"Dream... so, the man you saw—what was his name?"
Acheron mumbled to herself, then asked Tiernan quietly.
Tiernan paused, thinking for a long time before finally recalling it.
"I think... it was Lucian..."
"Lucian... Mm, a fine name..." Acheron nodded softly. "A man worth remembering—just like you, a true her—"
Before she could finish her words, however, something unexpected suddenly happened, causing her to pause mid-sentence as her gaze fixed sharply on the Sin Thirster before her.
It wasn't because the Sin Thirster she was guiding had reached the end, but because the Sin Thirster following behind her—the one wreathed in the dense, crimson energy belonging to 'Galaxy Ranger Tiernan'—had suddenly vanished.
He didn't literally vanish, but simply, abruptly, and completely changed into something different.
Acheron's eyes narrowed, her grip on her umbrella's handle tightening.
Her movements were always gentle, as if afraid to disturb the silence that hung over this desolate place, but now, beneath the red umbrella, her eyes—which could pierce through the crimson death energy—showed a rare fluctuation for the first time: a faint, almost impossible hint of shock.
At this moment, in the spot where Tiernan's Sin Thirster had been, stood the real Tiernan.
Yes, not the vague, crimson humanoid figure formed from obsession and IX's shadow, but a living, breathing old man of flesh and blood.
He wore worn-out leather armor and a cloak that still faintly bore the emblem of the Galaxy Rangers, while his gray hair was drenched by the black rain, plastered against his weather-beaten face.
Meanwhile, his clouded eyes no longer carried the hollow loop of obsession, but instead held a confused clarity.
Tiernan looked at Acheron, then down at his own calloused hands—hands that now truly possessed flesh and blood.
He raised one hand, clumsily touching his own face, then pinched his arm hard.
"Hiss..."
Feeling the sharp pain, Tiernan sucked in a sharp breath, the cold air turning his exhalation into a small, fleeting cloud of white mist beneath the freezing rain.
"I..."
Even though his voice was still dry and hoarse, it was no longer the hollow echo of a Sin Thirster, but instead was filled with a genuine emotion known as confusion.
"I... wasn't I performing the prayers... for my comrades? John, Loretta... and Yuna... they were still in the sea..."
He stared blankly toward the Dead Sea, where the shadowy hands still reached toward the sky.
Instinctively, he tried to take a step forward, as he had done countless times before, but he soon stumbled because, unlike before, his body was now unbearably heavy, dragged down by the weight of real flesh and bone.
Acheron, seeing Tiernan's behavior, didn't move and simply watched him quietly.
Her face beneath the red umbrella remained expressionless, but deep within her eyes, something cold and whirlpool-like began to stir.
A Sin Thirster born from IX's shadow had regained a living body?
Such a fact defied everything she knew about the laws of the Nihility.
"Tiernan..."
Acheron finally spoke up, her tone calm as usual, yet carrying a faint tension at the end.
"What did you say to me earlier? Can you tell me again?"
As she questioned Tiernan, she wanted to test whether this old man truly was the same Sin Thirster from before.
Tiernan steadied himself, resting his hands on his knees as he tried to recall, his brows furrowing deeply.
"I said... I think I had a dream... I dreamed of someone named Lucian..."
Right after saying this, Tiernan suddenly looked up, a burst of brilliant light flashing through his cloudy eyes.
"Yes! Lucian! I saw him in my dream! He said... He said that I would face a Lord Ravager... that I could ask him for help... Then... Then I felt like... I felt like something pulled me, and when I opened my eyes again..."
Tiernan looked around once more, gazing at the boundless Dead Sea, the endless black rain, and the woman before him—dangerous, yet oddly comforting.
"You were resurrected..." Acheron said bluntly.
"I... got resurrected?" Tiernan seemed to ask Acheron, himself, and the empty void all at once. "I see... so I was dead before... I was... just a corpse..."
Although his living memories were fragmented, that dream remained vivid and clear.
Lucian had saved him from a Lord Ravager, saved the Galaxy Rangers, so according to their agreement, he was to serve Lucian for the rest of his life.
Regardless, what kind of miraculous power could resurrect him like this?
He had no idea at all.
Acheron, seeing Tiernan lost in thought, was certain now—this old man was truly the Sin Thirster from moments ago.
Here, in this place, how could a Sin Thirster, formed by obsessions, regain a living body?
