Sora approached Alexandra. "Be careful, I don't know what might happen..." she said, but Alexandra seemed momentarily dazed, staring at the barrier.
"Sora! What's wrong? Are you okay?" Alexandra suddenly shouted, noticing the sudden change in her friend's demeanor.
"Watch out! Don't go any closer to the edge!" Sora warned, her voice tight with urgency. "If you lose your focus, the flow of nature's energy will reverse, and the barrier will swallow you whole! Your mind could literally explode from the memory overload!"
Sora stared at the giant pyramid in utter disbelief. "I can't believe it... It's not just the memories and energy of the Sorcerers. It's the life energy of every single human on Earth!"
"Wh-what? What are you saying?" Alexandra stammered, taking a panicked step back. "Sora, we have to be extremely, extremely careful!"
Sora whispered, her eyes glazing over as she stared into the glowing light. "I feel like... something from the other side of the barrier just called out to me. Something is calling me right now! Do you feel it too? My nature energy... it's tuning into the barrier. Something on the other side wants me!"
"Sora!" Alexandra yelled, trying to snap her out of the trance. "It makes sense that something like that would pull you in, because you haven't fully drawn your energy back from the barrier yet!"
"It's like... like something is waiting for me in there," Sora continued, completely entranced and ignoring her warnings. "I can't resist its call!"
[Narrator's Lines] «The barrier of the Fake World is forged from the collective memories of both the Sorcerers and the entirety of humanity. Yugo engineered it this way to ensure he would never lose control.
Sealed within this barrier is a massive reservoir of the Sorcerers' nature energy, which leaks outward at a baseline rate of just 0.1% every minute.
This means that with each passing minute, the Sorcerers are gradually reclaiming a fraction of their original power.
Sora and Alexandra's ultimate objective is to force that number higher, accelerating the outward flow of energy far beyond its current limits»
Alexandra: "It makes no sense to strike blindly! If we want to shatter this illusion, we have to locate the barrier's core!"
Sora: "It's impossible... It's not giving off any readings at all! How the hell are we supposed to find something that leaves absolutely no trace?"
Sora took a step back, placing a finger against her cheek as her mind raced. 'If there's no trace, that means we have to manifest the core ourselves! But to do that, we need to find the weakest point first... Damn it...'
Alexandra: "Did you find something?"
Sora: "No, but I just figured out Yugo's logic. I know why he did it... why he stored Akos's energy and memories somewhere else? If he had crammed everything into one place, the entire structure would have collapsed under the weight!"
Alexandra: "The barrier is stable right now, moving too slowly. We need to force it to accelerate!"
Sora: "No, that's a terrible idea! If it moves too fast, it will rupture, explode, and kill us all. That approach won't work in our favor!"
Sora scanned their surroundings, trying to analyze the barrier's mechanics. She noticed a faint, erratic pulse—the internal energy was attempting to strike the barrier walls from within.
Suddenly, she snapped her head back toward Alexandra, her eyes widening in realization.
Sora: "Wait... I've got it! Look right here, Alexandra! The energy is trying to punch through from the inside. This means the outcome doesn't just rely on us—it depends on the others too! As long as Ronika or Jin generates power on the outside, the energy trapped within the barrier becomes volatile. It's desperate to break free and reconnect with its allies! The others need to push their energy outputs to the absolute limit!"
From above, the barrier unleashed a massive column of energy, shooting it straight into the sky.
"Sora, look! The energy burst out from up here!" Alexandra yelled.
"Sora, your hand, quick!"
Alexandra reached out, and Sora, using her friend's grip for leverage, leaped incredibly high, attempting to secure a footing on the glowing barrier.
Suddenly, Sora shrieked in panic: "Shit... The barrier is slippery! I can't hold on much longer, Alexandra. Do something fast! It's slipping, and it's pulling me inside... I won't last another second!"
Alexandra panicked, her mind racing in desperation: "Just hold on a little longer! Oh my God, what do I do?!"
"I'm losing my balance! Ahhhhh!"
Sora's scream cut off instantly as the barrier swallowed her whole, dragging her into its glowing depths.
Alexandra's eyes dilated in sheer horror. "No... No, damn it, no
Sora plunged into the pitch-black darkness, feeling as though she were sinking deep into an ocean.
'My lungs aren't screaming for oxygen... I don't feel like I'm drowning,' she thought.
Suddenly, she snapped her eyes open. Before her, Gojoru was sitting quietly at an outdoor café, sipping his tea.
Out of nowhere, Ezo dashed past at breakneck speed, accidentally knocking over Gojoru's tea. Close on his heels, Hitomi chased him in a fury: "Get back here, you piece of trash! How dare you wear my socks?!"
Gojoru jumped up, irritated: "Are you useless idiots blind? You spilled my tea!"
Ezo and Hitomi froze in their tracks. "Oh... sorry," they mumbled in unison.
"You ruined my day! Get lost, go find something else to do for once! Aren't there any missions left on the board?" Gojoru snapped.
"Bah, nope," Ezo replied. "You know there's a massive rivalry going on between Akos and Tenji over who can rack up the most completed missions."
Gojoru sat back down, completely unimpressed: "And do you know how much I care? Two idiots running around like maniacs, and I'm supposed to be impressed?"
