In an unknown, vast field full of lingering death, a man sank harshly to the ground, dark liquid trickling from his forehead with frustration etched upon his face. Then, a female figure with long, dark blue hair pointed her scythe at the man, showing neither regret nor sympathy. In that moment, the weather turned cloudy around them, leading to a heavy rain that washed over them and the earth alike.

  "To think that a Child of Light like you decided to follow the rules of this world," the man smiled tauntingly, looking directly at the female figure. "How does it feel to lose everything to your own fate? I bet it hurt so much that your humanity is slowly falling apart."

  The female figure didn't answer, only tightening her grip on her scythe’s hilt as she prepared to finish the man.

  "Not that I want to blame you or anything. After all, every generation of the Child of Light, even the one before you, is always destined to experience such agony."

  The female figure let out a sigh. "Are you finished?"

  Hearing the deep, serious tone of her voice, the man snorted in amusement. His frustration was replaced by acceptance as he closed his eyes. "Do what you always do, The chi—No, I suppose I should call you Abraxas, a new title that you declared upon yourself."

  As soon as the man finished his speech, the female figure swung her scythe without hesitation against his neck, severing his head from his body. This resulted in the man vaporizing completely into dust and disappearing into thin air.

  "...I'm tired. Tired of hearing the same regrets you Zarikh force me to think about for following the flow of this never-ending cycle," the female figure mumbled to herself. She morphed her scythe back into her wand, staring at the blood-drenched weapon with a flat expression.

  But suddenly, her moment of silence was interrupted as a flickering light radiated from her necklace, a sign that someone was transmitting their voice through it.

  The female figure pressed the necklace, letting the voice out.

  "Are you still alive out there, Saria?" the voice of an adult man transmitted. His tone was genuinely worried.

  "I'm sorry, Sir Yuno. But I don't think that's my name," the female figure stated. "My name is Sarah, remember?"

  "Oh... right. Sorry for that, Sarah," Yuno said, feeling guilty about his slip of the tongue.

  "It's okay. I suppose you called me because you found something?" Sarah asked, curious about his discovery.

  "Yeah. It's about the Yggdrasil tree you recently found," Yuno replied. In his location, he stood before the giant tree within the ruins of the Royal Church.

  Hearing this statement from Yuno, Sarah slightly widened her eyes in surprise before reverting to her flat expression. "What about it?"

  "The Yggdrasil's ability... is truly something, I must say," Yuno gazed directly at the Yggdrasil, yet a feeling of dread haunted his heart. "It might be considered otherworldly, seeing as it relates to the root of time itself."

  Upon hearing Yuno's explanation about Yggdrasil, Sarah fell into deep thought, though not for long. "...I see."

  With that, the scene ended, letting the memory be consumed by white light.

  Back in the present, Sarah opened her eyes with a look of sympathy, though she hardened her expression immediately after as she caught a glimpse of Saria below, running hurriedly toward Hana.

  (Whatever you choose, do not disappoint me like I did myself, Saria.) Sarah thought.

  In that moment, every citizen who had just been protected by Hana's barrier started to kneel, praying to their God. They believed their divine being was angry with them. They prayed harder, harder than ever before with full faith as they asking for forgiveness.

  With that, Sarah's light beams finally made contact with Hana's barrier, resulting in a loud clang that echoed throughout the territory.

  The energy radiating from it was intense, intense enough that Hana was slowly being pushed back. Despite that, Hana hardened her expression with absolute resolve. She knew if she gave up right here and now, she would disappoint everyone, even her own son. So, she pushed herself to her limit, trying her best to stand her ground.

  But as a result, blood leaked from Hana's mouth. Her Neraca and the shield began to crack as the beam increased its light potency.

  In the back, Carol widened her eyes in great worry, while Arvain hardened his expression, frustrated with himself for not being able to help his own mother.

  (Haaa... it seems like my barrier isn't as strong as it usually is...) Hana thought. Her hands trembled as fatigue slowly caught up with her. (I wonder... will the gates of heaven open for me if I did my best as a true Blight Holder..? If so... do you think I did a good job, my beloved husband..?)

  In that moment, the barrier finally shattered alongside Hana's Neraca, revealing that her fatigue had finally won. Countless butterflies scattered as the barrier broke, and Hana lost consciousness with her collapsing to the ground. At the same moment the barrier was destroyed, Sarah's light beam dissipated—a sign that Hana had managed to protect the citizens to the very end.

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  "Mother!!" Arvain shouted, rushing toward Hana in great horror and worry.

  Reaching her, he knelt beside her and pulled her into his embrace, looking down at her fatigued face.

  "For the sake of the Lord, Mother. Don't try to be a hero at your age..." he stated, his tears falling onto her cheeks. "Just let me become one this time... I don't want to lose my only family, you know..?"

  (His only family, huh... I guess our long reunion has to wait then, my husband...) Hana thought, her voice echoing within her subconscious mind.

  "As I thought, your willpower is as strong as ever, Miss Hana," Sarah mumbled to herself.

  She raised her left palm toward the sky. Above her, a giant Holy Sword materialized, glowing with a melancholy light. Its tip pointed directly at where Hana, Arvain, and Carol were.

