The cloaked figure raced through the ancient forest with unnatural speed, her black cloak fluttering behind her like a shadow given form.
Despite the distance she had covered, the sounds of pursuit never faded.
One arm tightly held the wrapped bundle against her chest.
The other remained pressed over the wound beneath her ribs.
Warm blood continued to seep through her fingers.
Her breathing had long since become ragged.
Even so...
She refused to stop.
---
The dense forest suddenly opened into a broad clearing.
A deep growl echoed through the night.
Grrrr...
A massive white wolf stepped out from between the trees.
Its snow-white fur was covered in intersecting black markings that resembled ancient runes, while its intelligent golden eyes carefully studied the stranger before it.
For a brief moment...
Neither moved.
Then Crystal spoke.
"Move."
No anger.
No shouting.
Just a single word.
BOOM!
An overwhelming pressure descended upon the clearing.
The wolf's body instantly froze.
Its instincts screamed.
This...
...was not something it could challenge.
The magical beast whimpered before lowering its head completely.
When the pressure vanished, it fled into the darkness without daring to look back.
Only after it disappeared did Crystal stagger.
"Cough!"
A mouthful of dark blood stained the grass.
She tightened the hand over her wound.
"...Big Sister."
A faint smile appeared beneath her hood.
"If you saw me now..."
"You'd laugh at how miserable I look."
The smile quickly faded.
Her emerald eyes slowly swept across the clearing.
"I know you're here."
"Hehehe..."
"Hehehehehe..."
Laughter echoed from every direction.
It bounced through the forest until it became impossible to tell where it originated.
Crystal remained expressionless.
"You still laugh like a dying crow, Canston."
Silence.
Then...
A figure emerged from the shadows.
Tall.
Abnormally thin.
A black mask concealed everything below his nose.
Only a pair of crimson eyes remained visible.
Eyes overflowing with hatred.
Eyes devoid of mercy.
"Saintess Crystal."
"What an unexpected reunion."
"The feeling isn't mutual."
He chuckled.
"Still as cold as ever."
His smile widened beneath the mask.
"I've been given very simple orders."
"Capture you."
"Dead or alive."
He slowly pointed toward the bundle in her arms.
"And bring back the child."
Crystal merely looked at him.
"We both know you aren't capable of defeating me."
"So leave."
"Before what's left of your pride disappears as well."
Canston's expression stiffened.
Then...
He smiled again.
"So the intelligence was correct."
"You really are forcing yourself to stand."
"I suppose Viper deserves some praise."
"He poisoned even you."
Crystal's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Though..."
"He won't be here to watch the ending."
BOOM!!
Crystal disappeared.
The ground beneath her feet exploded.
She appeared before Canston almost instantly.
Her palm struck his chest.
The impact shattered the earth beneath them.
Canston was hurled across the clearing, crashing through dozens of ancient trees before finally embedding himself into a rocky cliff.
"...Kh!"
Blood dripped from his lips.
Yet...
He laughed.
"Hehehe..."
"So weak..."
"I can feel it."
"The poison has spread throughout your Magna."
"You don't have much time left."
Before Crystal could move again—
Figures began appearing throughout the forest.
One.
Five.
Twenty.
A hundred.
Hundreds of black-cloaked assassins silently surrounded the clearing.
Not a single escape route remained.
Canston slowly stood.
"I've learned from my past mistakes."
"I never intended to face you alone."
Crystal silently observed the encirclement.
Her breathing became heavier.
The child in her arms shifted slightly.
Without thinking, she gently adjusted the blanket wrapped around him.
Only then did she return her gaze to Canston.
He slowly raised his hand.
"Kill her."
The command echoed through the clearing.
Instantly...
Hundreds of techniques illuminated the night.
Darkness.
Fire.
Wind.
Lightning.
Steel.
The forest shook beneath the overwhelming barrage.
Crystal remained completely still.
She slowly closed her eyes.
For a brief instant...
The entire battlefield became strangely quiet.
Even the surrounding Magna seemed to hesitate.
Canston frowned.
"...What?"
A strange feeling crept into his heart.
It wasn't fear.
Not yet.
It was...
Unease.
An instinct older than reason.
The assassins also sensed it.
Several unconsciously slowed their attacks.
The wind stopped.
The leaves froze in place.
Even the cries of insects vanished.
It was as though...
The world itself had begun listening.
Crystal slowly opened her eyes.
The emerald within them had become impossibly deep.
Blood trickled down the corner of her lips.
She looked neither at Canston...
Nor at the assassins.
Instead...
She looked toward the heavens.
Toward Gaia itself.
"...So."
"This is as far as you'll allow me to run."
Her voice remained calm.
Without despair.
Without regret.
Only unwavering resolve.
Canston's heartbeat suddenly accelerated.
"...No..."
His pupils contracted.
"...Don't tell me..."
For the first time in years...
Genuine terror appeared in his crimson eyes.
His voice cracked.
"Stop her!!"
"NOW!!"
Every assassin unleashed their strongest technique at once.
The clearing disappeared beneath a sea of destruction.
Crystal never moved.
Blood slowly traced a line down the side of her mouth.
Then...
She softly uttered two ancient words.
"...Arcana."
"...Magna."
No one knew what happened next.
Some later claimed they saw reality fracture.
Others insisted the heavens themselves descended upon the earth.
Many would swear that Gaia had opened its eyes.
None of them would ever agree.
Only one thing became certain.
A boundless golden radiance erupted from the clearing.
It consumed the forest.
The sky.
The earth.
Everything.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
Canston's face turned deathly pale.
His instincts screamed louder than they ever had before.
Without hesitation, he crushed the forbidden spatial relic hidden within his sleeve.
Space split apart.
He threw himself into the collapsing rift just as the golden light reached him.
"AAAAAAAHHHH!!"
His agonized scream echoed through the distorted space.
The rift closed.
Leaving behind only his severed left arm.
The golden radiance erased it without a trace.
...
Far away...
Within a remote forest untouched by civilization...
A flash of golden light appeared beneath the shade of towering ancient trees.
The brilliance slowly faded.
Crystal stumbled forward before collapsing onto one knee.
Blood stained her torn cloak.
Her breathing was weak.
Yet...
She still held the child securely in her arms.
For several silent moments...
Nothing happened.
Then—
"Waaah..."
The baby began to cry.
The sound echoed gently through the quiet forest.
Crystal looked down at him.
Despite the blood still trailing from the corner of her mouth...
A tired smile appeared on her face.
"We're alive..."
She whispered.
Above them, Gaia's three moons silently illuminated the beginning of a new journey.