A Distant Reverie

Chapter 114

Kronii opened her eyes. The back of her head seared with a dull pain. She rubbed the area where she was hit, indulging in the novel sensation of pain. In the grand scheme of things, it was nothing more than a scratch for an immortal like her. But the pain snapped her out of her manic episode.

She glanced around. The surroundings of the spire were a mess. Azure rain and specters filled the airspace. Mana rampaged in the vicinity in violent turbulence. But everything was now still, frozen in time.

I must have instinctively set up a temporal sphere.

She looked down. The trio that she pulled from their respective worlds were below. Vesper and Marine were at the stairwell, desperately trying to fend off the specters swarming their position. Vesper was haggard, a pool of blood smeared across his mouth, an exasperated expression etched on his face. Frustration. He must have been flustered that he was limited by his constitution once more.

Marine had both swords in hand. Her face was monstrous and livid. A group of specters were in the midst of being severed by her blades.

Lastly, there was Suisei. The young lady was mid-air, a blast rifle in hand, her determined eyes locked in on where Kronii stood. She must have been the one to knock out of her insanity.

Kronii groaned as she took in the damages of the spire.

Sorry, you three. But I—

Her chest suddenly felt like it was about to split apart. The message within the memory bubble flooded back in her mind. It came from Sana. She, Fauna and Mumei were all gone. They had relinquished their divinity and immortality. She would never see them again.

Why...?

The tears arrived again. She felt the wave of emotions inside her threatening to swell once more. She tried to hold it back, but the storm was too much. Grief. Anger. Betrayal. Longing. Hate. Disgust. The latter was mostly towards herself for not being strong enough to compose herself.

She wanted to scream.

"Kronii!"

"Stop! Stop!"

"Not again please!"

Huh?

The familiar voices of her friends suddenly echoed in her head. Confused, she raised her head. A part of her wondered if she was hallucinating. Another part of her was delighted to indulge in this reverie, even if it was just a trick of her mind.

The diminutive forms of Sana, Fauna, and Mumei stood in front of her. Their appearances took a faint bluish hue. Translucent. They were mana constructs, likely left behind by the three to manifest within the spire at the proper time.

"I'm not going insane, am I?" Kronii asked as she rubbed her eyes clear.

"I think you already went insane," Fauna said.

"Yeah, I told you guys she was not going to take this well," Mumei said tiredly.

"Kronini! I wrote in the memory bubble to read until the very end! How could you not listen?" Sana yelled cutely, feigning indignation.

"I...I don't—"

"The three of us were supposed to show up like this after the memory bubble faded. The mana used to recreate Sana's memory was going to coalesce and give our thoughts the tangible form that you see now. We were then going to give you a proper farewell. The problem was that you broke everything before it could happen!" Fauna scolded.

"You better thank those three. They did everything they could to bring you back to your senses. Honestly, if they failed, you might have destroyed this entire spire on your own."