Tobio turned. His perception—still active even with his eyes closed—caught something in the distance. A point of golden-white light moving quickly in the sky, still far away, but approaching at a constant speed.
Its aura and energy were the same as Dulio and Griselda's. An angel. Even though he could feel a thin layer of illusion magic trying to hide its presence, to Tobio's perception, it was like a thin curtain that covered nothing.
"Well," said Tobio, "but someone's coming."
Griselda and Dulio tensed.
"Another angel," Tobio continued. "Still far. I don't know the exact distance. Maybe twenty kilometers from here."
Griselda was silent for a moment. Twenty kilometers. Not a distance that could be sensed by ordinary detection. Even Heaven's sensors needed concentration to reach that far.
"You can confirm it's an angel?" asked Griselda, her voice low.
"Yes. Its aura and energy are like yours."
Dulio let out a small whistle. "This isn't just vision. This is like radar."
He smiled—a smile trying to lighten the mood, but his eyes were serious. "Well then, we won't have to wait long."
Tobio stood still for a moment, then spoke again. His voice was soft, like someone remembering a dream.
"Actually, when you saw me unconscious yesterday... I saw more than just souls."
Griselda and Dulio looked at him.
"I forced my vision. Tried to see how far I could go." He paused. "First, I felt a very bright light. An angel entity with twelve wings. Perhaps Michael, or another Seraph."
Griselda held her breath. He saw Heaven. He saw Michael.
"Then my vision pierced outside the earth." Tobio's voice remained flat. "The moon. After that, the sun—but it wasn't as bright as I imagined. Maybe my perception is different."
Dulio was no longer smiling.
"Lastly," Tobio continued, "I saw a planet. Bluer than Earth. The last planet in the solar system." He sighed. "Neptune. Only ice storms moving very fast there."
A cold silence enveloped the outer porch.
Griselda didn't respond immediately. She let the words sink in—about Heaven, about Michael, about Neptune.
About a thirteen-year-old boy whose vision pierced the atmosphere, crossed the void, reached the farthest planet in the solar system.
He forced it himself. Without natural limiters. Without boundaries.
"This has already exceeded the limits of a normal Sacred Gear," Griselda said finally, her voice cold and firm. "You forced something that shouldn't even be achievable. No wonder you fainted."
Dulio, usually relaxed, was now silent. His faint smile had disappeared completely.
"That..." he began, his voice soft, "is not something you should try again."
Tobio didn't answer. He didn't tell them about the Dimensional Gap. About Great Red sleeping in the space between dimensions. About Trihexa sealed with chains of light. Not yet. Perhaps not necessary.
It would only add to their worries. And worry wouldn't help him solve the problems before him.
From a distance, the point of golden-white light grew closer.
---
Nero Raimondi flew through the night sky at a speed invisible to ordinary human eyes. Illusion magic enveloped his body, suppressing his angelic aura until it was almost undetectable. If he met another angel on the way, they might not notice him.
But he didn't meet another angel. What he found was a quiet small village, a house at the end of the road, and three figures waiting for him.
He descended slowly, his feet touching the ground without sound. His steps were soft as he walked up the wooden stairs, which creaked softly under his weight. The front door was open—unlocked, as if they had been waiting.
Inside, Nero saw Griselda standing with her arms crossed in front of her chest, Dulio sitting in a chair by the window with a small unreadable smile, and... a boy.
The boy sat on the edge of the bed with his eyes tightly closed. His black hair was slightly long and messy. His face was pale, with dark circles under his eyes indicating prolonged lack of sleep. Perhaps because the burden he carried was too heavy for a child his age.
'So this is Tobio Ikuse.'
Nero took a breath, then let it out slowly. He stepped inside, stood before Griselda and Dulio, then looked at Tobio.
"Nero Raimondi. Ace of Uriel-sama."
He inclined his head slightly—not a bow of respect, but more an acknowledgment that he was paying attention to the boy before him.
"So you're the one named Tobio from that report."
Tobio smiled faintly. His hand lifted slightly, waving towards Nero—the exact direction, even though his eyes were closed.
"Hello. I'm Tobio Ikuse." His voice was friendly, like greeting a new neighbor. "Thank you for coming here and delivering the artifact."
Nero was slightly surprised. This child knew why he had come. Didn't ask. Wasn't confused. Straight to the point.
"You knew I was coming?"
Tobio nodded. "Yes. You angels... are too conspicuous to me."
Nero frowned. "What do you mean? I already cast illusion magic. Suppressed my aura. Other angels would have difficulty detecting me."
Tobio chuckled softly—a short laugh, not mocking, just amused. "Bright. That's what I feel when there's an angel around. You're too bright to me."
Nero was silent. He looked at Griselda and Dulio alternately. 'His perception isn't based on ordinary aura,' he thought. He sees something that high-level illusion magic cannot hide.
Dulio laughed softly. "He already knew you were coming from far away, Nero."
Griselda stepped forward. Her tone was firm, urgent. "The artifact. It's already midnight. He can't wait until morning—he keeps seeing even with his eyes closed."
Nero looked at Tobio again. On the boy's face, he saw signs of exhaustion that couldn't be hidden. Dark circles under the eyes. Pale face. A clenched jaw—not from anger, but from holding something back.
He was right. This wasn't something that could be delayed.
As Uriel's Ace, Nero was used to following procedure. Being careful. Not rushing. But this time, the situation wasn't normal. This child's condition was unstable. Waiting any longer would only make things worse.
"Alright," said Nero. "I will observe the process."
