The next stop for Luff was to pick up Libra, but the grave was over 500 km away. Dena suggested that Luff could create a Gollum to give them a ride. Luff considered it, but said it would be faster for Dena to just teleport them there using her magic. Dena shook her head and explained that teleportation is mainly for personal use. While she could transport others, she needed their consent—any unconscious refusal could lead to unpredictable, and possibly explosive, results. Plus, she was secretly looking forward to a “pleasant road trip.”
She asked Luff to include a bath and a sleeping area when making the golem, so they wouldn’t have to sleep under the stars. Luff, who had never made a golem like this before, was intrigued. Aries seemed thrilled at the idea, so she gave it a try. Waving her hand, she began the golem-formation process and eventually created an RV. She even used some logs from the forest to craft furniture. Dena was delighted at the prospect of comfortable beds but requested some soft bedding as well. Luff looked around for materials and then remembered that Aries was a sheep—well, you can guess what happened next.
Finally, the RV was complete, and Dena reminded Luff that they hadn’t named it yet. After a moment of thought, Luff decided on “Tanaka.” For some reason, it even came with its own promotional ad. After traveling for some time, night fell, and Dena suggested setting up camp. Luff agreed, but as soon as they stepped outside, Dena sniffed the air suspiciously. Following the scent, she discovered a natural warm spring hidden behind some bushes—a perfect bonus for their road trip adventure.
Dena got ridiculously excited—she’d been dying to take a bath—but Luff didn’t see the fuss since the RV already had a built-in bath. Dena insisted that a natural warm spring was way better. She grabbed Aries’s hand and started leading him toward the spring, ready to jump in immediately. But Aries reminded her that, despite appearances, he was still technically a guy, so he would wait his turn.
Hearing that reminded Luff that, despite appearances, she was still mentally a guy too. Bathing with Dena might be awkward, but she couldn’t exactly explain the situation, so she decided to stand by some trees and face away until Dena had gotten in the water. Once Dena submerged herself, she let out a huge sigh. “Nothing beats soaking in an open-air spring after a long day of travel,” she said. She then called Luff to join her. Luff briefly considered making an excuse, but decided there was no point—so she undressed and stepped in.
Before she could get fully in, Dena reminded her it was bad etiquette to enter the water without tying up her hair—loose strands would float everywhere, and no one else would want to use the spring. Luff agreed, and Dena offered to help tie it up. However, Dena wasn’t wearing a towel, and Luff didn’t think it’d be right to look, so she told Dena to stay put. Luff got into the water first, and then Dena helped tie her hair to keep stray strands from floating around.
There wasn’t much they could do about Luff’s feathers, though—they tended to molt in hot water. Luff apologized for the stray feathers, but Dena shrugged it off. “No worries! You barely ever get to spread your wings like this anyway, so enjoy it while it lasts.” The two of them soaked side by side, and Saful—or maybe Luff herself, it’s hard to say—started staring at Dena a little too intently, realizing something… troubling.
In his past life, Saful wasn’t a complete degenerate, but he was still a certified Gooner. Yet now, even while staring right at Dena’s body, he felt… absolutely nothing. Dena noticed Luff seemed a little zoned out, but before she could ask why, her eyes landed on a group of adaptive frogs perched on a nearby rock. She grabbed Luff’s attention and told her to take a look.
Luff frowned. “Frogs? Really?”
Dena explained that these weren’t ordinary frogs. The green ones were male, the pink ones female. If there were more males than females, the males would fight to earn the “right” to… well, let’s just say the loser had some unpleasant consequences. Then the last two males would play rock-paper-scissors, and the ultimate loser would turn into a female frog and… accept their fate. Saful briefly wondered if reincarnation had changed his preferences too—but nope. There was no way he’d ever volunteer for that, so he promptly dismissed the thought.
Dena noticed Luff was a bit stressed. “What’s wrong?” she asked. Luff waved it off. “Nothing. Let’s just get out of the spring.”
A few minutes later, they returned to the RV, and Luff told Aries he could use the warm spring now. He emerged in his towel, tied his head up, and headed for a soak.
The next day, the group finally arrived at Luff’s grave. Luff gawked—not only at its massive size but also at the bustling city that had grown around it. Dena explained that countless adventurers had tried looting the grave for Luff’s treasures. Merchants set up shop to sell equipment, more people kept arriving, and eventually a full-blown village sprang up. Now, Luff’s grave had essentially become a tourist hotspot.
Luff found it fascinating that all this had happened in just 200 years. She wasn’t really bothered that people had turned her grave into a tourist attraction. Aries, however, was seeing red. He couldn’t believe people dared disrespect Luff like this. He threatened to lay waste to the entire village immediately. Luff calmly told him to simmer down—she didn’t want anyone dying for no reason—and suggested they head straight into the grave.
