Hate me, Miss Witch!

Profound darkness spread out, devoid of the slightest light. The path ahead was invisible, the direction unclear.

A thinly dressed girl walked through the snow until her strength was completely exhausted. She stumbled, kneeling in the snowy ground.

Countless snowflakes eroded Silvia's body, turning into a chilling cold that penetrated her bones.

Little by little, they stripped away her body heat.

Silvia felt her body growing colder by the moment. The blizzard was taking not only her warmth but also the flickering flame of her life, as unstable as a candle in the wind.

That flicker of life slowly dimmed in the storm.

Her physical sensations began to collapse: first, numbness in her hands and feet, then her torso.

Finally, even her consciousness and memory began to be drawn away.

The few precious images in Silvia's memory were fading like mirages, gradually swallowed by the blizzard's icy darkness.

Conversations over milk tea in the garden, and her determination to become a Beastmaster.

The promise made on the beach to see the world across the Grant Sea.

And the warm embrace in the Grant Sea on a winter night.

"Brother Shiayar... Brother Shiayar... Brother Shiayar..."

Amidst the roar of the blizzard, the girl's cries echoed. All her memories had become blurred; even the dark-haired boy's face was fading.

But Silvia still uttered this name, the name she was unwilling to forget even at life's end.

But at that very moment, Silvia felt a faint, warm current gently ripple from her soul.

It filled the void that was eroding her life.

The blizzard quietly dissipated, along with the all-consuming darkness.

In their place shone boundless, resplendent starlight.

...

Silvia opened her eyes blankly. She was on a soft bed in an unfamiliar civilian house.

She felt her physical condition was better than it had ever been.

The seal on the Bronze Crucifix had indeed shattered.

Yet now, a new Stars Chalice—far more profound and gentle than the Bronze Crucifix—had filled her Spiritual World.

The once-filthy and murky power in the depths of her soul was no longer dark and chilling. Instead, it felt incredibly intimate, as if she could summon it at will.

But then, Silvia's gaze froze.

Lit by the fiery glow from the burning city outside her window, Silvia saw the dark-haired boy resting gently against a ruined structure not far away.

In Silvia's recollection, Shiayar always maintained an appearance of having everything under control, his composure inscrutable to all. Even when facing Norton, he was no exception.

But now, by the flickering firelight, Silvia clearly saw the deathly pallor on Shiayar's face, utterly devoid of color.

Ignoring the peculiar state of her own body, Silvia's mind went blank, and she rushed to Shiayar's side.

Upon reaching the ruins, Silvia's previously blank mind was suddenly enveloped by sorrow.

Between Shiayar's fingers, the last wisp of starlight was slowly fading.

Silvia was filled with life, her Spiritual World illuminated by myriad stars—a stark contrast to Shiayar. Clad in a windbreaker, his skin utterly devoid of color, he struck Silvia with an indescribable sense of unreality, like a fragrant telosma reflected in water.

Although there was a manifestation of light and shadow, it was ethereal and elusive, sure to shatter at the slightest ripple.

"Brother Shiayar..."

From Silvia's mouth came a cry of grief that was unrecognizable even to herself.

With her spiritual power heightened by the Stars Chalice, she sensed the dark-haired boy's presence rapidly fading, irrevocably approaching nothingness.

Perhaps in the next minute, or even the next second, he would be forever erased from this world.

She was about to lose Brother Shiayar.

The moment this premonition struck, overwhelming panic seized Silvia's body and soul.

"Sorry, Silvia."

"The promise I made to take you to see the distant lands across the Grant Sea... it looks like I won't be able to keep it."

Shiayar's voice was calm.

He sensed that this place, the Ancient Dukedom Azure Garden—this Echo of History—was collapsing after he had killed the Twilight Incarnation. It would soon cease to exist.

The mighty power from the river of time was constantly washing over him, seeking to erase Shiayar, an interloper from a different timeline.

His remaining time was running short.

And for the people living in this Echo of History five hundred years ago, this farewell was tantamount to a final parting, like that of death.

So in these final moments, Shiayar dropped all his facades.

He looked at the tearful girl before him, a tenderness in his eyes that Silvia had never seen before. "My story ends here, and the Azure Garden Dukedom is probably heading for its doom."

"But for you, your life is just beginning."

"The flaws in your soul have been mended. From now on, Silvia, you too can call yourself a Beastmaster."

"Do you remember what we said back then? You will become a mighty Beastmaster, far stronger than I could ever be."