Under the white-haired youth's horrified gaze, the golden-haired girl materialized violently from the sky, clutching the Flame Sword in one hand and the white haired youths chibi plushie in the other. She smashed directly into the sakura tree Kevin had been staring at.
The Golden Flame on Laevateinn instantly ignited the sakura tree before Kevin. His eyes narrowed, and a torrent of icy energy surged forth, intending to extinguish the blaze.
-
The flames continued to burn, gradually spreading. The young man's icy aura seemed ineffective against the eerie golden-orange flames, which blazed leisurely.
The white-haired man's composure finally shattered. He turned to the blonde girl beside him.
"My descendant... aren't you going to extinguish this strange fire?" Kevin Kaslana asked, his fist clenched hard as he watched the massive sakura tree slowly turn to charcoal.
"Extinguish the fire? What mutt wants to put out the fire?!" Snow, still reeling from the fall, shook her head, clearly not yet fully aware of what was happening, and began cursing loudly.
It seemed that the series of impacts and falls had not only awakened the Kaslana bloodline's true potential but also granted her a temporary "boost" in intelligence.
Upon hearing this, veins bulged in the shape of a cross on Kevin's forehead. The white-haired man lunged forward, his iron fist descending toward the blonde girl's head.
"Augh—even my dad never... ptui! Could never beat me!" the blonde girl screamed, her cry echoing through the miniature World Bubble.
-
"Hiss—" The girl rubbed the bump on her head and, with a swift backhand motion, grabbed Laevateinn. Twisting the hilt, she extinguished the flames that had been raging through the sakura tree, leaving only its charred trunk as evidence of the conflagration.
"Kevin Kaslana, ancestor of the Kaslana family?" The girl, her intelligence finally clicking into gear, glanced at the man before her, as if seeking confirmation.
White hair, blue eyes, a combat uniform dominated by black and white, accented with cyan on the billowing hem—yep, that was the Old Ancestor alright.
"I am Kevin... You're the first true descendant to reach me in a millennium. Truly impressive..." Kevin turned to gaze at the half-destroyed sakura tree, his fist clenching even tighter.
"I'm probably the only one—and definitely the one who brings the most glory to the family—though by legal reasoning, I don't bear the Kaslana surname," Snow remarked, glancing at the charred tree trunk before whistling innocently and looking away.
"Oh? Then what is your name—and... what is that sword?" After a millennium of slumber within the World Bubble, Kevin finally posed his questions to the descendant who had shattered his long-held tranquility.
"I am Snow Apocalypse, daughter of Otto Apocalypse, the current Schicksal Overseer, and Kallen Kaslana, the Schicksal Saintess."
The girl took a slight step back and bowed respectfully to the ancestor before her.
"Apocalypse... I've heard my followers speak of this family. Su once guided them..." Kevin nodded.
"The Lady of the Lake from the Arthurian legends, right?"
"Yes... He was also the one who entrusted the Void Archives to your clan," Kevin nodded again, then asked, "So, that sword?" He turned his gaze to the golden-orange Great Sword embedded in the ground, flames still blazing around it.
"The Branch of Ruin, Laevateinn—the demon sword that burns the world—one of the weapons of the Herrscher of the End. Though that final Herrscher typically wields the Eternal Spear, Gungnir..."
With a casual gesture, the blonde girl summoned a golden spear that made Kevin's pupils dilate in shock.
He remembered that spear. Over fifty thousand years ago, this very weapon, forged by the gods, had pierced the bodies of his comrades, extinguishing the flame of their lives.
The girl casually thrust the Eternal Spear into the ground, her expression indifferent.
"Where did you get that spear...?!"
Kevin's breathing grew ragged, his heart pounding fiercely, his voice tight with urgency.
"It's a complicated story... But before I tell it, Kevin Kaslana, ancestor of the Kaslana family, I have a request: postpone the Stigmata Project. I'm not asking you to abandon it entirely—you can continue the experiments—but at least delay the final implementation phase..."
Snow's deep blue eyes locked with Kevin's azure gaze, neither yielding an inch.
"...Reason?" Kevin didn't immediately agree. This was MEI's final plan, entrusted to him. He had no reason to delay or abandon it. He needed a reason—one he couldn't refuse.
"This is the reason..." Sometime later, they stood upon the Blood Soil of the Imaginary Tree. The Imaginary God Construct remained where Snow had left it, watching the newcomer raise his longsword.
"He's a guest... God Construct," Snow said to the towering giant.
"..." The colossal construct re-sheathed its sword into the Blood Soil, ignoring the additional warrior.
"...You can command the guardians of the Imaginary Tree?" Kevin stared at the girl in disbelief, a phenomenon unprecedented in his millennia of memories.
In the distant past, Fire Moth researchers had attempted to breach and enter the Imaginary Tree, but every experiment ended in fierce battles between Fusion Warriors and the Tree's guardians.
"Why wouldn't I be able to?" Snow countered.
"...I told you from the start, didn't I? I'm the most glorious descendant of this bloodline—Old Ancestor Kevin."
"Some people, claiming the name of humanity, devote their entire lives, exhausting all their efforts, to ascend the Divine Throne, even abandoning their human forms—"
"While others... from the moment of their birth, are already seated upon the Divine Throne—"
-
A long silence hung in the air as the ancient warrior absorbed everything his descendant had said. He finally understood the origin of the two divine weapons the girl wielded.
Those are weapons chosen by the gods themselves, wielded by beings who walk the earth...
"Ah, he's going to die..." Snow's voice broke Kevin's reverie. During his contemplation, they had returned to the original World Bubble, where the girl was murmuring to herself as she gazed into a small pond beneath a sakura tree.
"Who?" Kevin's chest tightened with an ominous premonition. The emotions he had suppressed for a thousand years stirred within him, and he turned urgently to his descendant, desperate for answers.
"The Predecessor from the previous era... MANTIS Su..." The girl delivered the answer he had most feared.
"He found hope... and entrusted it to another descendant of the Kaslana family..." Snow continued, her gaze fixed on the pond as if she could see events unfolding in another World Bubble.
"...I can save him..."
The white-haired man whipped his head around, staring at his enigmatic descendant.
"Should I...?" Her azure eyes turned to him, seeking his guidance.
"Please—" After a thousand years, the youth once again uttered a plea to another.
-
"My apologies, seatmate. It seems he won't be able to join you for a game of chess." The girl, wielding the Spear of God: Gungnir, reached into the pool and grasped something.
In the pool's reflection, a cloaked figure sat upon a throne, his face hidden. With a helpless shake of his head, he released his grip on the object, allowing the girl to take it.