The white light swallowed everything.
The battlefield vanished.
The crimson sky disappeared.
Even Omega was gone.
Stella felt weightless, floating inside an endless sea of light.
Then a familiar voice reached her.
Soft.
Warm.
A voice she had missed for years.
"Stella..."
Tears instantly filled her eyes.
"Mom?"
The light slowly changed.
A beautiful field of white flowers appeared beneath her feet. The air was warm, and a gentle breeze carried the scent of spring.
Standing in the middle of the field was her mother.
Smiling.
Exactly as Stella remembered her.
"Mom!"
Stella ran forward, but her hands passed through her.
The woman smiled sadly.
"I'm only a memory, sweetheart."
Stella stopped.
Her heart ached.
There were so many things she wanted to ask.
So many things she wanted to say.
But her mother's expression became serious.
"Listen carefully. The message I left inside the Heart Crystal won't last long."
Stella nodded.
Her mother raised her hand.
The flowers around them vanished.
In their place appeared countless glowing images.
Black Veil laboratories.
Scientists.
Children trapped inside glass chambers.
Blood Agents.
Stella stared in horror.
Her mother pointed toward one image.
A young boy with black hair.
Determined eyes.
Bruised but unbroken.
"Your father."
Stella froze.
The boy looked no older than fourteen.
"He was one of Black Veil's strongest Blood Agents."
The image changed.
Her father fighting soldiers.
Protecting other children.
Breaking prisoners out of laboratories.
"He wasn't a weapon."
Pride filled her mother's voice.
"He became their greatest enemy."
Another image appeared.
A younger Raven.
A younger First Agent.
And Stella's father standing beside them.
Together.
Like brothers.
"They fought Black Veil for years."
Stella couldn't stop staring.
For the first time, she was seeing the truth.
Not stories.
Not rumors.
The truth.
Her mother smiled.
"Your father believed Blood Agents deserved freedom."
The image shifted again.
Explosions.
Escapes.
Battles.
Children running from Black Veil facilities.
"He saved hundreds of lives."
Stella felt tears in her eyes.
Her father wasn't gone from the story.
His legacy was everywhere.
Then the images darkened.
The laboratories returned.
This time they were larger.
More dangerous.
Scientists gathered around a giant machine.
Her mother's expression became grim.
"This is where everything changed."
A scientist stepped forward in the vision.
Stella immediately recognized him.
Lucien.
Younger.
Crueler.
He pointed toward a chamber filled with crimson liquid.
Inside floated a tiny unborn child.
Stella.
"No..." Stella whispered.
Her mother nodded.
"Black Veil wanted to create something beyond a Blood Agent."
The machine glowed brighter.
"They combined blood from multiple powerful subjects."
The images flashed rapidly.
Raven.
The First Agent.
Unknown experiments.
Even Hollow Beast samples.
Stella felt sick.
"They called it Project Evolution."
The vision trembled.
"And you were the result."
Silence.
Stella lowered her head.
She had always feared hearing those words.
Experiment.
Weapon.
Creation.
But her mother gently touched her cheek.
"You are not what they made."
Stella looked up.
"You are what you chose to become."
For a moment, the fear disappeared.
Then the image changed again.
A hidden room.
A meeting.
Several scientists.
And one shadowy figure sitting at the end of the table.
His face couldn't be seen.
The room itself seemed darker around him.
Even Lucien looked nervous near him.
Stella felt a chill.
"Who is that?"
Her mother's face darkened.
"The Founder."
The flowers around them wilted instantly.
The sky became gray.
"He created Black Veil."
The shadowy figure remained motionless.
Watching.
Waiting.
Her mother's voice trembled.
"He wanted more than power."
"What did he want?"
Silence.
Then her mother answered.
"He wanted to become immortal."
Stella froze.
The Founder slowly stood in the vision.
Though his face remained hidden, his presence felt terrifying.
"He believed Blood Agents were the key."
The image shattered.
A new vision appeared.
Her father fighting someone.
Someone powerful.
Someone hidden by darkness.
The battle shook entire mountains.
Stella's eyes widened.
"Was that the Founder?"
Her mother nodded.
"Your father discovered the truth."
The memory beganTime was running out.
"What truth?"
Her mother stepped closer.
"The Founder isn't human anymore."
The field shook violently.
Cracks spread through the sky.
The vision was collapsing.
"Mom!"
Her mother grabbed Stella's shoulders.
"Listen carefully."
Stella nodded desperately.
"The Founder is searching for Omega."
"Why?"
"Because Omega was never the Final Project."
The world seemed to stop.
"What?"
Her mother's eyes filled with fear.
"Omega was only a prototype."
Stella's heart nearly stopped.
A prototype?
If Omega wasn't the ultimate weapon...
Then what was?
The sky cracked apart.
The battlefield began returning.
Her mother faded.
"Find your father."
"Mom, wait!"
"Find him before the Founder does."
The light around them shattered.
Her mother's voice became faint.
"He knows where the true Final Project is hidden."
Everything broke apart.
The flowers vanished.
The sky disappeared.
And her mother's final words echoed through the light:
"The war hasn't even begun, Stella."
Then the vision ended.
Stella opened her eyes.
She was back on the battlefield.
Omega stood motionless.
Lucien looked pale.
Raven stared at the glowing Heart Crystal around Stella's neck.
And far away, beyond the mountains
something else awakened.
Something ancient.
Something that had been sleeping for years.
Its eyes slowly opened in the darkness.
And a single word echoed through the shadows:
"Stella."