As they approached the entrance, they ran into a group of adventurers who looked thoroughly worried. Apparently, a reconnaissance squad had been sent into the grave two months ago to map a new area but never checked back in. Naturally, everyone was starting to panic. This news only made Luff more eager to get inside and find Libra—she couldn’t let anyone else risk their lives.
The adventurers warned her against proceeding alone. “Whatever’s in there,” one said, “our squad had 50 of the nation’s strongest adventurers, and they went missing. You three won’t stand a chance.”
Luff smiled. “Thanks for your concern, but I think we’ll manage just fine.”
As they stepped into the tunnels, Aries suddenly froze. He sensed something approaching. Moments later, a golem—one of the many Luff had mass-produced for battle 200 years ago—emerged from the shadows. Dena explained that several had been left behind after Luff was sealed, wandering the grave and eliminating any intruders they encountered.
Luff assured everyone there was nothing to worry about—she didn’t sense any hostile intent from the golem. These particular golems were designed to distinguish friend from foe, and it clearly still recognized Luff and Aries, so they were safe.
But poor Dena wasn’t so lucky. The golem immediately lunged at her. Aries and Luff assumed it simply didn’t remember Dena, much like they had both initially forgotten her themselves. Luff wasn’t about to let Dena get squished, so she prepared to destroy the golem.
Before she could strike, the adventurer party from earlier—called Hawkeye—arrived, leaping in to save Dena. They were well-coordinated and keeping the golem busy, but at level 150, it was far beyond their level 50-ish abilities. One solid hit from the golem, and they’d be toast.
Not willing to let that happen, Luff asked Aries for help. He eagerly ran past the adventurers and delivered a flaming punch so powerful it sent the golem flying—and down for good.
Once the dust settled, the leader, Jan, ran up to Aries, eyes wide. “How did you do that attack?!” he asked, a little too close for comfort. Aries flushed, clearly flustered. Luff quickly stepped between them. “Tone it down a bit, Jan,” she said.
Jan sheepishly apologized—for crowding Aries and, well… for needing to be saved despite being the ones who came to save Luff in the first place.
Jan introduces himself as a warrior, Nick as a light warrior, and Richard as a heavy warrior. Luff can’t believe how horribly unbalanced their team is—basically, it’s all warriors except for Shu, who happens to be an archer.
Since it’s her turn, Luff introduces herself as a high-level ranger-class adventurer. When it’s Dena and Aries’s turn, they freeze, unsure what to say. Finally, they mumble that they’re also rangers. Jan’s face falls—he thinks Luff’s party looks even more unbalanced than his own.
Trying to be helpful, Jan offers to accompany Luff’s party for support. She’s about to politely decline, but Dena happily jumps in, “We’d love the extra help!” Everyone is relieved, and the party sets off down the hallway.
With a mischievous grin, Dena explains to Luff that adventurers are mostly used to make life easier—at least until someone falls into a trap and dies. Hearing her say it with such cheer makes Luff realize that, yep, Dena might be a little psychotic. Still, the party seems harmless enough, so Luff decides to quietly support them without drawing attention, at least until they reach the top to confront Libra.
Meanwhile, at the top of the pyramid, the reconnaissance team that went missing months ago finally ascends the long staircase. They vow to claim the treasury of legendary weapons—for humanity and their fallen comrades. But as they step onto the top floor, they’re immediately confronted by Libra, who coolly orders them to leave in ten seconds—or be eliminated on the spot.
The adventurers try reasoning with Libra, pleading that they need the weapons to fight the demons, but she couldn’t care less. When the countdown hits zero, she activates the Brachium Program, sealing them in a bubble so they can be obliterated.
Meanwhile, Luff is starting to regret letting Hawkeye come along. These guys are absolute fodder—and they aren’t even smart enough to realize it. Every time they run into a Golem, they get thoroughly wrecked. Luff keeps having to order the golems to stand down so they don’t end up pancake food, but of course, the adventurers are convinced they “totally beat it themselves.” Luff quietly worries she’s inflating their egos.
Eventually, they reach the final guardian golem—and this one is no joke: level 600. Luff knows the adventurers would be folded instantly if they tried to fight it. She tells them all to stand back while she steps forward. The adventurers protest, claiming it’s way too dangerous, but Dena reassures them: Luff has a plan. Reluctantly, they stay put.
Luff approaches the golem and asks if it recognizes her. It definitely reacts to her face, but—classic dramatic guardian—it still attacks. With a single, smooth slice, she cuts it clean down the middle. As she heads toward the stairs, the golem calls out, “Welcome home.” Luff thanks it for protecting the place for the past 200 years and tells it the assignment is over. The golem seems genuinely relieved to finally rest.
