"Woof!"
The yellow-furred puppy reacted instantly.
Guardie lunged forward, knocking a Security Corps member who was trying to seize Gijera straight to the ground. With a snap of his jaws, he tore the flower from the man's hands.
"Guardie—here, give it to me!"
Seeing this, Cain extended his hand toward the dog.
Guardie was obedient. Unaffected by Gijera's pollen, he calmly handed the flower over.
Cain turned his palm, releasing a surge of light energy.
The Gijera was reduced to ash, burned completely away.
"My Gijera! My Gijera!"
The two Security Corps members who had been affected by the flower let out frantic screams and charged toward Cain as if their lives depended on it.
"Wake up—both of you!"
Cain grabbed one in each hand. His grip was ironclad, leaving them completely unable to break free.
With no other option, Cain struck each of them with a precise chop to the neck, intending to knock them unconscious.
"Ah!"
"Urgh!"
Both cried out in pain—but neither collapsed.
Cain stared at them, momentarily speechless.
…Was his strength too weak?
Frowning, Cain increased the force and struck them again.
"Urghhh!"
"Agh—!"
Two more cries rang out. The men still did not faint—only writhing in agony.
"Cain?"
Yuzare looked at him in confusion, clearly unsure why he was tormenting them like this.
"No, I was trying to knock them out," Cain explained helplessly.
"But they just won't pass out. This is ridiculous."
"I hit the right spot. The strength was right too. People always faint when I do this."
He scratched his head, genuinely baffled.
"Perhaps Gijera doesn't only paralyze the mind," Yuzare said after some thought.
"It may also prevent loss of consciousness."
"…Then what do we do?" Cain sighed.
"If we can't knock them out, this becomes troublesome."
"We bind them," Yuzare replied, shaking her head. "There's no other choice."
She then attempted to channel the Light into their bodies, trying to purify them.
But it failed.
"It doesn't work," she said quietly.
"I can't free them either."
Even the power of Light was insufficient to pull them from the illusion.
Somewhere on Earth—
On a vast plateau.
Within ancient ruins—
A colossal flower bud had emerged from beneath the ground at some unknown time.
Its roots plunged deep into the earth, and upon closer inspection, one would discover something horrifying—
They had already spread across the entire world.
A single ray of sunlight fell upon the bud, nourishing it with energy.
That ray was the only light leaking through the breach in darkness that Cain had once torn open.
Gijera.
The flower of extinction had already appeared.
Its next step was to usher all humanity into bliss—
and then end them within that happiness.
Though deeply tied to darkness, Gijera differed from other dark entities.
It was a plant.
And plants require sunlight to grow, to bloom, and to destroy.
Cain and Yuzare rushed toward the Central Royal City.
But something was wrong.
Inside the palace grounds, King Ord was leading his ministers on a leisurely stroll through the royal gardens.
More disturbingly—
Ord's face was flushed with joy, as though he were experiencing the happiest moment of his life.
"Father! Wake up! Please—wake up!"
Cain and Yuzare grabbed the king's shoulders, shaking him desperately.
But no matter how much they shook him, Ord only muttered incoherently, like a drunk lost in dreams.
"Damn it… Gijera!"
Cain clenched his fists in rage.
The entire garden was carpeted with blooming Gijera flowers.
Golden pollen drifted freely through the air, carried by the wind.
It filled the royal city—every street, every corner.
Even worse—
Some people had realized how dangerous the pollen was and had put on protective masks.
Yet every single one of them had still fallen into hallucinations.
"The pollen can penetrate protective masks?!"
Cain stared in disbelief.
"That shouldn't be possible."
Then why were he and Yuzare unaffected?
And Guardie, too.
"Why are we fine?" Cain asked directly.
"Because the Light protects us," Yuzare replied.
"Or rather—because we possess Hearts of Light. That's why Gijera cannot corrupt us."
She paused, then looked down at Guardie.
"But a dog possessing a Heart of Light… that's something I never imagined."
Guardie sat on the ground, tail wagging cheerfully.
"A dog with a Heart of Light," Yuzare murmured.
"I've never seen or heard of such a thing."
"Guardie is basically a Giant of Light now," Cain said, patting the dog's head.
After being bathed in the radiance of Orion, a Colour Timer, identical to that of the Giants of Light, had appeared on Guardie's chest.
Yuzare had noticed it earlier—but had lacked the presence of mind to mention it.
"…But where is Keshiva?" she asked suddenly.
They had searched much of the royal city, yet he was nowhere to be found.
"Did he leave the city?" Cain wondered aloud.
Then something clicked.
"Wait—you said anyone with a Heart of Light won't be affected," Cain said sharply.
"That means everyone still conscious across the world possesses one."
"Yes," Yuzare nodded.
Cain's eyes lit up.
"Then we can gather them," he said excitedly.
"Use the Light-Particle Conversion Devices. Turn them into Giants of Light."
"If we do that—our numbers will increase dramatically."
"…Your reasoning is sound," Yuzare admitted.
The world had fallen into chaos.
One Giant of Light was not enough.
Only by increasing their numbers could this catastrophe be stopped.
To ordinary people, the true origins of the Giants of Light were classified information.
They were told instead—
That the Giants had come from the distant Orion Nebula,
warriors of Light who crossed the stars to protect Earth from darkness.