void.
"I am you. And you… will become me."
Her breath caught—
and suddenly she awoke.
She was back in her private room, lying on a medical bed. Standing beside her was Kadia—the woman assigned as her private doctor—staring at her with a blank, emotionless expression.
Maria frowned.
"Do you… need something?"
Kadia spoke flatly.
"Your blood has changed. Your heart has stopped. You are dead. Yet you continue to live."
Maria froze. She pressed a trembling hand against her chest.
No heartbeat.
Silence.
Her breath quickened. She looked back at Kadia.
"What did you do to me? Why am I like this?"
"I know nothing," Kadia answered. "I am only here to cremate you. You were declared dead."
"Cremate—? Why would you—"
But she stopped.
Because Kadia's body suddenly erupted in red flames.
Her hair transformed into blazing crimson.
Her eyes glowed like burning embers.
Flower petals scattered through the room—then turned to ash as they touched the ground.
Kadia was no longer Kadia.
A cold, absolute voice escaped her lips.
"You must be eliminated.
The Heart must never be allowed to live again."
Maria stared in horror, unable to process the transformation—unable even to move.
Across the base, another scene unfolded.
Captain Rion, now unconscious, slumped in a chair inside the same room where the bandaged commander had met him. The commander held Rion's jaw open and poured water laced with microscopic parasites down his throat.
Mosite.
Creatures that devoured human emotions.
And now they crawled inside Captain Rion.
Far away, deep within an ancient, colossal tree, a man awakened from a long, peaceful sleep—his body buried beneath layers of fallen leaves. He rose, stretching, completely naked.
"How many decades have passed?" he murmured.
On his back was a massive mark—the Aether Raiders' symbol.
And written across it, in red, was a single word:
Laive.
It looked as though he had deliberately overwritten the emblem himself.
A moment later, he sensed a pressure—an unusual power—coming from the north, toward the location of the spaceship. A smile curved across his lips.
"So, you've finally arrived… the ones responsible for this world."
Laive stepped out of the giant tree and glanced around the forest.
"It seems nothing has changed… still the same," he muttered.
Then someone appeared.
A woman with short hair and bangs, cat-like ears, and an eyepatch. A long white cloak flowed behind her as she emerged from the trees.
"Did you sleep well, Laive?" she asked.
Laive yawned. "Yeah. I slept well."
He walked past her and placed a hand gently on her head.
"Looks like you really took care of this forest, Ruby," he said while ruffling her hair, making her cheeks flush red.
"I–I just happen to live here, so I protect it," Ruby stuttered.
Laive laughed softly and patted her head again.
"Then I'm lucky you live here."
He continued walking deeper into the forest.
From Ruby's point of view, she watched his back, her heart tightening with unspoken emotion.
I'm the lucky one… because you found me.
You are my light—the unluckiest light I have ever seen.