Compared to the time when he had converted the energy of an entire batch of Ultra Capsules, Fukuide Kei found this conversion of Juggler's dark power far less demanding.
As a result, the time required was significantly shorter.
Before long, the energy within Fukuide Kei's Sturm Organ completed its phase conversion and began flowing back into Juggler's body.
"I can feel it—the energy is coming back!"
Juggler sensed the circulation of power within himself and spoke aloud.
The colours of his body immediately grew more vivid and radiant.
However, the black portions of his form showed no sign of fading.
Growing anxious, Juggler consciously guided the newly converted light energy toward the areas of his body that had originally housed darkness.
Boom!
A muffled explosion erupted within him.
In an instant, Juggler was forcibly knocked out of his transformation, reverting to his human form.
"Failed…?!"
Staring at his own hands, Juggler could hardly believe it.
He never expected that enlisting a Sturm alien to convert his energy would still end in failure.
"I'm sorry," Fukuide Kei said quietly, unsure how else to respond. He reached out and patted Juggler on the shoulder.
"It's alright, Juggler," Yuzhou stepped forward and said calmly.
"Sometimes, dark power is actually quite useful."
"There's no need to be obsessed with becoming a warrior of light."
"Yuzhou-san…"
Juggler exhaled deeply.
"It seems I simply don't have the fate of a warrior of light."
"Dyna was right. I was never suited for it."
"Juggler."
Yuzhou paused, unsure how to respond.
"Tell me—do you believe Dyna, or do you believe me?"
"I believe you, of course, Yuzhou-san," Juggler replied without hesitation.
"As long as you believe me," Yuzhou said firmly, "you don't need to keep fixating on becoming a warrior of light."
"I… I'll calm down and think things through," Juggler said, shaking his head.
Watching him, Yuzhou fell into deep thought.
This mattered far more to Juggler than he had expected.
If his inner knot was not resolved, it would continue to bind him indefinitely.
After bidding farewell to the others, Fukuide Kei opened a spatial wormhole and departed.
With his current strength, dealing with monsters fused with Devil Splinters posed little difficulty.
Laiha and Pega initially tried to persuade Riku to continue their journey, but Belial expressed his desire to rest on this Earth for a while—so they all stayed.
As for Zero, Yuzhou did not try to stop him.
Zero still carried responsibilities tied to the Land of Light, and in the battle against Tartarus, the Ultimate Force Zero remained the true main force.
That night, before falling asleep, Yuzhou gave Juggler's situation some serious thought.
By the time morning came, he had reached a conclusion.
After breakfast, Yuzhou took out Charija's suitcase.
"The only one who can truly untie Juggler's knot… is Mikoto."
Muttering to himself, Yuzhou began adjusting the suitcase.
This time, his destination was a parallel version of Orb's original world.
After chasing Tartarus through multiple parallel universes, Yuzhou had largely mastered the method of traversing them.
Mikoto was one of Queen Amate's royal guards on Planet Kanon.
She admired Juggler deeply and had long wished to become his disciple.
Yet during the great war, she was accidentally killed by the Bezelb, dying right before Juggler's eyes.
If Mikoto could be saved in a parallel universe, perhaps Juggler's inner knot could finally be undone.
Traveling to a parallel world was crucial.
Mikoto's death had occurred directly in front of Juggler—
Returning to the past to change that event carried an extremely high risk of temporal collapse.
Without absolute certainty, Yuzhou would not attempt it.
A parallel world was the safest solution.
The calibration took some time, but eventually a white ring of light spiraled out from the time device.
"Let's go."
Standing before the white wormhole, Yuzhou spoke softly.
The next instant, both he and the suitcase were swallowed by the vortex.
High atop a towering tree—
Yuzhou fell out of the white wormhole.
He landed steadily on a thick branch and immediately realized something was off.
He was in the sky.
This tree had grown to an unimaginable height.
"No… this is—"
Between the branches, Yuzhou spotted large, shimmering fruits—each larger than a clenched fist.
"The Tree of Life."
He instantly understood where he was.
The crown of the Tree of Life.
Looking down, he saw countless black dots clashing with groups of people below, the noise of battle rising in a chaotic din.
"The timing's incredibly precise…"
Putting the suitcase away, Yuzhou casually plucked a large bag of Tree of Life fruits and stored them in his spatial ring.
There were plenty on the tree anyway—no one would notice a few missing.
On the ground—
Those dense black dots were not people, but Bezelb.
Though not the giant variants, these twenty-meter-class Bezelbs were far from weak.
Battling them were the native defenders of Planet Kanon.
"Native" was perhaps not the best term—
They were simply Kanon's indigenous people.
In appearance, they were almost indistinguishable from humans on Earth.
Two armies clad in black and white fought fiercely against the swarm of Bezelbs.
Most wielded cold weapons—long blades, swords, katana-like weapons.
The Bezelbs, meanwhile, attacked using the sharp stingers on their arms.
These stingers were not only lethal but injected a toxin upon penetration—
A toxin that drove victims mad and placed them under the control of the Bezelb leader.
That leader was a monster known as Queen Bezelb.
Beyond the battlefield below, a higher-tier clash was unfolding nearby.
Dyna and Orb were locked in combat with red-eyed monsters.
Near a hill stood a golden figure—
No, not a golden man.
It was Queen Amate, transformed into the Warrior Goddess.
"The Dyna and Orb of this world… aren't the ones I know," Yuzhou noted calmly.
In parallel timelines, he had never crossed paths with them.
Queen Amate stood near the hill, hoping to communicate with Queen Bezelb and persuade the invaders to withdraw.
Queen Bezelb stood proudly at the hill's peak.
"Only fools try to negotiate with invaders," Yuzhou shook his head.
"Do they really think a few words will make them retreat?"
Queen Amate was fundamentally unfit to rule Planet Kanon.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Yuzhou noticed a small blue figure near the Queen.
Looking closer—
It was Musashi, wearing a blue jacket.
"Cosmos is slacking off again."