BOOM!
BOOM!
The sky trembled violently. Fine black clumps of earth rained down like drops of ink.
Seele looked at her own palm in a daze, then at the bright red handprint on Michael's cheek. Finally, her gaze drifted helplessly upward to meet Michael's somewhat empty eyes.
"I... I..."
She wanted to explain, but there seemed to be nothing to explain.
"Hmph."
"Other me, why did you..."
The other Seele snorted in the depths of her mind, but when Seele weakly asked for a reason, she fell silent.
"I'm sorry."
Seele had intended to apologize, but the moment she opened her mouth, she heard the very words she was about to say.
"Brother Michael, you..."
"I'm sorry."
Michael just held her hand tightly, softly repeating the words.
"Hmph... Hehehe..."
The cold laugh echoed in her mind again. Then, Seele found herself losing control of her body once more. It wasn't the fleeting loss from before, but a complete switch with the "other Seele."
"Other me, what are you doing...?"
"Hmph, it's a rare opportunity. I'm just coming out for some air. You got a problem with that?"
Seele pressed her lips together and nodded in the space of her consciousness.
"What are you sorry for?"
Michael was taken aback.
"Seele" grabbed him by the collar and hauled him to his feet.
"Who are you apologizing to?"
Before he could answer, Seele had already thrown herself into his arms, holding him tight.
"Brother."
In a daze, it was as if the sound of trickling water could be heard. Neither of them moved, quietly feeling the passage of time.
But the river of time flowed so quickly, especially in the bottomless sea. Perhaps in a single, careless moment, a drowning person could be swept away by the current, tens of thousands of years into the distance.
She kept her eyes open. Salty, cold seawater washed over them, but even that discomfort had worn away over the long years.
When enough seawater had accumulated, it could block out the light.
There was nothing in the deep sea, nothing to see. The bubbles that had been so fascinating at first, that she couldn't bear to miss, had now become an unspeakable nightmare. She feared that a single careless touch would pull her inside...
She had always hated goodbyes, especially in a bubble universe where they were constant. But...
She struggled, wanting to swim against the current, to return to the world where it all began. But by the time she heard a familiar voice in the sea again, everything had become strange.
Even he was the same.
She regretted it.
If she had chosen not to leave back then, if she had stayed by his side, could a different possibility have been born?
Could she, could she have been a comfort to him, besides Big Sister Elysia?
"Seele" didn't know. Because strictly speaking, she couldn't even say for sure if she was the original Seele.
Besides, one could never go back, could never change the past...
Even all of this was just a meaningless bubble universe.
And if the old Brother Michael had heard her think this, he would have gently tapped her on the head and said:
"Silly girl, why do you blame yourself for mistakes that aren't yours?"
But the current Michael wouldn't do that anymore... right?
Her hands, wrapped around Michael's back, clenched. "Seele" pressed her head firmly against his chest. This... this was her final release, her final vent for fifty thousand years of powerlessness.
Yes, this was just a bubble universe born for some unknown reason. The Michael before her was just a phantom of the man's past. Everything that happened here, everything that was changed, was meaningless to the real world.
But she still wanted to try and change something.
Not for some ethereal yet necessary meaning. Simply because she wanted to see another possibility.
After all, everything that had happened in reality—the pain, the sorrow, the despair, the unacceptable past—could not be changed. So at least let her do what she wanted in this dreamlike, traceless bubble universe.
Was it wrong to just want to?
"Brother."
She repeated the title, fifty thousand years late, then released him and took a half-step back.
Her gaze slowly lowered, settling on the "Φ"-shaped necklace wrapped around Michael's right wrist. Her eyes curved slightly in that instant.
"You... you are... No, why would you..." Michael's throat moved, his eyes wide with disbelief as he looked at the girl before him.
The usually irritable "Seele" rarely smiled, but she did now, her eyes crinkling. She felt a little guilty, but she still mimicked the image in "her" memory and said softly, "That's right, it's me."
She raised her hand, her warm, dry palm gently pressing against the cheek Michael had just been slapped on.
A moment later, the swelling there had completely vanished.
"Does Brother Michael believe me now? As for the other things, can we talk about them later?"
She tilted her head up slightly and saw Michael's eyes trembling violently. He even looked away, tilting his face up slightly.
