IBHJ 1307

"No way... how is this even possible?" Kiara's face went pale with shock. "The Lord of Salvation is actually that person? But if that's true... wouldn't everything we've been doing be completely pointless?"

Demonic Bodhisattva gave her an indulgent smile, then gently pushed Kiara toward the exit.

"My other self, you need to go secure that future, Kiara."

As Kiara disappeared from view, Demonic Bodhisattva's expression shifted. She turned away and spoke calmly into the darkness. "So, are you here to get your revenge on me?"

Manaka stepped out from the shadows, shaking her head. "I used to want that... but not anymore. Besides, even if I do nothing, you're going to disappear anyway."

"Thank you."

"Did you tell Kiara everything you wanted to?" Manaka asked.

"Not even close." Demonic Bodhisattva's voice cracked. "There's way too much to say. Three days, three years or even thirty years wouldn't be enough. I want to be with her, to live alongside her, to watch her laugh and play with friends... but I'm out of time." Tears welled in her eyes.

Manaka stayed quiet for a moment before asking, "Do you regret it? For most of the time you spent with her, you played the villain. Like that time at the South American connection point when you pushed her into that beast egg. You knew the inside of that egg was actually the safest place for her. And since Ayaka was in there, you knew I wouldn't hurt her."

"I regret it, yes," Demonic Bodhisattva admitted. "But if I had to do it all over again, I'd make the same choices."

"Why?" Manaka pressed.

Demonic Bodhisattva gave her a knowing look. "Your hollow heart has already found someone to fill it. Do you really need to ask me why?"

Manaka didn't respond, just stood there silently.

"Your heart has already formed connections with others," Demonic Bodhisattva continued. "And it's exactly because of those connections that saying goodbye hurts so much. Your fate is the same as mine. I've been ready to disappear for a long time, but what about you? Are you prepared for that day?"

Manaka remained quiet, avoiding her gaze.

"Can I ask you for a favor?" Demonic Bodhisattva said softly.

Manaka's eyes widened in disbelief. "Seriously? You've nearly gotten me killed multiple times, and now you're asking me for help?"

"Please." Just that one word, barely above a whisper.

After a long pause, she let out a defeated sigh. "Fine. What is it?"

"I've already secretly transferred everything I could to Kiara, but I still worry she might get hurt. So please, look after her for me. I... I don't want to see her cry ever again."

"Yes, of course." Manaka turned away. "Believe it or not, I care about Kiara too."

With that, she walked away.

But she didn't notice something strange happening behind her—from the shattered black lotus, a mysterious essence suddenly burst free and slipped into her body.

Demonic Bodhisattva watched Manaka's retreating figure and whispered, "If you're willing to help me... then I'll help you too..."

She closed her eyes.

"Goodbye, Kiara Sessyoin. Goodbye, my friend." Demonic Bodhisattva's voice grew softer. "The road ahead... you'll have to walk it on your own."

With those final words, she dissolved into wisps of smoke and faded away.

The ground shook violently. RUMBLE. RUMBLE.

The Black Tree gave one final groan before completely collapsing in on itself.

Kiara had barely registered what happened when Demonic Bodhisattva pushed her out of the Fomoire Abyss. Before she could even process it, a massive shockwave came rushing toward her.

But just as it was about to hit, a brilliant light erupted from behind her. The light condensed, forming a pair of enormous hands that wrapped protectively around her. The violent shockwave crashed against them but couldn't break through.

"Thank you, my friend." Kiara closed her eyes, feeling safe within the embrace. "My very best friend."

When she opened her eyes again, the hands had disappeared.

…

The universe stretched out dark and cold around her. Gaia stared at the giant star burning in the distance. Even with her extraordinary senses, the heat felt overwhelming—so intense it seemed like it could burn her to nothing in an instant.

Below her, the Moon's usually brownish-yellow soil had turned fiery red, glowing like a sunset.

After she and the Moon had left the South American connection point, the Emperor had kicked them both out of the Solar System. Now they were being pulled toward the core star of this new system, helpless against its gravity.

Humans called this place a constellation. At its center sat a monster of a star about 45 billion times bigger than the Sun. Weirdly, its mass was only 32 times the Sun's, which meant its gravity wasn't quite strong enough to keep the system's planets in stable orbits.

But that didn't help the wandering Moon. Despite being tiny in comparison, it was still getting sucked in by the red giant's pull, hurtling toward the star faster and faster.

"I already sent a distress signal to Saturn. Just hoping he gets here in time..." Gaia watched the red giant star growing larger in her view, silently praying Saturn would hurry up.

Earth would be fine without her, so her death wouldn't really hurt anyone. It was embarrassing to admit, but she was actually scared of dying. Especially like this—being pulled into a star, burning up completely, her very spiritual particles disappearing forever.

Dying like that would be agonizing! Arcueid didn't mind pain, Fujimaru Shirou could stare death in the face without flinching, and most planets didn't even have self-awareness. But Gaia? She knew exactly what she was feeling—pure, undiluted fear. Part of her regretted ever developing a personality in the first place. Without one, she wouldn't be terrified right now.

The enormous gravity yanked the Moon deeper into the constellation system.

Just then, a massive planet appeared, heading straight toward the Moon.

Gaia realized it was over. The Moon would get caught in this huge planet's gravity, eventually smashing into pieces and taking her with it.

Saturn wasn't going to make it in time after all.

I just hope it doesn't hurt for too long, Gaia thought with a resigned sigh.

Suddenly, a message pinged through her planetary senses.

[BEEP—Message identification, authenticating identity.]

"Who's there?" Gaia asked, completely confused.

The UOs in the Solar System were special cases. Sure, there might be UOs in other star systems across the vast universe. But this unstable constellation couldn't possibly support a UO, let alone actual life. So where was this message coming from? The Pure Land, maybe? No, that couldn't be right—they never got involved in these matters. And there was no trace of Buddha's presence from the Pure Land.

[Identity verification complete, system Mother star sense and Mother star satellite.]

"Wait, this message... could it be..." Gaia's eyes lit up with sudden hope. "Sweetie? Is that you?"

A powerful surge of energy erupted from various planets throughout the constellation, connecting to form an invisible web that caught the Moon, stopping its deadly descent.

[Satellite traction complete. Mother star sense analysis complete, attempting message connection...]

Spiritual particles flooded in from every direction, coalescing into a giant figure that dwarfed even the hypergiant star. This enormous spiritual being gently cradled the Moon in its massive hands.

The Moon—so huge to human eyes—looked like nothing more than a speck of dust in those gigantic hands.

The spiritual giant sent a message directly to Gaia, and in that moment, she knew exactly who it was.

"It really is you, Sweetie!" Gaia couldn't contain her joy.

After who knows how many eons, Gaia never imagined she'd run into her long-extinct UO here—about 5,100 light-years from Earth in this random constellation. It was her beloved little comforter—Universe Type Alaya!

Turns out that during the Era of Stellar Origins, the ancient civilization had created their own universal counter force based on Gaia's design. They needed to ensure victory in the cosmic war and needed information-based life forms that could travel through space. That's how Universe Type Alaya came to be.