Five years had passed since Earth was swallowed by a deafening silence after the cosmic storm ended. The sky, once streaked with flashes of purple and golden energy, had returned to being a calm blue canvas, occasionally adorned with starlight that no longer felt threatening. Yet for Sari, that silence was always haunted by the faint echo of Raka’s sacrifice.Inside her spacious office, with massive windows framing the growing city of Neo-Veridia, a monument to humanity rising from the ashes, Sari felt a familiar yet terrifying warmth creeping across her hand. An ancient artifact she had discovered years ago within the ruins of the System laboratory was now pulsing with energy unlike anything she had ever felt before. The artifact had become little more than a desk ornament she never touched, a silent reminder of a dark past, until today.“What is this?” she murmured, her slender fingers moving closer to the artifact.It resembled a fragmented black crystal, etched with faint golden s

"The main shield is down!" Xylos shouted, his voice tense, his compound eyes fixed on the screen. "We’ve lost control of the ship! The gravity here is unstable!"Sari felt her body thrown sideways, slamming into the control panel. The artifact in her hand pulsed wildly, its golden light flickering erratically. "Raka! I can feel you!" she cried, struggling to maintain that faint resonance. "We have to get through!""It’s impossible, Sari!" V'lor growled, his muscles tightening as he fought to steady himself. "This field is too strong! We’ll be torn apart!""No!" Sari insisted, her eyes locked on the distant vortex of golden energy, now shrouded by horrifying darkness. "He’s trapped in there! We can’t leave him!""Sari, listen to me," K'tharr said through the communicator, his weak voice distorted by dimensional interference. "Raka isn’t just trapped. He’s being absorbed. The force surrounding him... it isn’t a defense. It’s a prison.""Absorbed by what?" Sari asked, her voice catching

The dense darkness felt like a bottomless abyss swallowing Raka whole. Yet amid the total collapse of his consciousness, he sensed a call. Weak, muffled, but unmistakable.“Raka! You have to hold on! Listen to me!”It was Sari’s voice.“Sari?” Raka tried to answer, but his voice caught in his throat. Sari? She’s here? How is that possible? “I... I can’t hold it back,” he murmured, his voice sounding like a whisper of wind drifting through the ruins of his mind. I failed.“You did not fail, Raka!” Sari’s voice rang out again, stronger this time, more urgent. “You were only torn apart.”The three fragments of Raka’s consciousness, the frightened human, the confused player, and the wounded guardian, began to spin, drawn toward that voice. He felt an unavoidable pull, not into the cold void, but toward a faint light. A familiar golden glow that had always felt like home.“You did not fail, Raka!” Sari shouted again, her voice now echoing through every fragment of his consciousness. “You’r

Sari’s ship drifted silently in Earth’s orbit, its sleek silver silhouette reflecting the gentle light of the sun. On the observation deck, Raka and Sari stood side by side, gazing down at the blue planet that now felt so peaceful after everything they had endured. Xylos busied himself at the console while V'lor stood guard near the hatch door.“So, they call themselves the Summoners,” Raka began, his voice low and thoughtful. He could still feel the subtle resonance of their ship, a presence that was not threatening, yet immensely powerful. “A race that judges civilizations.”Sari nodded, her eyes fixed on Earth, fragile and distant below them. “And our victory over the Collectors turned out to be nothing more than a prerequisite. A ticket into the next stage.”“A stage of trials,” Raka added. He remembered the Summoner’s gaze, those glowing eyes that seemed to pierce through every layer of defense. They saw everything.“Did you feel what I felt, Raka?” Sari asked as she turned towar

"You can’t keep holding them back, Raka," Sari’s voice rang clearly inside Raka’s mind, threaded with the roar of unfamiliar energy. "I can feel the pressure on your consciousness."Within the turbulent darkness, Raka felt his energy shield tremble. In front of him, familiar silhouettes began to take shape within the simulation’s mist. Bara, in the final form of his monstrous hybrid state, now stood upright, his eyes radiating a cold violet glow. Beside him appeared visions of ruined cities and the faces of the people Raka loved, threatened by deadly starvation."I have to," Raka replied, his voice hoarse, muffled by the strain of maintaining the shield. "This is our test. Their test. If I give up now, everything will have been for nothing.""But you’re hurt!" Sari pressed. "I can feel your resonance weakening. Those Shadows... they’re attacking from inside the simulation."Raka closed his eyes, focusing on the core of his Cosmic Light. He sensed Bara’s distorted presence, a projectio