Daisy and Gelli stood frozen in absolute bewilderment, completely unable to process Philo's sudden, dramatic shift in attitude.
Daisy blinked rapidly, staring down at her with suspicion. "Are you... completely sure you're okay?"
Philo kept her head bowed, playing her part with a stoic, convincing expression. "A true warrior never yields until they acknowledge the strength and respect of their opponent."
"True, true!" Lilith chimed in cheerfully, nodding along with an amused grin.
Before Daisy could question the bizarre turnaround any further, her gaze shifted past Philo. Her eyes widened in sudden shock as she spotted Gelli standing there. "Gelli?! What are you doing here?!"
Gelli offered a warm, reassuring smile, stepping forward into the light. "Relax, I just came all this way to make sure you guys were safe."
Lilith crossed her arms, watching the scene unfold with an amused smirk. Well, they both seem to be close...
"Oh, come on, Philo," Lilith called out, her voice cutting through the chilly air. "Is that really all you've got? You started this fight—you need to properly apologize."
Philo stiffened, her jaw clenching tightly. "Apologize...?"
"Yeah, apologize," Lilith repeated, a teasing glint in her eye.
Gritting her teeth and swallowing her fierce pride, Philo turned her head toward Daisy and forced the words out. "I... I'm sorry."
Daisy blinked in utter confusion, still trying to process the whiplash of the entire situation. But seeing Philo actually bow her head and say the words made her chest tighten with sudden emotion. Before Philo could pull away, Daisy surged forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Philo's armored shoulders, burying her face against her chest. "I forgive you! I knew you weren't a monster deep down!"
Philo froze, a look of sheer panic and disgust crossing her face. What is she doing?! I only apologized because of Lilith! I thought her anger would never end, but this is even worse!
Desperate to escape the suffocating embrace, Philo roughly shoved Daisy back, stepping away with a scowl. "Oi, get away from me! I said I apologized, that doesn't mean I want you clinging to me like a stray dog!"
Daisy glared at Philo, letting out an annoyed huff as she dusted off her clothes. With a sudden shimmer of light, her heavy battle armor dissolved, instantly transforming into casual, normal clothing.
Seeing this, Philo let out a sigh and followed suit, letting her own armor retract and shift into everyday wear as well.
At that exact moment, their respective weapon spirits—Retro and Zero—materialized out of thin air, immediately floating over to each other and starting up an animated, chattering conversation as they drifted around in a circle. Gelli smiled, deciding to join in on the fun, and summoned her own weapon spirit to let it out into the open.
The three weapon spirits hovered together, chatting away happily, when suddenly, a strange wave of energy washed over them. In a flash of bright light, all three spirits abruptly transformed, shifting shape right before everyone's eyes until they turned into identical young children dressed in matching, traditional monk-style robes.
Daisy, Gelli, Lilith, and Philo all stared in stunned silence as the kids giggled and ran around together.
It was then that the terrifying truth hit lilith: the weapon spirits weren't just separate entities or tools—in their true spirit forms, they were identical triplets.
"Alright, break it up, you three," daisy called out, clapping her hands together with a light laugh as the triplet spirits continued chattering away in their matching monk robes. "Time to head back. We've got places to be."
The three little spirits nodded in unison, immediately darting back to their respective masters in a streak of light and reforming into their standard gear.
As the group gathered themselves, Lilith took a moment to step away from the others, turning in a slow circle to survey the surroundings. As far as the eye could see, the landscape was a vast, unbroken expanse of pristine white snow under the cold sky. Closing her eyes, she focused her senses, weaving an invisible network of mana to connect their group's life signatures together so they could move seamlessly through the region without losing track of one another.
As the group began to pack up and set off on their return journey, Lilith suddenly stopped, waving a hand with a playful grin. "Hello? Did you guys forget about me?"
Gelli immediately shook her head with a warm smile. "As if we could ever forget you, Lilith."
With Lilith leading the way, they activated a spatial teleportation gate, bypassing the layers and returning straight to their residential quarters on Floor 312.
As the portal dissolved, Daisy stepped out into the hallway and blinked in confusion, looking around the familiar corridors. "Wait... why did we end up right outside my private room?"
Gelli walked up to the heavy door and pushed it open, stepping inside. The room was dimly lit, and slumped over the couch in the center was Haruto, fast asleep with his head resting on a armrest, completely exhausted from playing an online game.
Daisy crossed her arms, placing a hand on her hip as she let out an exasperated sigh. "What is wrong with him? Haruto has been getting way too lazy lately." She pointed toward the glowing monitor displaying the game. "It's just one of those online simulation games where you log in and control random people or objects from a top-down perspective."
Lilith walked over, peering curiously at the screen. "So he finds this kind of thing fun, huh?"
"Yeah, practically all day long," Daisy replied, rolling her eyes.
"Teach me how to play," Lilith said suddenly, a spark of mischievous interest in her eyes.
Daisy stared at her, blinking in surprise. "Wait, really? You want to play this?"
"Come on, teach me," Lilith insisted, pulling up a chair next to the desk.
"Alright, fine, if you're that curious—" Daisy began, but before she could explain the controls, the chair creaked.
Haruto suddenly jolted awake, rubbing his tired eyes. He blinked sleepily at the group standing in his room, let out a massive yawn, and muttered, "Oh... you guys are back."
Haruto stretched his arms above his head, letting out another long yawn. "Oh, man... I thought you guys weren't coming back. Ugh, I was getting bored out of my mind. Come on Lilith, let's head out and get something to eat."
Just as Haruto sleepily turned around and started heading toward the door to leave, Philo stepped forward and blocked his path.
Haruto blinked, stopping in his tracks. "Yeah? What is it, Philo?"
Philo hesitated for a second, her expression turning uncharacteristically serious. "Haruto... would you like to see my base?"
Haruto raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Your base? Sure, why not."
"And by the way," Philo added, gesturing vaguely toward Daisy, "she's been talking my ear off the whole way back."
Daisy instantly bristled, throwing her hands up in indignation. "Hey! My base is a fully operational military command center, and you're just jealous of my command authority!"
Philo completely ignored Daisy, turning her back on her with a cold huff as she waited for Haruto's final answer.