When their vision returned to normal, everyone couldn't help but gasp at the sight before them.
None of them were in the AZF dimension's frontline base rooftop anymore. Instead, they were standing... no, floating in the middle of a dark space.
There was nothing but darkness in almost every direction.
All except one.
Right in front of them, a gigantic red sun hung in place.
It was so big, and so bright, that none of them could gaze at it directly, much less take in its full grandeur without craning their necks.
[Challengers. Welcome to the First Step to Ascension.]
Sekhmet's voice echoed, but sounded a little different this time.
It no longer carried the overlap of two voices—Sharika's and hers—but only the commanding, grand tone of a goddess above mortals.
The girls blinked once, twice, then—before they could even tell when—a figure was suddenly standing before all of them. A woman clad in Egyptian attire.
