"May fools have luck on their side in this universe."
Immersed deep within Memoria, Hotaru furrowed her brow. The woman's voice reverberating in her mind felt incredibly familiar.
Her body began glowing faintly; golden lines spread outward from her abdomen, gradually encasing her body like ornate armor.
Platinum-gold armor radiated sacredness, making her appear like an envoy of the divine.
Yet, at this moment, Hotaru's brow tightened further, as if confronting some great horror.
Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, instantly awakening from the Memoria.
The golden lines immediately withdrew back into her abdomen, vanishing as if they had never appeared.
"Hah… hah…"
Her heavy breathing betrayed an unsettled heart. The scene from her dream rapidly faded away.
Hotaru anxiously surveyed her surroundings, quickly regaining awareness that she was in a safe place.
She let out a long sigh, calming her racing heartbeat.
Why did I suddenly dream about what happened before?
Just now, she vividly recalled everything that occurred back on Zieltworth.
The confrontation with Titania, the encroaching despair, and finally, their collective rebellion against the birth of a god…
All these past experiences flooded her mind once more.
"What exactly is happening?" Hotaru felt confused, unsure what caused this sudden recollection.
If this happened anywhere else, she'd instantly realize it was extremely important.
But here on Tartaro, it felt deeply wrong.
This planet was known precisely for calming one's spirit. Normally, memories triggering such intense emotional turmoil would vanish the moment they surfaced.
How could she have just experienced a nightmare?
The Iron Cavalry didn't even dream, normally.
Could something be wrong with this planet? Or perhaps…
Hotaru scanned her surroundings warily. Suddenly, a voice whispered clearly in her ear:
[Fight… Struggle…]
After hearing those words, Hotaru inexplicably reached a state of calm equilibrium.
Fear dissipated, replaced by tranquility, as though that voice had foreshadowed what lay ahead.
Fight? Struggle?
Who must I fight this time? Who am I supposed to struggle against?
Then, abruptly, Hotaru snapped fully awake, breaking free of whatever trance had overtaken her.
"What… just happened to me?"
Hotaru sat there, bewildered. That strange state had come and gone so quickly she couldn't make sense of it.
Yet one thing she was certain of—some unknown presence had told her she needed to fight.
Something terrible was definitely coming.
Inexplicably, Hotaru's mind jumped to Hoshigaki Sora's earlier behavior.
His repeated anxious checks for safety and peace suddenly became vivid in her memory.
Recalling that, Hotaru felt her teeth ache slightly.
"Could it really be that idiot Sora-san guessed correctly?"
Did that guy actually have precognitive abilities?
Otherwise, how could this be explained?!
Despite her lingering doubts, she quickly contacted Sora with this information.
At first, Sora didn't take it seriously, but after hearing Hotaru's description, his expression turned instantly grave.
However, his gaze suspiciously drifted toward a nearby mirror.
Hotaru curiously followed his gaze. "What is it? Did you see something?"
"No, no," Sora waved dismissively, "I'm just afraid someone might suddenly speak through the mirror."
Hotaru's words just now had triggered a strange PTSD in Sora.
He feared someone might appear in the mirror and offer him a card deck, demanding he join a Rider War.
"Hah?" Hotaru stared blankly.
But soon she understood—it was Sora saying something incomprehensible again.
She felt a wave of helplessness rise inside her. Even at a time like this, he was still doing these things?
But if Sora could joke about it, it probably meant things hadn't yet reached a critical stage.
After dropping the incomprehensible comments, Sora immediately shifted into serious mode, discussing the situation earnestly.
He explained to Hotaru about sensing Titania's presence earlier, including the strange effect the planet had on everyone here.
"If it's the planet causing it, we should be able to break free temporarily using [Burning State]," Hotaru suggested, thinking of a way to neutralize Tartaro's forced tranquility.
[Burning State] could indeed temporarily counteract Tartaro's effects.
But once deactivated, they would inevitably revert to their calm state again.
"In other words, we need to precisely seize the right moment and finish it in one go."
Dragging things out would inevitably cause problems.
Nobody knew what might happen if [Burning State] interacted too deeply with Memoria.
Sora wouldn't risk that, wouldn't gamble with anyone's life as a stake.
With their combat strategy set, the next step was locating Titania.
Naturally, Sora confidently took that responsibility.
"Just give me a bit of time—I guarantee I'll pinpoint her exact location!"
Hotaru didn't know why Sora sounded so assured, but his demeanor made her instinctively trust him.
The guy in front of her might joke and trick people about trivial matters, but when it came to important promises, he never broke his word.
He had promised to lead them safely off Zieltworth—and indeed he had, even if a literal Aeon had blocked their way.
Thinking of that, Hotaru felt much calmer.
Mere Titania—we defeated you once, we can definitely defeat you again!
If you dared come back, they'd simply crush her once more!
"Come to think of it…" Sora suddenly remembered something else. "Do you feel anything unusual yourself?"
Earlier, the Iron Cavalry girls mentioned that whenever Titania appeared, they felt a resonance in their blood.
Even the [Burning State] had merely weakened that feeling rather than removing it entirely—only after Titania fully died had that resonance vanished completely.
Now, with Titania resurfacing, wouldn't these genetically derived clones have the same sensation?
His question made sense. After pondering briefly, Hotaru closed her eyes, carefully probing the sensation within her bloodline.
She shut her eyes tightly, sensing her heartbeat, her bloodline, and the flow of energy within her body…
And finally, deep down, she felt something resonate clearly!
"I've found it!"
