The world returned slowly.
Not with light—but with order.
Reeve knelt where he had fallen, one hand pressed into damp soil, breath ragged. The wild pressure inside him still surged, but it no longer tore at his veins. Instead, it flowed—guided, restrained, redirected.
A voice echoed within him.
Not loud.
Not emotional.
[Stabilization protocol engaged.]
[External mana overflow detected.]
[Temporary regulation authorized.]
Reeve's fingers twitched.
"…You again," he murmured.
[Clarification: You are alive because of 'me'.]
He almost laughed.
Almost.
The pressure inside him shifted, compressing inward like water forced into a narrow channel. His heartbeat slowed. The burning beneath his skin dulled to a steady warmth.
[Do not resist.]
[You are not controlling the mana.]
[You are allowing me to.]
Reeve clenched his jaw.
"…Just do it."
The flow obeyed.
Grass that had withered moments ago stopped dying. Cracks in the earth sealed themselves. The air grew still, heavy with moisture but no longer hostile.
Reeve inhaled.
Then exhaled.
And stood.
His legs trembled, but they held.
He lifted his head.
The first thing he saw was nothing.
The place where the water had spiraled moments ago was empty. No streams. No glowing mist. No presence.
"…She's gone?" he muttered.
A familiar weight pressed down on him.
Not mana.
Authority.
"You're upright," Lunareth's voice said from behind.
"That's an improvement."
Reeve turned.
She stood a few steps away, cloak fluttering lightly in the evening breeze. Her expression was unreadable—half relief, half calculation.
"You came fast," he said.
"I felt the seal strain again," she replied. "And then… something else intervened."
She glanced around once, sharp eyes scanning the terrain.
"You didn't control it," she added. "Did you?"
Reeve shook his head. "No. Something inside me did."
Her gaze sharpened. "That 'something' is becoming bolder."
Before he could reply—
A ripple passed through the air.
Like a stone dropped into an invisible lake.
Water gathered without sound, bending light as it formed behind Lunareth. A figure stepped out as if emerging from the surface of a calm pond.
Blue-white hair flowed down her back like liquid silver. Her presence was cool, soothing, and impossibly deep—like standing at the edge of an ocean you couldn't see the bottom of.
She smiled faintly.
"Long time no see, Lunareth."
Lunareth didn't turn immediately.
When she did, her lips curved—not into a smile, but something close.
"So," she said calmly, "you finally came to see me here."
The girl—fairy—tilted her head. "You always did end up in troublesome places."
Reeve looked between them, tension crawling up his spine.
"You two… know each other?"
Yuzora's gaze shifted to him for the first time.
Not predatory.
Not curious.
Assessing.
"Yes," she said softly. "We do."
Lunareth stepped forward, placing herself slightly in front of Reeve—not protectively, but deliberately.
"What do you want?" Lunareth asked.
Yuzora sighed, the sound like water flowing over stone.
"To prevent what almost happened from happening again."
Her eyes flicked to the cracked earth, then to Reeve.
"You were being hunted," she continued. "Poorly, but persistently."
Reeve frowned. "By who?"
"By people who don't matter," Yuzora replied. "Yet."
She raised a hand, and the air around them cooled further.
"This place is no longer safe. Neither for you,"—she nodded at Reeve—"nor for you, Lunareth."
Lunareth's eyes narrowed. "You're offering shelter."
"I'm offering distance," Yuzora corrected.
"A place where eyes don't reach easily."
Reeve hesitated. "And why help us?"
Yuzora met his gaze evenly.
"Because if you lose control again," she said, "the land will suffer before you do."
That sent a chill through him.
"And because," she added more quietly, "you don't belong to the ones chasing you."
Silence stretched.
Then Lunareth clicked her tongue softly.
"Tch. Always interfering at the right moment."
Yuzora smiled. "You're welcome."
Lunareth glanced at Reeve. "Can you walk?"
He nodded. "…Yeah."
"Good," Lunareth said. "Because we're going with her."
Reeve blinked. "Just like that?"
Lunareth leaned closer, her voice low enough only he could hear.
"You felt it too, didn't you?" she murmured.
"If she hadn't come… you'd be in chains by now."
He didn't argue.
Yuzora turned, water forming beneath her feet like a path.
"Follow me," she said. "The fairy routes won't stay open long."
As Reeve took his first step after her, the voice inside him stirred again.
[Observation: External entity 'Yuzora' possesses high compatibility with mana stabilization.]
[Recommendation: Proceed.]
Reeve exhaled.
Even my system agrees…
Behind them, Ironridge lay quiet.
Ahead—
Water shimmered, bending reality itself.
And Reeve stepped forward, not knowing that this was the moment his path truly diverged.