The 'long dream' ended with a flash of green light…
-
In an abandoned alcove surrounded by a series of soft waterfalls and a vibrant forest-filled grassland, an indescribably beautiful woman sat by the riverside in pure silence. She wore no clothes, as if she were one with nature, existing as the most beautiful art piece. The wind swayed her green hair like drifting silk, and the sound of chirping birds echoed gently off the smooth stone.
It was serene, peaceful, and timeless, like a piece of marble carved from nature itself.
To the side, mist curled up from the falling waterfall. Sunlight filtered through the canopy, scattering across her shoulders like petals of golden light. Even the river seemed to slow down as it passed, almost as though unwilling to disturb the tranquility she radiated.
For a long time, nothing moved.
Then, the woman slowly opened her eyes…
Her gaze, carrying the rhythm of the wind, turned towards the distant unknown. Something subtle stirred within them, a ripple, a tremor, like a forgotten thought brushing the edge of her mind.
A faint crease formed between her perfect brows.
She raised a soft, pearl-like hand and pressed her cheek, humming in quiet confusion. Her touch was gentle, almost hesitant, as though she were unsure if 'that' sensation belonged to 'her'.
"How can it be…"
* * *
Within a vine-wrapped building that overflowed with lush greenery, an elderly woman with bright green eyes suddenly snapped her head towards the direction of the Green Wind Forest. Her wrinkled hands trembled violently, and the pen slipped from her fingers, clattering against the wooden floor.
Her hair, intertwined with living roots, twisted upwards as if sensing something terrifying.
The roots quivered, reacting before she herself could even understand what she was feeling. A whirlwind of emotions flickered across her aged face, shock, fear, hope, disbelief, all blinking past in a single moment.
Her hands trembled.
Her eyes reddened.
And her voice was weak.
"Why do you have to do this to me… why now!?" Her voice broke, cracking with misdirected grief.
"It's too late, too late…! It's far too late!" She pressed a shaky hand to her heart, bending forward as if the weight of something threatened to crush her.
The roots in her hair wilted slightly, mirroring her despair.
She looked miserable…
* * *
On a desolate road that carved through the endless desert, a tall and valiant woman, known as the Bamboo Swordsman, halted mid-step.
Sand rolled across her boots. The wind ground against her skin like coarse stone.
Behind her, the five young girls following her each stopped, instinctively mirroring their teacher's posture, displaying alertness, silence, and restraint.
The smallest one, only eight, looked up.
"Teacher, what's wrong?"
There was no answer…
The swordswoman's eyes narrowed towards the far horizon, focused on something far beyond mortal sight. Her breath steadied, her stance sharpened, and the bamboo sword at her waist hummed faintly as her fingers tightened around it.
For a single heartbeat, her emotions rippled through the desert—
And yet, she still didn't speak…
She only stared.
Unmoving.
Unblinking.
As though something had shifted… and she could feel it.
This gaze lasted for a long time…
* * *
In a dark cavern packed with vile, vine-like monsters that writhed in endless waves, a red-eyed woman rose to her feet with a wide, cruel grin. She stepped over the mutilated corpses of dozens of young women, her eyes churning with a deep crimson light.
Her lips cracked as she smiled, splitting her face into a crescent far too wide to be human.
"Hehehe… so you're alive!"
Her voice carried pure madness, scraping against the darkness like broken glass.
"Kakak! Hahaha! Good… good! Good-good-good-good-good-good!! Then it's only a matter of time until I find you again! Kek-keck-he-ha! Ha-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha!!"
Her body was pale, completely naked, and her curves rippled seductively as she laughed. It was a sight that would tempt any man, if not for the distorted smile and cracked flesh that ripped along her face.
She radiated the eerie aura of a vicious predator, whose sanity was long lost.
The vine-like monsters around her recoiled instinctively, dragging their bodies back into the shadows as though afraid she might turn that grin towards them next.
* * *
Inside a palace of radiant white light, a young girl suddenly ran to the open window, her pale green hair flowing faintly in the wind. Her orange bell-shaped dress puffed outward like a ripe pear, leaving her two small legs fully exposed beneath its flaring hem. Her skin radiated with a gentle light, and she was surrounded by drifting lantern-like bulbs formed from pure light, each one glowing softly, like tiny suns orbiting her petite frame.
A deep voice called from behind, "What's wrong?"