Sora, watching the scene from a corner, whispered in shock: "Wait... wait... Oh no! I've... I've entered Gojoru's memories!"
Suddenly, the floor beneath her feet shattered with a loud crack, and Sora began sinking into the void once more.
Sora cracked her eyes open only to see Akos sitting right in front of her, gazing up and counting the stars.
'What... wait... why? Why is this happening?' she thought, panic rising in her chest. 'But Akos's memories are supposed to be sealed somewhere else... What am I doing here?'
Suddenly, she spotted her own past self walking over to join him.
Sora (Past): "What are you doing over there? Counting stars to see how many times you've embarrassed yourself today?"
Akos: "I'm just bored..."
The real Sora, watching in absolute shock from behind a nearby tree, froze. 'Wait a minute... am I in my own memories? Mine?! What?!'
Sora (Past): "Look, a shooting star! Make a wish, maybe you'll finally gain some common sense!"
Akos: "Common sense... Cut the irony. I just wanted to know what's actually out there, up in space."
Sora (Past): "Are you seriously kidding me right now? Don't tell me you listened to stupid Ezo's wild theories again? Drop it."
Sora, still hiding behind the tree, suddenly felt the ground beneath her slip away, sinking once again into the endless dark void.
The room was packed with familiar faces: Akos, Tenji, Jin, Ronika, Riko , Majo, Sora Haze, Ruka Zade, Gojoru, Ezo, Farzo with his short hair, Hitomi, Valentina, Alexandra, Maria, past Sora, Mikaro, and about five other classmates.
The entire classroom was decorated with gifts and balloons. Written in large, bold letters on the blackboard was: "Happy New Year, Mr. Takami!"
"When is he finally getting here? Can anyone tell me? I'm bored out of my mind!" Ruka complained, leaning back.
Suddenly, the door swung open and their teacher, Mr. Takami, walked in. Everyone jumped up to surprise him.
In a split second, Jin lunged forward and slammed a cake directly into Takami's face. "Happy New Year! Wishing you lots of happiness!" everyone roared in unison.
Takami stood frozen for a second, frosting dripping down his nose. "What the hell do you think you're doing, you little shits?! I'm going to destroy all of you!" he roared in a fury.
"Whoa, wait a sec—" Jin stammered, but it was too late.
Takami delivered a devastating punch, launching Jin clean through the classroom window! The entire class recoiled in sheer terror, scrambling to the back of the room.
"Idiots! Morons! I can't stand you guys anymore!" Takami yelled, wiping the cake from his eyes.
"Mr. Takami, I think you shouldn't take it so personally..." Mikaro muttered, taking a cautious step back.
Meanwhile, Tenji and Akos were laughing hysterically, pointing outside at Jin, who was face-down in the school flowerbeds.
Takami noticed them instantly. Storming over, he unleashed a fierce double punch, sending Akos, Tenji, and Mikaro flying out the window to land in a heap right on top of Jin.
"Cursed brats!" Takami bellowed.
A girl named Naruko calmly walked up to him with a fork, scraped a bit of frosting off the top of Takami's head, tasted it, and nodded. "Hmm... Tasty! Actually really delicious!"
"To hell with all of you!" Takami screamed, utterly defeated.
The entire class erupted into laughter. "Shut your mouths before I shut them for you!" the teacher threatened, veins popping on his forehead.
"What's wrong, sir? Did a blueberry cake give you a kiss?" someone teased from the back.
Suddenly, Yamato burst into the room, holding a camera. "Get ready! Cheese!" she shouted, snapping a group photo.
The real Sora, watching the chaotic scene from her desk with a bittersweet smile, felt the floor vanish beneath her once again. The bright memory faded, and she plunged back into the dark void.
Sora opened her eyes and found herself standing inside a morgue.
Right there, she saw Jin and Akos sitting in absolute, heavy silence.
She heard Mireya Kurozane speaking to Jin, who had completely buried his face inside his shirt:
"When is this going to stop? You guys are deeply depressed. Is all this darkness even worth it anymore? You lose someone new every single day... Look at me, I opened my own hospital, and I'm living just fine, far away from all this chaos."
Then, Mireya lowered her voice, whispering in bitter grief: "I opened this morgue for ordinary people... And yet, I ended up performing autopsies on my own friends."
Akos kept his eyes glued to the floor. Mireya turned her gaze toward him: "Tasaku... I think you need to stop carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. Okumura is dead and gone. He was always so calm, with that strange, two-toned short hair... But I think it's time for you to make your own decision. Whether you want to keep fighting or just stop. If anyone else were in your shoes, they would have committed suicide after the very first friend they lost. What else can I say... I hope you understand."
The real Sora watched Akos and Jin, their faces completely consumed by despair and defeat.
"I hope I fall back in..." Sora whispered, desperate to escape the painful memory.
The vision began to flicker, and Sora plunged once more into the dark void.
Sora continued to sink into the endless depths without stopping.
Silent tears streamed from her eyes as she drifted further into the absolute darkness.
"This life was no surprise..." she whispered from the deepest depths of the Fake World barrier, feeling the crushing weight of everything she had lived through.