Febuary 23rd, Year(Ling) 400 Post Barrier. In the Lingering World...

After fulfilling the tedious energy requirements for the day, the widely-known white haired Human with special Angelic properties, Yonuro Tokiyama, is about to go to sleep.

Yonuro- Phew, it's so exhausting doing this every day... But that just makes sleeping afterwards that much better!

Now, as a mature 20-year-old woman, this painful, obligatory daily job doesn't bother her that much. Despite the Barrier's sudden increase in energy drain, which skyrocketed the amount of energy the Angels need to sacrifice for its cause, Yonuro has come to terms with it. She's not letting it get to her head and ruin her happy moments in life.

Not to mention that her Angelic Veil and her most trustworthy friend and companion, Ramael, does her best to psych her up, as always.

Ramael- Good tidings, Yonuro! You're killing it! Seemlessly carrying out this overloaded routine, that the other Angels are still struggling with, is impressive. You've gotten so much stronger. I highly commend your resolution!

Yonuro- Oh, you're gonna make me blush. Hahah... I'd definitely not make it this far without your moral support, Ramael. Don't give me all the credit!

Ramael slightly grins and then watches Yonuro as she gets ready to go bed.

But from her sheer excitement, Yonuro is having other thoughts in mind...

Although she knows it's all in vain, Ramael's encouraging words give Yonuro hope. Hope that everything will eventually go back to normal. Hope that she will be able to have time for herself once more. Hope that she will still be able to talk with them... Blinded by that false sense of hope, she gets ahead of herself, and risks her health in the process. How does she do that exactly?

Yonuro decides to write Aniik and Samei a letter, after almost two years in her world's timeflow.

Ramael- Wait, aren't you going to bed?

Yonuro remains silent and sits at her desk, where she used to write all the letters. She then grabs a pen and paper and starts writing something...

Ramael- This isn't the time to start writing again! Despite all your improvements, your body is still unable to bear more fatigue than it already has! Do you remember what happened when you wrote your last letter? You should never play with your limits... You shouldn't scare me like that again...

Yonuro knows that. She acknowledges the risk, but she just can't give it all up and let her dreams vanish.

Yonuro- All this practice must be doing some work, right? I've worked so hard to withstand the drain and save up some energy... I should be able to spend some time with where my heart is, shouldn't I...? Isn't that fair? Am I asking for too much, Ramael?

Watching Yonuro tear up, Ramael cannot say no to her. She cares about her physical health alright, but above all, she cares much more about her mental health.

Therefore, in a relaxing tone of voice she calmly says the following.

Ramael- I'm sorry. You're right. You have every right to want at least that... Just don't overexert yourself, okay?

Yonuro thanks her for her understanding. She then goes on and writes a simple, yet expressing enough letter aimed towards Aniik and Samei.

After finishing the letter, her heart is overflowing with joy. Getting to "talk" with her friends after such a long time, it must feel nice. And it all went so well. She finished it quickly, without much trouble and now she's not feeling too worn out. Though, she does feel like she has spent all her stored up energy for this.

Yonuro- Yay, that went so well! But now I'm really exhausted, so I'm going to bed.

Ramael- Thank goodness, you didn't lose consciousness... Phew! Okay then, I wish the World's first "sleepy Angel" a good night!

Yonuro- Thanks, Ramael! We'll talk again in the morning—

On her way to bed, Yonuro feels her vision getting more and more blurry. And out of nowhere, she loses the ability to command her limbs as well as all of her other senses...

Ramael- Yonuroooo!

Ramael screams her friend's name as she falls down. She then covers the bottom of her head with her veil-like body and tries to help her come around.

"Why do I have to jinx everything..." Ramael desperately says after all her vain efforts to bring her back...

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Now that Yonuro has lost her senses, her unconscious mind awakens. It decides to show her another unique dream. The time, place and contents of it aren't specified just like her first Vision, back in the day.

Yes, I am not the only Human able to see Visions. Yonuro Tokiyama shares that ability together with me. "When did she inherit that ability?" I hear the dead mumble. "Was it a birth given trait?" "Was it due to becoming a half Angel-half Human hybrid being?" No, these theories are all wrong.

"Then how was she able to see her first Vision in Sachrist's second chapter of Angelic Bond?"

Jeez, the dead are restless today... That's not surprising, though. Today they will meet many new friends. They are getting ready to chit chat I believe.

