When it tried to leap away, a giant hand made of flames suddenly grabbed and pulled it back down. It immediately retaliated with a frenzy of sharpened roots that launched Tyson far from its body.
They struck him square in the gut, but before they could fully pierce through, the flames coating him destabilized their structure and burned them hollow.
When he tore apart the roots pushing him away, he failed to notice the Spire streaking after him until it delivered a brutal blow to his head that slammed him into the ground beneath the flaming water.
The Spire didn't relent.
Even as its hand caught fire, it seized him by the neck and hurled him down again with greater force, as though expressing seething frustration.
Tyson roared, unleashing a surge of flame that blasted his opponent away, but the Spire leaped aside to avoid the brunt of it.
It then sliced off the arm that had ignited before the fire could spread further.
Tyson had gained an advantage in raw damage output, but that was all. His physical ability was severely lacking in comparison.
Putting him down would have been simple. And it intended to do exactly that, until it attempted to regenerate and realized its efforts were futile.
A tongue clicked in disappointment.
It looked up to see the silver human seated casually on a chain glowing with blue light. "You haven't noticed it yet? You ate and ate, but you didn't even realize you'd been cut off?"
Only then did it understand. Its influence over the boundary had been seized, and its means of regrowth had been severed entirely.
To make matters worse, above Cosmo, several of those chains channeling blue flames were arranged into a parabolic ring.
Through them, Cosmo was now connected to every side of the cocoon, leaving it wholly at the mercy of his Authority.
It immediately leaped with everything it could muster.
Simultaneously, it abandoned all conservation of energy and opened a rift to erase the distance between them.
But it was too late.
Cosmo had already snapped his fingers.
It froze the moment it struck him, as though its blow carried no force at all.
Instead, like a sculpture made of sand, the Spire and the surrounding structure began to crumble.
Its rigid forms softened into roaring sandfalls, pouring downhill like cascading grains.
The towering shape collapsed into a broad, sprawling mound encircling them.
Red's chains vanished, broken apart by the wave of Cosmo's burst as he executed the skill.
What followed was a long quiet, then the sound of shuffling.
"Is it over?"
"Red, I swear…"
"Right, right."
Red erupted out of the mound that had unexpectedly buried him, only to be shut down before he could jinx their hard‑earned victory.
"I refuse to believe that's it, so it's best not to let your guard down yet. The major problem right now would be that." Red turned towards what Cosmo was pointing at, only to see his red‑haired friend still burning, and still rearing to charge.
"Is there something still wrong with Tyson?"
"Well, his focus was entirely on the wooden brat, so he's probably going to start attacking things at random. That's the only way to release the rest of the spark coursing through him."
"Randomly?" Red examined Tyson again as Cosmo's words began to feel inaccurate. "Captain… I'm pretty sure he's looking at you."
"Hm? Nah, no way. He wouldn't even recognize me in that state."Red saw Tyson's feet dig slightly into the ground as he prepared to charge. "N–no, he's definitely looking at you."
When Red reaffirmed his impression, Cosmo finally paid attention, just in time to see his red‑haired officer take one step towards him.
Then he had no choice but to accept the truth.
"Nooo…" he warned.
Tyson bared his teeth, something Cosmo would have mocked if it weren't aimed directly at him.
"Don't you dare…"
He launched himself at Cosmo, burning with blue light, and the latter immediately leaned back to dodge.
Before Tyson could continue, he was rendered out of commission when Cosmo clapped once right before his face.
The flames vanished instantly, and Tyson collapsed to the ground, unmoving.
"Thanks to that idiot, we now have a love‑hate relationship. Don't we, my precious?" Cosmo muttered as he straightened, lamenting how the Spire had caught him off guard with another version of that convenient skill.
He then bent down and poked the unconscious boy like a dead animal. "He's spat in the face of his covenant way too many times today. It's safe to say his punishment will be soon. He won't die, but it'll hurt a lot."
"That explains why you never told them the consequences of breaking a covenant," Red concluded as he hoisted Tyson onto his shoulder.
