Some time later, in a dark and empty void—
This was a silent, endless expanse of black that stretched out in every direction, lacking both sound and light, and yet, within this strange space, two figures faced one another.
The first figure was Levy…
Her posture was relaxed, but the faint purple glow in her focused eyes suggested she was far more attentive than she appeared under normal circumstances. Her short purple hair drifted weightlessly in the empty darkness as if brushed by a wind that did not exist, and her clothing clung to her body as if existing in a vacuum, not willing to drift too far from her frame.
Opposite her stood another figure, or rather, something that vaguely resembled one…
This was a tall female silhouette, yet her body appeared indistinct, like a shadow that was barely holding the shape of a human. Long black hair flowed down her back, falling down like an endless waterfall and blending almost seamlessly into the surrounding void. Her eyes were pitch black, deeper than the void itself, and her face was indescribable, not in form; instead, she seemed to be impossible to remember. She held the beauty of a black sun at its zenith, but at the same time, appeared almost eldritch in nature, like a perfectly sculpted nightmare.
Even her presence felt unreal, almost ethereal, as if she wasn't actually there…
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Levy remained silent as a form of respect, but the shadow was lost in thought…
After some time, Levy sighed.
"…Master."
Her voice echoed faintly through the empty space.
She had been waiting too long and decided to speak up.
"I'm a bit worried about the little master's current condition."
In truth, she was far from indifferent. The face she put on before Mell and Wind was true, but there was still that spark of unease that she couldn't extinguish.
The shadow-like woman did not move.
Levy continued to speak.
"There's something wrong with her aura. Something deep inside her body feels… very dangerous. If I'm not wrong, this shouldn't be a problem with her soul, but something closely related to it. If it's really an issue with…" She didn't finish…
The silence lingered for a long time.
Then, after what felt like an eternity, the dark figure finally spoke…
Her voice was calm, cold, and collected. "…I already know about this."
Levy blinked in confusion.
"You don't need to worry," the shadow continued. "Just let her vent for a while, that should be enough to deal with your current predicament."
"It should resolve itself…"
Levy tilted her head.
"…You're not concerned?"
The woman's shadow shifted faintly in the void. "No, at least, not for now…"
Her voice carried a strange sense of certainty.
Levy watched her carefully.
"…Do you know the source of that uncomfortable feeling from today?"
There was a pause, then the black eyes of the shadow turned, but instead of turning towards Levy, they seemed to disappear into the unseen world and look at something that wasn't there. For the first time, the shadow-like woman seemed slightly amused by her disciple's question.
It was only a flicker, but Levy felt as if she saw her master smile.
"I don't, just ignore it." She spoke, shocking Levy.
Levy's eyes widened, but before she could ask how that was possible—
"Someone is playing tricks in the dark," the woman calmly continued. "But that doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing. I've already checked Petra's body. Although there's something extra, it should be more beneficial than anything else."
There was a faint pause.
She seemed to hesitate about something, which made Levy even more uneasy.
One had to know that her master had never displayed this level of uncertainty before.
"As for that person in the dark…"
The woman's voice changed slightly.
"…It seems I may actually owe her a favor in the end..."
Levy's eyes widened.
A favour from the Witch of Calamity was a very big deal!
"So you're letting it slide then?" Levy finally asked, her voice slightly hesitant.
"…Yes." The shadow affirmed.
Levy quietly nodded.
"I understand, master. In that case, you should want me to teach Petra how to control it, right?"
The void remained silent for a few seconds.
Then the shadow spoke again.
"No, you're not qualified to teach her about that thing."
Levy's mouth fell open. "I'm not qualified to help her? What exactly is that thing?"
"It's a very strong 'seed' gestating within her body. Right now, Petra's soul is submerged within it. It's also related to how Petra returned to Pillomal. If you spend some time looking around, then you should find some fragments of its counterparts placed around this world. 'That person' should have used those as an anchor to pull Petra's soul here. As for why…"
"If I'm not mistaken, the person hiding in the dark is playing a really big game…"
Levy frowned.
What did Master mean by 'its counterparts?' The thing hiding in Petra was already so terrifying. For a fragment to exist means that there's more than one of them, and not only that, but the others have already grown up and had time to fracture. Just thinking about the implications made Levy understand why she was not qualified to help Petra control the power in her body…
As for 'that person' and the 'really big game,' Levy didn't even want to think about it! These terms meant something very different when spoken from her master's mouth. They shouldn't have anything to do with the world of Pillomal…
Soon, the conversation moved on.
"…The script is changing too quickly," Levy mentioned lazily.
The woman nodded slightly.
"Yes, but that's understandable given the parties at play."
"Chaos is spreading across Pillomal at a speed that will be hard to control if we don't make a move soon," Levy added. "The sequence of events has already shifted because of their arrival. Several things are already happening far earlier than expected behind the scenes, and I'm worried that when it's time for everything to blow up, it will explode on a scale that far exceeds the previous few loops."
The shadow, Calamity, did not appear concerned at all. No, in fact, she just didn't care. The events surrounding Pillomal meant absolutely nothing to her! Petra was her only concern.
"That's not a problem." Her voice was cold and indifferent.
Levy tilted her head. "Not even slightly?"
The woman answered calmly.
"Most of those changes aren't even worth mentioning in my eyes."
Levy's eyes drooped.
"Most of them? Then there really is something to watch out for?"