*Fine, I'll answer just this question. In the vast future, I indirectly bestow her this ability.

The crowd's whispers are so annoying, but they soon fade away. The reason is simple. Behind me they stand quietly, as they want to take a peek into Yonuro's Vision that I begin to envision.

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In an old, underground room with a long, circular, wooden staircase being its only way in and out, a person holding a small lantern descends. Careful and steady are their steps at all times. The last thing they want is to accidentally break a piece of old wood and hurt themselves.

When they get to the bottom, they approach a peculiar table with many scattered notes and wrapped pieces of paper. Only a certain book being on its last page looks well-maintained and taken care of. And even this book, they decide to close for good.

"It's time." They think to themselves.

Their gaze is then fixated onto a magnificent stone statue, shaped in a unique way to represent a triple spiral. Since the "statue" has depth into it, it seems more like a coffin or a sarcophagus to me, but I can't tell with all this darkness in the room.

The enigmatic individual then kneels before the weird statue, which majestically takes the spotlight of the room.

They leave their lantern nearby and apparently start praying to the statue afterwards. Well, that's what it looks like at first glance, but reciting a few sentences would better describe it.

All the "prayers" are said in a soft voice. As more and more verses are spoken, though, the volume increases bit by bit. And in the end, the peculiar person raises their head and shouts the last sentense with all their willpower.

???- Vita, Æquilibrium!

And at that moment, something surreal happens...

A mysterious, unbelievably bright explosion blinds everything and everyone in the room. Such a powerful, radiant glow, I've never witnessed before in my life...

The radiant light eventually disappears, and the person who caused it stares at the broken statue in a daze. From the depths of the now apparent sarcophagus, a being slowly comes forth, slowly approaching them.

And in the end, the awestruck person says something to the being...

???- #$_$*!(#($(), (^.^!#('&, $#(!!)...?

The spoken words sound so distorted and obscure that their meaning has faded away.

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Yonuro wakes up with teary eyes and a strong enough headache to make her surroundings spin endlessly. Ramael strongly urges Yonuro to go to bed, as she couldn't move her there herself previously...

As soon as she lays in bed, Yonuro recollects the events shown to her through the Vision. With her right hand covering her eyes, she talks to Ramael about it.

Yonuro- What the fuck was this dream about...?

Ramael- What dream? Was it a fever dream?

Yonuro moves her hand a bit upwards and touches her forehead. It is a bit hot, but she feels this isn't the explanation.

Yonuro- No, it's not like that. This peculiarity... I think I've experienced it before.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Ramael has been together with Yonuro for such a long time, yet she cannot remember what she's talking about.

Ramael- How can I not remember though..?

Yonuro- It was before I met you. I saw a similar dream, which, at the time, I didn't understand at all. But now I know what it is. And if the principle applies to this one...

Yonuro makes a thinking pose whereas Ramael desperately tries to understand what's going on.

Ramael- I don't get you at all! What on earth did you see?

Caught up in the moment, Yonuro forgets about her tiredness and speaks her mind.

Yonuro- I'm not really sure... I saw a long dark staircase, a weird tripy coffin and... who were these mysterious people?

Ramael tries to make something out of this pitiful amount of information.

Yonuro- I don't know what happened there, but I feel like something terrible has happened...

Ramael- Has?

Yonuro- Yes, the feeling I have from this dream is different than the first one. Although I don't know what that person did, I've got a feeling that what I saw has already happened...

Yonuro tries to look out of the stained-glass windows, but she sees nothing. Her eyes show a combined feeling of sorrow and fear, which is easily noticed by Ramael.

Yonuro- If only I could pay more attention to their faces... Then we could get a better picture of what happened...

Ramael- Don't worry, Yonuro. You couldn't do anything about it... It was out of your control.

Yonuro- Hah... You're right...

"Our roles have changed, haven't they..?" Yonuro thinks after remembering a similar conversation between those two.

Ramael gives Yonuro a sorrowful smile.

Ramael- Everything's going to be okay. As long as we're together, we have nothing to fear. But for now, you really need some rest. Do me a favor and have sweet dreams this time...

Yonuro says a lifeless " 'kay.." and falls asleep from her bad fever and all the exhaustion piled up.

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Febuary 24th, Year 400 Post Barrier; The Promised Day.

This beautiful sunday morning, Aniik with her friends, Samei and Ikki, are going for a coffee at a popular rooftop cafeteria in Yonaga City.

