"Then, shall we start with the gulf between eras?"

"Please."

Relief settled warm in Lilo’s chest as Xier steadied; she tapped her watch, and a virtual panorama blossomed like dawn.

"To be precise, the era you came from and mine are a hundred million and five thousand years apart. You still keep time straight, right?"

"Of course... but a hundred million and five thousand years—did I really drift that long?" She looked at fingertips pale as scallion-white; time left no mark on her body; in her gem-dark eyes, confusion rippled.

"Yes. I’ll explain why in a moment. To reach that reason, you need to see how far your civilization ran."

With Lilo’s finger drawing a path, light-screens unfurled like silk banners, laying out an arsenal in stark rows.

"Xier, you said nuclear bombs were obsolete in your era, didn’t you?"

"Yes, though I don’t know why..."

"In ours, weapons peaked at portable single-soldier nukes, exoskeletal power armor, and bioweapons every nation researched in secret. Take a look. Anything familiar?"

She gave a self-mocking smile, dragging models from the screen; detailed specs flowered open for Xier to read.

"It seems... we didn’t use these either. I can’t recall what we did use. But bioweapons—those I remember, cruder ones."

Her voice thinned to a whisper; she cut a sidelong glance at Lilo, like a sparrow fearing rebuke. Lilo caught it and warmed; she waved gently.

"It’s fine. They were crude. Our brightest tech would still be backward beside yours. Your era must have blazed like midday sun."

"But I don’t remember watches like yours at all..."

"Xier, systems that need hands-on operation are backward. Records we dug from your ruins say your era built a neural web—linking nerves and consciousness for everyone. What I do with gestures, you did with a thought."

The weapon ghosts faded like mist; files took their place, each with images attached. Lilo curated them layer by layer, cautious as a surgeon.

The script stored in machines looked close to Lilo’s writing; a decoding table sat beside it like a spare key, with many versions for safety.

What seized Xier’s gaze were rows of precision culture pods, lined like coffins; through milky solution, vague human shapes floated like drowned moons.

Above them hung a single giant pod, shattered; its fluid long dried into crystalline husks, like frost petrified.

Watching those pods, Lilo’s face softened with old longing; a sigh slipped out like wind over ruins.

"Here... is where we found the Valkyries. Where we found you. The legendary ruins—the Valkyries’ Hall, Valhalla."

She spoke just above a whisper, a hand on memory’s door, and let Xier’s eyes walk the room without disturbance.

After a long stillness, Xier lifted her head. She tried to answer; pain flashed like a thorn; her breathing quickened like a startled deer. Lilo reached out and stopped her.

"Don’t force it now, Xier. If it hurts, we pause here. We can learn the rest slowly."

She sat beside Xier, fingers combing long hair with familial care, voice soft as rain.

"It’s alright, Lilo. Please go on. I’m just... nervous."

Under Lilo’s quiet, Xier’s breath steadied; the tremor faded like ebbing tide; Lilo let out a small, relieved breath.

She caught her wind and continued.

"Of course, the last era left more than this. Nations vaulted centuries of progress in a handful of years—like this watch."

She unfastened her watch and motioned for Xier’s hand. Xier tilted her head, puzzled as a child, though she knew a watch belonged on the wrist.

That clear gaze stirred something tender in Lilo; she drew Xier’s hand and buckled the watch on without ceremony.

"This is... eh?!"

Once it touched skin, a faint current crawled from the band, a tingling like static; then a scene bloomed that widened her eyes.

"Citizen ID: unknown..."

"Gene ID: unknown..."

"Pulling from resource vault... connection failed. Switching to offline vault..."

"Special gene ID: error... Confirmed: bearer is a Valkyrie. Granting top-level access. Lifting all restrictions..."

The cold synth voice chimed in Xier’s ear; a pale-blue virtual screen opened across her dark eyes like a lake at dawn.

A crisp unlock tone snapped; a breath of steam hissed out; the simple watch unfolded into a tight metal bracer, sheathing her forearm like armor.

Even Lilo, at her side, gaped in stunned silence, unable to track the shift.

"Welcome, Lady Valkyrie, No. 00999, at your service."

The voice now held a dignified, mature warmth; the blue interface reshaped into a tall woman in uniform, standing before Xier like a statue come alive.

Xier glanced at Lilo, eyes asking for help. Lilo stared at the sudden figure and blurted, shocked:

"Commander?!"

"My apologies, Citizen No. 0963. I am not your commander. I am the Virtual Persona Lingzi System, dedicated to the Valkyrie cohort."

The tall uniformed woman spoke with procedural calm, which did nothing for Lilo’s temper. Lilo fished a dark-red card from her pocket and held it up.

"I’m a lieutenant colonel with the United Nations Mobile Corps. Special clearance. I need the Lingzi System archives. Authorization code—"

"Denied. The Lingzi System serves Valkyries first. Only Valkyries and developers hold command authority."

The retort flushed Lilo’s cheeks crimson; words surged to her lips, but a tug at her hem cut them off. Xier had reached out her hand.

"Then if I give the order, how about that?"

Xier was composed, eyes locked with the avatar’s, not yielding an inch.

"Lady Valkyrie, are you certain this is your will?"

The uniformed woman flicked Lilo a sidelong, almost disgusted glance, human in its edge.

"Of course. Execute."

The woman held Xier’s gaze a heartbeat longer, then answered.

"Certainly, Lady Valkyrie. Serving you is my honor."

A steel file cabinet materialized at her side; with crisp motions, she drew files like paper, compressed them like folded maps, and in short order handed a curated dossier to Xier.

Lilo leaned over Xier’s shoulder; the woman let out a low, displeased snort, yet when they looked up she stood to attention, posture perfect, a soldier to the bone.

"Virtual Persona Lingzi System... so that’s what you are."

Lilo’s eyes carried a thin, wavering sadness, like smoke.

Meanwhile, in a town veiled by black fog, Violet drove her Demonic Spears into the shadow before her; blood-red thorns shrank into short spears, and under the rule of blood they multiplied, like several Violets striking at once, forcing the shadow to falter.

But no ease touched Violet’s face; anxiety tightened her jaw; the Demonic Spears stopped their quick dance and hammered down heavy as iron rain.

Dark-red Arcane Power blasted the shadow apart; the blood-driven spears shredded the fragments to nothing. Soon a warped laugh crawled back through the mist.

"Keh-heh-heh—what, did you think I was dead?"