With the final golem powered down for good, Luff starts heading up the stairs to confront Libra. The adventurers shout for her to stop, claiming it’s way too risky to face Libra alone—they insist on going with her. Luff sighs and makes it crystal clear: if Libra chose to attack, they’d be obliterated instantly. In short, they wouldn’t stand a chance of surviving. The adventurers shut up.
Before she leaves, they ask who she really is. They may not be the sharpest, but even they can tell the only reason they’ve made it this far is Luff’s intervention. And, oh, the fact she destroyed a golem in one strike? That’s a little above “just a ranger” territory. Luff pauses, considers lying… then shrugs and says she doesn’t intend to answer their questions, walking off without another word. Dena and Aries tell her they’ll wait downstairs—they can’t handle Libra’s Brachium Program either, so she’s on her own.
As she climbs the stairs, Luff wonders why she felt genuine sadness after destroying that golem earlier. It was her creation, sure, but to her past self, it should have been nothing more than pixels on a screen. Why is her brain betraying her with all these feelings? She shakes her head—no time to psychoanalyze herself. First order of business: take care of Libra.
Luff finally reaches the top floor, where Libra is waiting to intercept the latest intruder. She orders Luff to leave within ten seconds or face hostile action. Instead, Luff calmly removes her glasses and spreads her wings, revealing her identity.
Seeing her, Libra freezes, her countdown halted as her circuits try to process the impossible. The figure in front of her is a near-perfect genetic match to Luff, yet surviving the battle against the heroes should have been statistically impossible. Her system begins to short-circuit from the logical inconsistency, and Luff gently tells her not to overthink it—for the sake of her processors, of course.
Libra is already damaged, so Luff announces she’ll be approaching to administer repairs. Upon hearing this, Libra’s defense protocol kicks in. Since she hasn’t recognized Luff as her master yet, she warns that one more step and force will be used. Luff keeps moving anyway, teasing, “What are you going to do about it?”
Libra, interpreting the advance as hostile, activates her Brachium Program, creating a massive airspace for battle. Luff is momentarily caught off guard by the sudden environment change but quickly recovers. She dodges waves of gunfire and missiles with elegant evasive maneuvers, muttering under her breath about how dramatic Libra is being.
Spotting an opening, Luff interrupts Libra’s attack animation and goes on the offensive. Libra tries to shake her off with more gunfire, but Luff casually uses her wings to blow the bullets right back, disabling her guns.
Libra then tries an arsenal of attacks, but nothing comes close to hurting Luff. Frustrated, she disables the current domain and activates a new one. Luff instantly recognizes it: Libra’s ultimate— a domain expansion that ignores all defenses and guarantees a hit of 99,000 damage. Most would panic being in its range, but Luff? She’s practically bouncing with excitement—finally, some real damage since arriving in this world!
As Libra unleashes the violent energy wave, Luff feels it slam into her like a dump truck, but her HP easily absorbs the blow. She barrels forward until she’s right in front of Libra. The guardian attempts a face-blasting laser, but Luff ducks gracefully. Before Libra can swing her sword, Luff grabs the arm and casts All Repair, fixing all the damage Libra sustained while guarding the grave for centuries.
“Sorry it took me so long to come back,” Luff says cheerfully. With her logic units restored, Libra finally confirms that Luff is her true master. No more guarding the grave; it’s time for a long-overdue nap. Luff smiles, pleased with how smoothly it went.
Now she just has to figure out how to explain all this to the adventurers without revealing her identity. She heads down the stairs, peeks around the corner… and sees only Dena and Aries waiting. The rest of the adventurers apparently got themselves lost or are busy pretending to be heroic again.
Luff looks around, confused. “Wait… what happened to the adventurers?”
Dena smirks. “Oh, I just gave them some… helpful false memories.” She explains that she used her mind manipulation to make them believe they were the ones who defeated Libra. Luff freezes. She had forgotten Dena had mind control powers—and seeing it in action is absolutely terrifying.
“They thought Libra was already badly injured when they arrived,” Dena continues. “So they overwhelmed her and claimed victory. Nobody asks questions, everyone’s happy.”
Luff narrows her eyes. “Wait… did you plan this from the moment you agreed to let them tag along?”
Dena doesn’t deny it. With a slight smile, she says, “Exactly. That’s why I tolerated their… charming incompetence.”
Luff shudders at just how heartless—and efficient—Dena can be. She’s glad she’s on their side; as an enemy, Dena would be terrifying.
With the situation under control, Dena suggests heading up to the treasure vault to gather needed supplies. When they arrive, Luff is practically vibrating with excitement. Shiny gold, glittering gems, sparkling trinkets everywhere—she can hardly sit still.
