The moment he kicked down the door, Leon Crawford held his breath. The top floor of the Starlight Spire. A colossal device, over ten meters in diameter, roared at the center of the room. Seven-colored stellar force swirled in a vortex, mingling at the device's core and emitting a murky, blackened radiance. The very air warped, pressing against his skin with an oppressive weight. "[crying]...Big brother!" A pillar beside the device. Countless chains bound a small body. It was Lily. Her deep navy twintails had come undone, now a disheveled mess. Her face was pale, her lips parched. Even so, her ocean-blue eyes had unmistakably locked onto Leon. Her clothes were torn in places, and her exposed arms bore layer upon layer of red abrasions from the chains. "Lily!" Leon moved to sprint forward. "[cold]Hold." A withered voice echoed from the corner of the room. From the shadow of the device, an aged man stepped forth. His pure white robes were embroidered with gold thread forming seven stars, and at his chest gleamed a Starlight Crystal brooch marking his rank as a Stellar Officiant. Deeply etched wrinkles. Within his sunken eye sockets, clouded pupils fixed their gaze on Leon. In his right hand, a long staff harboring seven-colored stellar force. "So this is the Cardinal Council's direct guardian... the last Stellar Officiant." Refia stepped half a pace ahead of Leon. Her long silver hair shimmered iridescently in the device's light. Her violet eyes narrowed with vigilance, and the serpent brand on her right wrist—the one that devoured time—throbbed as if aching. "[cold]Stardust wretches. To think you would come this far." The Guardian struck the floor with his staff. In an instant, the seven-colored stellar force swelled explosively, surging toward the two as a shockwave. Leon reflexively crossed his arms to shield his face. —But. Time rewound. Reality itself traced back to the moment just before the shockwave was unleashed, to the instant before the Guardian's staff touched the floor. Refia's Chronoregression. "[angry]Now, Leon-sama!!" Refia's voice. Leon sprinted at full speed toward Lily. The Guardian's staff unleashed shockwave after shockwave, but all of them were deflected, rewound, and nullified by Refia's Time Star power. His hand touched the chains. The cold sensation of iron. Leon focused the power of Neptune, pouring indigo light into the lock. A clear click rang out, and the chains came undone. "[crying]Big brother... you really came..." "[gentle]I'm late. It's okay now." He lifted Lily's emaciated body into his arms. That was when it happened. The Guardian's staff struck Refia hard in the abdomen. "[scared]Guh...!!" Her body was sent flying, slamming into the stone wall. Dust rained down from the ceiling from the impact. Refia placed a hand against the wall, trying to stand—but the strength drained from her right arm, and she collapsed on the spot. "Refia!!" Leon sat Lily down in the safety of a pillar's shadow and ran back to Refia. "[whispers]...Please, do not mind me. More importantly, Lady Lily..." Her right arm. From wrist to elbow, her star veins had blackened like scorched paper, riddled with cracks. The price of Chronoregression. Her body, already pushed past its limits from the battles up to the seventh floor, had sustained fatal damage from this use. Leon wrapped both hands around her right arm. It was cold as ice. "[serious]No more... don't use it anymore." His voice trembled. Whether from anger or sorrow, he couldn't tell himself. He simply couldn't bear to see her hurt any further. "[sad]...I am so sorry." Refia smiled faintly, without strength. Leon stood. Indigo light converged in his left hand. His ocean-blue left eye began to glow from within. "[angry]You. Stay there and watch." He turned to face the Guardian. "[cold]The cursed power of Neptune... Do you truly believe such a trifle can defeat me, a Stellar Officiant?" "[angry]This isn't a curse." Leon declared it quietly, yet with force. "[angry]This is the power to reflect the truth. What you've hidden for four hundred years—I'm going to show everyone the real truth, right now." Before the Guardian could ready his staff, Leon closed the distance. He pressed his indigo-glowing left hand against the old man's chest. "[scared]Wh-what are you—" The Guardian's words cut off mid-sentence. The accumulated dregs of memory within him—the sinful memories of a Stellar Officiant who had erased dozens of children bearing Neptune's power from the records as "nonexistent persons," torn them from their parents, and confined them in underground dungeons for life—burst apart upon contact with the indigo light. Space warped. A dim room. A wailing infant. Small hands forcibly torn from a mother. *"This child is Stardust. For the good of the nation, your cooperation is required."* —A cold Stellar Officiant's voice. A father signing documents with trembling hands. The heavy iron door of an underground cell that would never open again. "[crying]Stop... stop it...!" The Guardian dropped his staff, clutching his head as he crumpled to the ground. The faces of children appearing within the phantasm—faces, faces, faces—none of them had he killed himself. But he had buried them alive. With these very hands, on paper, he had erased their very existence. Leon stepped past the Guardian and headed for the core of the phantasm projection device. The center of the device. Without hesitation, he plunged both hands into the nucleus where the seven-colored stellar force swirled. —In that instant. All sensation was bleached white. The seven-colored stellar force pierced through Leon's entire body, searing his nerves and shaking him to the marrow of his bones. He clenched his teeth. The taste of blood spread through his mouth. His vision flickered erratically, and a high-pitched resonant sound rang in his ears, threatening to rupture his eardrums. (*Like hell I'm losing...!