Having pushed themselves to the limit, a peaceful morning surrounded two figures as they lay down over the cold grass of that old playground.

Surprisingly, the city had come back to normal with no traces of that deathly jungle. None of the buildings that spread all around showed any signs of damage either, almost as though none of this had ever taken place.

Of course, for the ones that witnessed everything, this had been pretty much real. What they had seen on that day was something they would never forget.

"Is it... over...?" Estelle was hesitant to ask. After facing so many dangers back to back, she was more than wary about something coming next.

"We need to get in touch with Noa." Ryuusei attempted to compose himself, but his shaky legs and his breaking voice gave away his feelings. "She should be at Caelum, I think she's the chef that is always there with Elizabelle, so I'm sure she'll help."

"R-Right." Estelle took a deep breath and nodded. "Since you know this person, how about you go get her? And I'll go check on the maid!"

"I'm fine with that."

Ryuusei agreed but then glanced over at the two who remained unconscious with concern.

"I'll stay here and watch over them. It'll be fine, I'm sure Wish will wake up soon so–!" Starr eagerly volunteered. Despite everything, being close to Wish was reassuring.

With this, the spiky haired boy and the pink haired girl both ran in different directions. After witnessing Wish's efforts to bring them this far, they couldn't stand still. She had done her part to bring everything to an end, now they would make sure that everything could go back to normal with no casualties.

As the last one remaining there, Starr knelt down to look at Wish's bruised body. To think she had taken so much damage, if possible, he'd like to treat her wounds, but he had no idea what to do or where to begin.

What about Mirage? Wish's final attack looked extremely severe, but her body still seemed to be in one piece. Having faced her directly, it wasn't too surprising that she could withstand this much.

As he pondered on the situation that developed, slow footsteps reached his ears. Before he could turn around, a tall figure walked past him and towards Mirage. Was this an ally or an enemy?

It wasn't someone familiar, but he knew he had seen this person at least once before. A tall man dressed in black with a mask covering half of this face, it was the same person who had asked for help in stopping a thief.

Starr was at a loss for words, and as he tried to figure out a course of action, the man knelt down, taking hold of a crumpled picture that had fallen next to Mirage.

"Was I too late?"

The man murmured to himself as he looked at the person reflected on that picture: a beautiful woman with flowing long hair and a mole on her neck.

It was the person that Mirage had promised would bring back. Just where was this person now?

☆

Rewinding a few hours led to the previous night. The castle of hope stood tall with its pristine white shine. With all weapons disposed of, the remaining members of the organization had spread throughout the castle and most retired to their rooms to recover.

An old man stood on the highest floor of that castle. It was a small room with a large and wide view of the city. After red light had erupted into the skies a few hours before, he could see the city drowning in darkness as the night arrived. Normally, seeing this after experiencing such an intense quake would be alarming, but the man's thoughts were clouded by something else.

This had been the chief who managed this branch of the organization. In the end, he had been taken over by a strange light and taken down by Faith. Despite this, his body was still in one piece, but he could hardly say the same for his heart.

In a sense, this was the same man as back then, but at the same time, it was someone else. Somewhere along the way, he had learned more than what he would wish for. The situation had now drastically changed. He had to do something, or else...

Just thinking about the current circumstances was enough to make him dizzy. It didn't help that his body was going through intense pain, but two people wearing a white uniform were quick to support him before he could fall to the floor.

At least five members of the organization had stayed in this room to look after his safety. Was it because he was supposed to be their leader, or did they genuinely care somewhere deep inside?

At that moment, a soft knocking came from the door leading to the room. After receiving a signal from the chief, a member of the organization ran to open it.

"My my, you are still here, I'm glad."

A sweet, sing-song voice reached him.

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Her crimson-red hair swayed from side to side as she walked towards the chief. His limping, bruised figure was unsightly, but she didn't mind.

"You–" The man paused for a moment before sighing in relief. "You are okay, that's a relief."

"Hm? Were you worried about me?" The woman put her hands together. "That's surprising coming from you, that's good, I'm glad."

"Right... listen."

Despite all the turmoil in his heart, the person before him had been the little girl he once raised. Maybe things could really change, maybe he could finally express what weighted his heart down.

"Everything about this "hope."" She cut him off before he could speak. "Should we abandon it~?"

"S-So you really understand!" His eyes lit up. "That's right, everything about this place, and about what we've been doing up till now is–"

"After all, isn't this too dull? Even this place, these clothes, and the Light of Hope." She continued to speak while ignoring him. "I don't like it. It's not pure enough. It lacks red, don't you think?"

"I don't really understand what you are–"

"So how about it?"

She waltzed around the room slow and cheerfully. She moved close to a young man who stood just a few steps away. Confused by the situation, he could only grin as the woman ran her hands over his chest, and then, his heart was forcefully ripped out of his body.

"Hey, hey, how about it~?" With a gentle smile, she crushed the heart with her hand, making red splatter into her white uniform and into the floor.

"W-What the hell are you doing?!"