The girl pressed her hands to the windowsill, practically sticking her head out, eyes wide with wondrous light. "I can feel her, my second sister! I haven't felt this aura for thousands of years! I thought she was already eaten!" Her excitement lit up the entire hall, scaling with her emotions as waves of warm light burst from her body.
Behind her, shrouded behind a golden curtain, a tall figure made a soft gesture of approval.
The girl giggled with pure joy.
Without another word, she leapt straight through the window, leaving the Castle of Light, and streaked across the sky like a comet made of pure joy.
Clouds parted around her as she raced toward the distant horizon, her small silhouette scattering ribbons of radiant pollen. Her final words echoed through the sky, carried on the breeze before slipping into the void, "Thank you, Haillith! I'll be quick!"
The golden curtain fluttered.
The figure behind didn't move, didn't speak, only watched silently…
* * *
Time passed…
* * *
Within a 'White Void'—
There was no sky, no earth, only a waveless white… It was an endless, seamless white plain that stretched in all directions.
It was so uniform that distance itself seemed to have lost all meaning here.
Above everything, suspended at an impossibly high height, was a massive 'spherical core' that loomed over the horizon. It glowed softly, its surface layered with an uncountable number of rune-formed halos that rotated with light.
It was vast enough to blot out heaven and earth.
-
A figure stepped into this place…
She was a simple white silhouette outlined with divine light. Her feminine figure was radiant and absolute. Long hair flowed down her back in strands of shifting colors that refused to settle into any specific spectrum, forming an indescribable aurora of light.
Each step she took rippled faintly through the void, not as sound, no, but as presence, a declaration.
She walked with purpose.
She was looking for someone.
Time didn't pass here, so she had no idea how long she had walked. Perhaps mere moments, perhaps years, perhaps even centuries. The white plain offered no resistance, no environment, no landmarks, and no confirmation of her progress.
She simply advanced.
One could not come to this place without a strong mind…
-
Soon, she saw another figure approaching.
They crossed paths in silence.
The other woman was human, clearly, but her form was strange in several subtle ways…
Her outline shimmered and fractured, like overlapping reflections seen through warped glass. Around her body clung layers of spatial auras, with time folding inward on itself, subtly distorting. She wore dreams and illusions like a cloak, bleeding together in ways that made the eye want to turn away.
Her posture betrayed none of her authority.
Her face was heavy with restraint, frustration and a clear anger, all of it compressed into something dulled and controlled. She was undoubtedly unhappy, and in the outside world, this unhappiness would likely threaten an entire continent. Whatever she carried within herself, she was holding it back through pure force of will.
It seemed as if she had already talked to that person.
When she noticed the golden silhouette, she stopped. Without hesitation, she lowered her head and bowed. It was a deep, respectful bow…
It was immediately clear that her position was incomprehensibly high, and this only served to prove that the golden silhouette's identity was even higher than her own.
These two women were monsters…
After the bow, she did not speak.
She straightened, turned, and continued on her way, her steps quickening as if eager to leave this place.
The white void swallowed her form without a word.
The golden figure didn't look back. She continued forward, deeper into the white void…
-
Finally, after an unknown amount of time, something broke this infinite emptiness.
It was—
A simple tea table, standing alone in the void. It was unadorned, formed from pure white metal, and almost humble in its minimalistic design.
It stood there, waiting…
Two cups rested upon its surface, steam still rising despite the absence of heat, or even air, in this strange space. Someone was already seated…
The golden figure slowed her steps and looked forward.
The one at the table was also a white silhouette, yet utterly different in every aspect. There was no glow, no outline, no weight to her presence, she was even lacking an existence in a sense. She did not distort the space around her, nor assert herself upon it.
She was simply… there…
It was as if the world had been cut away around her shape. She was a projection of where the world wasn't, or where it failed to exist.
The difference between them was unmistakable at a glance.
One existed as something 'defined and divine', while the other existed as something that did not seem to exist in the 'same space'.
The standing figure narrowed her gaze slightly, suspicion flickering through her eyes.
She stepped closer…
"Mother," The words came out naturally.
The seated woman lifted her head.
Her voice was calm, light, and almost amused. "You're a bit late, little Zoe." She gestured, and the chair glitched into a welcoming angle.
"Come, have a seat."
Zoe sat down.
For a while, neither of them spoke. The void remained silent, the massive core above turning slowly, indifferently, grinding against something unseen.
