I flailed back to wakefulness as my body snapped upright in the mindscape, feeling as if I had just awoken from a terrible nightmare.

“I’m sorry you had to experience all that, but it was the best way I could think of to quickly relay my past to you.”

Yukiko’s image stood before me, watching me with Seraphim’s eyes.

I took a moment to breathe, recollecting my thoughts now that I felt safely back within my own body.

The destruction of a world seemed to align with the events of The Great Uprising, yet the idea of gods ‘abandoning’ a world instead of ‘destroying’ one didn’t quite line up. Moreover, Seraphim said he wasn’t sure where his world was now, meaning there had to be some level of uncertainty regarding whether or not that chaotic force actually erased its existence.

There was a possibility that Seraphim’s world was beyond the World Chain, but how could something like that even exist?

What exactly was that force consuming Seraphim’s world? Why did the gods abandon his world? And just who was that being whose voice I heard at the end of that memory?

My curiosity nearly got the best of me, but I held myself back. Those matters weren’t as important with regard to the task at hand.

“So I take it you wanted to show me all that as a way of establishing your ‘character?’”

“Yes. The ‘me’ you’re talking to right now is the one whose past you just saw. Those other two versions currently occupying my body…”

He trailed off before finishing his thought, pausing again to contemplate his words.

“I’m sure you’re aware of this, considering your own past, but when a human body or any organic life for that matter draws upon the power of corruption, it taints their mind and senses. Love can turn to hate just as easily as it can turn to obsession… That version of me you first encountered back in your village was more like an empty shell that remained after all emotions had soured and all logic had rotted.”

“If that’s the case, then how are you, one who supposedly rotted beyond repair, talking to me now?”

“I… can’t tell you the reason for that just yet.”

“I’ll accept that excuse for now. But then, what’s the second identity? I can believe your explanations of the first and third to some extent, but none of that explains how that other ‘you’ came into being.”

“It’s… a version devoid of any warmth and feelings, designed specifically for combat and to extract the shard from you. It’s not quite like the first, who reached that state when love devolved to obsession. The first still carries shreds of the emotions I once held… but the second… is incapable of such emotions. It only knows its objective, wielding the power of regret as a foreign concept extracted from theory, yet never once could’ve experienced it.”

“Wait, so you’re saying your original self wasn’t the proper source for creating both those other versions?”

“No, not the second one. That one was the work of–”

There was a terrible grating noise that deafened us both. 

I instantly recoiled and covered my ears, yet it still felt as if thousands of insects were screeching directly into my head alongside unbearable reverberations that made me feel as if I were trapped within a giant bell.

In that noise, Yukiko’s image was whisked away, yet Seraphim’s voice still remained.

When he finally spoke again, he was panting, his words laced with groans as if whatever had just happened had also caused immense physical pain.

“So he won’t let me tell you… So be it then. All I can safely say is that the one responsible for that second version and the seal on my words is one with whom you’ll come to be acquainted with during your trials in this world…”

My mind at first jumped to the first anomaly I had beheld in Seraphim’s memory, the one responsible for giving him his powers of corruption in the first place. Yet, for such an elusive being of such power, it wouldn’t make sense for them to be concerned with the matters of us on World Zero, would it?

The realization then struck me. Based on Seraphim’s words, it had to be someone I was already aware of. Beyond that, his most recent clue suggested this individual was one with whom I’d definitely encounter in my future on World Zero.

“Koharu…”

Seraphim slowly nodded his head in confirmation.

“Yes… it would appear that was the name he has chosen for himself in this world…”

I didn’t know how much more I could safely ask of Seraphim regarding this matter, so I dropped any further questions.

“What’s next then?”

“We defeat those identities inhabiting my body, of course.”

“And what’s your end goal once we do?”

“Hah… don’t worry, it was only my other self that held a grudge against you. I only wish to see my daughter again…”

Considering that Seraphim’s world seemed to have vanished from a time and place beyond World Zero, would such an encounter even be possible? 

I decided such a question would be too insensitive to his loss to ask.

“She’s still alive… I can’t say for certain about my son or my wife, but she’s still out there… they, or rather, the one who granted me the power of corruption, assured me so.”

“I see,” I remarked before sighing.

“I can’t believe I’m about to strike a deal with a corrupted, but until this whole situation is cleared, we’ll work together.”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

He held out his hand with a gentle, almost nostalgic smile on his face.

Before I could rethink my choices, I took his hand and finalized our agreement.

***

“You met with him, right?”

Yukiko was standing before me– the real Yukiko. Both of us were standing in the exact same spots from before I entered the mindscape.

“This really isn’t the real world, huh?”

“Yeah… I still feel weird thinking about it.”

She turned away from me to face the Seraphim who was once my enemy.

“Where’d the original go?”

“Right beside you.”

An ethereal voice spoke directly into our minds.

“You’re really a fully isolated existence from them now.”

“Yes. Those two are still dazed from registering my presence. As far as they know, I shouldn’t have been able to salvage my existence from beneath their own identities.”

“Got it.”

“Let’s get this started then, shall we?”

Yukiko sprung off her toes first, her aura condensing around her blade.

