Stella stood up hurriedly, her senses in high alert.


    Carefully, a shadow moved down her hand, ready to strike at the entity.


    "You asked who I was, right?"


    The entity looked at its hands, its face unrecognizable from the light.


    "Hmm? That is a good question. Who am I?"


    It tilted its head quizzically.


    After staying alone for so long, Stella was cautious. This was the first time since entering this space that she heard someone else''s voice.


    On edge, she kept her distance while glaring at the figure cloaked in light.


    Without noticing it, her eyes flashed, revealing the figure.


    A tall woman wearing a lab coat appeared in front of Stella. She had short black hair, very similar to Stella when she was younger.


    Under her coat, she wore a buttoned black shirt, opened at the second button below her neck.


    She wore light-brown pants with black high heels. On one of her fingers was a beautiful silver ring.


    Her gaze was full of love and compassion, very different from someone wishing harm to Stella.


    "Oh!"


    Suddenly, the woman''s eyebrows jumped as something clicked in her head.


    "I see. That is unexpected, but, I suppose, necessary."


    Her eyes fell on Stella.


    "Hello, my name''s Varellia."


    Still cautious, Stella walked around her, moving away from the cliff.


    "..."


    "You appear rather evasive for someone who called me here."


    Stella opened her eyes wide and stopped moving.


    "I-I did?"


    "Well, that is the truth. You haven''t noticed? Your eyes are shining with the sigil of Progress."


    Touching her face, Stella looked confused.


    "Eh? Why?"


    Varellia looked around her before walking around with great interest painted on her face.


    "There are many reasons. The first one that comes to mind is that you have attained a bottleneck. Your wish to improve further activated the concept growing in your core."


    She walked past Stella and stopped in front of the tree. With a finger on her chin, she kept talking as she analyzed the fruits dangling from the branches.


    "The second idea I have is that you seem to have an incredibly precise image of what you wish to become. Does that bring something to your mind?"


    Stella blinked a few times until the image of her father''s wide and protective back flashed for a brief moment.


    "I... Yes, there is someone who pushes me to get stronger."


    Saying that with an unshakable expression, she nodded.


    Pocking one of the fruits with a branch, Varellia continued.


    "The last thing, and probably the reason I am the one who appeared..."


    She let go of the branch and turned around.


    "It is because I am your mother."


    With lightning-fast steps, she closed in on Stella. Moments later, the girl found herself in her mother''s embrace, her face buried in her bosom.


    "E-Eh?"


    Confused by the sudden revelation, Stella was unable to react.


    "Even if I am just a phantom of my original self, I cannot express how happy I am to see my daughter."


    Rubbing her cheek on Stella''s head, she began to talk increasingly fast.


    "From the looks of it, you are in your teenage years, right? Your body is firm and healthy; that is good."


    "Your hair is similar to mine; incredible! Moreover, it is like touching silk. I can''t believe it is so smooth."


    "You took more of me than you took from your father. I''m super happy about that! Also-"


    Stella pushed her away.


    "W-Wait! Wait a second!"


    "Oh?"


    With a faint smile, Varellia crossed her arms.


    Stolen story; please report.


    "Even if you tell me that now..."


    Then, she recalled the voice she had heard five years ago after she was dragged into the elemental realm.


    "..."


    She stood there with a frozen expression. Her eyes fell on her supposed mother until she looked inside her eyes.


    In them, she saw a spiral. A galaxy-like sigil that radiated a purple aura.


    Her knees trembled, her mind began to freeze, and her hands shook.


    "It''s... Mom?"


    "It took you quite a bit, but yes, it''s me. Come here."


    Varellia spread her arms wide, inviting her daughter into them.


    "Mom!"


    Stella leaped forward and wrapped her arms around her mother''s back.


    Unable to contain her emotions, she began to let out the pain that had accumulated all those years.


    The pain of losing her family, the horrors of her life with Julian, the heartbreaking separation with Orion, and the long years alone in this place.


    A fifteen-year-old girl cried with all her might in the arms of her mother, who was brought back thanks to her wish to get stronger.


    ...


    "It''s fine."


    After a while, Varellia spoke. She caressed Stella''s hair gently, tightly wrapping her other arm around her back.


    "You''ve suffered quite a lot. I am so sorry to have let you alone in this awful world."


    Stella slowly unwrapped her arms and took a step back. Her face was a mess, with the corners of her eyes red from her endless sobbing.


    But, even in this state, she shook her head.


    "I know it''s not your fault. Those who came and stole me from my father are the ones to blame."


    Varellia gave an unhappy frown.


    "As I thought, they came for your father. He most likely died protecting you. It was a fear of mine, but to think it became reality. Such a shame."


    She appeared very torn by the news.


    "..."


    Stella quietly nodded. Yet, her expression relaxed.


    "If not for Orion, I wouldn''t have survived."


    "Orion?"


    "Yes."


    A kind smile formed on Stella''s face as she explained to Varellia who Orion was.


    "He saved me when I was dying. He gave me food, a place to live, and a family. Until the end, he protected us from the wrongs of this world."


    Her eyes fell, as she really wanted to bask in his warmth once again.


    "Wait... was he a human?"


    Shaking her head to each side, Stella corrected her mother.


