The sound of metal clashing repeated in the silent forest. The leader's sword and the Kairo axe countered each other in a delicate dance. When one took a step forward, the other took a step back to maintain the distance. A few more hits were traded before Kairo dropped his guard and took a final step back.

"I concede, you're too strong for me."

Silv, who had been watching the fight from a safe distance until now, ran toward Kairo with an angry expression on her face.

"Concede? You're both on the same level, you can't concede!"

"No, she was holding back." Said Kairo without staring at anything else other than his former leader "I can understand why you were our leader now."

"It's... Not the reason I'm the leader..."

The leader shook her head, still wary, while Silv let out an exhausted sigh. The fatigue on her face was obvious, as was the exhaustion in her voice.

"The two other losers will come soon too, we need to find the others and leave. I hope they didn't lose our treasures to this robot girl."

Kairo nodded his head, and together with Silv ran away farther into the forest. The leader was about to follow them but stopped when she heard a familiar voice calling her.

"Leader! Is everything alright?"

The leader turned toward Silva's voice and saw Sepide at her side. She flinched in shock, not expecting Sepide to act friendly again.

"S-Sepide? What happened? Are you not trying to attack me?"

"No, Silva helped me, I'm fine now."

The leader stayed silent, thinking deeply with her hand on her chin. Silva was annoyed that her question was ignored, and kept poking her leader's head while repeating herself.

"Is everything alright? Is everything alright? Is everything alright? Is everything alright? Is everything alright?"

Despite how hard she was trying, Silva couldn't get the leader out of her thoughts. Her gaze slowly headed downward, and as a grin appeared on her face, she poked the leader's breast.

"W-W-What are you doing?" The leader instantly put her arms on her chest and stepped away from Silva with wide-open eyes.

Silva was about to repeat her question but reconsidered when she felt the fourth member of their group running toward them.

"I was searching for you, are any of you hurt?"

Sepide raised her hand to answer Uriel's question, holding her nose.

"I'm hurt, I feel like my nose is broken."

"Oh, I am afraid that I do not possess the ability to cure you." Soon after finishing her sentence, Uriel took a small cross in her hand and showed it to the group "I got it from this weird woman, it was one of their treasure."

The leader immediately took the fang and guitar pick they found earlier and put them all in the same box with a smile on her face.

"We have all we need! We just have to go back to the place we started, and we win!"

The whole group shared her enthusiasm and all headed toward their goal. But before the leader went anywhere, Silva grabbed her arm and asked her in a serious tone.

"You need to tell me, what did you do to Sepide?"

The leader saw the seriousness of Silva and stayed silent for a moment. She stared at the determined eyes of the blind girl for a few seconds before looking away, trying to dodge her gaze.

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"Once we make sure that this trial is over, I'll tell you and Sepide everything, I promise."

Silva let go of her arm without a word and joined the rest of the group. The leader silently followed her, knowing she'd have to tell the truth eventually.

The sun was high in the sky, indicating noon. It was the time when the group finally reached the place they started at. Opal, the organizer, was waiting there eating snacks. She seemed surprised to see the group and approached them with curiosity.

"You finished? Already?"

The leader handed her the box with all the treasure. The girl checked everything to make sure, and once she did, she clapped for them with a smile.

"You're the first group to finish, congratulations! I think you deserve to rest now, you're officially qualified for the rest of the tournament. I'll guide you to a place where you'll be able to eat."

"Finally!" Said the leader, relieved "I haven't eaten real food for ages. This leviathan sucked."

"Wait," Said Uriel "I need to recharge my batteries, I can't last more than five days without charging, and my battery is rather low."

"Oh, yeah..." Opal said, with an exhausted voice "Why did Ada only choose the most complex people to work with? Anyway, go to the guards there, they'll guide you to your room."

Uriel nodded her hand, but before going she faced the group and bent to them in respect.

"Thank you for everything, leader, Silva, Sepide. Without you, I maybe would not have been able to succeed. And even if fate opposes us, know that I shall always be grateful to you all."

Uriel left, leaving the three friends alone. Silva waved and smiled at the robot while Silva stared at her going with a hint of sadness.

"I'm going to miss her." Said Sepide "She was nice."

"Don't worry, you'll see her again. Now follow me, I'll guide you."

The organizer of the tournament went away from this snowy and cold field, as the group followed her.

The three friends were guided to a kind of tavern. Unlike outside, it was warm and inviting in here. Opal showed them a table, asking them to sit there.

"We didn't expect anyone so quickly, so it will take some time before we bring you food."

The girl left the group at their table, where they finally were able to rest from the tiring last day. Silva slouched on the table, she was ready to sleep right there but stayed awake just because of the potential meal she would get.

"That was so tiring, I'm going to complain to Neige so much when we save him."

"Come on, it was hard for him." Answered the leader "Don't make it harder for him."

"He'd do the same if I was the one kidnapped by the anomaly. I'd never hear the end of it."

The leader thought that Silva felt bad about Neige, but was confused by the smile on her face.

"You really are a weird individual, Silva."

"Thanks!"

The leader didn't mean it as a compliment, but she felt like she shouldn't break Silva's mood without a reason. The leader was about to rest but was stopped by Silva's sudden words.

"So, will you tell us about Sepide now?"

The leader was taken by surprise by Silva's sudden demand. She looked away, visibly uncomfortable about answering the question.

"Why don't we rest, I'm sure Sepide is tired too, and it's about her so..."

"No, I'm alright." Sepide said with confidence "I want to know about my past too."

The leader let out a sigh. It seemed clear to her now that she wouldn't be able to get away from Sepide's past. She took a deep breath, preparing herself mentally.

"I wish Neige was here, but I suppose I'll tell him later. Are you sure you don't want to wait for him?"

"We'll tell him." Said Silva, growing more and more impatient "So, tell us already!"

"Yes, yes, I will." The leader closed her eyes, taking time to focus "I believe that Neige told you about the journal I possess."

"The one that rewrites the world?" Asked Sepide.

"Well, it's a bit more complicated than that. Anyway, I think that providing context is essential. Neige and I promised each other to not abuse its powers. It was a powerful artifact, and we wouldn't want the world to be destroyed because of us. Also, it's quite pretentious to think that we're equals to the Goddess."

"Is it relevant to Sepide?" Asked Silva with an annoyed voice.

"Of course it's important. So, it was three years ago, Silva joined us for a year at the time and started going on missions with Neige and Kairo."

"Three years ago?" Sepide looked confused, as she merely joined the team a few weeks ago at most.

"Yes, we were at a relatively peaceful time, but the universe seemed to grow more unstable. Kairo, Neige, and you Silva, were the main team at the time. I knew that if something happened and that we lost you three on missions, it would be hard for us to do anything."

"And it's about Sepide?" Silva had her hand supporting her head, with a bored look on her face.

"Yes, can you stop cutting me?"

"I'm just saying that my backstory is that you found me in an empty world. It's kinda surprising that you need to write a novel about Sepide's past. Are you sure you're not trying to gain time?"

The leader pouted for a bit, continuing after a short moment.

"I promise it's important. I was scared about you all, if something happened, there wouldn't have been a lot I could do. I can always use the book, but there's always the risk of breaking something. And now, the anomaly is even immune to it for some reason." The leader took a long inspiration to calm herself and continued with a calm tone "Anyway, I've been trying to find a solution to this problem for a while, that's all you need to know."

"So we get to the good part of the story now?"

"Yes, it all started during a day like any other. I remember it well, you came back from a mission, three years ago..."