"Ready?" Alreis asked Tini and Wude.

Tini stood at the center of a massive magic circle within a national magical testing ground—one she could access freely. Every item required for the resurrection was prepared.

"Of course! Life force? This one can supply plenty," Tini declared confidently.

Wude opened the box Lingyue had left behind, retrieved the Soul Crystal inside, and placed it upon a raised stone platform at another node of the array.

"In that case, Wude, Elisa—step back!" Alreis' voice lacked its usual certainty. "Necromancy affects the surroundings intensely. Resurrection carries immense risk. I may not be able to protect you."

Experiments on resurrection existed, but results were tragic. Even reviving a Sage had been agonizing. What would happen attempting to resurrect an Ascendant Sovereign? She didn't know. Keeping them distant was the only safe choice.

"Alreis." Wude knew he and Elisa—lacking knowledge or power—were only liabilities. "If... *if* it fails, stop in time. Don't force yourself." He couldn't bear Alreis suffering grave injury—or worse—just to bring Lingyue back.

Alreis paused, then smiled gently. "Don't worry, my master. I am the strongest being in history. Failure is impossible."

"Then Elisa and I will go," Wude said. He gave Alreis one last look, took Elisa's hand, and walked away. Only after they vanished from sight did Alreis refocus on the circle.

"Let me say this first, Alreis," Tini began. "I may not understand Necromancy, but as an Ascendant Sovereign of Life Magic, I know something about life..."

"...I know," Alreis cut in. "Even if resurrected, it might not be *her*. I know."

"Then why proceed?"

"I must. I have no choice."

"For Wude?"

"For Wude."

A brief exchange. Unshakable resolve. Success was uncertain—but she would give everything.

"If I channel this much life force, I won't be able to help if something goes wrong. You're on your own," Tini warned.

"Enough talk. Blessing of Life—I begin!"

Alreis' expression turned solemn. Vast magical energy flooded the circle, making every rune shimmer. "Resurrection Ritual—Origin of Life!" she proclaimed, pouring in even more power.

Visible runes swirled across the surface, multiplying and intertwining as if weaving the world's deepest secrets.

"Now!" Tini spotted a key rune. Jade-green light bloomed around her. Life force—measurable only in tens of thousands—surged into the array.

BOOM!! The ground trembled. Tectonic plates groaned under the collision of colossal magical and life energies.

Yet Alreis and Tini remained stone-faced, sustaining output while their spirits meticulously monitored the circle.

Elsewhere—

"Elisa, careful!" Wude caught her as the earth shook.

"Brother Wude, this is..." Elisa looked up. He understood.

"Alreis and Tini have begun!" They turned toward the blazing light. Unnoticed, their clasped hands tightened—betraying restless hearts.

Alreis and Tini held firm. Even Ascendant Sovereigns showed fatigue under such drain.

"Here it comes!" Alreis summoned a spatial staff and slashed.

HOWL!!! Something vanished before fully forming, leaving only a final wail.

Necromancy defied natural law—unpredictable, dangerous. Strange entities were drawn to the ritual.

"Tini, enough! Channel life force straight into the Soul Crystal!" Alreis felt the array ignite.

"Finally? I didn't expect Necromancy to demand so much!" Tini thrust her flower-topped staff into the ground.

ROAR! Unimaginable life force erupted. Wails rose. Shadows gathered.

Alreis twisted space into razor blades, harvesting creatures relentlessly. Grand spatial spells would shatter the circle—this inefficient method was all she could use.

Tini's life force flooded the Soul Crystal resting on the stone platform.

The crystal shot skyward, blazing with light beyond color—neither rainbow nor void, yet blindingly present.

"Is that... the soul's hue?" Tini murmured, witnessing true Necromancy for the first time.

"The main act begins, Tini! Brace yourself—it will hurt!" Alreis warned while cutting down more shadows.