Samei and Ikki have dressed up a bit more fancily, whereas Aniik wears her fabulous, albeit not formal, distinct hoody with cat ears. (With the hood down)

They all meet up at the building's ground floor with happy faces, full of energy and excitement. The staff there show them their way to the elevator and then to their rooftop reserved table. Samei and Aniik, followed by Ikki sit at the fanciest, corner-most table with view of all the Yonaga City center.

Waitress- Here's your table. When you're ready, I'll be there to take your order.

They all take a good look at the menu.

Aniik- What to choose... What to choose!

Ikki- Hm, I'll probably take a freddo espresso, no sugar.

Samei- Yeah, me too.

Aniik- Don't mind if I do as well!

Ikki makes eye contact with the waitress, who takes their order.

Ikki- Three freddo espressos, no sugar.

Aniik- Should we take something to eat, like some pizza slices?

Samei- Yeah, make it 3 pizza slices, please!

Waitress- Thank you very much!

After a formal bow, cause Japan, the waitress leaves and then the three of them friends catch up with each other in a casual conversation.

Aniik- I'm so glad to see you guys again this week! Now that we live in different places, I don't get as much time to spend with you. Especially with you, Ikki. We don't even hang out at school!

Ikki- Yeah. It was indeed a sudden decision. But I really love it here in the art school!

Aniik- Yeah tell us more about that, how's it going?

Ikki coughs a bit and says "I can show you my progress if you like."

Just before he can show them his creations, the waitress serves them their coffee and pizza.

Waitress- Please, enjoy!

Samei- Thank you!

Waitress- My pleasure!

Ikki then opens his phone and shows them the art pieces he made till this point in the art school. While drinking their coffee, the girls comment on his works and encourage Ikki to "keep up the good work".

Samei is happy to announce to her friends that she has finally picked up her gadget crafting hobby again.

Ikki- You made gadgets in the past, Samei? Since when?

Remembering his sister only in love with assult rifles and such activities, the habbits of sewing and gadget crafting are alien to Ikki.

Samei- Oh, yeah. You don't know about my other habbits. When we get back, I'll have you look around the old garage!

Ikki- You have me interested now!

The siblings laugh about it out loud, but Aniik is slightly holding back her smile.

"Both of them have decided on their future. Ikki's gonna become a great artist, and Samei a brilliant engineer. Yet I... I've no idea what I'm going to do... I, too, need to find my purpose."

Aniik takes a sip of her coffee and looks up in the sky, past many buildings. She's gathering her thoughts while looking around the beauty of their country's pride, Yonaga City...

She blinks once. 3 blocks away, she sees a car crash that has happened. She blinks twice. 2 blocks away, she sees many people running. She blinks again. 1 block away, she sees a rift manifesting just before her eyes.

Aniik- WHAT THE—

Aniik spits her coffee on the table. Confused as they are, the siblings ask Aniik what is going on, if she's okay. She's speechless. Aniik just points with her index finger what she just saw. And when she does, the wind intensifies and takes some tissue papers off of the table.

Samei, also familiar with the appearance of rifts and the casualties they bring about, is also petrified by fear.

While munching on some pizza, Ikki doesn't get what's having them so scared. But, as the wind gets inexplicably stronger and stronger, it ends up taking Ikki's pizza. Ikki shouts "hey!" and as he tries to get it back, he realises what the others are so scared of. It's not just one "explosion". There are multiple rifts happening at once...

The other customers soon enough freak out as well from the wind and the peculiar phenomena, and leave the scene in a hurry. Their screams make this event all the more frightening.

Samei / Ikki / Aniik- What the hell is going on.......?

Aniik tells the others to immediately head back home, or to the closest safe place they find. Since Geord's is closer to their location than Nakikou's, the siblings decide to go there.

Samei- And where are you going, Aniik?

Aniik- I need to see what's going on over in the Lingering World.

Amidst all the chaos, Aniik uses her own form of chaos, her Dark Essence, and starts floating in the air and teleports to the Overworld. The same story goes over there. Lingerians are panicking just like Humans because of the rifts. They are running to safety, some scared for their lives and some for only their lost properties...

Aniik uses this pandemonium to quickly do the things she's come here for. Her first thought is to rush to the huge mail box.

Aniik- Please, Yonuro, tell me that you're safe...

After a while, Aniik finds her locker reading "Yonuro" and unlocks it. When she used to see countless letters back in the day, now she sees just one. She's content with it, nonetheless.

