The first one to open the door to the house was Deveralna.

"Agh!"

Frustratingly, she closed the door behind her and entered the living room.

"Damn it! There's no way we'll ever get one hit on him. He's not even using his armor while fighting us..."

A crisp, striking noise echoed in the room as the tip of her tail slammed on the ground.

"Unless we force him to, I won't consider this training successful."

As she moved inside the room with her fist clenched below her hips, she suddenly stopped.

"Hey."

Her frustration vanished instantly the instant she noticed a friend lying on the couch with a device in her hands.

"Amelia. How are you feeling today?"

Her legs wrapped in a thick blanket, Amelia greeted Deveralna with a smile before the usual question was asked.

"Far better than before. You've all been very supportive."

Still in a weakened condition, all she could do was wait until her body recovered the energy she had lost during her comatose state.

Stella did heal her entire body, but the nutrients she had missed couldn't be replicated other than through eating and resting.

"That's all we can do. It was not the same without you around, so we're doing everything possible to have you back on your feet."

"Haha~"

Amelia caressed the back of her head while laughing. She felt incredibly bad for leaving her friends to deal with the past three weeks.

"..."

As Deveralna sat on the couch facing Amelia's, she squinted.

"What?"

Feeling the suspicious gaze on her, Amelia frowned.

"You're hiding it well, but it's still visible. You're missing him, do you?"

"That's a pointless question, isn't it?"

Turning her head back to the tablet, she tapped on it repeatedly while answering the lamia.

"Of course, I miss him. We're past the point where I can lie about it. But we're all on the same boat."

"I could say that I miss him more than all of you together because of the many years I have been with him, but I would be a petty bitch if I said that."

A chuckle escaped Deveralna's mouth as Amelia shrugged.

"At least you have recovered your attitude. That's a relief."

"You've grown more determined and less wishy-washy, too."

She nodded.

"I've decided to be a ruler for my people. I am a Remnant now. I can't simply remain ignorant forever."

"This power I have been given was the first start of this realization."

The sigil of power flashed in her eyes for a brief instant before her eyes returned to a deep, dark orange.

Then, she touched the snake wrapped around her forearm.

*Bite*

"That creature..."

Glancing toward it, Amelia asked her.

"I know nothing about it except the fact that it is an ally. It helps regulate my energy."

"Is there a problem with it?"

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Genuinely concerned about it, she looked at Amelia with a worried frown.

"No. Why would there be? I have no business telling you what to do. It was just curiosity talking."

"I thought that Orion would love to see this snake closer in the future."

Deveralna smiled as she removed her finger from the plasma snake's mouth.

"This was also my thought."

*Clack*

Suddenly, the door opened, and the ruckus from multiple people broke the laid-back atmosphere.

"Yahoo!"

From the entrance, a green-haired fairy jumped in with her arms widely open above her, past the doorway.

"Drania, you're too excited right after saying you were 'pooped'."

"Where do you even get that energy?"

Dramia and Karteira followed right behind and moved to the kitchen area to refresh themselves.

"Maybe she simply draws it from her sister."

"That could be a possibility. Who knows?"

"Isn't she just a whimsical person? She always overflows with energy."

Senia, Olivia, and May entered last and entered the living room.

"Close the door behind you, Drania."

From the other room, Dramia ordered her younger twin sister.

"Eeeeeeh?"

Reluctantly, she did as asked before joining her sister while pouting.

"Deveralna, you could've joined us, you know?"

Sitting next to her, Karteira relaxed her body completely, even showing her scorpion tail.

"I wanted to return home rapidly today."

"Something happened?"

May asked while sitting on the third couch. Senia floated toward Amelia and looked at the tablet.

The two stared into each other's eyes before smiling at each other. Senia, like everyone else, was truly relieved that she was doing better.

"Well, if I start, I'm going to complain."

"Go for it, since there's nothing to do apart from waiting for diner right now."

Karteira crossed her arms while looking toward the other room.

Deveralna glanced toward May, who nodded calmly.

"Alright. If you are fine with this, hear this-"

...

After a while, everyone began to gather in the living room and discuss their struggles during training.

Meanwhile, near the training field, Elliott and the other Remnants gathered.

"Everyone's here. What did you want?"

Henrietta wanted to go home for the day, like everyone else, but Elliott called them nonetheless.

"It's an unavoidable matter, actually."

He turned to a young girl with black hair tied in a wavy ponytail.

"Me?"

Stella, who was a Remnant, also needed to participate in their meetings. She was standing a bit further from everyone, with Sirius next to her.

Pointing at herself, she blinked in astonishment.

"I've been made aware of your circumstances. You are the child Orion adopted, right?"

She nodded with a severe expression.

"Don't glare at me like that. I have no plan of antagonizing you."

Elliott shrugged while shaking his head.

"Do I seriously look like a bad guy?"

He turned to Layla with a genuinely concerned frown.

"Well... I can't say you behave differently than a hooligan sometimes."

"Certainly, you jest."

Turning to the other Remnants, Elliott smiled frustratingly as they said nothing to contradict his question.

