"That thing I saw in the vision... the object that fell from the sky into the World Tree," Tyla murmured, her voice echoing faintly through the silent chamber.

Her fingers brushed over the smooth surface of the copper lid

"So you are the missing piece?"

From her waist, she pulled out the copper pot and the copper ladle she retrieved from her pocket dimension pearl. When she placed them all together, they gave off a soft, comforting clink — mundane, yet strangely harmonious. Then they stopped after a small resonance.

"Oh, a full set..." Tyla muttered with a crooked smile. " divine kitchen set?"

She carefully placed the pot on the cracked floor, slipped the ladle inside, and then lowered the lid gently over it. For a moment, she waited — expecting light, sound, anything. But nothing happened.

The silence stretched on.

Tyla blinked, her expression shifting from anticipation to mild disappointment. "Hmmm... Nothing’s happening?" she muttered, tapping her chin. "Wasn’t this supposed to, I don’t know, shine or explode or summon a god or something?"

She crouched, inspecting the pot again, then sighed. "Maybe this Copper Lid has some sort of terrifying ability as the Copper Pot and the copper Ladle."

She reached into her belt and pulled out the small, gleaming pearl that held her pocket dimension.

"Fine," she said with a shrug. "I will check later."

She stored the pot, the lid, and the ladle inside the pearl — and at that very instant, the seed of the World Tree began to stir.

It was small, fragile-looking, no larger than a fingertip. Yet it pulsed with ancient power, a soft green glow enveloping it like the breath of life itself. It quivered once... twice... then shot upward like a streak of light.

Before Tyla could react, the seed darted straight into her forehead.

"Wha—!"

Her body froze as the green light entered her, flooding her mind with warmth. But it didn’t hurt. There was no burning, no tearing of flesh or spirit — only a deep, resonant vibration that hummed through her consciousness.

Then, just as suddenly, her pocket dimension pearl — was yanked out of her grasp. It floated for a brief moment, shimmering with the same green light, and vanished along with the seed into thin air.

Tyla blinked, disoriented. The room fell silent again, as if nothing had happened.

"Huh?" she muttered softly. "What... what just happened? The seed pulled my pocket dimension pearl?"

---

Yumina stood amidst the shattered remains of the colossal tree stump, the surface beneath her feet cracked like a spiderweb. A faint mist of aura and prana drifted up from the crevices, shimmering faintly in the pale light. Her voice echoed through the hollow expanse.

"Tylaaa!" she shouted, the name reverberating across the still air.

For a moment, there was only silence — broken only by the soft hum of wind through the ruins. Then, a faint rumble echoed from above.

Yumina frowned and looked up. "Huh? Something’s... falling?"

Her eyes widened as a figure plummeted from the sky, spinning uncontrollably. The moment she caught sight of the tattered body and cracked scales, recognition struck her.

"Kurt?!"

It was indeed Kurt — or what was left of him. His body looked battered beyond recognition, his scales charred and shedding, as if something had drained the very life out of him.

Before she could move to catch him, three powerful figures descended from the skies like comets, their presence shaking the ground.

The first was a dragon girl with obsidian-black horns, a tail flicking behind her, and dark wings that glimmered faintly. The second, a masked girl — smaller in frame — clung to the dragon girl’s back. And the third... a tanned-skinned woman wearing a revealing white dress that shimmered under the faint light. She let out a tired sigh.

"Enemy?" Yumina muttered and instinctively raised her weapon. But the moment she felt their aura, her heart skipped a beat.

The pressure was suffocating — deep, ancient, and overwhelming. Even at her Grandmaster level, she knew that a single misstep could mean her death.

Zuzia — the dragon girl — landed first, sniffing the air like a beast. "Sniff sniff. This place smells weird... calm and chaotic at the same time."

Myrtle folded her arms, her eyes flicking across the ruins. "It’s strange... I can feel peace in the air, but also corruption. Hmmm? Is the Air not chaotic."

Then, Zuzia froze. Her nostrils flared again. "Ahh... found hi—wait, her?"

Cracks began to form on the surface of the world tree stump. And A new figure appeared from the cracks — Tyla.

Myrtle took one look at her and burst out laughing. "Pffft... Hahahahaha!"

Yumina blinked, confused. "Tyla’s... friends?"

"Tyla?" Myrtle laughed harder, clutching her stomach. "Hahahaha, oh gods, this is rich!"

Zuzia’s orange eyes narrowed. "Why do you look like that?" she asked, clearly irritated.