Dena chuckles. “Ah, this explains a lot. You’ve always loved shiny things, which is why you hoarded so much treasure before. And now? Well… you’re a little out of control.”
Dena turns to Aries. “You handle the practical stuff while she’s… distracted.”
Luff protests, “I’m perfectly capable of controlling myself around gold!” But she’s already juggling piles of treasure, so it’s obvious to everyone—including Dena—that she’s hopeless in her current state.
A little while later, Dena and Aries finish gathering all the items they need. The rest is buried under piles of old weapons or useless gold, so leaving it behind isn’t a problem. Before they leave, Dena asks Luff if she can gather all the golems in the area so they can be teleported back to base. Luff happily agrees—but then realizes Dena meant all the golems. Cue the next few hours of Luff roaming the massive grave like a very determined treasure hunter, rounding them all up. Once that’s done, Dena teleports every golem away.
With nothing left to do, Dena suggests they hit the road. Luff hesitates, wondering if it’s safe to leave the adventurers behind in their current, slightly clueless state. Dena assures her it’ll be fine. A few minutes later, the adventurers wake up, fully convinced that they were the heroes who cleared the grave and defeated all the golems. Pride intact, ignorance blissfully preserved.
Meanwhile, out in the forest, Luff and the others return to the RV. Before hitting the road, Dena tidies up Libra’s clothes and sets her on a tree stump so Luff can talk to her. Luff powers Libra back on. The first thing she does is greet Aries and the unfamiliar lady standing beside him, then immediately apologizes to Luff for all the trouble she’s caused.
Before Luff can respond, Dena mutters, incredulous, that she can’t believe Libra doesn’t recognize her. Luff chuckles. “That’s my adviser, Dena,” she explains.
Libra is stunned. Her memory banks contain zero data on Dena. Undeterred, Dena leans in, trying to jog her memory—but Libra is adamant: she has never seen this mysterious adviser before.
After running a thorough memory check, Libra does find a few damaged memory files that might contain information about Dena, but she has no way to access them for now. So, she decides to take Luff’s word for it and temporarily acknowledges Dena as her adviser.
It’s hard for Luff to read Libra’s thoughts—she’s about as expressive as a brick wall—but there’s no reason to doubt her loyalty. Luff explains that she’s on a journey to reclaim all 12 Headmley Stars and asks if Libra would like to serve her once more. Libra responds that nothing would make her happier and that she’s ready to devote every moment of her life to Luff’s goal.
Now that Libra is officially back on the team, Luff asks if she knows anything about the locations of the other Heavenly Stars. Libra apologizes, saying she has no useful information, having been stationed at the grave the entire time and completely cut off from the outside world.
Turning to Dena, Luff asks the same question. Dena smiles and explains that roughly 2,000 kilometers away, there’s a small village at the base of a mountain where Parthenos secretly lives. Luff is surprised—why would Parthenos choose to live in a village? Dena clarifies: the village was created by Parthenos, who erected a powerful barrier to protect the defenseless monsters and plants from the outside world.
Luff is relieved that Parthenos isn’t causing trouble for humans. But then Dena adds that the mountain where the village stands used to be Luff’s homeland. Parthenos drove out all the Heavenwing residents and made the zone uninhabitable to keep them away. Luff sighs in disappointment once again—some things just never get easier.
On the ride back, Luff was drifting into a flashback of her past life as Safel when Dena suddenly placed a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked. Luff explained that she had just been dreaming something important… or at least it felt important, though she couldn’t remember a single detail. Shrugging, she decided to focus on the present mission and asked how much longer it would be until they reached their destination.
They’d been driving for a while, so it shouldn’t take much longer. But Aries had a few questions. “If Parthenos drove all the other Heavenwing out of Vanaheim, where did they go?”
Dena answered that the Heavenwing now reside in Galahorn, a city founded by Marak, one of the seven heroes and the Sky King. Luff got the sense she might clash with the rest of the Heavenwing given her… colorful character backstory. Still, if Marak was there, she needed to see if he remembered anything from the time they played the game together.
By nightfall, the group arrived outside Galahorn. The city was built along a cliff face, making navigation a nightmare, especially at night. Aries frowned. “Why is it split so clearly into black and white sides?”
Dena explained that the nation was in the middle of civil turmoil. The Heavenwing with pure white wings thought they were superior to everyone else, which caused a major ruckus among the rest. Luff asked why Marak hadn’t stepped in yet. Dena replied that Marak was trying to stay neutral to prevent either side from escalating, but controlling the chaos was easier said than done.
Aries recalled that during Luff’s reign, persecution of the Darkwing was prohibited, which Luff found strange—she had no memory of issuing such a decree. “Guess even I have mysterious good deeds in my resume,” she muttered.