She poured another wave of power. The circle dissolved visibly, materials vanishing until only Tini's section remained.

AAAAH!!! Agony tore through Tini. The array wrenched her magic—each pull like flesh shattered and remade by an Ascendant Sovereign. Yet she stood firm. Pain would not break her.

Alreis had no time to check on her. *Why do these creatures keep emerging?*

A mystery of magical research—especially Necromancy and spatial arts. They crossed dimensions the moment the ritual began. Even Alreis, Sovereign of space-time, couldn't detect them until emergence. Thankfully, once out, they lost that ability.

Her spirit scanned every inch of space. Blades multiplied. Numbers grew. Time crawled.

The Soul Crystal's glow intensified—until—

CRACK! A hairline fissure appeared. Something stirred within.

ROOOAR!!! Creatures surged like sharks scenting blood, charging the crystal.

"Not a chance!" Alreis hurled an item forward.

Temperature plummeted. A colossal ice wall bloomed—a water-element forbidden spell from Tini's collection. Perfectly niche. It encircled the crystal in seamless defense. No detour. No breach.

ROAR!!! The creatures battered the barrier in fury. Useless.

Alreis exhaled slightly. *Now I can finish them—*

They froze.

She didn't hesitate. A cubic crystal—condensed spatial energy—shot into their midst and expanded.

Silence. Empty space.

*Missed.* Her spirit confirmed it: they vanished *before* the blast.

ROOOOAR!!! A sonic boom shattered boulders. Alreis lifted her gaze.

A mountain-sized Colossal Beast loomed in the sky.

"The Colossal Beast... forms *this* way?!" Shock pierced her. A rival-level entity, born from those shadows?

"This is bad!" Fighting now would break the ritual.

The roar reached Wude and Elisa.

"Brother Wude—that's! Alreis and Tini!" Elisa cried, lunging forward.

"Elisa!" Wude gripped her hand. "Trust them! *Believe* in them!"

"Brother Wude..." She saw the anguish twisting his face and fell silent. Then she turned, hugging him tightly. "Just... let me hold you a moment."

"Elisa..."

Alreis faced the newborn Colossal Beast. Weaker than past ones—freshly formed. Elsewhere, she'd slay it easily. Here? Impossible.

She steeled herself. *Unleash everything. Hold on until Lingyue returns. That is victory.*

"Monster, prepare to witness the power of the strongest being in history!" Alreis raised her staff high.

On the ground, cracks spiderwebbed across the Soul Crystal—widening, deepening—until *crack!* it shattered completely.

The Colossal Beast went berserk, charging wildly toward the rupture. Alreis erected spatial barriers one after another, but each shattered under the beast’s assault. She could barely hold the line.

"Lucky for you I can’t unleash a full-scale spell!" The torrent of magic she’d channeled strained her body. Her circuits screamed under the overwhelming flow.

With the Soul Crystal broken, as Tini channeled the final pulse of life force, a faint, ethereal figure began to materialize.

A woman’s form—eyes closed, mature-faced yet unnaturally slender.

"Did it work?" A flicker of hope lit Alreis’s voice.

Then—the woman’s eyes snapped open. A beam of ashen light shot skyward… and lanced straight at Alreis.

"No!" Alreis reached for spatial magic, but her drained reserves faltered for one critical heartbeat.

The gray light pierced her—and kept going, impaling the Colossal Beast behind her.

Both Alreis and the beast instantly lost all strength. They plummeted, crashing into the earth with earth-shattering force, carving a massive crater.

"So… you’ve finally emerged?" A thought-ripple emanated from 'Lingyue’s' consciousness. Drifting soundlessly, she floated to the crater’s edge.

"Was it you… who freed and revived me?" The mental voice carried clear intent. Without a physical form, she could not speak aloud.

"You… are not Lingyue…" Alreis broke free from the mental haze. Her magic still refused command—but one truth burned clear: this spirit was absolutely *not* the Lingyue she knew.