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For everyone except Maria, the sky suddenly darkened, the seas vanished, and everything else remained eerily still. Then, skeletons, ghosts, and zombies began crawling everywhere. People panicked and fled. So fought the undead, destroying a few, but the undead didn’t retaliate. Instead, they fled, offering potions and food to everyone.
Eventually, Maria’s family reached the city’s residents, assuring them that everything was alright. Though terrifying, the event was not harmful. Maria had saved everyone from death, knowing the Living Nightmare Dinsion posed an imnse threat that could have easily destroyed them all.
"So what’s going on outside?" Alma asked. "Maria...! Maria is fighting alone?! Why? What if sothing happens to her?! Is she going to be okay?"
"Calm down," Lucifer said. "Maria is alright. She’s strong, and we must trust her."
"Why can’t we go, dad?" Nyx asked him.
"I wish I could go, but she’s not even letting us escape," Lucifer sighed. "She has decided to do this alone..."
"We can only hope for the best..." Nia said. "Don’t worry, she has overco even harder challenges before, right?"
"Yeah but... I don’t think we’ve ever faced sothing like this before," Partner said, crossing her arms. "I... don’t know what will happen."
"..."
Eraldine gazed at the blackened skies, releasing her full Aura. Divinity and Dream Energy intertwined, forming a radiant tree of ethereal golden brilliance—a Holy Tree.
"If we cannot go outside, we must help her from here!" Eraldine declared. "Everyone, we’ll give Maria all our energy, everything we’ve got!"
"Is that even possible?" Sofia asked, confused. "We’re nothing compared to her. Will our power even make a difference?"
"Oh, it will," Arthur said, stepping forward and nodding. "My sister... I believe she has evolved. I can feel it because we’re connected as siblings. Alia, you feel it too, right?"
"...Yes," Alia nodded, sighing. "What’s going on? This... never happened in any of the other loops. What is this new foe?"
"It’s a creature born only in this loop, a monster from this final tiline we’re trying to save—a wall we must overco," Jonathan said, his eyes glowing brightly. "Fighting that thing directly would an our end, but Maria is different. She’s strong, and her abilities far surpass ours."
"Then what do you suggest? That we give her our power sohow?" Sofia asked. "I... Huh?"
"Sofia..."
Sofia’s eyes widened as she heard a familiar voice.
Her father’s voice.
An old man in his early fifties appeared, approaching the large crater where everyone had gathered.
He resembled the photos Maria, and her friends had seen in Sofia’s Nightmare.
He had short silver hair, a trimd beard, and weary blue eyes.
He wore a black and gray suit with polished black shoes, looking like a distinguished gentleman from a wealthy family.
Yet he appeared exhausted, gasping for air as he finally saw his daughter, whom he had been searching for all this ti.
"S-Sofia!"
"Father?!"
Sofia was stunned as her father rushed forward and embraced her, tears streaming down his face as he clung to her shoulders.
"I was so worried... Where were you?! What happened? I... I’ve been looking for you this entire ti..."
"Father, I..."
Sofia and her father both lived on this island, having purchased a manor. However, Sofia never visited him, choosing to reside in the Academy’s dorms.
Their relationship had never been strong, and Sofia was shocked to see her father crying for her now.
"I thought... you... you didn’t care for ?"
"What?! What are you talking about? Of course I care about you... you’re my daughter!"
"I..."
"I’m sorry, Sofia... this is all my fault."
"Your fault?"
"I made a terrible mistake! I...! I should have apologized to you, I should have tried to talk things out... Now that I see the world ending, I realize how much I’ve ruined your life... I..."
"Father..."
"There isn’t a day I don’t miss your mother... and there isn’t a day I don’t miss you... I’ve been so lonely since you left and never returned... I never had the courage to find you."
"..."
Sofia was furious. She gritted her teeth, clenching her fists tightly, yet...
She couldn’t bring herself to shout at her father or grow angrier with him.
Indeed, as he said, the world could end at any mont. Was it really the ti to be mad at others?
"I’m sorry for not coming to see you again... I... I thought you hated ..."
"No... I... I’m simply not good at... showing affection, I..."
"Dad... It’s fine... As you said, there’s no ti to talk about these things..."
Sofia smiled, kissing her father’s cheek and returning his embrace.
"I also missed you..."
As she shed a tear, her father, deeply moved, hugged her even tighter.
Everyone watched the scene in silence. Sofia’s Aura grew stronger after reuniting with her father, and she turned to Arthur.
"Arthur, you know what we can do?" Sofia asked.
"Yeah, Eraldine figured it out too, it seems," Arthur smiled.
"Yes..." Eraldine closed her eyes, her body dissolving into the giant Holy Tree she had created, which stretched toward the dark skies. "Everyone, touch the tree’s branches and infuse your energy into it. I will reach the ceiling and give Maria all we have—our energy, our power... it will beco hers."
Everyone understood, approaching the tree and, one by one, touching its ethereal branches and bark, infusing their energy. Even Sofia’s father joined, as did several students.
"Huh, to think she would steal our spotlight... I wanted to fight that thing too~" Cheng Xie sighed, touching the tree.
"For now, let us have faith in her," Artorias smiled.
FLAAASH!
As Maria evolved, an endless flow of Divine Dream Energy reached her. Her many eyes widened, realizing those within her Shadow Realm were still with her, giving the last of their energies.
"Everyone is counting on ..."
Maria’s body had now changed alongside everything else about her
The monster before her, a giant star of darkness, widened its single crimson eye as it faced her true, evolved self.
"Let’s end this, shall we?"
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