The woman's gaze seemed to drift somewhere far away.
"…Yes, that's right. Most of them are insignificant, except one."
Levy faintly frowned.
For a moment, the void grew quiet...
Calamity didn't explain who 'that one' was, but Levy understood that if she wasn't told, that could only mean that the person in question was somebody who was a bit tricky to deal with. It didn't necessarily mean that they were stronger than her, it just meant that their means were unorthodox and difficult to predict, even for her master…
Then Calamity spoke again.
"You must remember something very important about this world."
Levy waited for her to continue.
"Pillomal is… unusual at its roots." Her voice carried a strange tone. "For an 'innate world', it was created far later than most planets in the cosmos."
Levy's eyes narrowed slightly.
"… That's strange."
"Yes, it is…" The woman continued calmly. "And there's another problem that even you probably haven't realized yet."
A faint ripple passed through the void.
"…Something is draining the world's providence behind the scenes."
Levy slightly stiffened. "Ha-ha, that doesn't sound good…" Her voice suddenly carried a nervous tinge!
"Mm, indeed, it isn't." Calamity didn't continue to explain.
Levy remained silent for a moment before asking her next question.
"…What about the loops?"
The woman answered without hesitation.
"It's just as you suspect. They're not loops as you imagine."
Levy's eyes sharpened.
"…there really aren't time loops?"
"No."
Calamity raised her hand slightly.
"The world core simply rebuilds reality. It's like a stamp returning everything to a predetermined state. It's a very primitive method, but for such a 'young world', that's understandable."
Levy's brows lowered.
"…That explains something." She crossed her arms, then frowned. "That's why those two were unaffected while I was still reset! Damn it!" She clicked her tongue.
The woman nodded.
"They weren't on the planet at the time of the reset."
Levy chuckled dryly.
"Right-right, meanwhile, I was..."
"Yes."
"Even I couldn't escape the reset! Are innate planets really so powerful? This is the first time I've visited one. It really is hard to believe, even when experiencing it with my own eyes."
"Correct." Calamity nodded.
In fact, the power of an innate planet should have easily been able to reset her memories as well, but because it had opened a link to the Soul Sea, lost its Mana Well, and forcefully ascended five gods, the World Core was currently in a 'slightly' weakened state.
But she wouldn't say that out loud, lest she embarrass her student!
Levy sighed.
"…That's unfair, really unfair!" She stomped her foot!
Another moment passed.
Finally, Levy asked one last question.
"…What about the calamities? What's the real situation? Is it true that you have something to do with them? That was before Petra returned, right? Why would you do that…?"
Calamity was silent for a long time.
She didn't seem to want to answer…
For the first time, Levy's relaxed expression faded. She could feel an unspoken pressure flash by…
She felt a faint chill.
"…That bad, huh? I guess this will be a taboo question in the future…"
Calamity said nothing.
And in that endless void, silence once again returned…
* * *
Azurefell Family—
Bang!
The heavy iron door slammed shut with a violent crash, and the sound rang through the cold stone chamber long after the footsteps outside had faded.
For a moment, the small room was silent…
Lilly squirmed slightly as she caught herself against the damp stone wall, sending a sharp chill through her body. Beside her, Luna steadied her footing as she stood up, but the chains that had already been fixed to the floor rattled faintly with the movement of her shaky legs.
Their hair was dishevelled, and their bodies felt hollow, empty, and weak.
Both girls slowly lifted their heads and looked around.
After a moment, they realized that they were locked in something like a prison cell underground.
Cold stone walls surrounded them on all sides, appearing rough and uneven as if the chamber had been carved deep beneath the earth. A single lantern burned weakly in the outer space just outside the range of the iron bars, casting a dim blue light through the corridor just beyond their view.
It was dark, but not dark enough to leave them with nothing.
The air smelled stale, heavy, and old…
Lilly swallowed hard before reaching up towards her neck, touching an abnormal weight with her delicate fingers.
Her fingers brushed against a cold metal surface.
It was a thick, heavy collar.
Looking at her sister's identical collar, runes had been carved across its surface, faintly glowing with some sort of suppressive magic. After a moment to think, it resembled the infamous taboo 'slave collars' used by certain underground factions, although this one felt even more oppressive.
The moment Lilly touched it, she felt the magic within her body 'sink' even deeper, like something was pressing down on her soul. A gut-wrenching emptiness followed, and she felt like her stomach was torn out, nearly forcing her to puke.
"Ugh…!"
Beside her, Luna was already examining her own collar with furrowed brows.
As Luna silently looked at the runes, Lilis' eyes shifted downwards to their clothes.
Both of them had been forcibly changed after they were brought here.
The maid uniforms they had worn while working beside Petra were gone, and in their place were the dull grey garments worn by the lowest level servant disciples of the Azurefell Family.
It was clearly intentional…
Perhaps it was an insult, perhaps a reminder, but regardless, things looked bad…
Lilly clenched her small fists.
"…Those bastards!" This was all that swam within her head!
Luna slowly shuffled back against the wall.
Her expression remained calm, but her eyes carried a frigid chill.
Lilly paced around the small cell for several seconds, her thoughts racing. She wasn't very smart, but she didn't think that this was a conspiracy,
Okay… think… what do they really want from us?
Why bring us back here like this? Why lock us in a cell?
Her mind immediately jumped to Petra.
"…Petra? Are they worried about her?" Lilly bit her lip.