"The fee is different for every individual, so it's not something easily predicted. But I doubt it would've changed their choices even if I did." Cosmo suddenly draped his jacket over them, and the scales converged with the charred remains of Tyson's uniform.
Try as they might, Tyson's scales couldn't fully adapt to the ever‑burning flames coating him. They only managed to build enough resistance to slow their incineration.
Seeing how much mass had been lost, Cosmo chose to reinforce them with his own, as Tyson was still critically damaged internally.
Then he noticed an oddity.
He had covered both of them to discreetly deal with the gash across the right side of Red's face, but the scales didn't move to mend it.
The most plausible reason was that Tyson's injuries were too severe for the scales to divert attention.
But that didn't explain why Red's own scales weren't doing the same.
Meaning the true reason had to be that Red himself didn't want it healed.
"Is there a reason you won't allow that wound to be sealed?" he asked.
"Oh, this? Are you kidding? Any guy hopes to get a cool scar after a big fight." He chuckled. "I know I sound like Yon right now, but it's really how I feel, so can I just have this one?"
"…Alright." Cosmo wasn't sure how to respond. Instead, he withdrew and patted them off.
"As I thought, we're not done here…" Out of the dust, the shadowbeast formed again, returning without the arm it had lost before.
With a feat that seemed illogical, it had remade itself using the minuscule amount of energy left in its veins.
"Okay, be careful," Red said before turning and leaving with Tyson resting on him.
"Red…" He stopped before leaving the area.
Cosmo felt compelled to say something, even if it felt strangely timed. "It wasn't your fault."
Red didn't reply, nor did he turn around.
"In fact, you were incredible. Don't ever pretend that isn't the case."
After hearing this, Red silently continued onward, heading toward the Nebula's predetermined rendezvous point.
Cosmo watched them depart before turning toward the Spire, which, oddly, had not moved an inch since its regeneration.
"Did you manage to peek?" he asked. "It would explain why you're not taking action anymore. You must have realized it's the end of the road for you, no matter what you do."
"…"
"And even if you somehow escaped me, Clarisse and Oliver have probably reached the meeting point by now. Those two working with the kids would be more than enough to handle you."
It offered no reply, but Cosmo didn't seem bothered. He simply continued speaking his mind.
"If you're wondering how I first learned how to change the future you saw at every turn, I'm afraid that'll have to remain my little secret, mostly because I'm obligated to return with you unscathed. Even if you can't speak, there are some things I'd rather not let slip."
Countermeasures for dealing with particularly strong forces and creatures of the Conmundia were never discovered by accident.
Veil protocol dictated that any anomaly of which safe capture was feasible must be immediately contained and returned for research.
"Even ignoring the priority that comes with you being a Spire, you're far too developed for a Shadowbeast this young. I'm aware you also have access to her Authority. You simply never used it, since I'd easily usurp my own officer's."
This time, Cosmo approached it himself.
"She might have… she is a big idiot, but tricking an Eminent tied to Desolation is quite the feat. I could tell she was fully convinced. That cocoon was never meant for the brat to bloom. And refining Blue was never for her either. All of it was for one obvious purpose."
Access to an Authority powerful enough to show signatures of Desolation, energy siphoned from an entire boundary, simulated growth worth many void ages, and a fresh vessel capable of sustaining the sheer potential.
For all Cosmo could imagine, such a gluttonous feast for a Spire pointed to the highest state of power attainable by any entity in the Conmundia.
That state was 'Realization.'
For all Eminents, monsters, and Shadowbeasts, there exists an imagined ideal.
A Prime, among infinite hypothetical possibilities.
When certain difficult conditions are met, and an entity steps onto the roadmap toward its imagined ideal, a major concentration of energy can allow it to steal the place of its Prime.
For most living beings, this state is temporary.
But for Shadowbeasts, creatures that break fundamental laws merely to exist, this time limit does not apply.
If a Shadowbeast achieves Realization, it becomes the utmost priority of Veil as a whole, not only a sector.
The only issue with Cosmo's hypothesis was one he had mentioned before, this Shadowbeast was simply too young.
To begin the process of Realization, an existence must be so consolidated into the world that it cannot be overwritten.