Dena explained that once Luff disappeared, the Whitewing seized the chance to assert their superiority over the Darkwing, and, naturally, the Darkwing fought back. And that, my friends, is why the city has been at each other’s throats for the past 200 years. Luff felt a twinge of guilt—maybe this little mess was kind of her fault.
So, she decided to fix it. But since the average Heavenwing lives over a thousand years, many of them must have met Luff personally two centuries ago. Recognition would be inevitable if she walked into town openly. Solution? Cloak up and go incognito.
When it was finally time to tackle the stairs, everyone groaned. The city was clearly built for flyers, not walkers, and Aries was not thrilled about the cardio ahead. But Libra had it all figured out. With a dramatic flair, she activated jet mode and—before Luff could protest—scooped up everyone, flying straight to the Darkwing side of the city.
They landed safely, but the roar of a jet engine at night woke every Darkwing in the neighborhood. Naturally, a crowd assembled to see what the ruckus was about. Luff shouted at Libra for the noise, but Libra, as ever, only cared about Luff’s opinion—everyone else’s? Meh.
The crowd still looked confused, so Dena introduced herself as a free trader and presented everyone as her companions. Luff followed up with a polite apology, assuring the residents that this would be the last nocturnal jet show.
The people here seemed genuinely nice, and one of them happened to Omen in. He invited Luff and the others to spend the night if they still needed a place to stay. Luff decided to accept since Aries looked utterly exhausted. Later that night, as she lay in bed, a terrifying nightmare struck—a flashback to her childhood. She remembered being mistreated by her father. Neighborhood kids had bullied her, and nothing was done until she fought back. Furious, her father beat her and ordered her never to leave the room again, declaring her a disgrace to their entire bloodline—all because she was born with dark wings. Then he went back inside to laugh with his wealthy white-winged friends, leaving Luff alone in a dark shed with no food.
She hated how unfair life was, but at least one person cared: her mother. Late that night, her mother sneaked into the shed with some food. Even if it wasn’t much, Luff was grateful for something to eat. Her mother felt horrible about her daughter’s living conditions but was powerless, especially given her own frail health. Luff hugged her, reassured her that everything would be fine, and warned her to return quickly before her father noticed. She offered to escort her mother safely back inside.
However, on the way, her father appeared, appalled that his wife had let Luff out. He ordered her to leave Luff and come to him at once. But Luff understood his true intention: punishing her mother. So she stood firm, stepping in to protect her.
However, at this point, Luff was still too weak to protect anything. Her father punched her to the ground and dragged her mother away, leaving Luff alone in the cold rain to wonder why she was always treated this way—just because her wings were a different color. She realized the world was cruel, and the goddess of creation wasn’t about to swoop in with a magical rescue anytime soon. So, she decided she’d have to save herself. Running away from home, she vowed that no matter what it took, she would grow stronger and put an end to all the suffering in this miserable world.
Suddenly, Luff jolted awake. Libra appeared at her side, concerned because her heart rate had spiked. Luff reassured her that it was just a dream from the past, nothing to worry about. Libra accepted this and went back into sleep mode.
Meanwhile, although Luff said it wasn’t serious, Safo was panicking internally. He didn’t remember writing such a tragic backstory when creating Luff’s character. These vivid memories and emotions, flooding into him since arriving, could only be the real memories of the original Luff. That meant this world contained real events outside his game. And with his soul now in Luff’s body, he couldn’t help but wonder—what happened to the soul of the original Luff?
Over at the Demon Lord’s castle, the seven demon luminaries gathered for a meeting. But Mars was missing, so they assumed he was dead. Not entirely shocking, since he was the weakest of the luminaries, but they speculated whether McGra had taken him out—or if Aries had betrayed him.
It would be really embarrassing if Mars somehow lost to Aries, but just then, the luminary Venus walked in and announced that she knew what happened to Mars. Everyone turned to look at her and asked what she’d been up to lately, since none of them had seen her for a while.
She explained that she had been tracking the person who defeated Mars. The others were surprised and asked if she knew who it was. Venus admitted she hadn’t gotten too close—risking her life wasn’t exactly on her bucket list—but she did notice one striking detail: the person had beautiful black wings.
The first name that popped into their minds was Luff. But logically, she shouldn’t be alive—they all knew she was supposedly killed by the human heroes two centuries ago. They didn’t think Venus was lying, though. If Luff really had returned, even the Demon Lord would be in serious trouble, since facing her alone had terrified him.
The luminaries asked Venus if she knew where Luff was now. She said she had seen her heading toward Galah Horn. Perfect timing, the luminaries thought—they were planning to go there anyway. So the leader assigned Venus and Jupiter to keep an eye on Luff.
