[The Sapphire Mansion – Don Kurai District]
Fraxy reached out a delicate, manicured hand and tapped the floating "Accept" icon on her status window. She leaned back against her plush vanity chair, still feeling the lingering warmth of her rose-petal bath.
"Hello? What's up, Yoru?" Fraxy asked, her voice airy and light, as if she were checking in on a casual lunch date.
The response was not casual. A deafening, distorted screech erupted from the mana-link, so loud that Fraxy had to hold the holographic window away from her ear.
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Yoru screamed, her voice cracking with a mixture of panic and pure, unadulterated rage. In the background of the call, Fraxy could hear the whistling winds of the Sky Arena and the distant, ominous hum of the Z+ Gate.
Fraxy blinked her lavender-pink eyes, looking genuinely confused. She picked up a small brush and began tidying her strawberry-blonde hair. "Why are you so angry, Yoru? It's my scheduled time off. I am enjoying my holidays. Stress is bad for the skin, you know."
"Holidays?! Fraxy, look at the sky!" Yoru's face appeared in the corner of the link, her hair disheveled and her expression wild. "Come here fast! This is a Code Black emergency! A Z+ Rank Hyperversal Dungeon has appeared in the center of the Northern Sector!"
Fraxy paused, her brush hovering mid-air. She tilted her head, thinking for a moment. "A Z+ Rank? Oh, nice. That sounds like a lot of work. Tell you what—you and the Captain go clear it, then call me back when you're done. I'll come over and heal any scratches you get."
"ARE YOU CHECKING MY LIMITS?!" Yoru roared, her green eyes flashing. Even through the digital link, the pressure of Yoru's mana made Fraxy's vanity mirrors rattle. "This isn't a scratch, Fraxy! We are talking about reality-warping levels of destruction! If you aren't here to keep our physical forms anchored, we'll turn to dust before we even reach the boss!"
Fraxy let out a soft, theatrical sigh, finally putting down her brush. She looked at her reflection, adjusting her pink choker. "Honestly, Yoru, you're so dramatic. Even if I wanted to come, I'm currently at the Don Kurai resort district. That's halfway across the continent. Do you have any idea how much a last-minute teleportation scroll costs during peak season?"
"I don't care if you have to fly on a dragon or rip a hole in space yourself!" Yoru shouted. "If you aren't at the Sky Arena in five minutes, I will personally come to Don Kurai and drag you here by your hair!"
Fraxy pouted, looking at her lavender eyes in the mirror with a look of tragedy. "Fine, fine. I'll cut my vacation short. But you're paying for my lost spa credits, Yoru. Every single one of them."
[The Sky Arena – High Atmosphere]
"Enough!" Yoru roared, her patience snapping like a dry twig. "I'm using Instant Teleportation!"
Before Fraxy could take another sip of her chamomile, the space in her mansion folded inward with a violent crack. Yoru appeared in a blur of motion, her hand grabbing Fraxy's wrist with a grip of iron.
Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, the luxury of the mansion was replaced by the freezing winds and thin air of the Sky Arena.
"Hey!" Fraxy cried out, nearly dropping her porcelain cup. "I didn't even finish my tea yet! You know how much those leaves cost?"
"Hello, Fraxy," Nefa waved casually, her emerald hair whipping in the wind. "Glad you could join the apocalypse."
"Hello, Nefa," Fraxy pouted, smoothing out her violet dress. She turned to complain more to Yoru, but her words died in her throat as her gaze landed on the figure standing in the center of the arena. Her lavender-pink eyes widened. "I think... this matter is really serious. Because if the Goddess of Flame is here, then the world isn't just ending—it's already half-burnt."
"The entire time I was talking to you, I was trying to tell you that!" Yoru hissed, pointing toward the violet rift in the sky. "Can you feel the mana level of that gate now?"
Fraxy closed her eyes for a second, her pink choker glowing with a soft, restorative light. "Yes... I can. It's like a black hole for reality itself." She turned her head toward the injured boy leaning against the barrier. "But first things first. Nice to meet you, Gifted One. You look like you just fought a lightning god and lost."
Lapis gave a stiff, respectful nod, his salt-magenta eyes still dim. "Nice to meet you too... Saint Fraxy."
Finally, Fraxy's gaze shifted to the young man standing next to him. She tilted her head, her strawberry-blonde hair falling over her shoulder as she scanned him from head to toe. Her expression shifted from playful to intensely curious.
"And you are...?" she asked softly.
Techyon straightened his back, feeling the weight of her Z-Elite gaze. "Yes, me."
Fraxy stepped closer, her nose almost touching his as she sniffed the air around him. Her lavender eyes narrowed, sensing something buried deep within his cyan mana—something that smelled like Hope and looked like the Arcon Arax.
"And who are you, exactly?" she whispered, her voice losing its teasing edge. "Your mana feels like a ghost I haven't seen in twenty years."
Cynthia stepped forward, her presence cooling the inquisitive air around Fraxy. "Leave the introductions for later," she said, her voice a sharp blade of authority. "It doesn't matter who is who right now. Just recognize him as our helper. We have a universe to save."
Fraxy puffed out her cheeks, sensing Cynthia's protective wall around the boy, but she dropped the subject. "Fine, fine. But he's definitely getting a full check-up after this."
"Guys!" Captain Carod shouted, his armor rattling as the ground beneath the arena began to shake. "The readings are spiking! We have to move now. The gate is about to open, and if we aren't at the event horizon when it does, the initial shockwave will level the continent!"
Yoru reached out her hands, her green eyes glowing with mana. "Everyone, hold my hand! I'm going to use Instant Teleportation to get us to the coordinates!"
"No need," Lapis interrupted. He stood tall, his Honoured Eyes flashing a brilliant, determined magenta. He didn't wait for permission. He snapped his fingers, and the air around the entire group crystallized. "Space Warping: Total Shift!"
The Sky Arena vanished.
In a millisecond, they were no longer in the peaceful upper atmosphere. They were standing on a desolate, jagged plain of black rock. In front of them, the sky was torn open. A massive, swirling vortex of violet and black energy—the Z+ Rank Dungeon Gate—loomed over them like the eye of an angry god. The sheer pressure of the mana made the air feel like liquid lead.
Carod stabilized his heavy boots against the trembling earth, his visor reflecting the swirling void. He turned to the group's strategist, his voice grim.
"What is the plan, Yoru?"