Prologue
Yamato stood in the throne room, surrounded by floating screens projecting maps, sensor readings, and terrain layouts. He was discussing his next moves with Nebel, speaking in a low voice—the kind of tone one uses when they don't want the world to hear their plans while measuring the silence itself.
The great door to the chamber burst open, and that silence shattered under a familiar, noisy voice.
"Yamatocchi~! I've got news!" Sera announced with a burst of enthusiasm that bounced off the walls.
Yamato turned his gaze toward her. The little mage entered with her enormous hat and twirling skirt, moving as though everything around her were a game.
"Sera… I see you've gotten used to your new body," he said, serious as ever.
She gathered her violet hair between her palms, stretching it playfully.
"Yup! I'd have preferred a few upgrades, but this little body's just perfect." She spun around with a smile.
"Based on your memories, that was the body you had when you still had one…" Yamato murmured, letting the sentence trail off.
"Anyway—what's the news?" he asked. "You could've just said it over the intercom."
Sera's youthful cheer vanished in an instant.
"I know, boss, but… I wanted to tell you in person."
For the first time that afternoon, Yamato's expression sharpened. Sera tilted her head, and with a cold glint in her eyes, said:
"I've detected an army heading this way."
Yamato raised an eyebrow.
"Interesting. So the fall of Arkenfel triggered the alarms faster than I expected."
Nebel's shadow rose behind him like a whisper.
'Humans will always seek conflict… it's in their nature,' grumbled the voice in his mind.
"I suppose you're right," Yamato muttered under his breath.
He stood, closing all virtual panels with a single curt gesture.
"Sera, contact Sei and the other Heralds. Exterminate the intruders. Leave no survivors."
"Anyone foolish enough to invade our sanctuary will pay with their miserable lives."
"There will be no mercy."
Sera bowed with a playful pose, as if this were all just a game.
"Yes, bossy~! On it!"
As the mage started to leave, Yamato stopped her with a single word.
"Any news of Eliza?"
Sera frowned, thinking for a moment before shaking her head.
"It's been days since we lost communication with her."
"Want me to send reinforcements?" she asked, eyes gleaming with curiosity.
Yamato turned away, walking toward the window overlooking the endless mist of Mist Valley. The fog was thick—almost alive.
"If she can't handle such a simple mission, then boasts about it afterward, she doesn't deserve our help," he said coldly. "That mission was her own request."
Sera lingered a moment, doubt flickering across her face, but her mischievous grin quickly returned.
"As you wish, boss~! I'll make sure to bring you good news… or corpses!"
Nebel laughed—an abrasive sound echoing through Yamato's mind—and the throne room returned to its usual sepulchral silence, calm once more before the coming storm.
In Mermur, a weary Selka sighed for what must've been the hundredth time as she signed yet another stack of city documents.
The first rays of morning filtered through the tall window of her office, illuminating the sea of paperwork covering her desk.
"So boring… this is worse than being locked in the pit," she muttered, dropping her pen.
Leaning back in her chair, she reached toward a framed picture of Yamato.
"This routine's killing me, darling…" she said with a melodramatic sigh. "I need something exciting before I turn into another void bureaucrat."
As if fate itself had heard her prayers, a thunderous blast shook the room. The walls trembled, the lamps rattled, and a distant curtain of smoke rose on the horizon.
Selka frowned, sweeping the papers off her desk with one motion as she threw open the window.
"What the hell was that? An explosion?"
The morning air reeked of ash. From afar, a column of smoke rose from the city's main gate.
"An attack?" she murmured, a smile breaking through her mask of boredom. "Who could be that reckless… or that stupid?"
With a snap of her fingers, she summoned her staff. The lilac gem at its tip glowed with the energy of the Void.
"Well, whatever. Finally, something exciting."
She leapt from the window, her body wrapped in a cloak of shadows that carried her floating across the rooftops. The wind tugged at her hair as she descended toward the explosion's epicenter.
There was no fear or surprise on her face, only exhilaration.
It was the expression of someone who had gone far too long suppressing the urge to destroy something.
"Let's see who dares disturb my city…" she whispered, a cruel smile curling her lips.
In the distance, another explosion shook the streets.
Selka felt it before she saw it, an overwhelming aura, blazing and unstable, drenched in divine light and madness.
"How curious… that power…" her eyes sharpened. "Could it be that one of Yoru's heroes has lost his mind?"
She propelled herself higher, speeding toward her target.
That day, the Witch of the Eternal Crossing had no idea her boredom was about to end—
and that the man who dared strike the gates of Mermur was none other than Kazuki Hayama, the Luminous Paladin.
She could hardly believe it, for the first time, the Light had dared to challenge the Void.