*) Leon poured every last drop of his Neptune power into the device's core. The indigo light began to flow backward against the seven-colored vortex. Like a clear stream pushing back a muddy torrent, Leon's power of truth overwrote the entire device. The device shuddered under the overload, stone fragments fell from the ceiling, and cracks raced across the walls. And then— A phantasm of truth was unleashed from the Starlight Spire across the entire royal capital. The citizens of the capital—in their homes, on the streets, in taverns, in barracks—were suddenly enveloped in an irresistible vision. Scenes from four hundred years ago. Soldiers wielding seven-colored stellar force capturing, imprisoning, and killing people with Neptune's power, one after another. In the academic city, books recording the truth being burned. In the Stellar Manifestation rites, newborns with Neptune's power being torn from their parents and vanishing into underground cells. And—the truth of Neptune's power. It was not "phantasm and deception." It was the power of empathy and understanding—the ability to touch the wounds of another's heart and reflect hidden truths. The fact that the kingdom, for four hundred years, had falsely branded this star a "curse" to cement their own rule. All of it was poured into the minds of every single citizen with overwhelming vividness, engaging all five senses. From all across the city, screams and roars of fury began to rise. People collapsing in tears. People standing frozen in shock. People pressing in on soldiers. The four-hundred-year lie was now crumbling with an audible sound. —But. An abnormal light began to overflow from the device. Having finished transmitting the phantasm of truth across the entire capital, the device had reached its limit and was beginning to run wild. The seven-colored light enveloped Leon's entire body, trying to pull him into the device's core. "[scared]Leon-sama—!!" Near the ladder, mortally wounded and on the verge of death, Refia screamed. She placed a hand against the wall and rose on trembling legs. Her injured right arm hung limply, her blackened star veins a painful sight. Even so, she clenched her teeth and stepped closer, one step at a time. "[crying]Big sis Refia, you can't, your body is...!" Lily tried to grab the hem of Refia's clothes. But Refia quietly shook her head. With her left hand—the opposite of her damaged right arm—she clasped Lily's small hand back... and gently let it go. "[gentle]...It is all right. Lady Lily, please stay here." Refia stood behind Leon. His entire body was being pulled into the device, yet he still clenched his teeth with both hands plunged into the core—and she grabbed his left wrist with both hands. Not with the power of the Time Star. Not with the power of Neptune. Just with her own hands. Battered, wounded, trembling hands. "[crying]...I will not let go." Her voice was wet with tears. "[crying]I—will never, ever let you go...!" The warmth of Refia's hands tethered Leon's consciousness to reality. Within the rampaging device, Leon's body held its ground. —At that moment. The device, having exhausted its phantasm of truth, came to a halt with a thunderous roar. The seven-colored light vanished all at once. Silence. The strength drained from Leon's body. His consciousness faded. His vision turned white, distant. "[whispers]...Leon...sama." He heard a voice calling his name from far away. Warm arms caught his body. Her heartbeat reached him. Within that warmth, Leon let go of consciousness. ———— A cold wind brushed his cheek. "...Where... am I." Leon slowly opened his eyes. The indigo sky before dawn. The murmur of a river. The scent of damp earth. The banks of the Riviera River. He tried to sit up, but his arms had no strength, and he struggled. "[sarcastic]Yo. Finally awake, huh." Torchlight illuminated a familiar face. Ashen-brown, unkempt hair. Amber eyes. Three piercings in his left ear. Oswald Grim lent Leon his shoulder and helped him sit upright. His fingers bore their usual ink stains, and his clothes were dirty with mud and soot. He had just returned from the diversionary operation in the lower district. "[gentle]Lily... Refia...!" "[calm]Yeah, they're both safe. Lily's sleeping over there. Refia is..." Oswald gestured with his eyes. Beside Leon sat Refia Arcronos. Her entire right arm was blackened, resting limply on her lap. Her complexion was white as paper, her lips bloodless. Her long silver hair was disheveled, her violet eyes clouded with deep pain—yet she was awake. She had not moved a single step away from Leon's side. "[whispers]...Thank goodness." Refia murmured in a hoarse voice, her cheeks wet with tears. From the royal capital across the river, confused shouts and countless lights spilled forth. Citizens who had seen the phantasm flooded the streets, and the sound of people confirming the truth with one another could be faintly heard on the wind. The Starlight Spire still stood silently, but the seven-colored light at its peak had vanished. "[serious]A skiff and waterway maps. You can make it through to Porto Eterna." Oswald pressed a bundle of maps into Leon's hands. "[serious]Move before dawn. It's chaos now, but once day breaks, the pursuers will come in earnest." "[gentle]What about you..." "[sarcastic]Jeez, I'm an info broker, remember? Disappearing's a piece of cake for me." Oswald shrugged lightly, but his eyes were kind. Deep within his amber pupils, a profound trust in these young people coexisted with worry. Leon tried to stand. That was when. His sleeve was gently tugged. It was Refia's slender fingers. She kept her head down, her lips trembling. Her blackened right arm quivered faintly, and her left hand desperately clutched Leon's clothes, refusing to let go. "[whispers]...Leon-sama." Her voice trembled. "[whispers]Not as an order... nor as a mission." A single tear traced down her che