Threads of Life and Looming Destruction
"Oooh, really interesting. Bringing souls from another world to restore our race... while the world itself accepts them in order to expel the foreigners. And on top of that, sending a payment back to the place from which they were borrowed. A perfect symbiosis. After all, our world has an excess of mana... and the other seems to have people in need of help."
Lila spoke as her gaze wandered through the village, watching the players enjoying themselves. Her words, however, were confusing to Lua.
Before she could ask, Lila switched back to her silly side and threw herself at Silvia, hugging her with joy.
Silvia only sighed, though her eyes clearly reflected her happiness.
"Your mothers are really quite affectionate," SIA remarked in Lua's mind.
"You can bet on it," Lila replied instantly, brimming with enthusiasm.
"I'm still not used to someone else being able to hear me, boss," SIA added with discomfort.
Meanwhile, Loli and the others approached carrying food to share.
"H-hi, nice to meet you," Loli greeted nervously, looking at Lila. Still clinging to Silvia, Lila lifted her eyes with interest toward the little one, then lowered them to her neck, showing a slightly intrigued smile.
"Mmm... hello," said Lila, watching Loli as though she were calculating something.
"Don't you dare," Silvia interrupted at once, as if she knew exactly what Lila was thinking.
"Hey, I didn't say anything! Or do anything... yet," Lila replied with a childish pout.
"Let them take care of their own matters," Silvia said seriously.
"Come on... that's no fun," Lila sulked, puffing out her cheeks.
Loli and the others didn't understand what they were talking about. Lua, meanwhile, simply took the food and began eating calmly, ignoring everything else just to enjoy her meal.
At that moment, Liora came running with joy, her little wings fluttering rapidly.
"Lua, look, look! My skill is maxed out, three times now!" she announced proudly, placing her hands on her waist and smiling with a slightly smug air.
Of course, the others couldn't see Liora's status bar; only Lua had access to that information. As she checked it, Lua saw the new abilities unlocked:
Two intermediate ones from maxing Healing:
— Healing Area, which healed allies around Liora while it remained active.
— Divine Spear, which summoned a spear of light from the ground, creating a ring that damaged dark creatures and granted a light damage buff to companions. And one high-level ability, obtained from maximizing both: Spear of Judgment. A technique that could be hurled at enemies and, upon impact, generated a healing circle while granting morale buffs to allies and weakening enemies with damage over time. Without a doubt, a very useful ability.
"Nice," said Lua, calmly patting her head.
Lila, however, reacted as if struck by shock. Her eyes shone in the shape of a golden cross as she looked at Liora: angelic wings, a glowing tiara, and a happy smile as she received Lua's caresses.
Suddenly, before anyone could stop her, Lila appeared holding Liora in her arms, lifting her high above her head.
The little girl, confused, opened her eyes wide.
"Good. From now on you'll be adopted as my granddaughter," Lila declared as if it were a divine decree, impossible to refute.
Liora froze. Lua looked silently at her mother, while Silvia covered her face with her hand and shook her head in resignation.
"Eh... ah... eh?" Liora stammered, not understanding what was happening.
Lila tucked her under her arm like a sack and pointed toward Lua. "And you, my daughter, will now be her mother. Understood?" she said, even planting one leg on a rock to strike a ridiculously heroic pose.
Lua was about to object, but simply raised her eyes and answered, "Alright."
Her response was so simple that no one knew how to react. Not even Liora, who dangled with arms and legs swinging, knew what to think.
Yet when she imagined Lua as her mother, her gaze lifted with emotion toward her. Lua kept eating calmly, though she returned the look with a gentle pat on her head.
Lila released Liora, and the girl rushed to hug Lua, rubbing her head happily against her chest. Lua welcomed her with a faint smile and another soft caress on her hair.
Meanwhile, Lila sat down and began to eat cheerfully as if nothing had happened. Silvia glanced sideways at her and smiled to herself. Lila was unpredictable, but at the same time seemed to have control over everything.
She was about to bite into a rabbit leg when something stopped her. Her eyes swept across the players, pausing first on Joe, laughing while drinking fruit liquor. Then on Dean, more reserved, sitting quietly in his corner. Finally, her gaze settled on Loli, Sig, and Bert, who were closer.
Loli felt that gaze fixed on her.
"Is something wrong?" she asked with uncertainty.
At that moment, Lua stopped as she received an alert from SIA.
"Boss, this is bad. The elves are surrounding Academy City. They detected the energy caused by Joe and Dean's evolution," the AI reported urgently.
Lila spoke immediately, her tone completely serious:
"Their lives are in danger."
"What?" asked Sig, confused.
"You'd better return to your world. Your lifelines are shrinking with each passing moment... if you stay, you'll die," Lila explained.
In her eyes were reflected small golden threads connecting each player to their real body. Those threads revealed their remaining lifespan, and the thinner they became, the closer they were to losing everything.
"All those who come from the same place are in danger," Lila said gravely, looking around at Sig's followers, the Underworld group, and their people. Joe, Dean, Edward, and the others... in all of them, the thread of life was shrinking more with each second that passed.
Lua also wore a grave expression.
"SIA, expel them from the game now," she ordered firmly.
After all, there was no time to ask them to disconnect on their own. Every second was crucial.
Loli and the others wanted to ask what was happening, but before they could open their mouths, a light surrounded them and they vanished in an instant.
"SIA, information," demanded Lua with slight concern in her voice.
"One moment... I'll use a bit of energy," the AI quickly responded.
Liora, still clinging to Lua, was visibly worried. At the same time, the players who remained connected watched in bewilderment as a large number of veterans suddenly disappeared. Their faces were full of confusion and fear.
But they weren't the only ones. Sally, Linda, and Peter, who had approached to ask what was going on, also fell under Lila's gaze.
"Them too," she said seriously to Lua.
"SIA," Lua called instantly.
And the three of them vanished.
Liora, seeing her friend disappear, widened her eyes in alarm.
"What happened? Will they be alright?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.
"It's fine, don't worry," Lua replied, gently stroking her head while waiting for SIA's report.
"Boss, this is problematic," SIA reported urgently. "It seems the Overseer of Earth, for some reason, is on the surface. Normally, it remained in the stratosphere, but this time it managed to detect the massive amount of mana released during Dean and Joe's evolution. And now it's taking the opportunity to supposedly 'clean up.' I have no idea exactly what it intends to do... but everyone is in danger."
SIA's words made Lua's expression grow even more serious. She lowered her gaze to Liora.
"How's that going?" she asked firmly.
"We have enough energy to try, but if it fails, it could deal you the same damage as last time," SIA answered cautiously.
"That's fine. If it's only that damage, it's bearable," Lua replied without hesitation as she began walking toward her house.
…
Meanwhile, in Academy City, Loli and the others woke suddenly in their beds, disoriented. They quickly got up, wondering what was happening.
Loli ran to the window of her room, on the second floor, which offered a good view of the surroundings. And that's when she saw it.
Blue lights raced quickly through the streets in their direction. In the distance, in the sky, small high-tech ships could be seen flying straight toward the city. Their metallic silhouettes gleamed, and at their front, energy cannons deployed, aiming without hesitation at Joe's house and the others'... and even at the surrounding homes.
They weren't coming to investigate.
They were coming to destroy.