    "No, everyone said that Orion was an angel and a demon."


    "A mixed blood?! From two annihilated factions?"


    "That''s what I heard. Since I was too young to understand anything, I never asked for more information."


    "All I know is that those elements were his."


    In both hands, a small sphere formed. One of pure light, the other of intense darkness.


    "The light and dark elements!"


    Varellia opened her eyes wide and leaned forward.


    "This means that the one who saved you was..."


    She turned around, two fingers on her chin.


    "The second Hero. What a shame! If I had postponed my research, I would have been able to meet such a person... but if I had, my daughter wouldn''t have been rescued by him, and I wouldn''t be here."


    "Aaah! What a dilemma!"


    She scratched her head and made a mess of her hair.


    Then, she shook her head and calmed down, putting her hair in the right places.


    "Scratch that. It''s already done, so there''s no need to bother thinking about that."


    With a satisfied smile, she calmed down.


    "Who would have thought that the power of Progress was capable of replicating me to such a degree?"


    "What do you mean?"


    Stella blinked unconsciously at her words.


    "This was expected. You haven''t yet understood the true power sleeping inside you."


    She walked in front of her and gently grabbed Stella''s hand, pulling her toward the tree. Varellia made her sit under the tree while she began to explain.


    "First of all, I am not exactly your mother."


    Stella nodded. Inside her, she already knew that the being in front of her was fake.


    "To me, I am the real one, but in reality, I am a ghost brought back by your power as a Remnant."


    "You asked for more power, for a way to break through this wall that bothers you. Hence, I returned from the dead."


    Varellia tapped on her forehead with one finger.


    "Though, am I even the real Varellia? I do not know. The only way to confirm it would be to..."


    She closed her eyes while opening her other hand to the side.


    "Catharsis."


    But nothing happened.


    "Hmm~"


    She looked with interest at her hand.


    "It appears I am the real one. Astounding discovery."


    Her spirit as a researcher was working in overdrive, picking up every piece of information that was developing in front of her.


    "What was that?"


    "Something that I passed on to you before dying."


    Confused, Stella tilted her head.


    "Something I have?"


    "Yes. A weapon I recovered from... your grandmother."


    "My grandmother?! Who was she?"


    With a look of surprise, Stella bent forward, listening intently to her mother''s words.


    "It is a rather sad story. Do you still want to listen?"


    Stella nodded, switching to a more serious posture.


    "Alright."


    Varellia walked next to her daughter and sat next to her.


    "Have you heard of the word ''Valkyrie''?"


    ...


    After a while, the story came to an end.


    "After my mother passed away, all that was left was her weapon and the teachings she etched in my soul."


    "That''s the story of your grandmother, Skadii."


    Stella was clenching her stockings, almost tearing a hole into them.


    She had already heard about the Valkyries through Elliott, the day he told the story of Frey and Blanc, but she had no idea all the Valkyries had perished that very day.


    Hearing that this happened in her family, she felt a rage unfamiliar to her. A raging light burning brightly in her heart, and freezing darkness ready to engulf everything.


    That rage was difficult to ignore, but Varellia eased her heart.


    "Those entities— even I do not understand what they were. All we know, after discussing the matter between us, is that they came from a space, a world, way different from us."


    "A world of light, where purity is devoured. That''s what we managed to gather. Not much, I know, but apart from that and their names, there are no clues on how to even access their world."


    She titled her head with a finger on her chin.


    "The only one stupid enough to try was Miasma. Making our lives even more difficult in the process, I hope his end wasn''t peaceful."


    The frown on her face wasn''t pretty.


    "All I know is that Orion won, but never returned with the others."


    Stella added with a sad tone.


    "Then, the chances are Miasma is still alive. Not only did he manage to survive Noah through sheer cleverness, but he also managed to manipulate the world for thousands of years, only to perfect his control over them."


    "Really?"


    "Most likely."


    The grave air around Varellia said everything Stella needed to know.


    After a short silence, Varellia stood up.


    "Alright."


    She cleaned her lab coat and walked in front of Stella, further from the tree.


    "Stella."


    For the first time, she called the name Orion gave her.


    "Yes."


    She stood up and approached her, ready to get things done.


    "Repeat after me."


    With a nod, Stella already knew what to say.


    "Catharsis."


    Before Varellia said anything, the name of the Valkyrie Skadii''s most trusted weapon echoed in the realm.


    The ground shook as an incredible amount of energy surged from within her core.


    Her father''s elements merged into the artifact, exploding into two dangerous vortexes of energy that rose upward from the very center of her chest.


    A shaft emerged from her chest, ready to be pulled out.


    "Gh!"


    Stella gritted her teeth and grabbed the tip of the weapon with both hands.


    Varellia took a few steps back and smiled.


    "You can do it, Stella. Believe in yourself."


    Her reassuring words entered Stella''s ears as she pulled the artifact out of her core.


    "Aaah!"


    Slowly, a long spear was tugged out of her.


    The sharp, curved blade emerged as the energies settled inside her.


    "That... was exhausting."


    Holding herself on the spear while catching her breath, she looked at her shaking knees.


    "Is that... it?"


    "Yes, that is Catharsis. The Crimson Purge."


    A polearm, called a fauchard, radiantly gleamed as it appeared once again after many years.