Hotaru snapped her eyes open, concentrating intensely as she manipulated this newly discovered energy.
Immediately afterward, something startling occurred before Sora's eyes.
The surrounding Memoria began swirling into a thin mist, gathering steadily until it solidified into a screen before them.
"Eh?!"
Sora stood dumbstruck. Your new power… is just a screen?
"This seems to be my Path's power…" Hotaru scratched her head awkwardly.
Rather than resonating with Titania, it seemed she'd reactivated her own previously dormant Path of Remembrance upon contact with Memoria.
Hotaru had originally emerged from oblivion precisely due to the Path of Remembrance.
Yet after emerging fully into existence, that power had become entirely dormant.
Now, interacting with Memoria had apparently reawakened her Path's abilities.
She could now directly project memories from her mind as visual images onto a screen.
Was this power useful? Not immediately, it seemed…
Then again, to say it had no use at all might be too pessimistic…
"Maybe it'll prove useful later," Sora could only say tentatively.
...
While Hoshigaki Sora began searching for Titania's whereabouts, peculiar scenes were unfolding throughout the universe.
The Intelligentsia Guild suddenly observed that a star, shining alone in a barren galaxy for tens of thousands of years, abruptly extinguished.
It had illuminated the surrounding galaxy in solitary brilliance for millennia—but without warning, the star went dark.
What no one saw was the moment just before it vanished, when a crack split open, and the sound of fluttering wings echoed outward.
Immediately afterward, a sound of devouring echoed through space. The galaxy became emptier, yet the radiant star never returned.
Afterglow Swarm King.
...
At the galaxy's edge, a massive, ancient beast that had wandered hungrily for tens of thousands of years suddenly froze in place.
Seconds later, its belly—dense as a planet's core—split violently open, viscera gushing out and drifting into the void.
A colossal insect emerged, tearing its way free from within the beast's gut.
This was a fragment of a body devoured by the ancient beast eons ago—yet undigested after millennia, now reborn anew.
Bathed in blood, the insect roared into the galaxy, announcing its return.
Starcrusher Swarm King.
...
Elsewhere, a Galactic Fleet en route suddenly watched the scenery around them shift dramatically.
Their surroundings transformed, becoming a paradise of their dreams.
And just ahead, an enormous shape shed its camouflage, revealing a massive maw lined with hideous fangs.
It swallowed the entire starship whole, a vessel dozens of meters long appearing no larger than a grain of rice within that monstrous mouth.
With a screech of tortured metal, every life aboard the ship ended blissfully within their own dreams.
Feeling no pain, their last memories were of idyllic fantasies.
After consuming its prey, the insect vanished into its mirage again, silently continuing onward.
Deceiver Swarm King.
...
Asteroids—especially those capable of breaching a starship's hull—were among the most hated hazards in the galaxy. Asteroid fields were universally troublesome, so clearing them required specialized personnel.
One such worker, mid-operation, suddenly paused.
Eyes wide, he stared down at his abdomen.
Droplets of blood floated silently around him, propelled by the vacuum of space.
An instant later, he and his ship fragmented noiselessly into countless pieces.
In the moment before death, he glimpsed a silver-white silhouette disappearing gracefully into invisibility, much like an assassin slipping away unseen.
Phantom Swarm King.
...
Elsewhere, an immense swarm of insects covered a planet, black-red waves consuming and dismembering everything they touched.
Amid the frenzy, one insect abruptly broke ranks.
Vivid pink lines glowed brightly on its body as it lunged savagely at fellow swarm members, devouring them hungrily.
Soon, several insects vanished into its belly, the pink patterns intensifying with each swallowed comrade.
Letting out a gentle hiss, it commanded the previously destructive swarm, which suddenly ceased its rampage.
Responding obediently, the swarm withdrew from the half-devoured planet, following its new leader into the stars.
Calamity Swarm King.
...
These appearances were merely tiny ripples in the universe, unnoticed by most.
Yet these beings seemed drawn by an invisible summons, all converging toward a single point.
Countless scattered insect swarms throughout the cosmos similarly felt this calling, gathering steadily from every direction.
No one knew their destination. Only a stone-like figure, slowly fading from sight in the depths of space, witnessed it all clearly.
"Equilibrium..."
HooH's gaze saw clearly into the future through universal logic itself.
In that future…
The Emanators and the broken god would battle fiercely, both grievously wounded.
When everything concluded, two factions would emerge from that planet.
One would be the insect swarms that devoured everything in their path; the other, a species that infected organic life, turning them into copies of itself.
The two would become eternal rivals, locked in endless balance—both constantly growing, then inevitably wearing each other down.
The path was already set; every detail smoothly arranged. The ending was fully expected.
As for other organic lives consumed in the process…
HooH's figure slowly disappeared.
Those lost lives would simply be replenished within these two endlessly warring factions.
The galaxy's overall life count would barely fluctuate, held securely within the balance.
Now, all that remained was allowing events to unfold naturally, eventually reaching the foreseen future.
Broken god—your time is abundant. Birth your warriors as you please.
Not that HooH needed concern itself—this impulse was already written into the Propagation Aeon's nature.
It was inevitable.
...
Meanwhile, elsewhere, a consciousness slowly awakening began questioning its own existence.
"Who am I? Why am I here?"
Memory flooded back from her Path, and Titania reclaimed her sense of self—only to realize her Memoria-formed body was tightly wrapped around someone else.
And that someone turned out to be the very person she'd kicked away before losing consciousness.
"Why the hell are you tangled up with me?!"