The unfathomable woman took a sip of tea and waited.
Zoe was the first to break the silence.
"Things are slipping," she said, her voice tired.
"You felt it too, right? The flow of fate is destabilising faster than you predicted. Is it still within your plans? If this keeps up…" She trailed off.
Her fingers tightened around the teacup.
"We're already losing pieces," she continued. "The outsiders, those five 'Chaos Gods'. They shouldn't even be able to anchor themselves to this world, but more than one of them can enter directly and even interfere! On top of 'the anomaly', things are unraveling at an unimaginable speed. Both Haillith and Thornthreader have become unreliable, and Aquella has lost her Chosen Hero. With the World Well gone, things are already deteriorating. Even if they manage to survive the nine calamities caused by that witch, I'm worried I won't be able to clean up the aftermath!"
Her mother listened, seemingly unbothered.
"And then there's the one siphoning provenance from the planet!" Zoe said, her voice sharpening into an uncharacteristic cry. "Not only can't I figure out who's doing it, the process seems to be accelerating with time!" When mentioning this, she genuinely looked indignant.
There was still no response.
Zoe exhaled, frustration leaking across her face.
"And the loops," she said quietly, sinking back into the chair. She would never normally act this childishly, but she was truly at her wits' end.
"How was I supposed to know that two of them could actually escape the range of the loop!? I didn't even know that was how it worked! It's just adding to the chaos! I can't even see what they're doing anymore! It's too dangerous for me to leave and go check. Not only that, but they haven't broken contact with the world, accelerating what should be slower! Things are already this bad, but…!"
Zoe closed her mouth, pouting!
Then, silence—
A few seconds passed…
At last, her mother let out a soft chuckle.
It wasn't mocking or cruel. It was genuine amusement. She lifted her cup and took a slow sip.
"Tell me," she said, setting it down.
"How do you feel about your chosen Hero?"
Zoe stiffened.
"…Why Elena?" she asked instead. "Why her, why still? Have you lost confidence in your choice? Clearly not, otherwise you wouldn't have expended so much power to keep her here, to keep her going."
"I believe she can overcome it! Don't you, Mother? Isn't that why you allowed it?" Zoe responded.
The woman tilted her head, as if considering whether the question deserved an answer.
Indeed, she also liked Elena.
"Perhaps we will see whether she has the ability to meet our expectations or not. Everything she's lived through until now will not even come close to what she's about to face. If my guess is correct, 'that guy' will appear during the third calamity. This will be an opportunity to see how strong her heart truly is."
Zoe looked away. "I believe in her," she said awkwardly. "I really do, but at this rate, she doesn't stand a chance! Even if those elves use her as a way to reach us, even if they help her, it won't be enough, not this time. The variables are too broken and unfair. Even with her experience and knowledge, it should be impossible for her without some help."
The mysterious 'mother' smiled faintly at Zoe's answer.
Then… minutes passed without a word…
Eventually, Zoe stood up.
"I've said what I needed to," she said. "I'll… adjust what I can, but…" She looked at the worriless woman. "Is everything really all right?"
There was no response.
She hesitated, then turned away and left. Her golden outline dimmed as she walked back into the endless white.
She did not look back.
She knew her mother wouldn't answer…
-
Zoe left, and the woman remained seated—
Alone…
The tea continued to steam, endlessly.
She looked up at the massive spherical core blotting out the sky, her expression unreadable.
"…Children always worry too much," she murmured.
"Indeed, things are looking grim. Your words, those are an understatement, right? Is this your kindness? Your filial piety? Hahaha! Do you think I can't understand what is happening to my own world? It has long since been out of our control. It's not only those five. There are still remnants from the calamity back when the Void Leviathan appeared. In addition, the Void Walkers have left behind their seeds as well. Beings outside have influenced this world so deeply that unpredictability is inevitable. But…"
She set down her teacup.
Her eyes lifted and focused.
"None of them, not the elves, not those Telltera, not the machines, not even the descendants of the Void Walkers. Ah, not even the Void Leviathan, no, not even you, Calamity, none of you, whether it's the Chaos Gods, the True Gods, or even you, little Petra, could have ever guessed that this chessboard was already a trap, a big trap set long before this world was even created!"
Her eyes lingered, not on the core, but on the strange green shadow stretching ever so faintly around it.
Then—
The white void swallowed her form, and she disappeared.
- Silence