His hand moved into his priest's robe, pulling out a small black box. He opened it carefully, revealing its contents: a golden necklace, with a thin, delicate chain, and at its center a small cross symbol made of clear blue crystal.
A faint light emanated from the crystal—a soft, holy light, not dazzling.
A perception limiter artifact. Michael-sama had found it in Heaven's storehouse, stored for centuries without ever being used.
Nero handed the necklace to Griselda. Dulio, watching from a distance, let out a soft sigh—not relief, but more like a burden beginning to lift.
'Finally... he can stop "seeing".'
Griselda received the necklace with both hands. She approached Tobio, who still sat on the edge of the bed, then knelt before him.
"I will put this on," she said, her voice soft—a softness she rarely showed. "Don't move."
Her trained hands opened the necklace, then fastened it around Tobio's neck. The thin chain circled the boy's skin, and the small cross-shaped crystal fell exactly on his chest.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then— Tobio's perception changed.
The world he had been seeing in a 360-degree circle—energy, aura, souls, streams of light—all began to fade. Like mist slowly blown away by the wind, one by one the layers of his supernatural vision disappeared.
First, the energy of the village houses in the distance. Then the life auras from the trees and small animals. Then the dimensional vibrations that had always been present at the edges of his consciousness.
And finally—darkness.
True darkness.
Tobio had never felt darkness since the night his grandmother's bracelet broke. All this time, even with his eyes closed, he had always seen. There was always information coming in, always light in his perception.
But now, for the first time in what felt like forever, he saw nothing.
He slowly opened his eyes.
His eyelids, which had been tightly shut for days, now opened. The glare wasn't too severe—the sun had already set, only the oil lamp in the corner of the room illuminating the space. He blinked several times, letting his normal vision adjust.
And he saw them.
Dulio, standing by the window in his white priest's robes. Blond hair, green eyes, a small smile whose meaning he couldn't guess. He looked slightly relieved, but there was still worry remaining in his eyes.
Griselda, kneeling before him in her pale black nun's robes. Golden-blond hair neatly combed, sharp blue eyes that weren't cold. She was still holding the end of the necklace she had just fastened, making sure everything was secure.
And Nero, a sharp-featured young man with golden-blond hair and serious brown eyes. He stood a little further away, hands in his robe pockets, observing Tobio carefully like a scientist observing a rare specimen.
Tobio saw them. Not auras. Not souls. Not energy. Just humans—or at least, the human forms he could see with his normal eyes.
'So this is what they look like.'
He had never seen Dulio and Griselda before—at least, not with normal eyes. All this time, he had only seen their souls as golden-white light. Now he could see the firm line of Dulio's jaw, the small wrinkles on Griselda's forehead, the way Nero stood with one hand in his pocket.
The room was silent. Griselda, Dulio, and Nero stared at Tobio's eyes—and they fell silent.
Those eyes.
Pitch-black eyeballs on the outside, like a starless night sky. But inside, something moved—very faint white lights like small stars, spinning slowly like a miniature galaxy.
And in the center of the pupil, a vertical crack, pitch black, reflecting no lamplight. Like a small hole leading to emptiness.
Griselda was completely still.
She had seen many things in her life. Had seen horrific wounds, battle scars, permanent defects from curses or devil attacks. But this was different.
That galaxy... wasn't visual. It was perception. And that black crack in the pupil... wasn't decoration. It was a cracked soul.
This isn't power. This is a scar.
"You... saw too far," Nero said finally, his voice low. "Is the artifact functioning fully?"
Tobio nodded. He saw the world normally now. No auras, no energy, no visible souls. Only the warm lamplight, shadows on the walls, and three angels standing around him.
"Yes. I can see normally now. Like a human. No auras... and the range is limited." He smiled faintly towards Nero. "Thank you for delivering this artifact, Nero Raimondi."
Griselda stood up. She looked at Tobio for a moment, then spoke in a firm tone—but not as cold as before. More like a command spoken by an older sister to a younger sibling.
"Now, it's time for you to sleep. You need to rest."
Tobio nodded. He lay down on the bed, pulling the thin blanket Sae had prepared up to his chest.
"Alright, Griselda Onee-san."
Griselda was slightly surprised by the address—Onee-san. Older sister. A warm, familiar address, unusual from a child she had only met a few days ago. But she didn't argue.
Tobio's eyes began to feel heavy. For the first time in a long while, he felt genuine drowsiness—not the extreme exhaustion that ended in fainting, but natural sleepiness that came when the body truly needed rest.
His eyelids slowly closed. Not to "see" as before, but to truly sleep.
His breathing became regular, deep, and slow.
Griselda stood beside the bed, watching Tobio's face gradually calm. The dark circles under his eyes were still clearly visible, but at least now he could fall asleep without being forced.
"Is he alright?" Dulio whispered from behind.
Griselda didn't answer immediately. She looked at the golden necklace around Tobio's neck, now pulsing softly with holy light—holding back the child's perception so it wouldn't emerge again.
"For now... yes," she answered finally. "But it's only temporary. This artifact restrains, it doesn't heal. The cracks in his soul are still there."
Dulio sighed. "We'll find another solution later. For now, let him sleep."
Nero, who had been silent, stepped to the door. "I will report to Michael-sama that the artifact has been installed."
Griselda nodded. Her eyes were still fixed on Tobio—on the face of the boy now sleeping peacefully, perhaps for the first time in weeks.
'Rest, Tobio,' she thought. 'Tomorrow the world will wait for you again. But tonight, let tonight be yours.'