The instant she began moving, the Seraphim before us roared, his body bulging as angels emerged in swarms.

Meanwhile, I readjusted my bearings within this not-so-physical existence.

Good. The two shards were still with me. With minimal effort, I reignited the sparks of the two attributes: spirit and earth.

Next, I focused on the sensation of the shards’ aether, drawing out a steady flow to bring my aura as close to stage 2 as possible.

It seemed the wind still responded to me.

As I moved nearer to Yukiko’s position, I felt a sense of relief that we had previously sparred with one another.

It was thanks to that very match from before that I could now recognize the techniques she planned to use.

“You focus on precisely striking critical points, I’ll take care of the heavy hitting.”

She gave a brief nod before altering her course of motion, angling her body to the side to avoid my oncoming assault.

With her now safely out of the way, I channeled all my strength into my right arm.

“Never thought I’d be using this skill again,” I thought.

Cyclone Strike

With a single punch, a vortex of wind burst forth, tearing through the bodies of every angel before me.

As their cores shattered, shrapnels of solid corruption were flung back against Seraphim’s body by the wind, leaving miniature cuts across every surface that faced me.

Yukiko swiftly closed the gap between them without giving him the chance to recover nor counter.

First Dance: Layered Snowstorm

The single, snaking slash of her blade pierced through Seraphim’s body.

I couldn’t tell if it was coincidence or not, but Yukiko had precisely struck the same regions that Seika had identified for Setsuya.

Second Dance: Falling Thrust

She took another step forward as the tip of her dagger rose towards Seraphim’s core.

Tink!

Her momentum wasn’t enough.

The blade couldn’t pierce through, only leaving a small divot in the surface of the core.

“Get back! They’re switching control of that body!”

Hearing Seraphim’s voice, Yukiko leapt away as bodies of angels poured out once more, this time directly from the damaged core.

“That same attack again–!”

“No, it’s definitely different. The energy isn’t moving quite the same. It’s more… orderly.”

Sure enough, the angels didn’t rush towards us like a horde of voracious insects. Rather, their bodies were suspended in midair, hanging limply from their cores.

Core Manipulation

“It’s the second. It’s taken control again.”

Heavenly Armor

In a flash, the bodies of the angels melded together, enveloping Seraphim’s body in a smooth yet jagged layer of scale-like armor.

We rushed forth again, exchanging blows as Yukiko and I weaved between attacks. 

First Dance: Layered Snowstorm

Second Dance: Falling Thrust

She was getting faster with each clash.

A finger was cut free from Seraphim’s hand.

A stray crystal of corruption left a small gash across my cheek.

All the minor details of our battle vanished from my senses.

Only keep track of what’s important. My target, the core, Yukiko, and myself.

We had to keep going. This was only the first half of the battle.

“They’re switching again!”

“We’re not waiting this time. Strike when they’re vulnerable!”

Yukiko nodded.

Seraphim’s body jerked backwards an inch as if the second identity had been physically yanked out.

One second of silence.

Then, a ferocious roar, seething with hatred.

The armor around Seraphim’s body shattered as the first identity took full control.

Instantaneous Stage 2

Our fists collided, scattering all debris around us as a whirling mass of both wind and energy unfurled into the air.

Crack! It wasn’t yet enough.

“Yukiko!”

“Got it!”

First Dance: Layered Snowstorm

Second Dance: Falling Thrust

Third Dance: Ice Pick

She had managed to perform all three techniques in rapid succession, allowing not even a single opening.

The breach in Seraphim’s core now grew rather large, as small fragments began crumbling to the ground.

His eyes held steady on mine, his body beginning to fall backwards.

His mouth agape, he began screeching profanities in a language I couldn’t quite understand. However, the tone of his voice made everything clear enough.

We’d finish this battle right here and now.

Aura Release

I could feel Yukiko’s gentle aura enveloping and overlapping with my own.

Every ounce of aether I could muster poured out from the shards and into my body, cycling the mana of my aura faster and faster until rippling waves of energy pulsated through the air around me.

I swung with my left arm.

The cracks in Seraphim’s core and body expanded as fragments continued to come loose, but it hadn’t broken quite just yet.

I glimpsed a smirk creep onto his face as he attempted to overwhelm me with the entirety of his corrupted energy.

“Not.”

I breathed in.

“Yet.”

The first strike was simply to gauge my distance and angle of attack.

Cyclone Strike - Ascension

A flash of light erupted from my right arm as a blazing streak of mana and aether collided with Seraphim’s chest.

With a twist of my hand, I angled the force of my attack into an uppercut, releasing a rising burst of wind that shredded through his core and body.

Fragments of shattered corruption blew away, scattering off into the sky on the currents generated by the force of my blow.

“...You– bastard…”

With a final spark, the Seraphim before us vanished to nothingness.

Almost instantly, the scenery of the in-between vanished as well.

I felt as if I were falling endlessly once more.

I couldn’t feel Yukiko’s presence beside me, but Seraphim’s voice was still as clear as ever.

“The fight out there will be much more difficult.”

I sighed, looking down, before returning my gaze to the nothingness before me.

“Let’s go. One more round.”