Within the Mindscape, Ethan's final wisp of consciousness faded.

This time, it was real. There was no lingering echo, no distant presence to cling to. It was gone entirely.

Yet even as Ethan vanished, his inner world did not collapse. Instead, it stabilized, then quietly transformed. The chaotic battlefield and blazing hellscape receded, replaced by something eerily calm. A profound clarity settled over the Mindscape, unlike anything it had ever known.

Before, the world within had been bright but indistinct, like a morning shrouded in thin fog. Now, the sky stretched overhead in a flawless, crystalline blue, cloudless and sharp, as though a storm had passed through and scrubbed everything clean.

The four directional isles still floated in place, southeast, northwest, south, and north, each glowing with its own distinct hue like four self-contained miniature worlds. At the very center, beneath the lush, green canopy of the Tree of Life, five small, child-like figures huddled together alongside a single trembling little fox.

Just moments earlier, they had still been able to faintly sense Ethan's presence. They could not reach him, but they knew he was there. Then, without warning, that last fragile thread of connection snapped, leaving behind a silence that felt heavier than any sound.

The little fox was Mirage, flung into this inner world by Ethan while she had been unconscious. She had awakened confused and terrified, only to be scooped up without warning by a chubby white child and dragged here. Not long after, the world itself had plunged into darkness. Everything beyond the Tree of Life had dissolved into a formless void, and only the faint, protective starlight radiating from the tree's branches had kept them from being swallowed along with it.

Faced with the grim silence of the children, Mirage did not dare make a sound.

Aside from the plump child who had grabbed her earlier, the most frightening among them was a slightly older-looking girl with a single, perky topknot. The others seemed quieter, less threatening by comparison.

The plump child was Beastie, the spirit artifact of the Sigil of the Wild Legion, and his presence alone stirred a bloodline-deep terror in Mirage, an instinctive fear shared by all beast-type entities. The girl with the topknot, Luna, unsettled her for an entirely different reason. Usually loud and energetic, Luna now radiated a tightly restrained, razor-sharp lethality. She stared into the empty space ahead of her, unblinking and unresponsive, as though something inside her was coiled and waiting.

"Big Sis Luna…" Beastie called softly.

He was the oldest among them, at least in demeanor, and the one who had known Luna the longest. Still, she gave no sign that she heard him.

Undeterred, Beastie continued, his tone stiff and deliberate, as if repeating instructions drilled into him beforehand. "Don't forget what Big Sis Yaya told us before she left. She said the Master's current tribulation is necessary, that he has to sever his ties to the past if he wants to grow stronger. And she also said…" He leaned closer, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "She said if you dare act recklessly, she'll deal with you personally when she gets back."

He kept talking, filling the silence with nervous babble. Nearby, Gale, Oblivion, and Aqua watched the exchange with mounting unease. Aqua even reached out and tugged lightly on Beastie's sleeve, trying to stop him.

"Aqua, why are you pulling me?" Beastie protested. "I'm just repeating what Yaya told us. Did you forget? She also said that if Big Sis Luna doesn't listen, we should all work together to suppress her. We absolutely can't let her ruin the Master's… uh… good fortune. Yeah, good fortune." He nodded to himself, then added more hesitantly, "Yaya said if the Master's Soul Power completely dissipates… something good will happen."

The confidence drained from his voice at the end. Even to him, it sounded wrong. Soul Power disappearing did not feel like a blessing. It sounded far too much like total annihilation. Still, Beastie was simple and loyal by nature, and he chose to trust Yaya, the spirit born from the Tree of Life itself.

"What did you say?" Luna's head snapped around.

Her previously unfocused eyes were suddenly sharp as blades, locking onto Beastie and freezing him in place.

"That something good will happen?" Beastie repeated, blinking in confusion.

"The part before that," Luna said, her voice low and dangerous. She bared her small teeth, her gaze sweeping over Beastie and the others.

In that instant, Gale, Oblivion, and Aqua all lunged at Beastie, scrambling to cover his mouth.

They were too late.

"Suppress you… mmph!" Beastie blurted out before his words were cut off.

Those three words were enough.

A slow, perilous smile spread across Luna's face. "Oh," she said softly. "Really?"

Aqua's face crumpled, tears welling at the corners of her eyes. Gale slapped a hand over his face, looking utterly defeated. Oblivion, the stocky little figure among them, clenched his teeth and made a split-second decision.

"Have at it, then," he muttered, and with a sharp kick, he sent the unsuspecting Beastie flying straight toward Luna.

Seeing the plump body hurtling toward her, Luna's grin widened, her small fangs fully bared.

---

On Ascension Isle, hidden beneath the Sumeru Array in the eastern seas beyond Crescent Isle, Lyla climbed out of her VR capsule. She retrieved a carton of milk and some bread from the spatial pouch Ethan had given her. Just as she raised the milk to her lips, a flash of milky-white light swept through her eyes.

Her entire presence changed in an instant.

An ancient, regal authority surged forth, as if something far older had momentarily awakened within her. Her gaze sharpened, piercing and detached, and she turned her eyes toward the southwest, seeming to look straight through space itself.

"Tsk. My main body is really slacking," she murmured, a faintly amused smirk touching her lips. "To let two avatars get ahead like this…"

The overwhelming presence faded as suddenly as it had appeared. The light vanished from her eyes, and Lyla blinked, staring blankly at the milk carton still in her hand. An odd sense of wrongness lingered, like a missing memory she could not quite grasp.

She shrugged, took a sip, and set the carton down. No matter how she thought about it, nothing came to mind. It was as though a brief stretch of time had simply been erased.

---

In the co-pilot's seat of the Shatterstar mech, Amber's eyes snapped open, glowing with a soft yellow light. The Life Waters circulating through the cockpit began to drain away, their gentle luminescence dimming as the hatch hissed open.

---

Back in the icehouse, Ethan's body temperature continued its slow, steady return toward normal.

Victor and the others remained steeped in grief, the chamber feeling colder than the ice encasing them. Blackfin stood rigid, barely daring to breathe, dread pressing down on him like a physical weight. All of them felt unmoored, as if the central pillar holding their world together had collapsed without warning. The three men struggled beneath an overwhelming tide of despair.

Blackie's pupils flickered erratically, cycling through four distinct colors, wind, fire, water, and thunder, a clear sign that his emotional control was beginning to fray. His gaze suddenly snapped toward Blackfin.

Blackfin's heart dropped into his stomach. 'Is this it? he thought. Is the purge starting now?'

Micah stepped forward at once, sorrow etched deeply into his face, and placed a firm hand on Blackie's shoulder. Victor shifted sideways, deliberately placing himself between Blackie and Blackfin.

"Blackie, stay calm," Victor said, his voice steady despite the strain beneath it. "What happened to Ethan isn't their fault. Don't spill innocent blood."

Behind him, Blackfin shot Victor a look filled with profound gratitude.

Seeing both Victor and Micah barring his path, Blackie drew a deep, shuddering breath. The chaotic energies swirling within him gradually settled, forced back under control.

Victor glanced over his shoulder and gave Blackfin a subtle nod.

Understanding the signal, Blackfin began to turn away, ready to give them space and remove himself from the tension.

At that exact moment, Rainie's eyes flew open as she lay on the icy floor.

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