As the war-torn air finally began to still, Neve gently cradled Kazimir in her arms, his body beaten, his breath shallow, and his chest torn open from the battle. Jessie stood nearby, still recovering from the clash they'd just endured with their own flesh and blood. Her fingers trembled as she activated the comm crystal and contacted Riah.
Jessie (calm but tired): "We got it done. Kazimir is with us."
Riah (concerned): "Oh? How is he? Were you able to talk to him?"
Jessie: "No. When we got here, he was just about to kill Ingress. Neve and I had to engage him directly—we took him on by force."
Riah: "That's... I see. Where are you? I'll warp to your location."
Jessie: "We're in an entirely different country—Bruswa. The coordinates say we're in the Nether Sea. It's strange though. This land is filled with glowing flowers and butterflies now. Wasn't always like this. Seasons must function differently here."
Riah: "Understood. I'm coming. Are you hurt?"
Jessie: "No... but Kazimir's chest wound is severe. Ingress is in critical condition. Both need immediate care."
Riah: "Got it. I'm on my way. Stay alive."
The call ended. Neve began to lower Kazimir gently to the flower-coated ground, only to freeze. Blue cracks had begun to reappear along his skin. Her heart sank.
Neve (whispers): "No... he should've fallen out of that state by now."
Then his eyes snapped open—both glowing with pure spatial energy.
Jessie (gritting her teeth): "He's not done yet... damn it, Kaz!"
Before he could rise, she bound him with fire chains and froze his lower half in solid ice.
Suddenly, the atmosphere around them shifted. The sky itself trembled.
A blue mist expanded outward—thicker and denser than anything they'd encountered. It didn't just blanket the area. It swallowed the world.
Neve (wide-eyed): "This isn't like before... this is something else entirely."
Kazimir's body became a conduit. Abyssal blue energy fused with spatial lightning around him, forming a massive rotating sphere. Mist and light were consumed into it, like a black hole on the verge of collapse.
Then the sphere cracked. Shattered. The mist was gone.
And Kazimir stood at the center.
Skin pale. Abyssal blue cracks glowing across his body. His eyes and hair illuminated like deep space.
Neve (dropping to her knees): "Is this... truly you...? Kazimir, why? You say you want to protect us... but right now, you're hurting us."
Kazimir (emotionless): "You see it now, don't you? This power... it's a curse. And I'm using it for good. Even if I die—then that's one less evil in the world. I'll take on everything. You just have to live."
Jessie: "Tch... you look like hell. You hit your head or something? Neve might go easy on you, but I'm not that gentle. I don't care if you're Nebula herself—I'm still taking your ass down. For our mother."
She grabbed her katana, flames erupting around her.
Jessie: "You and I share the same blood. And that means I'll never fear you. But you? You're gonna fear this ass-whooping."
She charged. Flames trailing behind her like comets. Her speed nearly matched Riah's.
Their blades clashed, and Kazimir let out a burst of energy—hurling Jessie through stone. Bloodied, she rose again, unshaken.
Neve stepped forward. Her katana gleamed, her gaze colder than ice.
Neve: "Maybe my weakness was always giving you special treatment... but not today. This isn't you."
Her eyes shimmered like diamonds. With two swift strikes, she kicked Kazimir in the gut—freezing his limbs momentarily.
Still, it wasn't enough. Kazimir adapted, still holding back, still trying not to hurt them.
He invoked World Clock, then Stargazer of No Return, creating a gravity field trapping both girls.
He tried to end it gently—activating his negation field to put them to sleep. But weakened as he was, it failed.
Then the sky erupted.
Phoenixes descended.
Each flew to those wounded—healing them with with gentle flames. And then she appeared.
Riah.
She descended on stairs made of crimson flame.
Riah: "Look at you... this is what you promised me? We said we'd never fight alone again. And now you lie to me, Kazimir."
He stepped back, ashamed. She walked forward.
Riah: "Don't run. It's pointless now. You revealed it... The Maw of the End. But you're so drained, it doesn't even deserve the name."
Kazimir: "Please, Riah... I just want to protect you."
Riah: "So what? I want to protect you."
Kazimir activated World Clock, freezing her.
But even under its effects, Riah's voice pierced through:
Riah (tearfully): "You're running again. Sacrificing yourself for a world that sees you as a weapon. You think you're different from them? You're not. You see yourself the same way. You don't understand how I feel at all."
Her flames turned crimson, then white.
Riah: "I don't care about your plan. You could die, Kazimir! And I won't stand by."
Kazimir: "No, listen—"
Riah: "Shut up."
Her pupils turned black with white suns inside. Her hair turned white. Her flames exploded, incinerating World Clock itself.
The impact forced Kazimir to stumble.
He tried to create a final void of thunder to escape—
—but Riah turned into pure flame and struck him down from the sky.
He barely stood.
White chains emerged. Unbreakable.
They wrapped around his limbs. He couldn't move.
Above him, the angel descended.
Riah landed. Her punch hit his gut—sending him crashing back into himself, breaking the form.
He slumped into her arms.
Riah (softly): "That was for all the trouble you caused."
She held him. His chin rested on her shoulder.
Kazimir (weakly): "So... you had something hiding too?"
Riah: "No. It was emotion. Training. A promise. To stop this."
Kazimir: "What's it called... this form?"
Riah: "If you're the Maw of the End, then I'll be the Pyre of the Origin. I'll be the end... to your beginning."
Kazimir (smiling faintly): "It suits you. You look like an angel... I'm sorry. Please forgive me."
He passed out.
Riah held him tighter. Jessie and Neve finally approached.