Central Europe. Inside the area that used to be the Republic of the White Eagle, now covered by the Serene Miniature Garden.
"Bronya, it's getting colder lately. Should we go into town and buy some winter clothes?"
Seele stood in the vegetable garden that Project Bunny had been maintaining. She looked over at the gray-haired girl who was carefully picking vegetables beside her.
Not far away, the puppet version of Cocolia sat quietly in her wheelchair. Her face had some color now compared to before, and her white hair had grown out a little. In Seele's eyes, she was doing an acceptable job playing the role of a mother who no longer interfered with their lives. She was satisfied with that arrangement.
Of course, that was only from her perspective.
Bronya still couldn't bring herself to abandon her adoptive mother, even if she was just a puppet now. Luckily, Bronya didn't know the truth behind it, and Seele had no plans to tell her. It was just a doll. Even if Bronya took care of it sometimes, and even if Seele occasionally had to help, there was nothing worth getting jealous over. She could treat it like playing with a bigger toy.
They had been living inside this lie for a while now.
But lately, Seele had started feeling uneasy.
Over the past few days, she had been using Project Bunny to quietly observe what was happening outside the Box Garden. She knew things were getting worse in the outside world. The Newborn World Serpent was moving more aggressively, and Kevin's side had been tightening their grip. She had a bad feeling that this fragile peace she built wouldn't last much longer.
Still, she tried not to think about it too much. As long as she didn't cause trouble, maybe they would leave her alone.
Until today.
"Seele, you're right. We should start preparing for winter—"
BOOM!
A violent explosion shook the entire area.
Bronya almost fell over in the garden. The puppet Cocolia toppled over along with her wheelchair.
"!!!"
Bronya's face turned pale. She tried to run over, but a purple-black illusory butterfly suddenly appeared in front of her. The next second, her body went limp and she collapsed.
Seele caught her before she hit the ground.
She quickly carried Bronya into the wooden cabin, laid her on the bed, took off her shoes, and covered her with a blanket. Only after making sure Bronya was safe did she step outside again, her expression cold and sharp.
"Project Bunny."
The quantum robot appeared immediately.
"Watch over Bronya. Bring that thing inside too. Same rules as always — don't do anything unnecessary. Don't let anything slip."
She pointed at the puppet Cocolia still lying on the ground, then dissolved into countless illusory butterflies without waiting for a reply.
Rebuilding her body had become second nature to her. If she wanted, she could create as many temporary bodies as she needed.
Using this ability, a swarm of butterflies appeared outside the Serene Miniature Garden and quickly formed into a temporary body. Seele didn't bring her real body here. She controlled this one and looked up at the sky.
A familiar face.
One she really didn't want to see.
White hair. Black clothes. Cold eyes.
Kevin Kaslana.
"Why are you here again?"
Seele floated up to meet him at eye level. Her purple-black dress moved in the wind.
"I already told you not to come near this place."
"Fourth Herrscher. You broke the agreement first," Kevin said in a low voice. "You turned seven leaders into your puppets and used them to spread negative rumors against us."
Seele frowned.
She hadn't done anything like that. Why would she waste time on something so troublesome?
Wait… seven?
"That wasn't me," she said, clearly annoyed. "I only made a deal with—"
"Otto Apocalypse," Kevin cut her off. "I know you're working with him."
He raised the Sword of Fire and pointed the blade at her.
"That alone is enough reason for me to stop trusting you."
His tone made it obvious he wasn't here to negotiate.
"Submit and accept our supervision, or die. Choose."
Seele stayed silent for a long time.
"…So you're really going to destroy the life I have with Bronya?"
Kevin didn't answer with words.
He ignited Shamash instead.
Seele understood immediately. Something had changed in this man. He was much more ruthless than before. She didn't know what happened to him recently, but it was clear he had made up his mind.
Even so…
"Traitorous scum."
She never had much patience to begin with.
The only reason she made that deal with him last time was because she wanted to protect this peaceful life… and because she knew how strong he was. But now he was trying to take everything away from her.
If that's how it was going to be, then there was no point holding back anymore.
"Since you want to go all out, let's see who survives."
When she raised her head again, the madness in her eyes was fully exposed. She had dropped the gentle mask she only wore around one person.
Shhh—
Kevin didn't hesitate. He swung Shamash and sent a wave of scorching flames straight at her.
Seele's temporary body and the clouds behind her turned to ash in an instant.
At the same time, the Serene Miniature Garden began expanding violently. It had been holding back for a long time, and now it was releasing everything at once.
BOOM!
The purple-black mist spread outward at a terrifying speed. Even from low orbit, the expansion was clearly visible.
"So you really were planning to destroy human civilization from the start," Kevin muttered.
He tightened his grip on the sword.
"Today, I'm erasing you."
Shamash evolved into its full form. He swung it again with full force.
The outer wall of the Box Garden was torn open.
But this time, it didn't start repairing itself.
Instead, the massive purple-black mist suddenly broke apart into hundreds of millions of illusory butterflies and shot out in every direction at high speed.
Kevin immediately understood what she was trying to do.
Seele was releasing the special virus contained in those butterflies — the one that could turn normal people into beings under her control. If even a few of them escaped and spread across the world, human civilization could fall under her rule.
"Shamash!"
Kevin stopped holding back completely.
Scorching flames erupted outward, hot enough to begin evaporating parts of the Baltic Sea. He wasn't going to let even one butterfly get away, no matter what kind of damage it caused.
Seele, watching from deep inside the crumbling Box Garden, saw her butterflies getting burned one after another. She tried to turn them back into mist to resist, but it wasn't working well. This wasn't her strong point.
She couldn't protect the fake world she built.
She couldn't protect Bronya.
In the end, she could only pull back what little mist remained to barely shield the small forest where they lived. Then she returned to the wooden cabin in the form of butterflies.
She crouched down and held the unconscious Bronya tightly.
Everything had happened too fast.
She still had some hidden cards left. Even if she died, those butterflies carrying the virus had already been released into the world through the Baltic Sea. They would spread eventually.
But right now, none of that mattered.
Because Kevin wasn't here to talk anymore.
As time passed, Seele felt her strength draining rapidly. No matter how much energy her core supplied, it wasn't enough to keep up with what she was using. She was reaching her limit.
Looking at the shrinking purple-black wall outside, she knew she had lost.
She had no way to escape with Bronya anymore.
She had nothing left.
Regret started to surface.
"…I should've just done what he said back then."
She held Bronya closer and rested her head on her shoulder.
At least in the end, she could stay with her.
"I'm sorry, Bronya. I…"
Buzz—
A golden-orange portal suddenly opened beside them.
Seele didn't even have the strength to turn her head.
Project Bunny immediately aimed both cannons at the portal.
From inside, a calm male voice spoke.
"Looks like we arrived just in time."
Vines shot out from the portal and quickly wrapped around Seele, Bronya, and Project Bunny, dragging them inside.
The portal closed right after.
At that same moment, the last of the purple-black mist outside finally gave out.
Everything was swallowed by fire.
The quiet forest, the small town nearby, and the wooden cabin — all of it disappeared in the flames.
As if none of it had ever existed.