The scene shifts slightly to the past...
"The ancient being, your partner has come..." As the book on the altar was read, the amber-colored crystal began to glow more intensely, levitating in the air. "Kyaa?! Ah...!!" The chains wrapping around Marika's hands also started to emit a brighter light, and she began to groan in pain.
"Brother... please stop..." She tried to plead for mercy amidst the overwhelming pain, but he remained impassive. "The time of endless cycles has passed, and the moment has arrived. Now, end your wandering and achieve true autonomy..."
....! Suddenly, an intense, dark flash occurred, warping the surrounding objects with a supernatural phenomenon. "Aaahh -?!" Marika's screams grew even more desperate, but Abram seemed to desire this chaos.
"Now your era begins, descend... Use the sacrifice we prepared as a foundation to prove our beliefs to the world..." Creak! Creak!! The amber crystal floating in the air began to vibrate violently, emitting an unstable roar.
It seemed the ritual was nearing completion... "Take this flesh, corrupt its original owner and inhabit it, and we will dance in joy!" "Kyaahh!!" As her voice filled with madness, Marika screamed in agony, as if her head would burst.
"Please stop! Brother!! This isn't right!!" Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!! The pain in her head was relentless, and despite the waves of electric currents hitting her, she desperately resisted the chains, but it was futile.
"With your power, alongside a chosen partner..." Crack...!! The crystal, which had started to crack earlier, reached its climax along with the incantations... Crack――!!! The growing fissure eventually penetrated the core of the crystal. "Now... arise..." The space around suddenly becomes a silent void, as if all sound has been cut off. A cold and dark stillness seems to mark the end of her time, a silent tribute of sorts.
Crash! The brief silence is shattered by a refreshing sound, accompanied by the release of an ancient darkness. "...?!!" The darkness seeps into Marika, beginning to completely consume her.
"Aaaahhhhhhh ——— !!!!” A cry of despair, anger, sorrow, and even ecstasy echoes, filling the facility. The screaming continues for a while, but then it fades, and once again, tranquility returns to the place.
"Lord Luceria?" Abram tentatively speaks to the collapsed figure, wondering if they have lost consciousness. Crack! Crack! The body lies motionless, quickly losing its color as it lays silent.
"Sigh..." The woman exhales for the first time since the ritual concluded. "?!" "Are you Arsia?" Abram, seeing the response from this overpowering and intimidating presence, recoils slightly, surprised.
But his fear soon turns to a smile, as if he has found the fulfillment of his long-cherished wish. "This body... it's not Arsia, but... it's not a bad vessel." Growl...!! A voice as cold as a ruthless queen, merciless in every way, rises and speaks boldly.
"Lord Luceria!" An amber mist, seemingly capable of engulfing the world, emits as he speaks. "Hmm?" He looks at the figure before him with twisted joy, celebrating the resurrection of the ancient god.
The black chains, once useful, now seem redundant. However, Abram looks at the god with a mix of calculation and disgust. "Are you the ancient god Luceria?! I resurrected you!!" "You resurrected me?" He boasts of his achievement, kneeling with an outstretched hand, expecting both loyalty and reward. "Yes!!" Abram nods vigorously to the displeasing question, his face flushing with a distasteful smile fueled by strange desire. "I've heard it from the ancient prophecies that your partner would appear in this era...!!" He makes an overt statement laden with hidden intentions, bowing again to her.
"Hmm... I did tell my first believers something like that..." "I will gladly become your partner!" Abram's face distorts further, while Luceria, seeing through his inner motives, doesn't hide her disgust.
Abram finally reveals his true intentions. "The partner of Lord Luceria is said to receive a part of your power. Please grant me that strength!" He intertwines his delusional hope with her ideals.
"I will cut down all who stand in your way, exclude the weak as the ancient gods desired, and lead in creating a world where power is the only authority!"
He reaches out with all his might, pleading for her to take his hand.
Luceria watches Abram's wish silently. "Come, take my hand!" Abram's emotions are at their peak, feeling unstoppable.
But suddenly... "Cough?!" His elation is short-lived as Abram is struck by a massive blow, a gaping hole in his chest spewing blood.
Thud! Caught off guard by this unexpected attack, Abram falls lifelessly to the ground, a critical wound inflicted. "Cough...! Gasp!!" Breathing becomes a struggle, his breaths painful and bloodied.
"You dare presume to be my partner?" Luceria's cold words are thrown at his miserable state. "Goddess...?" "Clearly, you are not the partner I desire. The man I truly seek is not here."
As she says this, ominous smoke billows from her hand, ready to deliver a punishment for sullying her mood and perhaps some mercy... "?!" Suddenly, her serious expression fades, and she looks unexpectedly towards the only exit of the facility. Then...
"He's here...!" Her voice brightens joyously, her cheeks blushing as the ancient being eagerly awaits the arrival of the man she senses. "I can feel you!" She smiles, seemingly able to see something in her vision, waiting eagerly for the man about to enter.
Silence prevails. Only that sound is heard.
"Uh... ah..." I'm speechless... What has happened... All I see is pitch-black darkness and a faint light at the edge of my vision. The light is too far to gauge the distance, seemingly flickering out and moving away from me.
"Whoa?!" Instinctively, I don't want to lose sight of the light and find myself running towards a distant white glow when I regain my senses.
But suddenly...
"Ah?!" Something suppresses my body...
"This is the first time, so let me introduce myself. I am the ancient god Luceria..." I'm completely immobilized, feeling an ominous and unsettling presence wrapping around me from behind.
I can't turn around to see, but I sense that the owner of the voice is right behind me. "Who are you...?!"
"Shall I introduce myself again? I'm Luceria, a transcendent being that has existed since ancient times..." ...?!! Memories flash of the ultimate evil from ancient times...
Just the thought of such a being behind me feels like my mind is about to collapse. "You seem quite unstable mentally, but looking back at memories recorded since the past, it's understandable..."
The self-proclaimed ancient god continues to talk to herself, indifferent to my condition. "What do you want from me?!" I muster the courage to speak forcefully, but it feels futile.
"Your body will now be mine. So, please, relinquish your physical form and fade away." Fade away... Am I going to die?!
"Perhaps that would be accurate." Can she read my thoughts?! How does she know this?!!! "A surprisingly fragile soul, it will be easy for me to take over." Whoosh! Then, something void and hollow rapidly wraps around my body, and I start feeling my existence fading away. Ah... no...
Is this how I die? A life where I only received contempt from my family, am I to disappear without ever truly experiencing happiness...? I hate this... I don't want this...
Desperately reaching out with my hand, I mutter towards the light as I feel myself completely vanishing. Please... help me....
A man emerges in my memories, kind to me unlike my family, a man who was with me in his true goodness, not with ulterior motives. Harold... My voice calls out for the last time.
"Wait, you... !!" Suddenly, a dishappy voice rings in my ears. "No... maybe this is for the best... It's good to eliminate those who covet what's mine."
"Heh heh heh..." But that sentiment is brief, quickly replaced by a sense of triumph, as if catching two birds with one stone. Harold...!! No matter how much I shout, my voice won't reach him, fading away meaninglessly.
Save me! Despite my desperate hope and waiting... Please... He won't appear.
"Disappear quickly." Once again, the voice of the ancient god echoes... "Ah..." The last bit of light at the edge of my vision completely extinguishes...