Part 1 –

An inhuman groan ruptured the air. The sound travelled through the depths of the wide corridor, echoing dozens of times before it faded into nothingness. The owner of this sound was – surprisingly – a humanoid; though this one had long since abandoned their humanity.

Black’s patience had reached its final limit. Earlier they were led to believe that the <82nd Floor> was the last of this trial, but their celebrations were premature.

The obelisk teleported them into the entryway of a long corridor. There was no home, no grand discovery or anything to reward their wasted time. At least this was how Black saw it. It was just another floor.

The corridor was wide enough to accommodate at least 5 people; a stark contrast to the gear-shaped elevator in the <41st Floor> which could fit an entire army’s worth of men. Pale and black stone marvellously lined the surfaces of this place; the pale ones glowing with a serene light. They were pristine, untouched, and untainted by the ugliness of the floors above.

In any case – this place certainly felt like ‘the end’, or at least the prelude to it. Thinking of it this way, the others embraced this time to rekindle their companionship. There was no need to rush, for they all prioritised this above the completion of the trial for the time being.

Aside from Black, of course. That was not to say that she too wasn’t involved, nor curious to hear the recounts of their descent. She’d just rather hear it away from this agonisingly time-consuming place.

Another deranged groan left her parted lips. To quell the steam that erupted from her boiling blood, she set her attention to Exrite who led the pack at the front with Uru by his side.

Her eyes didn’t land on him by chance. Neither was she the only one. Everyone’s gazes fell onto him when he finally had the chance to retell his descent in all it’s... ‘glory’.

No page was left unturned, and every horrific event was recited with detail that some wished they didn’t hear. But they were drawn by it, intrigued by the series of events which sounded like something straight out of a nightmare.

None could break free from this binding spell. Even after he had concluded they continued to watch him until a voice brought them all back.

“Exrite...” It was Frosty’s voice.

He softly smiled, sensing the worry lock up in her throat.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine. If you have any doubts, then feel free to beat some sense into me.” Exrite raised a thumb at the woman.

“Geez… how the hell can you still joke around? Don’t make me feel like worrying about you is a waste of time.” She retorted with a sigh.

“I think it’d be worse if I couldn’t joke about it.” He spoke. “Gotta see the bright side one way or another. It pushed me hard enough to become strong, and twice as hard to hate Gaia.”

“Thinking of returning the favour~?” Black asked with deadly intrigue.

“Depends.”

After a short period of silence, Uru spoke.

“Ho. So that trial was tailored for your descent.”

Indeed. From what he had heard beforehand, the others had gone through the same set of 41 floors that he did. However – there were exceptions.

Firstly, none had met the same odd creatures he did in both the <66th Floor> and the <76th Floor>. In extension, they also did not come across any [Gears].

Furthermore – the <70th Floor> in their descent did not contain any spatial anomalies. It was a normal, cracked and damp floor as far as they were concerned.

Aside from these key differences, their trials were mostly identical.

“Seems like it. But I can’t figure out for the life of me how someone else was able to come before me and not trigger any of the untouched creature’s I’ve come across.” Exrite strained his eyes.

“Maybe they reset. It’s not a farfetched reason, considering this is the Maiden of Time’s dungeon.” White said. “It’s likely to be correct since it was in your descent specifically.”

“Don’t forget that you weren’t the first Exrenity or probably the last to exist in this world” Black cleared her throat. “Saicry has a long history of the Exrenity. Given their proximity it might not be impossible that one of them wandered in here. Or, they were probably pointed to this place. The purpose of this trial was to strengthen the Exrenity, after all~”

“… that makes more sense. The person that came down here was also a Demi-human.” Exrite nodded, then looked at Khaos who read through the contents of a certain envelope.

He had given it to him prior to this conversation.

“Find anything?” Exrite asked.

“I don’t understand a single word.” His response came after a brief moment of him silently squinting at the envelope like how an old man does without their glasses. “Neither does Sis.”

“Of course I wouldn’t know.” She sighed.

Mused, Uru commented with: “Have you lost your Frostbitten tongue?”

“Never had it to begin with. Ecloma was always the easier option.” Khaos replied simply before he returned the letter to Exrite. “But you found a good haul. Milkazako’s going to be happy translating this.”

“Hopefully. By the way Khaos – isn’t there any other word you know in Frostbitten besides our names?” Exrite inquired all of a sudden as he slipped the letter into a safe container.

“Not really, haha. But there’s a few I’m sure I know.”

“Then what about ‘Eto’?”

Khaos’ face rose to the ceiling. It seemed like he had an idea on what it meant.

“Eto… Eto. Etooooooo –”

“Idiot, can you keep your thoughts in that thick skull of yours?” Frosty nearly snapped.

“– R-right.” He apologised. Then, he locked his eyes with Exrite’s. “’Eto’ doesn’t really mean anything. It’s more like, let’s see – a gesture in Frostbitten.”

“A gesture?” Exrite wondered what he meant by this.

“Yeah. A gesture of thanks.”

Exrite’s eyes instantly widened as a wave of surprised washed over him. Before long, his composure returned, and he faced the front after a briefly thanking Khaos.

This made no sense. As much as he did not want to admit it; Khaos must’ve been mistaken. He had to have been.

The creature which had waited down in the chamber of the <76th Floor> could not have written ‘thanks’ in its dying breaths. He refused to believe it. And if it did – then why? What did it thank him for?

He did nothing other than descend. The thought spiralled in his mind. Eventually, he placed a hand on the limeite box containing the envelope.

“I see. Thank you.” Regardless, Exrite took this with a grain of salt and believed him for now. Khaos wouldn’t lie, but it’d be a lie to say that Khaos was infallible.

He concluded that he’d have to wait until they returned to Saicry for further clarification. That was if his answer wasn’t waiting for him at the end of the long path.

That aside –

White showed perhaps the most intrigue with Exrite’s changes. Uru and Black were a close second, although their attention seemed to linger more on the objects that he armed himself with.

Light glinted from White’s eyes as she studied the changed man from head to toe. In accordance with his story; his changes seemed to make sense, considering he possessed the ‘adaptive’ trait that the Geared had.

His abilities aside – she was more interested in the biology behind his change. It was her field of expertise after all. Aside from minor physical changes, Exrite looked no different from his old self despite possessing an arsenal of resistances.

Keeping her thoughts to herself, Black spoke whatever came to mind as she caught up to Exrite.

“Hmhm~” Black began. “To think you’d be making firearms right after we left you alone. Ah~ You never cease to amuse me.”

She took the weapon from its sling, inspecting the massive rifle with a purple gleam in her eyes.

“Well, they’ve been treating me well since you first introduced me to them. Except for having one of my rifles explode on me out of nowhere.” He half-complained. “By the way Black, I forgot to ask you about why it exploded in the first place.”

She hummed, her eyes still reading the weapon as a grin rose. Black already knew the answer.

“You said that this happened underwater, correct?”

“Yes. Completely submerged –”

“You’re a moron.” She cut him off with a lethal interjection. “Oh sorry~ I meant to say that your world isn’t as advanced as others, so there’s no way that you could’ve known.”

Her voice was filled with barbs and jabs. If Exrite was anyone else, they’d undoubtably erupt in fury.

“Ahem. On a more serious note – Try to imagine a barrel filled with liquid. Now, imagine all that liquid expanding to more than twice its size in a split second from all the heat and firepower this thing spits.”

Exrite visualised it, and to his surprise, he suddenly understood the concept she was trying to teach.

“Not only that, but the fucking shockwave of the explosion will tear it apart anyway. I don’t know if you know this already, but explosions are fucking far deadlier underwater. Water is a denser medium than air, so energy travels really well, even rebounding in most cases.”

Black further explained. In short, Exrite’s hunch was correct. Explosions did indeed work better underwater. Also, he mentally ticked off the things Black explained as he recounted the events on the <66th floor>; particularly the ‘rebounding’ effect.

“They call it physics. I call it combat knowledge.” Black said proudly. “Also, I might have to teach you some more weapon designs. You’re a fast learner, and evidently a good listener if you somehow managed to make this.”

She brandished the weapon, its limite coat glistening in the light.

Exrite silently thanked her. As Black earnestly inspected his armoury one by one, Uru suddenly brought up the topic of [Spatial] magic. Coming from the Demon race, she was naturally interested in anything regarding the Maidens or their magic.

Interestingly though, the Demons – who were known to possess archives upon archives of knowledge concerning the Maidens – also did not know much about [Spatial] magic.

The same was apparently for [Wisdom] magic; the Maiden of Wisdom’s [Fifteenth Tiered] magic. Most of this was due to the state of their continent, which separated the Maiden of Wisdom and the Maiden of Space from Eastern Six Point.

It made sense for them to not know much. However, their knowledge was not negligible by any means. Compared to what the Humanoid knew – they easily possessed a hundredfold more.

In short – the effects that Exrite described added nothing to her grand library of knowledge. Thankfully, Uru was willing to share its contents.

She explained that [Spatial] magic, at the very core, was the power to command the rules of reality – or ‘physics’ as Otherworlders called it – to the Maiden of Space’s will. The gravity of this power was terrifyingly immense; so much so that it was used as a regional limiter for the Gods of Eastern Six Point.