The next morning, Luff and her group headed into town to discuss their plan, blissfully unaware that they were already being watched by some very nervous demonic eyes.
Marak is still the ruling king here, but with all the internal strife, getting an audience with him is going to be tricky. For now, Luff suggests they just roam the capital and gather as much information as possible. She mainly wants to check on the living conditions of the Darkwing, so she decides to stay on that side.
In that case, Dena volunteers to investigate the Whitewing side, and Libra takes off for her own independent recon mission. Aries also plans to gather intel, but before he leaves, he shares something important with Luff. It’s about one of the 12 Heavenly Stars, Gakaros the Goat. Long ago, he apparently invited Aries to join the demon army, so he may already be allied with them.
Luff thanks Aries and says she’ll retrieve Gakaros next, but for now, she wants to explore the city. She strolls through the streets for a few hours and notices things aren’t looking too bad—at least on the surface. Then she comes across a giant black temple. Curious, she wonders why anyone would build a black temple for the goddess of creation.
Stepping inside, she finds a massive statue of herself. Naturally, she’s confused, and the temple’s caretaker notices. He asks if she’s new in town. Luff replies, half amused, “I’m just surprised people would make a statue in honor of the world’s biggest tyrant.”
The caretaker is a bit offended by the tyrant comment but understands why some might see it that way. History may look different to outsiders, but to the Darkwing, Luff was—and always will be—their savior.
Luff is intrigued, so she asks him to explain more. He goes on to describe how dark-winged beings like himself used to face constant discrimination from the Whitewing, forced to live miserable lives in slum-like areas. Every day was spent lurking in fear and hiding in the shadows.
But Luff was different. While the rest cowered, she used her strength to prove she was worthy of respect. She eventually conquered the Heavenwing nation and banned all discrimination, allowing dark-winged people to live with dignity for the first time. That’s why they worship her to this day.
Luff then asks if they’ve forgotten that Parthnos, one of her subordinates, was the one who drove them out of their homeland. The caretaker recalls it but believes it was a deserved punishment for betraying Luff after all she had done. In fact, he says, it was mercy from Parthnos that they weren’t all killed on the spot.
Curious, Luff asks what they think of their king, Morak. The moment she mentions his name, the caretaker’s face twists in disgust. To him, Morak is one of the biggest fools alive—a man calling himself a hero despite all the terrible things he’s done.
Elsewhere in the city, Dena is waiting for someone, growing increasingly frustrated because he’s running late.
Meanwhile, Libra hovered in the air, scanning the crowd to see if anyone recognized Luff yet—but everything looked normal. She then spotted Dina, who, judging by her posture, seemed to be waiting for someone. Further down the street, Libra noticed a suspicious figure heading straight for Dina. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was a demon in disguise. Swiftly, she swooped down and landed in front of him.
“Back off immediately, or face hostile action,” she commanded. The demon tried to play it cool like a regular citizen, but once Libra revealed she’d seen through his disguise, he dropped the act and lunged to attack. Naturally, Libra activated her defense protocols.
Meanwhile, Aries sat at the edge of the city, staring at the place founded by one of the heroes who had betrayed Luff. He’d love nothing more than to burn it all to the ground, but he knew Luff wouldn’t approve. So, he decided to take a walk to cool off. A few minutes later, the city emptied around him, a barrier suddenly forming—and then he found himself face-to-face with Igaros.
Back in the castle, Merak was holding a meeting with the other Lightwing, looking thoroughly exhausted. The Lightwing kept yelling at him to use his power to get rid of the Dark-winged. Originally, Merak had founded Galah Horn to give the Dark-winged a place where they wouldn’t be looked down on. But then Parthenos kicked the Light-winged out of Vanaheim, leaving them homeless—so Merak reluctantly welcomed them into the nation. Even though it wasn’t their land to begin with, the Lightwing insisted on special privileges and continued persecuting the Dark-winged.
Merak had tried handling things diplomatically, but no matter how many times he urged the White-winged to coexist with the Dark-winged, they kept pushing him to kick them out. He had no clue how to solve this mess and honestly doubted his ability to rule this nation—he felt like a total amateur compared to Luff, who had fought tooth and nail to become a great leader. Merak had success practically handed to him at birth, while Luff had sweat, blood, and probably a little bit of dark wing grease to earn hers. In comparison, he saw himself as a bumbling fool.
Meanwhile, Luff hovered outside the White-wing section, realizing the quickest way to fix things was to convince Merak to act—but she had no idea how to get his attention.