  "But that will of yours is the reason why you always die. No matter what timeline you're in."

  With that, Sarah swung her left hand downward, a direct command for the Holy Blade to charge toward Hana, Arvain, and Carol.

  Noticing the massive blade hurling down toward her friends and her mentor, Saria stomped the ground with enough force to manifest a pair of white wings upon her back. She took to the sky, flying toward the blade with all the speed she could muster, gripping her light bow tightly as she forced herself to face her own fear.

  Meanwhile, Carol, after having her wounds patched by Arvain, slowly stood and pointed her wand at the descending blade. She tried to channel her wind energy, but her hands trembled with exhaustion. She forced the energy anyway, which took a toll on her body, causing her to cough up blood. Her trembling grip failed, and her wand clattered to the ground, leaving Carol to sink back down while clutching her reopened wounds in pain.

  (This... is utterly hopeless. It feels like there’s nowhere left to run.) Carol thought, yet she wore her usual smile as if she had expected this outcome.

  (Then why do you smile? You look happy rather than hopeless,) Irene asked within her mind, confused by Carol’s behavior.

  Hearing the question, Carol snorted in amusement. "It's because this is the perfect moment for me to see how strong Saria's resolve is in defying her destiny. If I cannot fight properly, then only Saria can do it."

  As she spoke, where she raised her head directly toward the blade on the sky afterward, Saria’s winged figure barged in front of Hana, Arvain, and Carol. She lifted her bow toward the giant blade, gripping both limbs of the weapon with her hands. The blade and the bow collided, sending a loud metallic clang echoing throughout the territory.

  However, it wasn't enough. Saria struggled to hold the sword as her grip faltered and her bow began to crack under the impact. Saria gritted her teeth in frustration, thinking it was foolish to charge in without a plan. Despite that, she refused to give up, her stubbornness rivaling Carol's as she pushed herself to her absolute limit.

  Watching Saria struggle, Sarah let out a heavy sigh of disappointment. "Is that all you've got? Your resolve is weaker than I thought."

  "W-what do you mean by that?" Saria asked, still straining against the giant blade.

  "Actions speak louder than words, Saria. Even if you loudly declare that you will defy the flow of this rotten world, eventually, that flow will force you to follow its script," Sarah stated, her expression as emotionless as ever.

  "Huh..?"

  Suddenly, Saria’s eyes widened in horror. A nightmarish vision flickered in her mind: she saw a version of herself kneeling in a field of dead trees, sobbing into her hands over the corpse of Carol, who lay motionless on the Dread ground, an arrow, Saria's arrow, piercing her chest.

  "Ever since the day of the Flame Eclipse War on the Bridge of Limbo, that 'flow' has finally shown its true colors," Sarah explained briefly, clenching her hands in frustration. "When that moment arrives in your time, and the world is endangered by the Leviathan... what will you do?"

  "I..."

  Before Saria could speak, her bow shattered and reverted into a wand, leaving her in shock. In her perspective, time seemed to slow down as the giant blade nearly touched her stomach.

  (What... will I do, you say..? Does that mean... even if I defy fate, the fact that I am the Child of Light destined to kill the Leviathan will never change..?) Fear and anxiety escalated in Saria’s mind. But then, an old memory resurfaced—a conversation with her parents before the Grace Ceremony.

  "Darling, when you receive your power after the Grace Ceremony, what do you want to do?" Saria’s mother asked, sitting in young Saria’s room before she slept.

  "Hmm. I guess I want to be a hero!" Young Saria exclaimed happily. "A hero strong enough to protect the people dear to me!"

  "Oh? And not as the Child of Light?" Saria’s mother replied, genuinely confused yet curious. "You know that the Child of Light is still a hero for humanity, right?"

  "I know, Mommy. But that kind of burden is too heavy for me," Young Saria stated. "But, if I’ve been chosen to be the Child of Light, I..."

  The memory faded, consumed by a bright light.

  "...I have no choice but to embrace it in my own way," Saria finished the sentence from her dream. She gripped her wand tightly, causing it to glow with an intense radiance. "Even if suffering is inevitable, even if this so-called 'cycle' is too otherworldly for me to defy... I will fight no matter what."

  As the light around her wand expanded, it morphed into something new—a form that even Sarah didn't expect.

  "After all, every system has its own flaw!" Saria flashed an unexpected smile at Sarah as her wand transformed into a new Vergus form: a bastard sword.

  With this new weapon, Saria met the giant blade once more. Though she still struggled, her positioning with the sword was much stronger than it had been with the bow.

  For that, Saria began her chant. "O Lord, I beg of Thee..." As she spoke, her blade ignited with light. "For this sinner must face the temptation of fate, I ask for Thy strength. For this resolution is mine alone..."

  In response to the light, Sarah's giant blade began to crack, leaving her watched in utter shock.

  "...I shall be the beginning! The beginning of the Tarnished Star!" Saria declared. Her sword radiated such power that when she swung it against the tip of the giant blade, the massive weapon completely shattered.

  As the shards of the broken blade fell from the sky, the gazes of the Present and the Future locked against each other. Sarah’s expression hardened with menace as she looked down, while Saria stared back, her face set with absolute determination.