This Spire was neither powerful nor experienced enough to attempt such a feat without a framework to mimic, even if it lived by instinct.
The conclusion was that either his guess was wrong, or–
"You had help. Someone guided you through this, didn't they?" he concluded, piecing his thoughts together aloud. "Conventional time travel is impossible as far as I'm aware, but I can't say the same about finding a loophole to determine what is 'true'. Regardless, those beings would never allow even that kind of attempt if they had a say. Apostles are particular in that manner. You both should've been erased in a blink, unless someone intervened on your behalf. Incidentally, there's a high chance that the same force is the reason we ended up on Hortusole, so I'm inclined to find out who or what is pulling the strings, and what they want from my Nebula."
The Spire still gave no reaction.
It remained still and silent, offering nothing to confirm or deny his suspicions.
"No matter," Cosmo said. "Your existence is the best clue possible. It'll be easier to figure things out once I have you captured, which seems inevitable with the way things are. Even though she failed to kill me, she successfully conveyed her disdain, while you will only end up as nothing. You will have achieved not a bit out of your prime directive, and your existence would have been for naught. What do you say to that?"
CRRRACK!
It moved.
Its palm pressed against nothing tangible, yet violet sparks ignited before it.
A heavy condensation of violent force began to gather, warping the space around it as it prepared to unleash a devastating outburst using the remainder of Rita's Authority.
Whether it was responding to his words or making a final attempt to bring him down, one thing was certain, it no longer cared whether Cosmo would usurp Rita's outburst from it.
Its first and only use of that Authority, born from Grace. would be the strongest it could muster.
"I appreciate that."
In response, waves of light in different colors began to converge into a sphere on the palm of Cosmo's right hand.
His iris took the shape and color of an emerald star once again.
"You're not something I can ever allow to exist. It's probably for a selfish reason, but that's what my mind has determined."
Resonance: Sufficient.
Conception: Seventy‑four percent successful.
Nebula's Active Solution = "Stardust Rhapsody."
Cosmo had been intentionally blatant about the strengths and limitations of his Authority during his battle with Artoria, all to confirm that one more secret had remained hidden.
He confirmed that the Spire had acted upon every weakness he revealed and had never considered the obscure details he would never expose, including how he accessed the story of each of his officers without needing battle.
He wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed that the girl from the future had left without ever learning that secret.
Controlled on his hand were the flames of a pertinacious fool, fanned by the delusions of a cowardly soldier.
They sharpened the abundance of the crimson dreamer and were harmonized by the channels of the meek seeker.
Around the troupe, a veil of borrowed grace from the ignorant but steadfast devotee enveloped the work, giving it shape and stability.
At its core, the outburst of a troublesome girl took root, its detonation primed to execute his creation.
The orb looked out of place, like a fracture planted upon the fabric of the world rather than within it, a testament to its impossible density.
Simultaneously, they both released their attacks.
***
They weren't given the chance to greet each other, nor could they express their shock when Clarisse appeared out of thin air before them.
She immediately rushed to the girl lying at their center and wasted no time kneeling to tend to her.
Surprisingly, just like the scales, she didn't attempt to close the wound.
Instead, she reassembled the chaotic state of flesh and bone, then sealed it with a strip torn from her uniform, and infused it with a command to maintain its state until they could determine how to proceed.
The others sighed in relief when color returned to Rita's skin. But the moment was short‑lived as their surroundings were illuminated with harsh, unnatural intensity, causing the shadows around them to leap across the ground.
When they turned, none of them could comprehend what they saw.
An enormous violet mass filled the sky, then was met by a glowing white‑hot sphere that expanded instantly.
The collision caused the colors to shift wildly as the explosion grew.
It would have been disastrous if it expanded outward, but instead, it rose into the sky, its top spreading outward into a massive cap like a mushroom cloud.
Following the explosion, multiple overlapping sounds, louder than thunder, echoed across the land.
Clarisse immediately erected a golden barrier around them, and the reason became clear when a massive surge of wind slammed against it, strong enough to shake and uproot everything nearby.
Among the many thoughts racing through their minds, the one they all shared was simply how their Captain would possibly survive being at the center of that blast.