Tyla blinked, her expression uncertain. What? do they know me? They feel familiar... especially that dragon girl. It’s like... part of my soul recognizes her.

She took a deep breath and spoke softly, "I’m sorry. I’ve lost my memories. I can’t remember anything... Are we acquaintances?"

Zuzia scoffed. "Acquaintances? We were close, you know!"

Before Tyla could respond, a weak cough broke the tension. "Cough... cough... Run... Run..."

Tyla turned sharply. "Kurt?" She ran to him. His breathing was shallow, his eyes unfocused.

"Ah, that guy?" Zuzia scratched her head. "Sorry, Tyle—uh, Tyla. He attacked everyone using glass shard thingy. So I just melted them all... It’s Real messy."

"Run... Look... how... we... entered..." Kurt wheezed, his voice barely a whisper.

Both Tyla and Yumina froze. Then, they slowly lifted their gazes upward.

"Miss Dragon..." Yumina began cautiously.

"You can just call me Zuzia," the dragon girl replied, smirking.

"Then, Zuzia," Yumina said, her tone serious. "Please tell me you used the factory passage."

"Ah? No..." Zuzia tilted her head. "We just barged in from above."

Tyla’s eye twitched. "You mean... through the restricted area?"

Zuzia crossed her arms proudly. "Yup! I sensed your presence from up there, so I just broke in. Easy."

Tyla closed her eyes and sighed heavily. "We’re cooked."

Outside, the entire island was already stirring. Alarms blared across the factory district as all the residents and hundreds of guards — some Grandmasters, others Divine Seekers — surrounded the forbidden area. The air trembled under the pressure of their combined auras.

Yumina’s expression darkened. "Tyla, let’s use your pocket dimension pearl. We can hide inside and escape quietly," she suggested through voice transmission.

Tyla’s reply came immediately. "That thing’s... kind of unusable right now."

"Oh, wonderful timing," Yumina muttered under her breath.

Zuzia grinned, her eyes glowing orange. "Hoho... I can feel them. We’re surrounded. This is getting interesting."

"No, this is not interesting," Tyla snapped, grabbing Zuzia by the arm. "We’re leaving — through the factory tunnels. Now."

"Yumina, take Kurt!"

"On it!" Yumina quickly lifted Kurt onto her back, ans began to fly.

The group dashed toward the passage they originally came from, just as several Divine Seekers dove through the gaping hole Zuzia and the others had made.

But Zuzia wasn’t one to run quietly. While being dragged by Tyla like a misbehaving cat, she took a deep breath and let out a deafening roar.

The sound shook the entire area. The ground cracked, the air rippled, and even the Divine Seekers staggered mid-air, clutching their heads as dizziness overwhelmed them.

"Zuzia! You’re gonna bring the whole place down!" Myrtle shouted, though she couldn’t supress her sigh.

"That’s the point!" Zuzia yelled back.

"Less roaring, more running!" Tyla barked, hauling her faster down the tunnel.

Behind them, Myrtle body glowed and stomped her foot hard. The earth trembled, and the entrance they’d used collapsed completely, sealing off their pursuers under tons of rock and debris.

The noise drew every guard and patrol away from the main complex — exactly what they needed.

By the time the first wave of guards reached the scene, the intruders were gone.

"Tyla, we’ll hide in this," Zuzia said, pulling out a pocket dimension pearl.

"You have one too?" Yumina blurted, surprised.

"Tyla gave me one," Zuzia replied proudly, giving Yumina a smug grin as if to show off.

For some reason, Yumina felt a flicker of irritation at that.

Zuzia tossed the pearl into the air, and in a flash of light, she, Myrtle, Lanny, and the injured Kurt vanished into it. Tyla quickly caught the pearl and slipped it into her uniform pocket.

Still dressed in their factory outfits, Tyla and Yumina blended easily with the crowd of workers rushing to and from the lower levels. The noise of machinery, hissing steam, and clanging metal filled the air — a perfect cover for their escape.

While the guards scrambled toward the forbidden area, Tyla’s group quietly slipped outside the factory.

After a while, Tyla released the others from the pearl. Zuzia stretched her arms and grinned. "Ah, that was fun. So, where to now?"

Tyla scanned the corridor ahead. "We’ll go back to our shop and talk there. It’s safer."

Zuzia chuckled. "You bought a shop? Even after losing your memory, your old habits never change."

As they started walking, Tyla suddenly felt a pulse from within — a faint vibration from the World Tree’s seed embedded in her consciousness.

From that glowing pulse, a ghostly silhouette of a girl began to emerge — it was Mana.