Out at sea, the flower-woven ship drifts gently across calm waters.
Petals trail behind it like a comet's tail.
Ahead, a lone figure floats above the surface.
Susan narrows her eyes.
"How is it even possible for anyone to find this place?"
Rear steps forward, placing himself slightly in front of her. His arm extends protectively.
"Be on guard, it may be an enemy."
As the ship sails closer, the figure becomes clearer..
Susan inhales softly.
"He's not mortal. Not an angel either… then he must be a God. A mini God."
Moments later, the unconscious figure is brought aboard.
The man suddenly gasps awake, sitting upright.
"Where am I?! Wait—did I do it…?"
Rear stomps once. The deck trembles.
"Who are you? And how did you find this place?"
The man scans them and then freezes as he leaps into a battle stance.
"What are you—?!"
His eyes lock onto Rear.
"You're a demon! I can sense that demonic energy inside you!"
Susan quickly steps between them, palms open.
"Please calm down. We won't harm you. We only want answers."
The stranger studies their surroundings, the endless sea, the vibrant sky, the untouched paradise.
"Why is a mortal… and a demon… living in a place like this?"
Susan offers a gentle smile.
"Let's start over. I'm Susan. This is my husband, Rear. What is your name?"
The tension slowly drains from the man's posture.
"I am Hermes, the God of Escape… from Garden Adamas."
He swallows hard, emotion tightening his voice.
"The Shadow War began years ago. A demon defeated and possessed the body of God Everest. With that power, they marched with an army and invaded our Garden."
His hands tremble.
"Even our God of Gods, Adamas… surrendered without much of a fight. But still the rest of us fought as hard as we could. Even so, the demons were too strong."
He lowers his head.
"All we could do was run. And that… is my specialty."
He forces himself to continue.
"At first, I tried to save as many mortals as possible. I promised them I would find a safe haven."
His voice cracks.
"But the other Gardens were too far. There was no escape. So I… left them."
Silence hangs heavy.
"I ran as far as I could, knowing that the void would eventually take me. But as the God of Escape… perhaps luck or fate has guided me here."
Susan steps forward and places a hand gently on his shoulder.
"I understand how you feel. My master was a God too. She left the rest of humanity in my hands… But I also left them behind."
She gestures to the paradise surrounding them.
"For this."
Hermes looks around again, disbelief filling his face.
"How is something like this even possible?"
Susan answers quietly.
"It was built with the highest technology ever known… fused with divine and planetary energy from a fusion core."
Her voice softens further.
"And… built from the blood of an entire Universal Tree."
Hermes recoils.
"You what…?"
His anger erupts.
"You slaughtered countless lives, for a sanctuary?!"
Rear steps forward, his voice steady.
"And it was also built with love."
He does not flinch.
"A selfish act, yes. But not one meant to end in vain."
Hermes's aura bursts outward in golden fury.
"Don't justify it!"
He charges.
His forearm clashes with Rear's. Divine force against demonic divinity.
The flower ship cracks beneath their feet.
"Stop it!" Susan screams.
Both of them stops at as the sea goes still.
Susan steps between them again.
"We know what we did was wrong," she says firmly. "But wrongs can be righted."
She turns to Rear and cups his face gently.
"I'm grateful for what we have. But the weight of our sins grows heavier with time. We can't ignore it anymore."
Rear's eyes soften.
He pulls her into a quiet embrace.
"Then we will do what is right," he whispers. "Together."
Hermes exhales slowly, his aura fading.
He looks at them, not as enemies… but as something else.
"Very well," he says at last.
"Then let us sinners… figure this out."
The flower ship drifts quietly once more.
Back on Treasure Island, Corvex charges forward, blade in hand with her eyes locked onto Hans.
Just as she closes the distance, Boa steps in between them.
The glowing Secret Treasure is still in his hand, now within reach of Hans.
Corvex skids to a halt.
"What are you doing?!" she shouts.
"I thought you were a man of honor! You're willing to lose that easily?!"
Boa doesn't move.
"Do you have no honor?" he replies calmly.
"Attacking a child with such killing intent? Shame on you."
Corvex then yells back.
"Kid or not, if they're in the way of victory, it must be done!"
Boa's eyes narrow.
"I almost forgot… you're in love with the man I hate most."
His voice turns sharp.