The chief stepped forward and spread his arms to stop the remaining members from charging at the woman.

"Hm? What's wrong?" The chief's grief reflected on her clear emerald eyes. "Are you really worried about these dolls, after all this time?"

"You... if you know that much then why!"

"What's the matter? Oh, I know! That's it, right? You don't understand why I can do this if I'm only a doll as well." She nodded and clapped her hands. "Of course, you would be confused. But you know, you aren't the only one who came back!! Isn't that great?!"

As the woman slowly walked closer, the chief tackled her down without remorse before yelling at the organization members behind him.

"Get out of here! Go get everyone and get them all out! As far away as possible, hurry!!"

"But sir–!"

"It's an order!!"

Reluctantly, everyone rushed out, and the man shut the door behind them. He couldn't allow more damage than this to take place.

"Aw, that's cute. So you are trying to save them after all, almost as if they were real. Hm? That's so cute!!"

"What are you? You aren't Celes!! Who the hell are you?! What are you?!"

"Heh." Slowly but surely, she moved up, dusting off her clothes. "It's so cute when you are afraid as well. See? Aren't we better off without hope? From now on, let's tint the world with red love instead!!"

It was useless. Reasoning with this "person" was useless. How did things turn out this way? It was true that he had learned more than he should about this organization. It was true that he wanted to put an end to this, but if he didn't stop this girl here, then everyone was in danger. At this rate, at this rate, even if it broke his body, he had no choice but to put his life on the line.

"Luminescence 7468!!"

He dashed towards the metallic, sphere-like machine at the corner of the room and slammed his fist against it. This was the code that had unleashed the light that enveloped everything, this was the same light that had turned him into a deathly beast before. Tapping into this kind of power was dangerous, but with this much power, he could do it.

He could feel his thoughts blanking out, almost as though his brain was convulsing, and his very being became shrouded in light. Gritting his teeth, the old man planted his feet forward and launched himself towards the deathly girl.

At that moment, the last thing he could see was her lips curling up into a lovely smile.

At that moment, a powerful blast resounded across the castle and shook it to its very core.

And then...

That night, no one was able to escape from that pure white prison.

☆

A single figure stood in the center of a room filled with the smell of iron.

"See? This is much better, so much better! Hehe." She laughed to herself as she finished painting the walls to her liking. "This red is much better! I am finally free from those strings! We don't need to believe in hope anymore, as long as we have love, it's more than enough!"

Satisfied, she threw the tore limb she used as a paintbrush to the side, and her sight was instantly locked into one of the screens that remained in that room. The screens were set to show a live broadcast of various parts of the city, but one, in particular, drew her in.

She was hypnotized by the red eyes of a certain boy who was currently locked in deathly combat.

"That red is absolutely wonderful. I want it."

☆

Viktor could only watch as Faith's body continued jumping from side to side to dodge a barrage of projectiles. How many hours had it been now? At this rate, the sun would be up soon.

"Hey, aren't you bored? I can still keep going for a while, you know."

Even if this was an intense battle, it looked far too one-sided. With a barrier of light surrounding them and a bracelet now attached to Faith's wrist, Noa continued to stand in place with a large crystal at her back.

Her attacks were unlike anything Faith had seen before. Having witnessed the power of Alchemy when he saw her fixing up the plaza, he could tell this was something entirely different.

Moreover, no matter how many bullets Faith continued to shoot out, they were all stopped in midair before they could hit his opponent. It was less like they had hit against a barrier and more like they had been grabbed by something and suspended in mid-air by an invisible force.

Noa yawned as Faith's bullets danced in circles around her before sending them flying back to the black-haired boy.

"This is bad." Viktor whispered under his breath. His hand was reaching for his phone, and his finger hovered ever so close to a certain application. "I'm sorry, Faith. It seems like this is outside my parameters."

Barely reloading the Scarlet Grimoire in time, Faith used his Burst Bullets to propel himself up into the air. As he dodged the incoming projectiles, he launched himself into Noa's direction, ready to release a deathly barrage at close range.

"Tch! I'm ending this now!!"

Faith released a large blast with a Burst Bullet, but it was bounced back at him almost instantly. And yet, that was fine, he didn't try to avoid that incoming projectile. Instead, he propelled himself to the other end of the barrier, firmly held his weapon, and prepared to fire again as he ran towards the blast with all his might.

It had truly been a long fight. His body was tattered, his motorcycle lay broken in pieces to the side, and his coat was full of holes, but he had finally understood where the opening was. Even against this impossible enemy, her defenses weren't absolute. He had to analyze the situation, he had to wait, and now, it was the time to release his own Velvet Burst.

But that never came to be.

The boy coughed out in pain as he fell to the floor. He held his chest tightly with his hands, and his weapon lay next to him.

"Faith?!"

Viktor cried out, and even Noa was visibly taken back by this. Of course, the previous blast caused by his own bullet continued to fly in his direction without mercy.

As the sun rose up, that place was dyed in red.

Isn't it a lovely color?