The major function of the Domain of Space and in extension, [Spatial] magic, was to uphold and enact the rules of reality that were set by the Maiden of Wisdom. One such rule dictated that only one sun was to be in the sky; though there were some exceptions to this rule. Most notably was the Scorched, where nine suns ravaged the world with a heat so intense that metal armour was known to melt within an hour in that Region.

Suffice to say; it was not hard to see why it was of the [Fifteenth Tier].

“– and speaking of powerful magic; what have you imbued your largest [Gear] with? [Time] magic, I presume?” Uru wondered.

“I didn’t have time to imbue it, I’m afraid.” Exrite admitted. “Also, I doubt it’ll take [Time] magic. The second largest [Gear] only uses [Fifth Tiered] magic for reference, and this smaller one uses [Control]; a [Sixth Tiered] magic. Don’t forget that this same [Gear] is the exactly same size as the ones that are used for [Teleport] in the obelisks. Those are of the [Eight Tier].”

“Ho~ Then this is perhaps more than capable of handling most magic~ Shall I personally imbue it?” Uru’s voice oozed with excitement.

Exrite would be mad to not accept her magic. Aside from [Time], the only other magic that he considered ‘powerful’ in his arsenal was his triple layered [Physical Barrier]. Additionally, using a [Barrier]-type magic with a [Gear] seemed unnecessary now that his immortality had returned…

He asked if she could imbue it with [Solar Core]. However, she gave him an unfortunate look. All her magic beyond the [Seventh Tier] were tied with her being, and were not casted with chants, magical circles or through chantless methods. Rather, they were unique – almost like an ability. One could imagine it being akin to how a dragon is able to breathe fire.

In a sense, the higher tiered magic she possessed were not strictly magic but were more akin to a complex biological and magical process. The [Solar Core] was one of them, utilising her body’s natural ability to generate heat into a single point. The only magical process involved was the conversion of heat to mana through the engravings across her body. Once they reached her finger they would turn back into pure heat.

This should still be able to be replicated with a chant. However, Uru pressed that the [Gear] may not be able to use the magic correctly. In short – it will most likely self-destruct as a result of the [Gear]’s inability to compress the heat, control it, point it and discharge it. At best, the [Gear] would only be able to generate the heat and nothing more.

Overall, harnessing [Solar Core] would require massive tweaks with the [Gear] – something that Exrite unfamiliar with, considering his lacklustre experimentation and knowledge with them thus far.

His best chance of harnessing that power was after he learnt the secrets of the [Gears], and perhaps when he had acquired [Biomechanical] magic.

In any case – Exrite had two options.

One, he could imbue the [Gear] with his triple layered [Physical Barrier]; a [Ninth Tiered] magic, or; Uru could imbue it with [Explosive Orb] a [Sixth Tiered] magic. With this, Exrite would be able to create [Seekers] of his very own – the variation he called [Blue Bullet].

[Explosive Orb] was the obvious choice, though he wondered if Uru had anything of the [Seventh Tier] or potentially beyond. Unfortunately, her archives were filled with combination magic.

Despite these numerous hurdles, he was eternally thankful for her help.

The giant [Gear], which was twice as large as his torso, hovered gently in front of Uru. Her eyes lapped its very presence as she gently caressed its smooth surface, feel the gentle ticking. Her shivers of delight synchronised with the ticks.

Every one of her senses in this brief moment was burnt into memory, for this [Gear] was not only the largest she had seen under Exrite’s command, but also because she had the honour of bestowing it her magic once again.

That aside, Uru firmly placed a hand on one of the [Gear]’s teeth and began to utter a chant. A purple magical circle coated the [Gear], the strange Demonic text pulsating one by one with a faint glow.

Before long, the circle disappeared, and a strange warmth suddenly filled the [Gear]. He did not have to test it to figure out that it was a success… nor would he. The last thing he wanted was a cave-in here of all places. Let alone now.

With a firm thanks, Exrite brushed the [Gear] and smiled.

* * *

No one knew the purpose of Gaia’s trial in regards for the Geared. They were told that they descended to become ‘complete’ – to find themselves. But all they witnessed was inevitable self-destruction as the fell into despair.

Uru brought up an interesting theory; one that Exrite too had believed. This dungeon could have been a generator for Hope and Despair. It would make sense, as the Children of Balance created the Maidens, although this truth was now up in the air. Perhaps it was Gaia’s way of maintaining their power whilst they were locked up in their domains.

However – Uru also deeply scrutinised it, and as a result, she tore the theory to shreds.

The Gods could only harness power from within their respective Regions, whether through collecting souls, worship, rituals performed by their followers or by other means.

Basically, no matter how much hope and despair were created in this dungeon; the Children of Balance could not harness any of it.

There was also some uncertainty about the Geared in the <81st Floor>. No matter how close they were to reaching their desired hope, they did not allow themselves to break free from despair. It consumed them, chained them, and dragged them to their deaths as they fell into what was literally their Final Dive.

But even so – they must have seen the light at the end of the well. They must have known that hope was within reach…

White, amid the suffocating silence, asked something.

“Hey, have you heard of learned hopelessness?”

“Learned hopelessness?” Exrite quietly responded, turning his head to her. “No… I don’t think I’ve heard of it.”

“Neither.”

“Can’t say I have.”

“Those words are foreign to me.”

Frosty, Khaos and Uru respectively spoke. White brought a hand to her chin.

“I don’t blame you. It comes from our ‘Otherworldly’ knowledge. Well, from Black’s original world if you want to get more specific.”

Black held a hesitant look, but as the gazes gathered on her she eventually gave in with a sigh.

“It’s a stupid theory. It’s more like learning that you don’t have an option. Eventually, you reach a point where you can’t even perceive said option when it’s so blatantly in front of you. In this case, they wouldn’t even recognise hope when faced with it – at least that’s how the theory goes.”

She explained, then added:

“Once pessimism takes over you, then you’re completely fucked. Funnily enough, they lost all hope when they took their leap of faith.”

The concept was interesting to say the least. He certainly saw merit in it, but ultimately could not take it to heart. Exrite – who had constantly fought with despair in his decade of suffering – did not once believe that he was hopeless.

But the Geared were not like him. Neither was it an easy thing to do. They were – in the strictest sense – children in mind. Their emotions were pure and were driven solely to reach the bottom to find themselves… not to become monsters.

It was perhaps this realisation which had caused them this agony. Maybe there was something more to it.

No one truly knew. But what they did know was that the answers were all –

Exrite looked ahead instead of down for the first time. With a soft smile, he eagerly awaited to reach the end.

– just ahead.

* * *

Part 2 –

Their strides eventually brought them to a grand hallway. A series of gasps and quiet sounds of awe slipped their lips as they froze at the entryway, their eyes all devouring the sight before them.

Dozens of monumental black and white pillars held up the far-reaching ceiling. One would have to lean all the way back to see the celling. The pillars were larger than the trees of the <46th Floor>, each one glowing a mysterious light which illuminated the hallways.

Not a single shadow was cast, no matter how obscure the place was.

Exrite took a deep breath and moved his gaze to the walls.

Many hundreds of red gauges densely lined the walls behind the pillars as they ran from one end to the other. At the far end was a door fitting for the grand hallway. The end was undoubtably through those doors.

“Red gauges…?” Exrite broke the silence with a near inaudible whisper as he took the first step into the hallway.

“Don’t be mistaken. I can smell the scent of blood through those glass containers.” White quickly corrected. She brought a gloved hand to her mouth, wiping away a string of saliva. “It smells like yours in a way.”

Exrite raised a brow. “Like my blood?”

She nodded. “Sort of. I’ve killed many thousands in the past and only few scents ever stood out to me. Yours most notably, and this one. Exrite, did you donate blood or something? This place looks like a blood bank.”

“No.” He simply replied. “I don’t recall having my blood taken from me… could this be Gaia’s blood?”

“Who knows. You can’t really tell what goes on in their minds.” Frosty said. “Does it matter? We’re almost out of here!”

“For once I agree with you Frosty~ Fuck the blood, the door’s right there. But~” Black drew her handgun and pointed it at the glass containers. “If it bothers you that much, then we can just destroy it~”

“Ho~ I’d refrain if I were you. Our reunion will be short lived~” Uru said in a threatening tone.

“Hmhm~ Is that so~?” Black hummed. “I didn’t come all this way to play Schrodinger’s blood.”

“You two – that’s enough.” Exrite firmly intervened, a [Gear] breaking their line of sight. “If White says that it smells similar to my blood, then that should be enough proof that it likely belongs to Gaia.”

Black slid her handgun away with playful reluctance as she said, “Fine~”

“No… I’m not so sure you’re right, Exrite.” White added as she took a step in the direction of a blood container. “It has a refined smell. A much more refined one than yours yet… it smells crude, and murky – just like the Geared. I cannot, for the life of me, imagine that the Maiden of Time’s blood smells like this.”

White, who was a Vampire, could distinguish blood from smell alone. The more prominent and defined the smell was, the more that blood possessed mana. This one was certainly prominent, and she could tell that it indeed carried a substantial amount of power – enough to make her salivate.

However, it also reeked with undistinguishable tones that only she could sense. In short – it had the same smell as that of a lowly rodent, or the Geared in this case.

Because of this, she could not believe that it belonged to the Maiden of Time – who was arguably one of the oldest beings in this world. If that were truly her blood, then the ebbs of time would have caused it to age like a master-class wine.

In any case – it was not like it mattered in the end.

“Another question to ask Gaia, I guess… so it must be from a Geared. One must’ve made it past here then, I’m assuming.” Exrite said.

“That’s what I’m thinking. It might even belong to the Demi-human you saw on the paper!” Khaos reminded.

“Could be~ It’d make sense for them to make it here than a lowly Geared… just how much fucking blood did they have in them then?” Black yawned.

“Enough to fill a hundred of these things.” Khaos quietly said to himself.

However, his voice was not silent enough.

“I. Can. See. That.” Black replied with an annoyed tone.

* * *

The massive doors grumbled like rolling thunder. At Exrite’s touch, a light shot from his hand across the doors like lightning. They followed a similar pattern to the obelisks. When the black and white doors were fully illumined by this zig-zag pattern of light – they began to slowly swing open.

The grinding sound of stone against stone reverberated infinitely. Dust clouds formed from the grounded stone like storm clouds. The scene was hardly an inviting one.

Finally, a passage wide enough for them all to proceed through was revealed. An [Explosive Orb] flew into the heights above them and exploded. The shockwave instantly disbursed the grey dust clouds as the group marched into the finale with hearts of steel.

The end was here.

Euphoria, hope, and all sorts of emotions flooded through Exrite. He couldn’t believe that they were finally at the end. He closed his eyes for a moment, hearing nothing but the breathing and patters of his closest friends who walked with him side by side.

His eyes slowly fluttered open.

They instantly widened, as did the eyes of his friends.

A mesmerising sight greeted them all as silent whispers of awe slipped their lips. The chamber within was massive. Staggeringly massive. It exceeded the size of the room that housed the hole leading into the <82nd Floor>, extending as far as a few kilometres. This included the ceiling, though in the centre of the was a chimney of some sort which seemed to lead somewhere.

However, it was not the size of this chamber which caught their eyes and caused their hearts to shudder. In the centre, past the many hundreds of towering pillars which split the chamber into three distinctive rings, was a pale object.

It throbbed with unknown power, hovering in the air with grace akin to an angel, although they could not shake off its ominous presence. The object was utterly massive, around 5 times the size of a Decanid. If they didn’t know any better – they’d imagine that it was no more than a giant egg.

The texture of its surface was like wax. It was partially see-through to some degree yet was opaque, nevertheless. They felt like it was… alive somehow.

Light shone like beacons from each pillar. Not a single shadow was cast here. But there was one in their hearts. This was certainly the finale, considering that there was no other exit in sight… save for the hole above the object.

The only other object in sight was the conspicuous gear-shaped platform beneath the egg. It sat slightly raised compared to the floor, otherwise, it wasn’t anything of major interest compared to the oversized egg.

Black was the first to sever the silence.

“… this is supposed to be Gaia’s home?” She expressed her doubt with pursed brows. “Exrite, mind explaining what I’m looking at?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. This is the end as far as I can tell…”

As Exrite’s voice drifted off, and as he took the first few steps into the chamber, another voice suddenly emerged.

“I remember the face of a girl who saw the stars for the first time.”

He instantly darted his eyes in every direction. It did not come from his friends, neither did it sound like anything remotely familiar. It was monotone yet held grandiose that was only fitting for a higher being.

He thought it was a mere voice in his head – an effect caused by his Eye of Despair. But he realised that he wasn’t the only one who heard it, as the others too scoured the environment for the source of the voice.

“The face that was reflected on that moonlight lake. I remember the beginning.”

He found it. His eyes naturally fell onto the egg. It pulsated with every word that was spoken through an invisible mouth.

“The stars were never plentiful. A meld of colours mashed in the night skies of our young world. The stars that were up there… they must’ve felt like they belonged somewhere in that world afar – more than she did in her own.”

Cryptic. No one understood what those words meant. Confusion likely skewered their sense of reason, as they couldn’t do anything else but to stare as the egg seemingly stared back at them.

The floor began to rumble.

“… Exrite, I’ll ask one more time – please explain to us what the fuck we’re looking at?” Black said, a hand ready to draw her Night’s Melody from her hip.

“You can’t expect me to know like it’s obvious.” He retorted, sensing a dangerous aura begin to leak from the colossal egg.

Exrite instinctively reached for his sniper rifle.

“So I asked myself in an auditorium filled with stars – what is this world?”

A crack opened in the centre of the egg. A gaping hole tore itself open, revealing a blue light that could only be described as holy. As awe enraptured them once again, they did not let their guard down. Not for a second. One by one, they drew their arms; save for Khaos who no longer wielded his carapace sword or Carbodix shield.

They had been lost long ago during his descent.

The hole widened until approximately a quarter of the egg was a blue hole. Within were [Gears]. Countless of turning [Gears]. It was like looking into the innards of a machine. A massive [Gear] encased the others in a ring, emanating a power and sheer size that Exrite felt like he had seen before.

It was like the [Gears] that were found in the Domain of Time.

Realising this, Exrite momentarily lowered his guard and opened his mouth in an attempt to speak. However –

That was a mistake. Before a word could leave his lips, a powerful beam of blue light was fired at them from the chest of the egg.

“Tch!”

“A surprise attack!?”

“Move! MOVE!”

“Get out of the way!”

“The audacity…!”

Black, White, Khaos, Frosty and Uru simultaneously cried.

They instantly scattered across the chamber, with Exrite barely dodging the beam by a hair. His near kiss with death instantly sparked a primal rage in the core of his heart, rekindling the heat in his Eye of Despair.

A massive crater was left where they once stood. There was no explosion or sound – just a beam that seemingly erased the floor from existence. Not even a single speck of dust floated in its wake.

“Even stars have a beginning – and an end. I asked myself – ‘I’m a star right’?”

Realising the situation, Exrite – as he skidded across the reflective surface after landing – chambered in a bullet. A dangerous chill ran down Uru’s spine. Despite never seeing the weapon in action before, her body sensed a destructive power dwelling within.

Perhaps it was because she had seen a similar weapon before. Indeed, she had seen the sniper rifle White used back when they assaulted the Endo invaders. Taking a single bullet was no easy task even for a Demon of her breed. But it was not something a powerful [Physical Barrier] could defend against.

This was where the sniper rifle’s advantage of ‘overwhelming power at a great distance’ came into play. A [Barrier] would have to be erected in anticipation. If she did not know – then there was a good chance she’d be injured.

However – the weapon Exrite wielded was of a different breed. She was convinced that it carried the potential to shatter her [Physical Barrier]; which was beyond the [Seventh Tier]. And he had not even fired it yet.

Her senses were honed well.

“First that dragon… and now this… This!” Exrite’s rage exceeded a threshold he once thought had already been transpired. A bellow that was his passion and eternal yearn to conclude this trial fuelled the weak ember in his Eye of Despair into a blazing inferno.

The heat was so immense that the others noticed the crimson glow from their great distance.

With a roar that put even a God’s command to shame, Exrite yelled at the top of his lungs.

“Everyone! Hit it with everything you have! Only this separates us from finishing this trial once and for all!”

And with the pull of a trigger – a symphony of destruction began. The war cries of his friends drowned in a series of explosions, gunshots and magic. No one dared to hold back. Not after hearing that the end was truly near…

But most of all, they could not help but to be riled up by his voice.

Between Black and White’s hailstorm of bullets, Frosty’s magical [Ice Shards] and Khaos who threw giant pieces of stone at the egg – a barrage of more than 50 [Seekers] bombarded the egg’s membrane like a swarm of locusts.

Normally, Uru kept her [Seekers] numbers below 15. Anymore was far too excessive. This was not the case this time. Uru had devoured the mana of countless Geared, multiplying her mana reservoir by nearly tenfold.

And besides, it was not like her [Seekers] used her mana anyway. She could rely on the external mana in this chamber.

This was only one of the reasons why she fired 40 [Seekers]. The other was mostly influenced by Exrite’s will, demeanour and his status as the Maiden of Time.

Uru couldn’t be more pleased to lend her strength.

So – where did the other 10 arrive from? This was from none other than Exrite.

His [Explosive Orb], [Control] and [Blue Beam] [Gears] combined into a contraption that fired 10 of his own [Seekers] – the [Blue Bullets]. This was why exactly 10 of them were a different colour to Uru’s infamous purple ones.

The Egg must’ve underestimated them by a catastrophic margin. Before long, a [Physical Barrier] was erected like a translucent veil around it, which managed to defend against most magical attacks. Its waxy membrane underneath showed significant damage, though they were all superficial at best.

Nevertheless, its humungous size meant that it was nothing more than a larger target for them. Its defence was pitiful –

– The sniper bullets pierced right through as if the veil were nothing more than a piece of plywood. Similarly, Black and White’s bullets passed through and continued to damage its exterior.

Yet strangely, despite all this: the voice still spoke in the same calm, monotone manner as if nothing had happened.

“But the face in the moonlight lake only smiled bitterly. The girl turned to the stars with starlit eyes and asked them why she fell. I remember the innocence that once filled those lunar eyes. I remember when the beginning began.”

Uru showed interest in its indecipherable murmurs. A single glance at Exrite revealed that he too wielded as similar frame of mind. However, their unrelenting drive to eradicate the Egg far outweighed curiosity.

Truth be told, it was regrettable. Uru pitied that they had to end it so soon. Amidst the chaos of destructive beams, projectiles, and explosive magic – Uru elegantly held out her right arm.

“To recite the memories of a time forgotten by time itself reveals your ancient origins. A Geared like yourself is closer to the Maiden of Time than any of your pitiful predecessors.”

Uru spoke with a tone heavily woven with strands of spite and applause. Then – her eyes sharpened like blades. At the same time, the [Physical Barrier] shattered entirely; as if by her doing.

“But you lack respect for the one who carries the blood of your very creator! For that alone – you must atone. Even maggots know their place.”

A [Solar Core] began to charge. Sensing the dangerous magic from Uru, a blue beam was immediately fired in her direction. But Uru was no sloth. In fact – it seemed like the Egg had further underestimated her.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

She evaded it with ease, her speed instantly launching her across the outer ring.

“… and even maggots carry a functioning brain.”

Uru couldn’t be more infuriated. A mere insect should never bare its puny fangs at a tiger. This analogy was not derived from her pride. This was simply the rule of nature.

As an elusive heat enshrouded her vision, she pointed her collected claws at the Egg. Despite seeing nothing but a pale blob there was a zero percent chance of missing her target.

“My friends – brace yourselves~!”

The orb of pure, concentrated energy ejected a beam straight into its cavernous chest. A second later an all-consuming ball of pure heat devoured the egg. The temperature within the chamber instantly rose to that of a blast furnace.

Exrite had already retreated to the furthest end prior to her warning, fearing that the heat would set off yet another ‘[Solar Core]’.

Also, knowing Uru – it was only a matter of time before she pulled out [Solar Core], especially given the circumstance. Hiding behind an untouched pillar, Exrite watched the pillars of the inner ring have layers of stone peeled off by the immense heat.

“… ‘The girl’….” He muttered to himself, unaware that his voice was carried by the turbulent air.

“Hey… Hey! Exrite! You alright!?” Khaos yelled from another pillar, his voice nearly drowned out by a secondary explosion in the centre.

“I’m fine! What about you!? Who am I kidding – this kind of heat won’t even scratch you.”

“Not a chance from all the way here! Any closer and it’ll be a different story! But – haha! – this brings back some memories! I know it’s improper to blabber on in a battlefield, but – who the hell can blame me!?”

Exrite found himself stifling a laugh. Yes – this was the Khaos he sincerely remembered. However, he did not delve on this chatter too deeply. His eyes never left the ball of fire, which melted the stone beneath the Egg into a pool of molten rock. The only thing remaining was the giant gear-shaped platform which seemingly floated above the lava.

After a short, momentary silence, he responded.

“No one can. Not me at least…” He trailed off, his eyes suddenly narrowing.

“Something the matter Exrite!? You’re quiet all of a sudden!”

“… Nothing… I was just thinking that our last battle wasn’t so different from this.”

“In what way!?”

“Have a look. See that molten rock beneath it? How it hasn’t overflowed?” Exrite pointed with his eyes as Khaos tried to follow his train of thought.

“Yeah? What about it?”

“That means that only the stone has melted. The Egg is still in there.” He said with utmost certainty, his words cutting through the arid air like a blade.

Khaos did not doubt him. Not even for a second. Under the lens of a normal person, they’d say he was lying. Crazy even. How could an egg which appeared to be made of wax survive such an immense heat? Even if it were alive and a Geared – the strongest one they had faced could not survive even a second in the epicentre of Uru’s [Solar Core].

Also – Uru was vastly more powerful than she once was, thanks to a certain magic she possessed. Strictly speaking, it was impossible for her [Eight Tiered] magic to be resisted by a puny, pitiful, pale Egg.

However – such an assumption was not made by anyone here. They all were far from normal…

No, they were experienced – experienced enough to understand that anything regarding the Maidens or the Gods was never simple. Never black and white.

It’d be laughable if the gatekeeper of the finale perished so easily.

A high-pitched grumble shook the air again, rattling their bones and the debris. As loose stone rolled beneath their feet the molten ball shrivelled into oblivion, snatching away every trace of heat with it.

The newfound coolness replaced the heat. Though this was not a matter of obvious cause and effect. The coolness that rose sharply in their spines was a result of Egg which still floated in the centre of the room.

It was pristine. Untouched. For a second Exrite had to scrape his eyes to ensure that what he was looking at was reality. Alas, it was. The Egg had no traces of battle along its wax surface. It was as if their barrage of attacks never happened at all.

“[Healing] magic? Of… of w-what tier!?” Exrite said aloud in complete disbelief.

[Healing] magic was fundamentally a massive umbrella term for any magic that aided in the recovery of a person in any shape or form, whether it sped up said recovery or outright healed their wound.

It was no secret that healing magic that restored wounds over a short period of time was considered high-tiered magic. In fact, any [Healing] magic that could belonged in the [Fifth Tier] and above.

[Fifth Tiered] [Healing Magic] that possessed such an ability was called [Progressive Restoration] – a magic that allowed one to regrow small parts of their bodies. The [Seventh Tiered] variant called [Angel’s Touch] could regrow a limb over a week.

The highest recorded tier of [Healing] magic in human history was [The Touch of the Devine] – an [Eight Tiered] magic which was used by an Otherworlder Hero centuries ago in the Boric Region. It was said to heal limbs over the course of a day and could obliterate a Demon.

However – these were still limited. Severely limited. Even [Eight Tiered] [Healing] magic lacked range and a considerable area of effect. In the best case – the area of effectiveness for rapid healing magic was about 3 metres at best.

General or large scale [Healing] magic was, as the name implied, for larger groups. But these were limited in their effectiveness. [Seventh Tiered] widescale [Healing] magic could only repair scars, bone, muscle and even vital wounds. They were also used for widescale cures in villages that had caught a disease.

But there was no such thing as [Healing] magic that combined scale and effectiveness. For this reason, Exrite found himself unable to grasp how it had healed itself in such a short amount of time.

Likewise, the others wore faces along the lines of confusion and bewilderment.

No one understood it; not even Uru.

Exrite wore a perplexed expression as the Egg recited another fragment of its mind.

“The flagrant Gods raped the world that had nurtured her for so long. The stars were plucked one by one, her shadow becoming her only companion. By every dusk she was alone beneath the moonlit lake, always wondering what ever happened to those stars.”

A high-pitch roar caused him to wince. The sensation was akin to an arrowhead being drilled into his skull. His sight was snatched by the Egg, and they shatply fell onto the giant [Gear] in its chest cavity.

“… Not even [Eight Tiered] magic is that strong… tch. What is it then? [Ninth Tiered]? [Tenth Tiered]!?”

The longer he stared, the quicker those tiers reached the all-mighty [Fifteen Tier]. Suddenly, realisation struck him as ice colder than a sunless world coursed through his veins.

He shuddered.

“Loneliness plagued the girl. Loneliness so overwhelming that the tears she wept into the lake shimmered like stars. In the world where none existed, she found happiness in the one she created in her little lake.”

The magic it used was not [Healing] magic. The [Gear] was imbued with a different kind of magic. A magic he was ever-so intertwined with.

“‘I can create my own stars! Even if they’re gone from the sky then they’ll still be here!’ The girl cried. Henceforth, the girl whose heart stopped beating turned for the first time since she fell into this lonely world…”

It was [Time] magic.

The creature had reversed time to heal its wounds.

“I remember the flowers. The meadows. The trees. I remember the grand oak tree that sheltered her from storms… I remember the girl who looked up to her as if she were the only star in her night sky from the base of the oak tree.”

No God or Maiden could ever dream of swaying him to believe otherwise. He made himself heard with a coarse roar which reached the far edges of the unnaturally massive chamber.

The result was unanimous. Shock filled their faces as they peered from their pillars, weapons in arms as they prepared for the next volley of attacks. Frosty was already on the move to deliberately make herself a harder target for the Egg’s attacks.

“Heh. So that’s why the craters are empty. It’s not disintegrating the stone; it’s fucking erasing it!” Black warned with a yell.

White and Frosty acknowledged her warning with a yell of their own. Without a second to lose, they all returned to bombarding the Egg with various forms of attacks.

Meanwhile – at Exrite’s pillar, Uru swiftly crashed down before his feet. Before he could comprehend what the minor explosion was, two immovable hands grabbed him from the shoulders and forced him to stare into a pair of all-consuming eyes.

“… Exrite. Exrite… Exrite. What am I looking at? What is that?” Uru’s face contorted wickedly as she spoke. She could no longer maintain her composure, and Exrite knew exactly why.

“Exactly what it looks like.” He sharply replied, dragging himself free as he turned to face the Egg. “Trust me, I’m just as confused as you are.”

“The [Gears] were solely meant for the Maiden of Time. No other being can ever dream of using such sacred artefacts… less they were the Maiden of Time themselves. Exrite…”

He stared back into her eyes.

“Are you trying to imply it’s another Maiden?”

“Preposterous! I’d tear my heart out than to dare imagine a putrid act of heresy!” She snapped, her voice easily slicing through the high-pitched rumble which only grew louder with each passing second. “There must be a commonality – a common ground between you and the Maiden of Time. I won’t believe it any other way.”

“The Geared became [Gears] themselves in the first Reservoir. As hard as it may be to stomach, it’s not farfetched for one to be able to gain control over them… but even so…” Exrite wore a pained expression. He truly had no explanation over this cryptic puzzle.

Neither did Uru. The fact that something other than the Maiden of Time was able to command the [Gears] completely severed any rational train of thought. Thousands of trains were derailed in her mind as she scrambled to understand this.

The Egg’s very existence was the antithesis of what her race believed.

However – as much as this truth agonised her, she was eternally grateful to uncover this new ‘truth’.

“… Gaia’s memories.” Exrite silently whispered. “Does it have something to do with it? The blood running through its veins?”

“Perhaps. The Geared are all creations of the Maiden of Time. But no other Geared exhibited this. Nothing did. Is this what the Attributed Whole grants?”

“I don’t know… but we’ll find out soon enough...” He trailed off, loading in another round into the rifle. A single pull of his trigger marked the end of the rumble. Instantly, the Egg pulsated as if something were moving underneath the semi-translucent membrane.

More [Gears] within its cavity spun with purpose. Then, as Uru too joined in the offensive – something emerged from the cavity.

“… wait – are you guys seeing this!?” Khaos called in the middle of throwing a massive piece of stone.

“Zelmori Fall – help me, for reality defies your teachings.” Uru hissed.

Dozens of pale golem-like creatures fell out of the cavity as if they were waiting behind a floodgate and it had just been released. They spilled and splashed, bouncing beneath the Egg into position.

Each of these golems were constructed with layers gear-shaped objects, each spinning like floating tornadoes. Their shapes vaguely resembled humanoids: each equipped with arms, a body, and head. Their legs were conjoined, hence why they appeared like tornadoes.

“The girl created, and the created looked up to the creator. Her tribulations, her suffering, and her errors had paved way to a new beginning – a beginning that began. The girl beneath the oak smiled like a thousand stars, and I cherished it. I finally created the stars which were vacant from the skies. I had finally… found someone else in this strange world.”

At that moment Exrite realised something vital. He tensed up as if his body had been frozen all over. It refused to budge, and similarly – Uru could not lift a single finger. The cavity seemed to point at them, ready to fire its erasing beam yet they did not move.

Without saying a word, they both shared the same conclusion.

The Egg possessed Gaia’s memories – to the point where it spoke as if it were Gaia herself. What the Egg represented was a snapshot of Gaia… a Gaia that predated time itself.

“… do you think you’re ‘Gaia’?” Exrite had to wonder why the Egg deluded itself in Gaia’s memories,

Was it because it had lost itself in the descent?

He didn’t know. How could he know? The promised answers were just a single fight away.

“… an unforgivable transgression…” Uru hissed. “For a creation to usurp its creator is an act only punishable by death. Although… death alone may not wash away that sin – Have you no respect, YOU MERE INSECT!”

A frightening roar ripped the air as a massive purple magical circle formed behind her. More than 100 [Seekers] whizzed by like bullets, their targets the golems and the Egg.

Similarly, Exrite launched his own barrage of [Blue Bullets]. The golems were torn apart by the explosions before they were given a chance to conduct an offensive. As craters littered the chamber floor in the tens –

The cavity never ceased spewing out the golems like blood gushing forth from a fresh wound.

Immediately they realised the situation at hand. If the golems weren’t rapidly dealt with then they’d be swarmed by an immeasurable sea of mindless constructs.

No command needed to be issued. Their prowess in combat excelled to the point where they understood each of their strengths in this battle. Black’s handgun collapsed from the Egg down towards the collection of golems as cruel smile flourished on her face.

“This keeps getting better and better. For us, of course. Hmph, do you think numbers will squash us? Overwhelm us?” Black seemed to be speaking to the Egg, though her words came across like a monologue. “Can you hear me? I guess not. You’re stuck in a delusion. How weak. But – maybe you’ll hear this!”

With the pull of a trigger, an entire mob of golems were shredded apart. The bullets, while not penetrative, tore entire chunks of [Gears] straight from their bodies. The additional shrapnel of scrap battered other neighbouring golems with terrifying power as they were knocked around like petals in a storm.

“Hmhm~ I love collateral. See that White? That’s what makes non-piercing rounds so fucking satisfying.”

“Be quiet.” White sighed, brandishing her Moon’s Rhythm in its blade form. “If you want to leave sooner then stop talking and start shooting.”

“You’re no fun~”

A barrage of bullets returned as soon as those words left Black’s lips. At the same time White charged into the fray at the second ring of pillars with her cold, pale blade held firmly in both palms. Her swings were a blur, an after imagine following each stroke which vertically bisected the golems faster than one could blink.

To send a horizontal strike was a mistake that only the foolish would make. The way the golems were configured meant that a blade could pass through the gaps between the layering [Gears].

They fell beneath her like scrap, their momentum thrusting them across the floor behind as they came one by one to their deaths. 20 golems were killed in mere seconds. As astonishing as her prowess was – she could not outpace the waterfall of golems alone.

As the frontline White took on the mass bulk of them, but because the chamber was circular in shape, and in addition to is colossal size – she could not cover every direction the golems flew.

However – black strands of hair covered her vision for a split second. In that moment, a person had passed her with speed that easily surpassed her own. The figure wearing blue robes swung their ethereal scythe with one clean movement, claiming the lives of dozens more.

It was as if the grim reaper itself had arrived to lend them a hand. The thought wasn’t farfetched. Frosty was a Reaper, after all – the only living, soul-consuming Frostbitten in all of Six Point.

Frosty’s face didn’t change. The golems didn’t contain any souls to tarnish her tastebuds, thankfully.

“Looks like Exrite wasn’t the only one who changed for the better!” White said aloud. “That speed… [Body Strengthening] magic isn’t some gimmick when it’s in good hands.”

“Is that supposed to be a complement!?”

“I’m not like a certain other Colour. You should know that by now.”

Frosty didn’t respond. Only a small smile formed on her face as they crossed paths. They orbited the Egg from the second ring of pillars, annihilating whatever golem dared to cross their path as bullets whizzed by.

Khaos patrolled the outer ring where some managed to slip through. After all – the golems were easily capable of flight. Surprisingly, only a few golems were able to bypass them entirely.

This was mostly the result of Frosty’s frightening leap – courtesy of [Body Enhancing] and [Body Strengthening] magic. She easily leapt more than 20 metres into the air, and like lightning, she struck the escaping golems with terrifying efficiency.

White joined her to a lesser degree. Though she too could leap to a similar height, she was not nearly as fast.

In any case – the escaped golems were instantly struck down by either a powerful bullet, or – by a massive piece of stone. It was as if a catapult or a trebuchet had fired at them, but no matter how hard they scoured there was nothing of the sort in sight.

That was until they saw a man casually pick up a stone more than 5 times his size with a single hand. Then, assuming the position a spear-thrower would take, he launched the rock straight into the air.

If the golems possessed emotions then they’d undoubtably retreat, surrender themselves or end their miserable, autonomous lives at their own hands. A squad of golems were instantly struck out of the air, launching straight through two pillars before becoming a part of the scrapyard beneath.

The only surviving golem in that squad seemingly froze, as if flooded by emotion for a split second. It must’ve felt fear. A moment later, it also felt a bullet clamber into its non-existent skull, ending its life as quickly as it began.

“Missed one. Put more muscle behind those throws Khaos!” Black playfully ordered.

“Easier said than done!” He replied. “Do I look like the throwing type to you!?”

“With that accuracy I’d fucking think so!” She laughed just as another barrage of purple and blue-trailed [Seekers] bombarded the Egg. “Amazing~! You’d think we were back in the Colour Plane with all this unhinged chaos!”

“Yeah!?”

“Tch. Not you! The chaos around us! Isn’t it marvellous!? Doesn’t it make your heart ache with delight!?”

“R-right.” Was all he could muster to say, else he’d risk a bullet coming his way.

“I remember the promises. The optimism in her eyes. She looked at me like I was a light in an empty world. I was her creator – and we were inseparable. I remember her metal-plagued voice, the language we birthed from our hidden sanctuary… I remember the oak tree where she always sat… watching the curtain of stars above.”

Exrite and Uru further pressed their assault. A glorious exchange of magic, explosive projectiles and devastating beams threatened to destroy the chamber entirely.

Scars formed with each beam that missed either figures, erasing pillars and carving its path into the walls. Uru dodged the beams with elegance fitting for a Demon of her calibre – to the point where it seemed as if she possessed a form of clairvoyance.

Exrite on the other hand had to react accordingly rather than plan out his movement. Strictly speaking – he moved solely out of instinct, utilising whatever his senses were able to devour as he ran around the outer ring with his rifle in hand.

[Threat Detection] worked against his favour, unfortunately. By the time he was alerted of the incoming attack it would already be too late. For this reason, he ignored it entirely and kept his eyes glued to the Egg, allowing his legs to blindly lead him.

Exrite fired a volley of [Blue Bullets] and released bullet after bullet into the cavity of the Egg. Their target was not the Egg itself this time, but the largest [Gear] that is possessed within its chest.

Considering the damage they had already inflicted to the Egg itself – one can easily make the judgement that they were close to pushing it to the brink of defeat. However, reality was far from the case.

Damaging the Egg itself did not matter if the [Gear] was still active. It could be torn into thousands of pieces, burnt to cinders and dripped into the acid of a giant beetle and still not die.

The [Gear] will just reset itself to a state where it was in perfect condition.

But even so – their focused attacks barely had any effect to the [Gear]. At first Exrite wondered if it was invulnerable, or if a [Barrier] of some sort was negating their attacks, only to soon realise that the surrounding [Gears] within the cavity were being chipped and whittled – but never to a significant extent.

Their attacks were working. Just not on the colossal [Gear].

“I… made so many promises. I filled her night sky with so many stars… and she didn’t know that they were all out of reach.”

The tone this time was sombre. There was emotion behind it.

Exrite scratched his head with an invisible hand, a perplexed look forming across his face.

“Just how tough are they!?” He yelled, his voice filled with an odd mixture of annoyance and awe. As strange as it sounded – Exrite could not help but to admire the sheer resilience the [Gears] exhibited, even under the most damning conditions.

The giant [Gear] sported resistance to magic seemingly up to the [Seventh Tier], as if they were created with a weaker alloy of carbodix. Not only that, but the possessed pure physical resilience like that of limeite.

Of course, limeite was nowhere near as strong but it was still a valid comparison, nevertheless. A single bullet or a good pinch of explosive powder can tear apart even magically enchanted limeite.

The giant [Gear] was on a different level entirely, and the smaller ones – while damaged – did not break. The [Time] [Gear] was constantly repairing them.

The massive [Gear] turned, and through sheer intuition he knew that he was its next target.

Exrite dove straight behind a pillar the same time a high-pitched roar erupted. With a hefty leap, he threw himself straight into its heights. His fingers burrowed into the stone, granting him leverage to thrust his body upwards against the already crumbling pillar, displaying inhuman-like agility.

The beam gave chase, never allowing the luxury to even blink. When he felt the ominous ticking reach the soles of his boots, he instantly twisted to the side and kicked himself away from the pillar.

Afterwards – using his largest [Gear] as footstool – he furthered himself from the deadly beam. Once it had fizzled away, Uru’s figure quickly filled his vision after a hefty landing.

“Uru, know any metals that combine the properties of limeite and carbodix!?” He yelled, the Demon slowing down to match his pace.

“Not many metals can replicate both physical and magical resistance to such a degree. Assuming you weren’t speaking out of sarcasm – does Devilium ring any bells to you? As a human?”

The unusual look on his face confirmed his answer.

“That show of pure resistance to physical impacts, in addition to magic of up to the [Eight Tier] is akin to Devilium.” She spoke.

Exrite considered it plausible, however, the fact that the [Time] [Gear] took zero damage ruled the [Gears] being metals of some sort out entirely.

The only other metal that remotely matched its characteristics was from an ill-known rumour among the upper echelons in the Enthile bureaucracy. It was a metal supposed to be so powerful that it nullified magic up to the [Tenth Tier], and a single kilogram was akin to half a ton of limeite, yet was mystically a mere a fraction of the weight.

The inconsistencies of the rumours made it hard to gauge whether it was real or not. Not a single text – not even the literature reserved for the royalty of Enthile – uttered such a thing.

He entertained the thought, allowing the metal to be real for a moment. Unsurprisingly, he still could not compare it to the [Time] [Gear].

The reason was as clear as day –

If they were all made from the same metal, then they’d all be taking damage regardless. It did not make sense that the smaller [Gears] were weaker than the larger ones if the wishful metal allowed them to reject damage from magic of the same tier.

In the end, another question was raised as a result.

What are the [Gears] made from then…?

His face contorted. As he opened his mouth and returned to reality, he quickly realised that Uru had repeatedly called his name during his short train of thought.

“Exrite! This is no time to lose track of your surroundings!”

“I know –!”

“Then open your ears. Clear your mind! Listen to my voice. The [Gears] are resistant, but not immune. Our [Seekers] are of the [Seventh Tier] and leave signs of wear. That alone is enough to prove it. However, that isn’t the issue. The [Gears] are in a state of perpetual repair!”

“Tch. The root of all of this is the giant [Gear]… The one thing we can’t even scratch!”

“Precisely –”

“We were… inseparable. Like the stars of a binary system – we were interlocked in a dance of orbit. But we were naive… I was naïve.”

Uru was cut off unexpectedly. At the same time, the golems began to emerge in colours both black and white.

Something was changing.

“Uru – your [Solar Core], when can you use it?”

Her brow raised conspicuously, already knowing what he was requesting.

“The results won’t change –”

“No. Trust me. The golems didn’t start attacking until it restored itself. Now, the golems are a mix of black and white. I don’t know what it means – what any of it means – but all I know is that what we’re doing now is doing something at the very fucking least!”

Uru avoided his eyes. The conviction brimming within was something she feared would infect her. Instead, she fell silent for a moment as they both stuck together and avoided the occasional beam.

Eventually, she broke into a small grin and spoke.

“Ho… In other words – our priority must shift back to the Egg itself rather than the [Gears]. Hmm. Mind you, I realised that this fight bares resemblance to the three-headed dragon.”

“Meaning its forms probably cycles with each death. We’ll damage it enough to push it into restoring itself again. It’s close enough already. A single [Solar Core] will finish it! From there, something else must change… it has to… Uru – I’m grasping at straws, and I’m already sinking.”

“Then learn to swim. Reeds won’t save you in a turbulent river. The answer was the obvious one in the end. Destruction. Allow me a minute – my [Solar Core] will be ready soon.”

He nodded, and just as he prepared to diverge – Uru gently touched his face. When he looked into her black and gold eyes, he instantly knew what she wanted.

Because somewhere in the deepest cavities of his heart, he too desired the same thing…

“Although – Shall we listen to the memories of our past beloved Maiden of Time for a little longer~?”

* * *

Part 3 –

Something sinister began to fester inside the Egg. It pulsated with every dark golem it spat, quivering almost. The waxy membrane deformed as if clusters of golems sought to escape by penetrating through. The writhing was shallow, nowhere near the force needed to break the membrane.

But a change of this elusive insignificance captured their attention. Frosty – with her unique [Soul Sight] ability – saw something within.

She saw a soul. A damaged soul. A soul so far beyond repair that her body instinctually locked up as she glided in the air. In Frosty’s lifetime she had only seen a handful of souls that were whittled down to a similar state.

But none were broken to this extent.

However, that was not why Frosty’s body refused the commands of her mind. No. There was more to the Egg than what met the eye. Far, far more.

The soul within the Egg was not corrupted or tainted – it was pure. So incredibly pure that not even a star-gazing child could ever dream to compare.

This was the only Geared past the <76th Floor> that had its… purity retained. What was left of it – as she saw but a twinkle of light in a cloud of darkness.

Frosty’s tastebuds tingled. Then, with a single chomp, the taste of iron coated her tongue.

It was a shame. Her tongue had instantly been sullied, just as she had finally tasted the bitterness of air after countless days of consuming agonisingly sweet souls.

The golems that fell to her scythe failed to ravage her tongue with the sickly-sweet taste she had always despised, and she couldn’t be more thankful that they were soulless and mere automations in every sense of the word.

She savoured the taste of iron as she carved countless golems apart, both black and white. To her surprise the colours didn’t seem to change them in any meaningful manner, contrary to what she and the others initially believed.

But they’d be fools to dismiss them so painfully easily. Through tempered experienced they knew that that the smallest discrepancies were often early indicators of the largest change.

In this case it was uncertain. The blackness cascaded over the white like a virus, eventually outnumbering them. The more damage Exrite and Uru dealt to the Egg, the more the golems emerged in their dark counterparts.

The Egg groaned.

“She was my first creation. She was the Original. The Fractured… the Incomplete. A creation will never assume true freedom… or selfishness, or individuality when faced with their creator. Somewhere along the way, the star that shed light in the darkness of her world – became – her world.”

And – to their dismay – more golems began to spill from the cavity. A simultaneous growl slipped the lips of both White and Frosty as the hoards quickly grew thicker.

“She lived for me. She was my moon, and I was her world. She called me ‘Gaia’. In turn, I called her ‘Auga’, a broken name derived from ‘Exauga’, meaning ‘Original’. Beneath the leaves of the oak she compared me to the stars. That if they ever disappear, they were always destined to return, whether as a giant red star, or a small white dolt in the night sky. No matter how long it takes, they always return in one way or another… always.”

Its tone sharply lowered.

“But deep down, I always knew that I was not a star. Even stars have a beginning and an end. The heavens did not birth me, neither did this world. I, who had had no beginning, who had no end, was no star. I was an enigma in a world ravaged by wars… a parentless child searching for a purpose – for someone – anyone – anything – in a lonely world.”

Suddenly, the eyes of the dark golems glowed a violent shade of red.

“The stars that I filled my world never felt more distant. The girl who sat at the oak never moved, for an anchor tied her down to the place that the world called the Biomechanical Gardens. In my selfish strive to create a star I had damned my beloved creation to an eternal prison. But she never complained… she never stopped singing on the stage of that grand auditorium. She never stopped living for me.”

Metal screeched as Frosty’s scythe spat thousands of blue sparks. Her momentum was nearly halted, as if she ran straight into an iron wall. The reason for this was not due to fatigue or magic. The trial had further honed her already superhuman endurance, and not to mention the additional effects of [Body Enhancing] and [Body Strengthening] magic.

Instead, the golems saw a drastic increase in resistance. Her scythe unexpectedly bit halfway into a dark one, ceasing her momentum near entirely before she was forced to leverage her weight into the attack. Thankfully, the golem was bisected without much issue.

Her teeth clashed.

“Just die already!”

She yelled; her scythe too unable to completely slay the next golem. As a result, a barrage of [Ice Shards] impaled the unsuspecting hoard, rendering many immobile and skewered with one another.

“Is it just me or did they get stronger all of a sudden!?” Her anger-driven question was targeted at no one, almost muted by the explosions as she ventured the closest to the epicentre of the chaos.

Unsurprising, White was the only one who answered to her frustrations.

“You’re not alone! But by strength I assume you mean their numbers! Unless – you’re having trouble eliminating them now?”

“Why else would I ask!? My scythe isn’t exactly made to kill constructs or machines!”

Indeed. The weapon the Reapers – or Reaper in this context – possessed were specifically purposed for reaping souls, tuned to obliterate those that possessed one whether mentally, spiritually, or physically; living or non-living.

It did not matter whether they were an insect or a God – the bite of a Reaper’s weapon was never a mere prick of a needle, or a shallow graze.

No, it was far worse than that.

In any case, Frosty was at a significant disadvantage against the golems. As a Reaper, beings or automations that lacked a soul were immeasurably harder to defeat. The only reason that she was able to carve through them with ease beforehand was due to her own strength and magic.

Without them, the golems were an immovable wall, an unstoppable force.

At this rate she’d be left redundant from the fight… or, in the worst case – an obstacle. A liability.

White sighed.

“There is no such thing a weapon that isn’t designed to kill! If your scythe is blunt, then it has no right to litter our battlefield! Do whatever you can to make up the difference in strength! For now – Frosty – please keep off the floor!”

“Huh –!?”

“– Final warning.”

Her chilling tone cut through the chaos like a knife. Without a second thought, Frosty launched herself into the air.

A second later, White’s blade began to irradiate a pale glow, consuming the length of the weapon. Immediately Frosty understood why White warned her to vacate the floor.

Midway through White’s swing, the light enshrouding the blade suddenly stretched to as far as 30 metres. In a splendid show of speed, White dragged the streak of light in a wide circle, kicking debris, scrap, and dust as both pillars and golems fell alike. The pillars hung for dear life on the ceiling, becoming massive stalagmites. Some surrendered and fell, crushing dozens more golems.

As soon as the dust clouded and consumed the chamber, the explosions immediately disbursed them. Not a single fragment of dirt was given the luxury to settle.

Frosty quietly watched in awe from the skies as White’s blade endlessly bisected countless golems apart. Her blade seemed to permanently assume the form of a blinding beam, its light easily controlling the centre of the chamber.

Normally, White reserved this attack for more… stronger enemies – enemies that were impossibly large or those that were able to resist the bite of her blade.

Furthermore – though the attack was not costly energy wise – because she did not possess her true body which resided in the Colour Plane the cost suddenly became staggering.

Thankfully, her pockets were deep. After too consuming the Geared like Exrite, she had banked a substantial amount of energy.

But even so – it still had a bottom.

It was not an exaggeration to say that White was not holding back.

Frosty’s eyes then shifted to Black as the world seemingly slowed down.

The Colour which had previously been attacking from afar was now waist-deep in battle from all sides. She thrived in the chaos, her body moving with no purpose other than to kill whatever golem was unfortunate enough to approach.

Her Night’s Melody shifted forms constantly, both annihilating them with brazen swings to obliterating hoards with a barrage of bullets. She grappled one, flipped behind it and hoisted it as a shield to soak the sharpened arms of its fellow constructs – all while laughing sinisterly.

Realistically, Black could have taken the hit head on. After all, her garbs offered more than enough protection to defend against her own bullets. Defence was arbitrary, but Black’s mind worked differently than others.

In other words, what fun would it be if she were only limited to her sword and handgun? It’d be a shame to not give it her all in the finale. The end was so near, and every golem she crushed under the soles of her boots only brought it closer.

Needless to say, she enjoyed the carnage.

The chamber shook. A wave of disorientation struck her in mid-air as her eyes searched for the origin. When they landed at an ever-so familiar man her blood suddenly ran warm.

Her brother proudly stood amid a new cluster of golems, battering them with nothing but his body. With an iron-grip, he grappled onto two golems and used them as clubs. Each swing was devastating, wielding the force equivalent to the giant hammers of a Dwarven forge.

Craters formed underneath his legs, and larger ones where the golems smashed into. Nothing was left of them, save for hundreds of metal shrapnel.

In the briefest moment of respite, Khaos drilled his foot into the ground with a crushing roar and launched himself straight into the hoard of golems with nothing but his body.

Compared to the rest he was by far the slowest. However, that did not mean he was by any means slow. Furthermore, where he lacked lightning speed, he made up for it with pure, unrelenting strength.

He ploughed through the hoard like how a meteor carves its trail into the dirt. Thousands of metallic scraps spat all around him, leaving hundreds of scratches against his mountainous body. Had anyone else been subject to the shrapnel, they’d undoubtably be torn apart.

Frosty’s lips quivered at the spectacle.

No matter where she looked there was someone giving it their all.

The thoughts of energy conservation, mana reserves and efficiency were all second thoughts to the single most important goal. Victory… no. Victory too was a second thought.

They all simply wanted to leave. To return to the surface.

Their brimming passion and fleeting emotions reached her through the chaos high above. The woman who despised harnessing the power of the souls she had devoured, considered it for the first time in her life. If they were to survive – if they were to reach the surface and conquer this trial – then she too needed to give it her all.

The taste of iron flooded her mouth again, countering the sickly-sweet notes that ravaged her tongue as an unfamiliar warmth surged through her entire body.

Her face twisted. The floodgates were finally open.

“Just this once. For their sake… for the sake of all the Geared that suffered down here because of the Maiden of Time – I won’t let your souls disappear in vein!” She cried with a roar filled with emotion.

There was nothing more in this world that she despised more than depleting a soul. Devouring them was one thing but draining them till they disappeared was another.

Strictly speaking – the soul was destroyed in the process, as opposed to being recycled by the Gods of Corozin. Harvesting souls in this manner meant that a single soul was equivalent to a hundred.

In comparison, the method the Gods enlisted was akin to squeezing the juice of a lemon. A Reaper extracted all, caring not for the bitter skin or the hard seeds, for in the end it was merely mana.

This was one of a thousand reasons as to why the Reapers were so widely feared in ancient Corozin. Only they – the true harbingers of death – could destroy a soul. This was irreversible. Not even a God had that kind of power, let alone the authority.

In any case – Frosty’s body irradiated a powerful aura, instantly catching the attention of Uru and White. The sudden appearance of the overflowing mana led them to instantly believe that it was yet another enemy, hence their immediate reactions. To their surprise – and a welcoming one at that – the newfound power was on their side.

“You all kept falling to the bottom in hopes of finding yourself! But you were damned to a hellish existence instead! Your hatred… your despair – I can feel it! The sadness, the suffering…!”

Frosty yelled at the top of her lungs as a surge of foreign emotions invaded her body. These were the collective emotions of the Geared she had devoured. Never had Frosty experienced the bizarre sensation of harbouring the thoughts and emotions of thousands of individuals.

Yet it came as natural as breathing to her.

“Become my weapon, become my strength… I promise I won’t let any of you disappear until you see the light of the world above!”

At her command, an explosion of mana coursed through her arms and into her scythe. Tears felt from the woman’s eyes, meshing with the countless cyan sparks that spat all around her like the embers of a flame.

Uru donned a wicked smile as she watched the woman freefall into a blanket of golems, her ethereal scythe grandly expanding like the wings of a blue phoenix.

“Ho. So she finally unravelled that hidden power.” Uru whispered, then suddenly yelled: “Unbelievable! Her mana reserves have already surpassed half of mine! Behold, Exrite! Behold and marvel the sight that the Gods dread and what the world had wrongly forgotten!”

Exrite, unable to tear himself from Frosty, could only mutter to himself.

“… what… kind of power is that…?”

Uru, who was more than a hundred metres away somehow smelt the stench of his bewilderment. With a grin, she cut her speed and spoke as soon as she joined with him.

“The power of a dying soul. There is no purer mana than one that bleeds from the death of the soul itself, for mana is the essence of the living. A soul holds everything that makes beings like us, us. Not your body, nor our minds. Extracting the complex emotions, personalities and memories bears fruit to the sweetest form of mana.”

“She’s erasing the souls for strength?”

“Precisely.”

Exrite watched solemnly at the woman who cleaved through hundreds of golems with her gigantic scythe in a spectacular fashion. Amongst the dust, crystallised fragments of metal and filings – he saw tears.

“… Frosty…”

“Does your heart grind for the Geared?”

“No – I’m sure the Geared would rather become a weapon pointed against the trial that damned them and disappear than to lament for all eternity!” He replied almost instantly, the words gushing from his mouth.

His unexpected yell caught Uru off guard, causing her grin to expand devilishly.

“It is their final attempt to erase the pain that plagued them. This is the world that stripped them of themselves, after all. Compose yourself Exrite! Don’t forget that we are upon a battlefield.”

“You don’t need to remind me. Anyway – Uru – is your [Solar Core] ready yet?”

“Almost. I advise that you break away from me now. Your explosives may have whittled down, but the risk of an unexpected explosion is still high. Unless – you desire to add a few more souls to Frosty’s reservoir?”

Uru’s crude remark caused him to softly sigh. She did not have to warn him twice. Without a word, Exrite’s momentum was broken by his largest [Gear], which he used to inhumanly kick himself in the opposite direction.

The purple [Seekers] disappeared after the final dozen bombarded the Egg. Only the streaks of Exrite’s [Blue Bullet] filled the air like shooting stars, each penetrating deeply into the Egg’s membrane without fail.

Until now the Egg had yet to restore itself. Hundreds of scars and craters riddled its entire mass, though it never seemed to be affected in any meaningful manner. What stunned them the most was the fact that no matter how deep some of the wounds were, they could not see anything underneath but a bright, blinding light.

The damaged Egg appeared like something out of a holy scripture – an Egg floating with lights piercing through the cracks of its shell. What was supposed to be a grand, inspiring scene filled them with uncertainty – save for one thing: victory.

“An epiphany reached the crying girl one faithful night. She thought what happens if she wasn’t there. If the star she was – the light in their darkness – the world that nourished them disappeared – then maybe… maybe they’d find themselves that way. They’d live for themselves. They’d no longer be tied down to her; their creator when they could be up there, amongst the stars.”

The voice recited.

Exrite’s wore a dark expression as he thrust himself to the furthest part of the chamber. He took cover behind a surprisingly untouched pillar as Uru ordered the others to vacate the centre. Silence slowly filled his ears, the chaos drowning to his inner voice.

Gaia… you abandoned her. Did you really believe that leaving Auga to wait behind would save her?

The realisation locked him in place. He refused to believe it, but if the words that left the invisible mouth of the Egg were truly derived from Gaia’s memories then they she was irredeemable in his eyes.

However – as much as he despised the cruel Maiden – he remembered the face she made when he brough up Auga’s name back in the Domain of Time.

There was more to the picture than what met the eye. The sum of the pieces of the puzzle was greater than the whole itself. Whatever her reasoning was – Gaia promised that Auga can become ‘complete’ again.

So why didn’t she do it herself?

“What were you thinking Gaia…?” He muttered to himself, watching from the pillar as the others dispersed into the edges of the chamber.

The golems appeared stunned for a second, confused as to why they had suddenly ceased their seemingly non-stop attacks. Then, as they turned to the direction of Uru, fear settled into their non-existent souls when the realisation hailed onto them.

The ball of concentrated heat between Uru’s claws was the reason for their despair.

Their fear reeked with a potent stench. The cold steel constructs gained self-awareness in their final moments. They ceased spilling from the cavity of the Egg, all crowding within to save themselves from the destruction that was about to unfold.

Unfortunately for them that only guaranteed their deaths.

The thin beam fired at the Egg. Not a second later a fireball of pure heat engulfed the entire Egg once again. Liquid slag dripped from underneath like yolk into the ever-growing crater, quickly overflowing into neighbouring cracks.

Not even the golems that were past the second row of pillars were able to withstand the immense heat. From the thinnest parts of their bodies to the thickest; they were heated till bright orange.

They rushed to the outer pillars out of desperation. But they didn’t make it far.

A barrage of bullets and magic swiftly struck them down the very next moment. Their display of cowardice severely annoyed Black, causing her to click her tongue.

“Don’t you dare try to run. Life has no meaning to a fucking construct made from metal and rock. Your purpose is to fight, not live.” She sneered, planting boot atop the face of a surviving golem.

She crushed its head, snuffing out the light in its eyes before kicking its body into the molten pool of slag at the centre.

A smug smile formed across her face.

“I agree.” White’s voice came from behind. “There was no such thing as a cowardly construct in the Colour Plane. Unless you can count Green Heart.”

“No thank you. Green barely passed as a Colour. Well, so did I~” Black hummed. “Pacifists have no right to exist in a world of conflict. Hmhm~ I wonder who taught me that?”

White sighed and ignored the woman’s remark. Her attention fell elsewhere. In the corner of her eye, she saw Frosty stagger as she slowly approached them. Her movement was sluggish, and every step was a gamble of whether she’d topple over or not.

In an instant, White dashed to her aid with Black following suit not a second later. Each clutched an arm on either side, almost toppling with Frosty as she lost balance for a split second.

“W-woah!? Why the fuck are you so heavy!? Hey, are you ok Frosty!?” Black said, unable to hide her surprise.

“It’s the scythe!” White immediately pointed out.

Indeed, most of the unfounded weight was due to the scythe Frosty still held onto the scythe despite her condition. White made an attempt to rid it from her, trying to pry her fingers away but to no avail. Frosty’s grip was surprisingly strong, far stronger than she had anticipated. Even with the additional effort of Black they could not move even a single finger.

“Tch. To think she was this powerful all along.” Black complained, though she seemed quite pleased with the revelation. “Frosty, let go. The scythe is too fucking heavy for us to help you up. Look at yourself! You have time to breathe until Uru’s [Solar Core] wears off.”

The Commanders were by no exaggeration physically stronger than many of the most trained warriors combined. The fact that Frosty was able to resist them was a testament to the power which she had harnessed from the souls of the Geared.

She clutched onto the scythe like her life depended on it, urging them to cease.

“No… Don’t take it away from me! This scythe carries the will… of a hundred Geared!” She painfully groaned through her blood-drenched teeth. “I can’t let it go… not until we reach the surface…”

Black gave a her a look of nonsense. “Don’t burden yourself with something unnecessary. You can’t drag the Geared up with us when they couldn’t even reach the fucking bottom in the first place.”

“I’m not cruel like you. This is the least I can do in exchange for their power… do you know what it means to consume a soul? There is nothing in this world that can reverse it. They’ll disappear as soon as I let go of my scythe… bwargh… it’s… it’s not… the weight that’s so nauseating… it’s their emotions…”

Frosty puked a torrent of blood and partly digested food.

“It’s… their hatred. And the taste of trash… why is it so sweet…?”

White immediately slit her thumb against her fang and smothered the droplet of blood into one of Frosty’s open wounds. Seconds later the taste that clogged her throat disappeared, and the nausea soon subsided as if it had never existed.

Light instantly filled her clouded eyes as she gave a silent thanks to her saviour.

“Can you stand?” White asked.

“I can now. Dammit… your blood can’t heal the stuff in my mind, huh?”

“If it could then Black over there wouldn’t be so infuriating in the first place.” She softly joked. “On a serious note – no. I can’t. My blood can do many things but meddling with the psychological isn’t one of them.”

“Well, not directly~” Black hummed. “So – hatred, hm? Isn’t it a beautiful drive? By the look of your scythe, I can tell that you weaponised their emotions well.”

She marvelled at it. The weapon was easily five times her size, baring nothing but a slender handle and a curved blade. The simplicity only added to its mesmerising beauty.

“I’m guessing their hatred is pointed towards this hell-hole. Correct?

“No… not exactly.” Frosty muttered, pushing herself up with a silent heave.

“What do you mean, not exactly?” White pressed, following Frosty’s gaze which was soldiered onto the burning egg. “What else is there for them to despise? Unless…”

After what seemed like minutes, Frosty answered.

“Their creator. The Maiden of Time.”

The chaotic ripping of air seemingly subsided as those left her, as if the world itself yearned to hear her voice.

“The very person who began this whole fucking nightmare. I’m not surprised.” Black sighed.

“… So much hatred… so much spite.” Frosty spoke slowly.

The sheer amount of hatred was far beyond what she believed was possible for a living being to possess. It was pure and it bubbled from the depths of their souls, stirred by a single drive that caused her to ground her teeth when she strung it all together.

“White. Black. I think there’s more to their anger.” She uttered.

“And what’s that?” White asked with fascination glowing in her sky-blue eyes.

“Everything… everything is all pointed at the Maiden of Time. It was never about this trial, no matter how much it’s scarred them. How much it’s made them suffer. Because in the beginning – someone had damned them.”

The eyes of both Commanders bloomed. They knew what her next words were, reacting with understanding nods and –

“They all want to kill the Maiden of Time.”

– an intrigued smile from Black.