They were all meant to be swallowed by the Nihility.
What power could achieve this?
Was it the one Tiernan mentioned—'Lucian'?
Who was he?
What kind of power could snatch souls from nothingness?
Just as Acheron was mulling over all these questions, another sound broke through the monotonous rainfall, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Hmm~ Hmm~ Hmm~"
It was a short, tuneless hum—off-key, yet eerily familiar.
Both Tiernan and Acheron turned sharply toward the source of the sound, and saw that at the edge of the Dead Sea, on a slick, rain-washed reef, sat a lone figure.
He was a tall, lean man wearing leather armor just as tattered as Tiernan's, sitting with his head lowered as he slowly sharpened a curved blade with a whetstone. He seemed completely unaware of where he was, or of the two watching him, lost in his own little world while humming that off-key tune.
"Smokey?!"
Tiernan exclaimed loudly, his voice cracking with disbelief.
Hearing his nickname being called, the tall man looked up with a frown, revealing a scruffy, bearded face—but the moment he saw Tiernan, he froze, his frown vanished, and the whetstone slipped from his fingers and clattered onto the reef.
"Boss?!" Smokey shouted in shock. "Weren't we fighting a Lord Ravager?! No, wait—how the hell did we end up here in the first place?!"
As he spoke, his gaze swept over the surroundings, then to shadowy hands rising from the Dead Sea, causing his face to go pale.
"W-What the hell is this place?!"
As if awakened by Smokey's shout, the shadows along the Dead Sea's edge began to stir.
In the next moment, one by one, indistinct silhouettes began to form, and soon enough, their forms became clear.
Some looked around in confusion.
Some curled up in terror.
And some, like Smokey, kept repeating habits from their past lives as if nothing had happened.
However, they shared the same thing in one regard—their outfits bore the emblem of the Galaxy Rangers, indicating that they were the same comrades Tiernan remembered having buried in the sea of stars long ago.
"Loretta?"
"Scarface?"
"Long-Legged John?"
Tiernan called out each familiar yet distant name one after another, his voice trembling more with each one.
He stared at the comrades he had once fought beside and personally laid to rest, now standing alive again on the shore of the Dead Sea.
Acheron's gaze swept across the 'resurrected' Galaxy Rangers, finally settling on Tiernan's aged face, twisted with shock and joy.
Her fingers tightened silently around the sheath of her sword.
"It's not a dream…" Tiernan muttered, his voice shaking with emotion. "Smokey... Loretta... they're alive! They're really alive!"
"Boss, what the hell's going on?"
Scarface, a burly man with a big scar on his face, pushed through the others and asked in a rough voice.
Tiernan turned to Acheron, desperation in his eyes, pleading for answers.
Acheron tilted her red umbrella slightly, half-hiding her face.
"Honestly, this is the first time I've seen something like this..." Acheron said softly, her voice cutting through the black rain. "You said you were all Galaxy Rangers who fought a Lord Ravager together, and that in your dream, someone named Lucian saved you, so..."
Although she didn't finish the sentence, the meaning behind her words was clear to everyone.
"Yes!" Tiernan nodded vigorously. "Lucian! In the dream, he helped us a lot!"
"Now that you mention it..." Loretta chimed in, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "I think I dreamed of a super handsome man named Lucian! He was insanely strong—he crushed Lord Ravager Zulo with just one hand!"
Hearing this, the other Galaxy Rangers instantly realized that they had shared the same dream, all of which pointed to the same person.
Needless to say, the conclusion was obvious.
"Let's wait a bit longer..." Tiernan said slowly, his greed growing. "Maybe more of our comrades will come back."
Sadly, after waiting for hours, disappointment struck hard.
No more returned—only twenty-five Galaxy Rangers had resurrected.
"Let's head to Penacony..." Tiernan said with a sigh. "Lucian should be there. He'll surely know about our situation."
At this, all the Galaxy Rangers quickly nodded in agreement.
Among them, Tiernan was the eldest and their respected senior, so no one voiced any objections.
"I'll go with you." Acheron chimed in, her voice calm and even, yet carrying undeniable weight. "I want to meet this 'Lucian' from your dreams."
Even though she didn't say why, her intent was clear: she wanted to see with her own eyes what kind of man could defy the laws of the Nihility.
Was this 'Lucian' the blade that could help her sever the Nihility, or another trap waiting to ensnare her?
No matter what, she needed answers.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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