"I... should be careful. Anyway."

After coughing in an obvious effort to switch subjects, his serious expression returned.

"Let me tell you straight why I call everyone."

"Stella, would you fight me with everything you have?"

"!"

The Remnants instantly understood the reason for their presence.

"W-Why?"

Standing her ground, Stella glared at Elliott.

"With the others as witnesses, I want to make sure you can stand on the battlefield."

His eyes darkened.

"I will not have a repetition of what happened with Orion happen again. If you are weak, I request that you stay behind. If you can fight on equal ground as me, we will leave you to act however you want."

"But understand, I only act like this as an act of friendship toward Orion. I can't let anything happen to his family when he is away."

The surrounding air mellowed, and Elliott smiled.

"What kind of friend would I be? Sure, I might be the only one considering our relationship as friends, but I don't want to regret my choice. I hope you understand."

Staring at the ground for a moment, Stella pondered.

The same thought kept popping into her mind, as if everyone were on the same wavelength.

'For Orion, right?'

As the false sun in Horizon began to set, Stella brought a hand to her chest.

'You can do it, Stella.'

Deep inside, she could hear the voice of her mother encouraging her.

"Catharsis."

Henrietta's eyes opened wide at that name.

(You really gave her everything, Varellia?)

Whispering those words, Henrietta began to witness the power of the new Remnant of Progress.

The other Remnants were shocked to see such a young person wield the weapon of a Valkyrie.

Elliott immediately brought his hand to his sword and slowly removed Vanitas from its scabbard as Stella removed Catharsis from her core.

"I have a feeling this is not going to go my way."

Compared to Deveralna, who had to fight with many limitations so as not to destroy the entire realm, Stella was in complete control of her weapon.

But what took him by surprise were the two elements spinning around Catharsis' blade.

His mind was prepared, but to handle Stella, he had to go all out.

"Show me your power."

Vanitas gleamed brightly as Elliott pointed its tip at her. An armor made of energy covered his entire body as he leaned forward.

Stella spun the weapon called a Naginata next to her before aiming it at Elliott.

*Cling*

Suddenly, the two blades met in the center, releasing sparks in a flurry of attacks.

"..."

Elliott jumped backward and immediately dodged to the side to avoid the long blade ready to cleave into him.

He stabbed Vanitas into the ground, releasing a wide wave of energy that pushed Stella back a few meters.

"I see."

This time, Elliott alone leaped forward, instantly crossing the distance between them with his ability.

Calmly and swiftly, Stella avoided his blade and slammed the tail end of her weapon into his waist.

"Tsk."

"Don't click your tongue."

With a sneaky smile, Elliott defended himself against the hit with the armor.

"In that case..."

Stella jumped away and spun gracefully with her weapon to prepare for her strongest attack.

The two elements of light and dark merged into the blade, giving it a strange gray aura.

"Mayhem."

She leaned forward, her body incredibly low to the ground, the naginata extending next to her, its blade glowing wildly.

Elliott barely had time to react as Stella appeared in front of him below his waist, with Catharsis coming straight for his neck.

Swiftly, he called upon Gula as he blocked the impact with Vanitas. The two blades clashed as intense blasts of energy ripped the grass from the dirt.

Gula devoured the energy around the blade for a minute before the two stopped attacking.

"That's your win, young lady."

Vanitas dropped to the ground as blood dripped next to it.

A small cut opened on the back of Elliott's hand, which pointed out that Stella was on another level compared to the others.

"Time surely is the mistress of improvement. That's the only difference between you and the others."

Rubbing his injury with a smile, he closed his eyes.

"I swear... You all have so much potential, it's ridiculous."

Elliott turned to the others with a neutral expression. They all nodded as their students showed great potential, just like he said.

Stella straightened up, not knowing what to do all of a sudden.

"Well, what do you think?"

Turning to the one acting as a leader, Elliott grabbed Vanitas' hilt and placed it into its scabbard.

Henrietta frowned and crossed her arms.

"This was unmistakably a show of power. Stella is strong enough to fight, and I acknowledge that. All of us have."

"But she's lacking something."

She turned to Titania, who immediately nodded.

"Stella, you lack the experience obtained in battle. That's what Elliott has over you."

"Yes."

The young lady nodded. It was a fact that she had never participated in a single battle.

"In any case, I won't hold on to your time more than I did. Thank you."

Elliott thanked the Remnants.

"..."

Suddenly feeling a deep gaze on him, Elliott turned around.

"Yes?"

Seeing that Stella was looking at his injured hand, he also looked at it.

"Oh. I should have known, like father, like daughter."

He extended his hand toward her with a smile as Stella nodded. Immediately, she healed his injury.

"Thanks."

After just a moment, the cut vanished, much to Layla's relief.

"Well, now that this is out of the way, can I return home? I need to take care of my daughter-"

Her eyes squinted. Titania turned around, and the other Remnants shuddered.

"Stella..."

Henrietta looked at Stella. The intense gaze she gave her made her understand the severity of the situation, as she herself felt something wrong in the air.

"Go gather everyone near the portal hub, please."

"A rift just opened."