But Seele knew it wasn't because he didn't dare to look at her, but because he had to look up at the sky to keep the tears from falling.
"So, Brother, can you grant me a wish?"
The corners of Michael's mouth twitched. He didn't answer directly, but Seele knew he had agreed.
"Let's go take down that Herrscher together, okay?"
Seele took his hand, even shaking it playfully.
"Okay!"
Michael wiped the corners of his eyes and nodded without hesitation. But when Seele tried to pull him along, he took half a step and then froze.
"Seele, I... right now... I might..." He pressed a hand to his chest, where something was missing.
"I know. We'll go get your Herrscher core back first."
"Herr... Herrscher core!"
Mei, who had been standing to the side, listening to their conversation in confusion, seemed to have caught a keyword. She was both excited and filled with doubt.
Michael frowned and glanced at her, then pressed his lips together. Seele offered no explanation. Only Bronya's eyes flickered. She had gotten some scattered information from Cocolia two years ago, and now "Seele's" words had completed the puzzle.
As for how Seele knew all this, she wasn't surprised. The girl had shown a strange closeness to Michael back in Nagazora City. She had always thought it was because he had saved her... Never mind, she would ask later.
"Hehe, well, it's a different world. The Michael in your world might not be the same as this one. As for Seele..." Himeko tried to smooth things over, sensing the tense atmosphere, but Seele cut her off.
"No, Brother Michael... to be precise..."
"GET OUT!"
A sudden roar echoed throughout the underground city. Everyone looked up in shock and saw the dome of the fake sky suddenly cave in. Thirty-three layers of special alloy armor plating shattered and collapsed under the strain. Flames poured in through the hole in the dome, the excess streams spreading out to the sides, forming a giant cross.
The fire plummeted straight into the artificial lake in front of them. White steam instantly obscured their vision, and scalding waves of lake water splashed in all directions.
Michael reacted the fastest. The moment the dome collapsed, he had pulled everyone behind him. But when he actually reached out, he found that in that moment, he was truly helpless, able to do nothing but watch the boiling water rush toward them.
Sssss—
Green vines burst from the ground, growing from finger-thick to the width of a person in the blink of an eye. They intertwined as they grew, forming a thick wall in front of them, completely blocking the lake water.
A few seconds later, the vines receded. There was no trace of water. The entire artificial lake had dried up, leaving behind cracked mud, and the surrounding air had become even more hot and humid.
"Seele!"
Michael looked at the girl standing in front of him, biting his lip until it bled. Tasting the faint metallic tang on his tongue, his once-wandering eyes became fixed. His jaw clenched, and his breathing grew heavy.
Finally, his right hand loosened and clenched, three times, before forming a fist that did not open again.
Himeko pushed aside the bangs stuck to her forehead. She glanced around the flower patch with a pained expression. The stems and leaves of the sunflowers were completely shriveled and brittle, and the nearby asphalt road had completely melted, exposing the gray-white roadbed.
PFFT—
A series of sonic booms erupted in the sky. A small black dot shot toward them, crashing deep into the nearby lake embankment. Like a sharp plow, it carved a long trench in the ground before landing in front of Seele.
"Kalpas?"
The man's body was completely charred, and the white smoke rising from it was filled with the smell of roasting. Just as Michael was about to step forward, Seele had already knelt down, placing her palm on Kalpas's faintly rising chest.
"There."
Seele stood up again. From the outside, the charred Kalpas seemed unchanged, but the power of life had already penetrated every cell in his body.
Michael quietly watched Seele do all this, his lips moving slightly as he whispered a "thank you."
"Looks like we're out of time..."
Seele glanced at him, the corner of her mouth twitching.
She suddenly reached out, grabbed the front of Michael's shirt again, and tore a hole in it.
The stigma on her chest glowed red. She patted her own chest, then drew out a single red thread with her index finger and touched it to Michael's chest.
"Brother Michael!"
A familiar call echoed in both Michael's and Seele's hearts, but then it vanished without a trace, like the lingering sound of waves after they recede.
Michael looked down. Where Seele's finger had touched, there was now a mark identical to the one on her own chest.
"Thank you, Seele."
Michael closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"But it's not enough."
He turned and extended his hand to Mei.
"Raiden Mei, I'm sorry, but can I borrow your Herrscher core?"
"Eh... this?"
"Eh? Is this girl a Herrscher too?"
"How do you know all this!"
Mei was stunned. Himeko looked at her in surprise. Bronya stepped forward, her eyes locked warily on Michael.
"Big Sister Bronya, Seele will explain later," Seele said in a clipped tone, pulling her back a little.
Mei looked at Bronya, then at Seele. One companion shook her head, the other nodded.
Pressing her lips together, Mei quickly made a decision.
"Michael, I... what should I do?"
"You just have to... huh?"
As if sensing something, a look of astonishment appeared on Michael's face.
But then he smiled and muttered softly, "Really now? You reject me before, and now you come back... Do I have no pride?"
Michael reached into the empty space beside him, and a sapphire-blue gem appeared in his hand out of thin air.
"Captain, I'll leave Kalpas to you."
Himeko tossed aside the now-useless watering can and smiled, nodding at Michael.
"Don't worry, just go."
Michael let out a sharp breath, squeezed Seele's hand, then quickly let go.
"Then... I'm going, Seele. I'm going to end all this."
Across fifty thousand years, the two of them exchanged a smile.
"Michael."
Just as they took their first step toward the "future," Himeko spoke again.
"Michael, I know it's a bit late to say this, but... you have the power to change many things. That's enough. No matter what happens in the future, what is meant to happen, please, never regret the decisions you've made."
Himeko's smile remained. This woman, once the strongest warrior of the Fire Moth, seemed to always be this gentle. Her long hair flowed like the flickering flame of a candle, one that had never been extinguished since long, long ago.
"I'll remember."
Michael's eyes misted over, his eyelashes trembling twice.
"I will never regret it."
As he spoke, their figures vanished.
Seele looked at the empty space beside her, the gentleness on her face gradually fading, like a beach washed over and over by the waves, leaving only weariness and sorrow.
"Other me, what is going on?"
The real Seele was still asking this in her mind, but she only said flatly, "I'll tell you later."
"Hm? He's gone already? Looks like I prepared that whole speech for nothing."
A sharp female voice suddenly came from behind them. Mei and Bronya turned around. Mei's pupils, in particular, trembled violently.
"Mobius... Mother?"
"Hm? What did you call me?"
Mobius frowned, her face fierce. This was a far cry from the memory Mei had of her, and it scared her into silence.
As for Bronya, her mouth hung open in a stupor. A completely outrageous yet unfalsifiable thought popped into her head—could it be that everything happening here was...
The past?
"Actually, this is good too, isn't it?"
Himeko smiled and looked toward the horizon with a sense of premonition, her lips moving as if calculating the time.
Mei and Bronya followed her gaze. A few seconds later, a brilliant pillar of light shot up, following the path of the earlier flames, and once again formed a giant cross.
Click—
There seemed to be a tiny sound. At first, Mei and Bronya didn't notice anything. About two seconds later, they looked around and realized that time in the entire space had frozen.
All sound vanished. All light ceased to move.
"Himeko" and Mobius stood behind them, smiling. Everything was frozen in that previous moment.
"Don't be surprised. This is a place called a bubble universe. Everything that happens here is a phantom left behind by a world that has already been destroyed. Whether we're here or not, this story will continue to loop, endlessly."
Seele gave a bitter smile, explaining everything clearly and concisely.
"Seele..."
"Alright, I know you're in a hurry, but don't be. There will be plenty of time to explain later. The world's cycle has ended. We'll be able to return to reality soon."
Seele expertly closed her eyes, as if the next time she opened them, she would be back in the real world she disliked.
But she seemed to have overlooked something—
Crack—
Another soft sound. Seele's breath caught for a moment. Just as she was about to say something, the entire world shattered like a mirror into countless pieces.
This world was too fragile. A full-power blow from Michael was enough to shatter the walls of the entire bubble universe.
"Seele!"
As fate would have it, a small rift appeared beside her. Bronya immediately lunged for her. Seele instinctively reached out, but half her body was quickly sucked into the rift, and the distance between their fingertips suddenly grew even greater.
"Leave it to me."
Suddenly, a voice that shouldn't have been there sounded in Bronya's ear. She saw a man's hand push her back. On the man's wrist was a "Φ"-shaped necklace.
"Michael, you..."
Her consciousness quickly blurred again. At the very end, she only heard Michael's faint voice:
"Don't trust the future me..."