Elsewhere, Libra was in the middle of a showdown with Jupiter. She morphed her arm into a cannon and fired a blast at him, but Jupiter nimbly dodged. Libra tried to follow up with gunfire, but Jupiter summoned a wind shield and countered with a swift slash, slicing clean through her weapon. Observing his abilities, Libra concluded he must be an element user, capable of manipulating the wind with deadly precision. Jupiter confirmed it—but knowing that didn’t make the fight any easier.
At the same time, Aigokeros was still trying to recruit Aries into the demon army to take revenge on the heroes. Aries, however, declined, explaining that there was no need to continue down that path—after all, Luff had returned.
As soon as Aigokeros hears that Lufas is back, he freezes—he can hardly believe it. But, thinking about it, it makes sense that Lufas was the one who defeated Mars. Not impossible at all. Aries tells Aigokeros that it’s time for him to return to Lufas’ side and serve her once more.
But Aigokeros remains stubbornly loyal to his own plan. He says he can’t return yet—he needs to eliminate her enemies first, otherwise they’ll eventually turn on her again. His new goal? Wipe out Merak’s nation along with the rest of the heroes. And when that’s done, he plans to destroy the demons too and offer them as a little “sacrifice” to Lufas.
Aries tries to reason with him, saying he doesn’t have to go that far, but Aigokeros is too pumped up to listen. With a flash, he teleports away to begin his ambitious (and slightly over-the-top) plan.
Afterward, Aries pauses to think. Honestly, he hates the heroes just as much as Aigokeros does. So, stopping their destruction isn’t really on his to-do list. Still, he knows Lufas wouldn’t approve. He wonders whether he should tell her or just let things play out. After all, the Lightwing District is crawling with scumbags who tormented Lufas for the color of her wings. If they meet their doom… well, maybe it’s for the best. He decides to wait and see how the people of the Lightwing District behave before making his call. If they turn out to be the same racist jerks who caused Lufas so much grief, he’ll let destruction do its thing.
Meanwhile, in the streets of the Lightwing District, the person Dina has been waiting for still hasn’t appeared. Growing impatient, she scans the crowd—and that’s when she spots a man nearby who looks… very suspicious.
Dina figures this might be a perfect opportunity to gather some intel. She tails the suspicious man down the street until he slips into a dark alley. Turns out, he’s one of the Lightwing trying to convince her to get rid of the dark-winged. He tells his comrades that Merak refuses to side with them, so they’ll have to take matters into their own hands and eliminate those filthy dark-winged—even if it means getting their hands dirty.
He adds that the dark-winged are preparing for war. When asked how he knows this, he insists that Jupiter told him personally. “He would never lie,” the man says, nodding like a very trusting puppy. The others ask where Jupiter is now, but the man shrugs—he was supposed to meet Jupiter today, but apparently, Jupiter decided to ghost him. The man suspects it has something to do with the wingless people who appeared recently.
Dina has been eavesdropping the entire time. From what she’s heard, it seems the nation is teetering on the edge of civil war. She’s willing to bet that Jupiter is the one fanning the flames. Why he skipped the Lightwing meeting today is a mystery, but at least Dina now has valuable intel to share with Lufas.
Meanwhile, back with Libra, she’s still locked in battle against Jupiter. No matter how much wind Jupiter summons, he can’t budge Libra’s solid frame—not even a millimeter.
The only reason Jupiter had been holding out so far was that he was fast enough to dodge all of Libra’s attacks. But Libra had been studying his attack patterns this entire time. Once her calculations were complete, dodging him would become much trickier. Jupiter needed a plan—and fast. Realizing he couldn’t beat Libra right now, he whipped up a massive gust of wind to kick up dust and obscure her vision, hoping to make a dramatic escape.
Libra tried to clear the dust with a blast of wind, but it was already too late—Jupiter was gone.
Later that day, everyone reconvened to share what they had learned. Dina informed Lufas that the Lightwing were preparing for war against the dark-winged, likely stirred into action by Jupiter. Libra spoke up, explaining that she had faced one of the Seven Demon Luminaries—Jupiter—but despite her best efforts, he had slipped away.
Lufas was surprised—why would a demon try to destroy the city when it seemed perfectly capable of falling apart on its own? Knowing Jupiter would likely return, Libra asked Lufas to alchemize some homing bullets and missiles for her, as she was running low on ammo. Lufas agreed to make the ammunition later, but first, she turned to Aries to ask if anything had happened on his end.
Aries, still undecided on whether the Heavenwing should be destroyed, opted for a little white lie and told Lufas that nothing noteworthy had occurred.
Lufas takes Aries’ word for it and proceeds to share her observations from the Dark District. The people there harbor endless hatred for those from the Light District, and a civil war seems inevitable. On a brighter note, the dark-winged have apparently erected a statue of Lufas in their temple—and worship her. Naturally, the others fully approve, and Libra even jokes that they should side with the dark wings during the civil war.
