Infori slowly opened his eyes again, before fully opening them. He glimpsed a vast expanse of dark red magical energy radiating upward.
Yes, this was the same place.
He hadn't left the scene at all.
However, what made this strange was that Infori was in the same place he'd been when he first woke up in this dimension. Yet, the difference was also clearly there.
The Gauntlet of Rebirth hadn't stopped emitting energy from the bag on his back; in fact, the energy seemed to create large wings made of aura and artifact energy that continued to flow from every part of the gauntlet.
A strong gust of wind even swept away all the dust on the ground.
"What...?"
Infori then realized that the Dark Chimera was right at the end of the path he was standing on, and the monster had even noticed his presence. However, it simply stared at him without moving.
(What's really going on...? Why is the Dark Chimera just standing there? It's just staring at me with its eyes...)
Infori then looked back, seeing that her bag was emitting an unexpected amount of energy. She was eager to check it, but she turned back to the Dark Chimera.
Just as she thought, the monster was just staring at her silently.
(Chance...!)
Infori hastily took off her bag and placed it on the ground. She then opened it and took out the Gauntlet of Rebirth from within. The gauntlet still emitted an overwhelming aura, and Infori had to bend down slightly to look at it.
(What's really happening to this artifact? Why is it reconnecting my soul to the sacred tree, just like the Blades of Mirage?)
But the Dark Chimera's eyes were different from Infori's. From her perspective, she saw that the soul of the Nephilim before her was a soul that had always been connected to the sacred tree—Everness.
His soul seemed to be connected by a thread that continued to connect to the sacred tree, even in the Dark Chimera's dimension.
"..."
Infori stared in wonder at the Dark Chimera, wary of the monster's next move. Perhaps it would lunge without warning, or even emit a burst of fire. No one knew the future.
(The creature just kept staring at me...)
Infori's eyes then shifted downward, staring intently at the gauntlet he was holding. Infori wondered. (What should I do...? Should I use this gauntlet? But, if it happens again...)
But then he remembered that when Takechi tried to use it, the gauntlet had caused an untoward incident. It had gone out of control and unleashed something undesirable.
Infori didn't want that to happen, because he was now alone and Flynn wasn't nearby. The chance of stopping this gauntlet was now only ten percent.
He spoke to himself again.
(But... If I don't act, then I'll be the one to die here...) Infori exhaled and whispered, "There's no other choice..."
He then stood firmly, staring intently at the Dark Chimera. But the summoned creature didn't budge. It seemed as if it was still trying to process what it had seen earlier, and it felt as if it had realized something.
Infori then spoke to the Dark Chimera, even though he knew a creature like the Dark Chimera wouldn't likely care about his words.
"I don't care whether you listen or not, but I'm sure a creature like you still has reason," Infori said without hesitation. "I might seem like a weirdo talking to a being summoned to kill me, but sometimes beings like you are easier to talk to than the Nephilim who lie about their duties. I just want to get out of this dimension, whatever it is called. Maybe this strange conversation we're having is because..."
The Dark Chimera's three-headed eyes continued to stare at Infori, cold and unblinking, as if untouched by anything happening around him. Infori then spoke again.
"...Maybe if I could, I'd end this conversation!"
Shortly after, he quickly put the gauntlet on his left arm.
The gauntlet finally clicked into place, making a small 'click' sound. However, shortly after, Infori felt something that seemed to pierce his body, the same feeling Takechi had felt before.
"...?! Guaarghh..!?"
Intri tried to restrain himself, holding the gauntlet from slipping from his hand. At first, there was a repulsion from the gauntlet, but suddenly—the energy that had been blasted around him seemed to be sucked back into the gauntlet. The gauntlet fitted perfectly onto Infori's left hand.
And Infori again experienced the same vision as before, his soul reconnected with the world tree—Everness.
(The same feeling again... But, what happened...? Why did this gauntlet stop emitting energy?)
However, Infori realized that the Dark Chimera he knew had only been staring silently. Now it was staring, but with a different feeling. Infori realized that the Dark Chimera seemed shocked by what he had seen before.
(Now, now... What should I do with this gauntlet?)
Infori was once again confused by the workings of the artifact on his arm. He examined every detail of the gauntlet without missing a thing, but still found himself stuck.
While his opponent was confused, Dark Chimera seized his opportunity.
The Dark Chimera then flapped its wings, propelling its body upward rapidly.
The surrounding winds picked up, and Infori raised his hands to shield his eyes from the dust.
"Oh no, not again...!"
He opened his eyes slightly, looked up, and saw the floating Dark Chimera staring at him. Its dragon head was about to do something, its mouth open, glowing red like fire.
As if in a prelude, the dragon head moved up and then down, releasing a fiery red flame from its mouth.
The gauntlet suddenly glowed from within the bag, emitting a powerful aura and energy.
WOOSSHH
However, the burst of flames was already close to Infori. Infori couldn't dodge, and the resulting explosion erupted, sending a cloud of smoke billowing up.
BOOM
At this moment, Infori opened his eyes. Although he had been on the verge of giving up, he was still able to open them. He was in the same place as before.
"Heh..."
But, this time, something was different. From within the smoke, Infori saw the silhouette of a rather large creature before him.
"What is that...?" Infori asked.
Then, he heard a loud roar echoing throughout the room.
The roar was harsh and deafening, mixed with a hot snort that felt like a death threat to anyone who heard it.
"RRRRAAAAAAAGHHH—!!"
It startled Infori when he first heard it. He had no recollection of hearing that room before, because this roar was different from the Dark Chimera's roar.
"This roar...?" Infori whispered.
He looked up, the smoke that had been blocking his vision gradually disappearing.
A massive wing suddenly flapped behind him, creating a gust of wind that swept away the remaining smoke until nothing remained.
Its wings were very rough and spiky, predominantly black with red patches on the undersides.
Finally, Infori saw the silhouette from behind.
"..." His eyes widened.
Infori looked directly at the creature's back in front of him, with sharp scales covering its entire back. From Infori's perspective, its back was enormous. Its wings, fused to the left and right sides of its back, were even larger than its body.
Added to this was a large and quite long tail, with sharp black scales dominating its entire length.
Infori froze, transfixed by the creature before him. His eyes were wide open, his mouth half open.
"Initium…," Infori whispered.
The creature opened its eyes, a pair of glowing red eyes. In the center of each eyeball was a black line that formed a rhombus.
On its head, two sharp horns curved backward. It had a mouth filled with sharp teeth ready to tear its opponents to shreds, and its body was covered in sharp scales, predominantly black and dark red.
It had two hands with sharp claws, and two feet with enormous, sharp claws.
"...Bahamut."
The creature drew its last breath before the sound emerged.
"RRRRAAAAAAAGHHH—!!"