"Of course someone like you would fall for him. Doing whatever it takes to get what you want, even if it changes who you are."
She grits her teeth.
Boa continues.
"Hans and the others are onto something. I wasn't worried at all, holding our Secret Treasure so close to them."
He glances back at Hans.
"Because Hans is pure, not even an ounce of malice in him. Go on, kid. Solve the puzzle."
Hans doesn't hesitate and runs towards the direction of the energy pillar.
Tobias follows close behind as Ignis pushes himself up from the cracked ground and also sprints after them.
Crank steps beside Boa, rolling his shoulders.
"Same team or not," Crank rumbles,
"if you lack honor… you will be punished."
He lowers into a fighting stance.
Corvex trembles with rage.
"You utter fools!" she screams.
"You may see this as a win-win outside the game but for me it's not! I need every advantage I can get… so I can return to him!"
Boa exhales slowly.
"This is no duel."
He shifts into his stance.
"This is a correction of morals."
Without looking, he tosses the Secret Treasure aside, letting it land safely out of immediate reach.
At the center of Treasure Island, the pillar of energy roars like a silent sun.
Hans, Tobias, Ignis and the rest of the Stars in the White Team arrives beneath its blinding glow.
Tobias turns sharply to the others.
"Hold the perimeter. The three of us will handle this."
The White Stars nod and spread out defensively.
Hans looks up.
The floating Puzzle-Boss slowly merges into the pillar of light.
Hans tightens his grip on his staff.
"There he goes.."
Without another second, Hans, Tobias, and Ignis steps forward and thrust their arms into the energy.
The light reacts instantly as their bodies are pulled in with magic
Moments later, they awaken in a vast, magical realm of drifting stardust and shimmering constellations. The ground beneath them glows like glass filled with galaxies.
The Puzzle-Boss descends from above.
"Well done," he says calmly.
"This is the first time any Star has reached this stage."
He raises his hand.
"Now… for the final test."
The puzzle pieces embedded across his body begin to swirl, glowing with ancient magic.
Six memory clouds materialize in the air around them. Each one plays a scene from the events that had already unfolded on Treasure Island.
"You have already experienced these moments before," the Puzzle-Boss continues.
"Identify which memories are true and which are false."
His voice echoes across the cosmos.
"If you succeed, everyone will escape… and you all will claim the spoils of victory."
The three of them study the floating clouds carefully.
Ignis scratches his head.
"I don't quite understand what he means by us experiencing this before."
Tobias then answers.
"The Treasure Hunt game is only an illusion, once either team finishes, everyone is send back into a time loop, back to the start of the game. This here is the real puzzle."
Hans then adds in.
" That explains it, to how your body was reacting before, you weren't lying after all. So if the time loop would had continue- "
Tobias then says with a darken face.
"We all would of die around the 100th time loop, our bodies and brains would be so scramble to the point of explosion."
Ignis crosses his arms and says
"Should we work together? That might make it more accurate."
Tobias shakes his head immediately.
"No. We split them. Two each."
Hans nods.
"I agree. We don't have time. Corvex will reach this place sooner or later."
Ignis glances back toward the pillar's entrance.
"You really think Boa and Crank would lose to her?"
Tobias's expression turns serious.
"There's a chance. She won't be alone for long. The Black Team's catching up fast on the scoreboard."
He folds his arms.
"At this moment they've probably gathered more weapons and power fruits. Her odds of winning aren't zero."
Ignis goes quiet.
That thought hits harder than he expected.
Without another word, Hans steps forward and enters one of the memory clouds, disappearing into its mist.
Tobias walks into another.
Ignis stands alone for a brief moment, staring at the remaining clouds.
He takes a deep breath.
"Alright… I can't mess this up."
His fist tightens.
"We all have to get this right… or we're back to square one."
He steps forward and enters his own cloud.
Moments later Ignis opens his eyes to see that he's back at the cave. Their team's starting point.
He looks down at himself. His body is covered in a faint, mist-like aura.
Ahead, he sees himself with his team, planning their strategy as the game begins as everyone quickly rushes into the island's depths.
Everyone except Tobias, who is setting up traps.
Ignis grips his head.
"So far… this feels real. But I can't be sure. I need to see more."
He runs off into the forest to pass many Stars from both teams, fighting and treasure hunting, until he reaches the World Tree.