Lufas quickly shuts that down. She has no intention of picking a side. If a civil war breaks out, the nation will crumble, giving demons a perfect opportunity to invade. To prevent that, she asks Libra to capture Jupiter the next time they meet. Libra hesitates, asking if that means she’s barred from killing him. Lufas clarifies—they need him alive to testify in front of all the Heaven-Wing. But, her top priority is Libra’s safety, so she reminds her to be careful when confronting Jupiter.
Later that night, Lufas is busy alchemizing more ammunition for Libra, pondering how things got so out of hand. She initially came only to meet Merak and figure out whether he was a player—but now she’s stuck trying to stop a full-blown civil war.
Meanwhile, in the forest, Jupiter is throwing a temper tantrum. With Libra around, he can’t risk approaching the city. And if Libra is there, that must mean Lufas is nearby too—seriously jeopardizing his grand plan to destroy the city. Just then, Venus shows up, asking why he’s so upset. Jupiter isn’t thrilled with her patronizing tone, especially since she did nothing to help while he was being attacked by Libra.
Venus insists she’d been waiting at their scheduled meeting point the entire time—Jupiter never showed up, so it’s not her fault. Jupiter grumbles, asking why she led Lufas to the city center in the first place. Venus shrugs: she’s nowhere near strong enough to stop Lufas, so there was nothing she could do to prevent her from entering the city.
Jupiter can’t argue with that logic, but he’s still fuming. The plan was simple: let the Heaven-Winged start a civil war, destroy themselves, and let the demons swoop in to annihilate Merak. But with Libra now on the lookout, he can’t get near the city without being spotted.
Venus admits she feels a little guilty for not helping earlier, but she’s offering to assist now. She can distract Libra for about 20 minutes, giving Jupiter a small window to execute his plan—so he better work fast.
Meanwhile, back in the city, Lufas has just finished alchemizing the ammunition Libra requested. She calls Libra over to take what she needs—but Libra has a… creative method, lifting her skirt over the ammo so it somehow all fits. Lufas has no idea how it works, but hey, magic, right?
Libra thanks Lufas and promises that the next time she sees Jupiter, he won’t escape. Then she asks about Dina, noting her sensors indicate that Dina is no longer within a 100 km radius of the city. Lufas reassures her not to worry—Dina can teleport anywhere she wants, so she should be back any moment.
Libra has a few questions. She wonders if the teleportation magic Lufas mentioned is actually Xate. As far as Libra knows, there’s no other spell in this world that allows teleportation. Only Xate had it—or at least, the spell called Escape in the Xate game. And when Lufas starts thinking seriously about it, her head begins to ache.
Teleportation magic didn’t exist 200 years ago, and a convenient spell like that never existed in the Xate online game either. In the game, Escape was just a term—a setting mechanic. No one could actually learn it. So if Dina can learn and freely use such a spell… what does that make her?
Lufas is baffled that she’s only realizing this now. Why hadn’t she questioned Dina’s origins and abilities sooner? She probably should have. Nevertheless, she tells Libra that once Dina returns, they’re going to have a little chat with her.
A short while later, Dina arrives at the inn—but to her surprise, the room is completely dark. Suddenly, she’s pulled into a chair with a spotlight on her, ready for interrogation. After all, Dina has both memory manipulation and teleportation magic, plus an unusually suspicious amount of talent and knowledge for someone who used to be an NPC. There’s no way Lufas could have forgotten her if she’d been in the original game.
First, Lufas asks if Dina’s teleportation magic is really the Escape spell. Dina doesn’t deny it, which shocks Lufas—though in hindsight, she probably should’ve seen it coming.
Dina has never really tried to hide her abilities, and Lufas recalls that the Escape spell was used to summon her to this world. So, it’s not like the spell is impossible for normal people—but still, it’s odd that Dina can use it at will.
Lufas asks about her abilities, but Dina gets offended, yelling that she worked hard for the last 200 years to stand out more—and she’s clearly serious about it. Seeing she’s not going to get a straight answer, Lufas decides to drop the investigation for now. Dina breathes a sigh of relief that suspicion has passed.
Once the interrogation is over, Dina casually mentions that she could transport Libra anywhere using her Xate ability. Lufas is surprised—earlier, Dina said transporting others was complicated. But she explains that since Libra is technically a Gollum, she counts as an object, so the restrictions don’t apply. In fact, she suggests testing it right away.
Libra sees no problem with this; Jupiter hasn’t made a move on the city, and it’s unlikely he’d attack in such a short window. She promises to be back in roughly ten minutes. And with that, both Libra and Dina teleport away.
But, not even ten seconds later, Jupiter launches a surprise attack, destroying part of the Lightwing District.
