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Lazuli smiled warmly and glanced at the floor for a mont before gently touching X0-9's crystal and nodding.
"When we were inside that Spirit Domain, and Blaze and I were within the Spirit Beast, we were all connected to you. You might not have realized it because you were asleep, but you were the one feeding us power."
"…I don't rember that, but… it makes sense. I was designated as the Core of the Spirit Domain by the Crystal Deity."
"Yes, we were connected. Our minds… our souls. I saw what made you who you are, X0-9. I know that despite what you say, deep down you long for freedom. You want to truly experience the world and life, don't you?"
"You don't know …"
"But… I want to know you! I want to help you. We're all here because we want to do sothing for you."
"…I thought you only wanted information from ," X0-9 said coldly.
"That is part of it," Kireina admitted honestly, "but it's not everything. I'm truly sorry for what you've been through, and I genuinely want to help. Lazuli and Blaze feel the sa, and they're like daughters to , so you can imagine I'll do everything in my power to support them in helping you."
"…Irritating," X0-9 sighed, closing his eyes.
Lazuli stepped closer again, her eyes full of emotion. She caressed the crystal and slowly infused her own psychic power.
Indeed.
"…?!"
X0-9's eyes snapped open, widening in disbelief at what he felt.
"Our connection wasn't aningless. Your power is incredibly vast, and it helped awaken as an Esper too."
"…"
"I may not be as strong as you, but… I understand what you've endured more than anyone here. Blaze does too. And we want to help you."
She spoke directly into his mind now, their telepathic link private.
Then Lazuli showed him sothing she had kept hidden until this mont—her own mories.
"I've suffered a lot too… See for yourself."
X0-9 would normally have refused, claiming disinterest, but the connection between them softened him more than he wanted to admit.
So he looked.
He saw her entire life, her countless struggles and tragedies, how she had lost everything over and over again.
It truly felt as if life itself had been trying to break her, as if Fate opposed her at every turn whenever she tried to stand.
"You've gone through so much… Lazuli…"
X0-9 let out a quiet sigh, realizing he might not be the only one here who had suffered terribly.
Perhaps there were people who had endured even worse and still kept moving forward.
"I… maybe I really don't know what I'm doing. Everything I've witnessed and learned has left my kind deeply scarred. I'm sorry… these might be the first real conversations I've ever had. I was always treated as nothing more than a tool."
"That's… all right," Blaze said gently, joining the telepathic link. "Your gift has connected us even more strongly. We want to help you too."
"Don't you want a body that can move freely?" Lazuli asked aloud. "If you don't want the system, that's fine. I think we can still make sothing, right, Kireina-sama?"
"I can definitely create sothing," Kireina nodded. "There are several possibilities, though none will be simple. His origin is a Cosmic World, so his true body exists at a Cosmic Level—he just doesn't know it yet. We can try awakening his real Cosmic Power."
"C-Cosmic… Power? ?" the Esper asked, stunned.
"As you and your people discovered, the Earth you ca from isn't the original. It's a copy created by entities beyond the stars with so greater purpose," Kireina explained. "There are two more layered worlds, forming three 'Floors' inside a massive Dinsional Dungeon. I believe they're trying to harvest sothing—perhaps an enormous accumulation of Fate."
"…Fate?" X0-9's eyes widened. "Why?"
"To alter reality itself," Kireina replied. "To do sothing that should not be allowed. eting you might have been this dying copy of Earth's will reaching out, begging to be saved instead of abandoned."
"…!" X0-9 looked down, finally grasping the truth. "How can I awaken this power?"
"It will take ti," Kireina said, glancing at Charlotte, who nodded in agreent.
"Yeah, but we'll manage," Charlotte added, adjusting her glasses. "I already have a few ideas. The quickest thod is the special drug we gave the humans we recruited—it strengthens the body and unlocks hidden potential."
"That could work," Kireina agreed. "I'll also craft so accessories to keep his body stable in the anti."
"Good thinking," Charlotte said.
"Hmm… damn it, he reminds of myself for so reason," Redgaria muttered, rolling his eyes. "Fine, I'll help too."
X0-9 stared in surprise. So many people he had only just t genuinely cared.
"Oh, you want to help?" Kireina teased. "And what exactly can you do?"
"Have you forgotten who I am? A Necromancer—better than anyone here," Redgaria replied. "My specialty is corpses and bodies. I can analyze his biology with my spells and eliminate that fragility completely… but I can't stay long. My sister is waiting."
"You're in Arica, right?" Charlotte asked. "Any strange news from there? According to what this child saw, even the President died."
"That's the weird part," Redgaria said. "Nothing. No reports of the President dying, no invasion from the Spirit Plane, no crystals everywhere."
"Wait, what do you an?" Kireina frowned.
"The President is alive and well," Redgaria continued. "If we're talking about recent events, it should be Richard Ford, correct?"
"Yes…" X0-9 confird. "But I saw his head explode."
"Exactly," Redgaria nodded. "I saw it too, yet he's perfectly fine over there. Arica is… bizarrely normal right now."
"Could the planet have shielded them from the disaster?" Wagyu spoke up at last. He had watched the Esper's mories in silence and felt quietly moved by the boy's pain. "From what we saw, the planet has a powerful protective chanism, doesn't it?"
"More like a consciousness," Kireina clarified. "It manifests a special dinsion whenever supernatural events occur to protect ordinary people."
"That's insane," Kekensha rumbled. "The kid's lucky he ended up here. You won't face anything like that in our territory."
"Uh…" X0-9 managed a small nod, still startled by the talking wolves. "Okay… thank you."
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