Inside, he sees Hans, Voytek, and several White Stars battling Corvex and her team of Stars.
Ignis frowns.
"Why am I here? I need to follow myself."
But then suddenly he hears Hans screaming as he quickly spins back to see Corvex's blade is buried deep in Voytek's chest.
Blood pours from his back, Voytek's voice trembles.
"Hans… run…"
Hans refuses. He charges with his metal staff but Corvex counters with one clean cut, causing Hans to fall backwards.
Ignis stares in horror.
"Think… think. This could've happened. Corvex is capable of it."
His breathing grows heavier.
"No. I need confirmation. I need to see myself!"
He runs again until he reaches the ruined castle.
He enters, leaps down the massive hole, and lands on the prison level.
There, he sees himself fighting Crank.
Crank slams his past self through wall after wall until he crashes into the diamond chest.
Ignis watches intensely.
"A time loop has infinite variations… but could this one have already happened?"
The chest opens as Crank approaches.
His past self then speaks
"Should I be honorable or not?"
Then—
"Forget it… I'm not losing this. Even if it's you!"
His past self devours the entire power fruit.
Two massive red boxing gloves form around his fists.
He rushes forward and pummels Crank violently, sending him crashing through brick walls.
The real Ignis clenches his head.
"That could've happened too… I was really split on the decision in that moment."
He paces in frustration.
"Damn it! This is harder than it looks! Think, Ignis! Be like Tobias, be smart, smart!"
He freezes as his eyes widen.
"I've got it!"
Meanwhile in Tobias's memory realm, Tobias stands outside the cave entrance.
He watches himself carefully setting traps with his expression darkens.
"Something must've happened before… something that made my body remember."
Moments later, Black Team Stars appear.
One by one, they fall into his traps, he watches his past self to see the confidence in himself is fading.
"This could happen," Tobias mutters.
"This is the second time in the Star games I've ever been alone without Ignis. I wouldn't have been confident enough."
He nods slowly.
"Before… I was confident because of how my body reacted to the previous experience and I had, it was a gut feeling, like it had to be done ."
He watches himself fight desperately but with his doubts he is soon overwhelmed.
Pinned to the ground by a few Stars as the others enters the cave.
The Star with the sword laughs.
"Only one person guarding the starting area? This is too easy."
They search the cave as the eagle-eyed girl exits.
"There's nothing here!"
Suddenly, Hans and the others arrive as battle erupts.
The eagle-eyed girl points at Hans.
"He's got it inside his stomach!"
The blade-wielding Star attacks.
Hans struggles.
Tobias watches helplessly as his past self tries to rise,bloodied, barely conscious.
The blade slices with lots of blood splattering, Hans's stomach is cut open.
The Secret Treasure spills out, rolling across the ground toward Tobias.
Hans collapses.
"Tobias!"
The memory-Tobias grabs the treasure and runs toward the beach, sobbing and panicking.
Exhausted, he falls to his knees.
Soon the Black Team surrounds him as Corvex steps forward, covered in blood.
She takes a sword from another Star and drives it through Tobias's stomach, causing him to fall backward.
The sky fills his vision, above, he can see the Puzzle-Boss floating in the sky.
Corvex's voice then soon echoes.
"Game over."
She touches the Secret Treasure causing everything to go black.
In the darkness of the memory realm, The real Tobias breathes steadily.
"I've got my answer…"
His eyes sharpen.
"This memory is—"
Meanwhile in Hans's memory realm, he stands inside the vast area of the World Tree.
The air feels heavy as before him, the memory is unfolding.
He sees himself fighting alongside Voytek against Corvex.
Then, Voytek raises his hand, lightning gathers as he then throws it at Corvex.
The bolt tears straight through her stomach.
A hole burns through her body as blood splashes across the soil. She falls backward, eyes wide in disbelief.
Memory-Hans screams.
"Gramp! What have you done?! She was part of our party!"
Voytek stares at his own trembling hand.
"It had to be done… or she would've done the same to you…"
In that moment of shock, the real Hans stands silently, staring at it all.
His chest rises and falls slowly as he then closes his eyes and exhales deeply.
"That's enough."
He opens his eyes, calm and clear.
"I've got my answer."
The memory cloud trembles, waiting.
Hans looks straight ahead.
"This memory is-"