She starts reading it as fast as she can. Her eyes begin to tear. The contents are heartwarming, but Yonuro doesn't mention this peculiar event that she needs to learn about. Aniik clenches her hand into a tight fist. The letter must have been written before all this. It doesn't guarantee anything. Neither the safety of the World, nor the safety of her best friend...

But then, after flipping the page, Aniik sees something that makes her widen her eyes. Right in the middle, in all capital letters, the following words have been rushly writen. "BE CAREFUL ANIIK! SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAS HAPPENED..."

Aniik- Oh no... Yonuro!

Aniik puts down the letter with her trembling hands. She then tries to gather some strength to teleport again, this time somewhere close to her shrine. The teleportation process takes a long time, due to the energy deficiency. While being in the air with closed eyes, however, Aniik feels something moving her away from her location. Like some strong wind pushing her away.

That's normally impossible for some strong wind to interrupt the process like that. Yet that feeling intensifies. It keeps dragging Aniik somewhere, or to put it better, it keeps sucking her in...

It all happens in an instant. Aniik opens her eyes and witnesses a rift occuring just in front of her eyes. She cancels the teleportation on her own, touches the ground and jumps away in an attempt to escape the rift's radious. Even after all that, the explosion still impacts her. Unfortunately, a great lot. Aniik is laying unconscious on the ground next to the broken mail box, with grave injuries all over her body.

———————————————————

Running together, the two siblings finally make it to Geord's safely. They see him watching the news about what they just witnessed.

Geord- It can't be...

"Peculiar explosions multiply at alarming rates. Following the public safety protocol, everyone needs to evacuate dangerous crowded places at once and stay at home until the situation stabilizes. Listen to a few words from our experts analyzing the situation and stay tuned for the president's speech."

Samei- Yes it can. Geord, the news is as real as it appears.

Ikki- I dunno what's going on! I'm scared!!!!

Geord- You two... Thank the stars you're safe...

Samei proceeds to explain what she saw with Ikki and Aniik and what Aniik is doing right now.

Geord- We need to lay low. Don't leave the house, till everything's safe.

From his PTSD and mild paranoia about scenarios like these, Geord locks the doors, windows and even disconnects from the internet. He then starts a fire at the fireplace, serves the "guests" a drink (coffee) and reassures them that everything is going to be okay.

—————————————————

In the Holy Shrine of the North, Yonuro is unaware of what's happening outside. From her Vision alone, however, she knows that something terrible must explain this ever powerful directed wind and the extremely cloudy weather. The wind howls like crazy and it's the only thing you can hear in the vicinity. Yonuro and Ramael can't help but feel anxious about all this.

"What's with this deafening gale?"

"Has Aniik read the letter?"

"Are they going to be okay?"

These thoughts run rampant in Yonuro's head. In an attempt to calm her down, Ramael crawls up to her head and keeps her hair and ears warm. Yonuro carasses Ramael in return, and they both feel a bit better.

But in the next moment, every hope vanishes. The wind hits so hard at the stain-glass windows that they begin to show signs of wear. And more alarmingly, the two Holy Energy-containing, diamond shaped crystals on each side of the room lose their faint glow completely. They are now as dark as the cloudy sky.

Ramael / Yonuro- (......)

And at that moment, Yonuro hears a distinct sound of paper hitting against the entry door. Immediately after, with the force of the harsh winds, it slides through the narrow opening at the bottom.

With shaky hands, Yonuro opens the letter and recites its contents.

"Hi. I am Sachrist, the Omniscient Archangel. I'm writing this letter to warn you, Yonuro. After you finish reading, the first phase of The New World will be coming shortly. I want you to meet me at my shrine as soon as possible to save what we can from this mess. I don't want to say this, but I desperately need your help... The World as we know it is coming to an end. Be careful, Yonuro. The Barrier is going to break..."

The moment she says the last word, Yonuro and Ramel widen their eyes. A shockwave the size of the World itself occurs and breaks all the windows, chairs, chandeliers, everything in the Shrine. Yonuro is knocked back by this unstoppable force, but she doesn't lose her composure. She can still look up and witness everything...

Just like it all began, the 3 Worlds merge into one. A devastating World-wide earthquake then shakes everyone and everything. This is...... The New World...

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𝕍𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝟟— ℍ𝕒𝕫𝕪— 𝕌𝕟𝕔𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕣. "𝕌𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕕, 𝕒𝕥 𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕥."