I, Matou Sakura, Third of the Flame-Chasers! Chapter 34

Matou Sakura nodded gently, then said earnestly, "I will abide by the terms of the contract and return the six Stones before leaving this universe." "Mm, I believe you."

The Ancient One smiled softly. In truth, she no longer cared much about the Stones' existence.

Even if Matou Sakura failed to honor the contract in the future, she would no longer mind.

Because of that person's existence, the power of the Infinity Stones had become unimportant.

But she could not tell Matou Sakura about this. The contract from the past had now become a restraint as well, though she believed that as the girl found more and more Infinity Stones, she would eventually discover this changed reality on her own.

"When do you plan to leave?"

Though The Ancient One wanted Matou Sakura to stay and exchange insights on magic with her, the girl's heart was no longer here.

There was no point in trying to persuade her to stay.

"Tomorrow."

Matou Sakura had long made her plans. Captain America Steve's story was nearly over, and she could not miss the readily available Space Stone.

By then, research into the Space Stone and Time Stone would also have to be placed on the agenda.

"I see."

Having already learned of the future, The Ancient One immediately understood her intentions. She smiled faintly, and her form turned illusory before vanishing from Matou Sakura's sight in the blink of an eye.

Matou Sakura blinked. The Ancient One had advanced even further now.

Her gaze shifted to Wong. He had yet to come back to his senses, but there was a trace of magic lingering on him—the Ancient One's handiwork.

After all, there were some things Wong was better off not knowing.

A crisp snap rang out. Matou Sakura vanished, and Wong regained his senses.

He stared blankly at the empty library before him, scratched his nearly bald head, then shook it.

He should just keep reading.

Early the next morning, the mages rose at dawn for their morning training, practicing magic.

No one noticed that someone had already left Kamar-Taj.

In the library, Wong subconsciously raised his head and looked toward the fourth shelf in the row to his left. The familiar figure that had once been there was gone today.

Wong sighed, then lowered his head and immersed himself in the world of books.

Matou Sakura quietly left Kamar-Taj, and aside from The Ancient One and Wong, almost no one knew of her departure.

Even in their memories, the image of that girl, warm as light itself, was gradually fading away.

Somewhere in the world, a Space Gate quietly opened, and a figure stepped out of it.

She was Matou Sakura, who had left Kamar-Taj!

Looking at the silver briefcase in her hand, then at Captain America Steve, whom the Space Gate had spat out beside her, Matou Sakura smiled faintly and raised her hand, casting a large-scale spell.

Brilliant golden light shone in her hand. When the radiance faded, the beach was empty, with only the sea breeze playing an unknown melody in the stillness.

Forty-Seven, Cave Heaven

The Tesseract.

Looking at the Tesseract in her hand, which emitted a deep blue glow, Matou Sakura tightened her five fingers slightly.

Like the Eye of Agamotto, it was a container for an Infinity Stone, and it shattered instantly.

The energy overflowing from the Space Stone scattered in an instant, only to be absorbed by Matou Sakura just as quickly.

Her Divine Body, or rather, divine physique, greedily absorbed the energy belonging to the Space Stone.

Higher-level energy was the finest nourishment for the evolution of a divine physique.

Not even the fragments were spared by her Divine Body. As a container for the Space Stone, the Tesseract's material was naturally extraordinary. According to the knowledge she had gained from Kamar-Taj's library, the Tesseract was made from special particles capable of independently emitting faint spatial fluctuations.

It was made from the same material as Gungnir.

As the Tesseract vanished, the Space Stone, radiating a pure azure glow, lay quietly in Matou Sakura's palm.

Upon closer inspection, one could easily notice that the Space Stone's light was slightly dimmer than before.

The moment the skin of her palm touched the Space Stone, which contained infinite energy, her Divine Body—ignorant of the meaning of satisfaction—opened its greedy maw and frantically absorbed the energy within it.

Matou Sakura could feel her body constantly growing stronger. Every second, she advanced toward the threshold of Celestial Level.

Though the increase was small, this speed was already terrifying.

Countless people could not cross the threshold of Sub-Celestial in their entire lives, let alone reach Celestial Level.

One hand tightly gripped the Space Stone, while the Time Stone, still housed within the Eye of Agamotto, appeared in her other palm.

Her Divine Body only absorbed the Space Stone's energy and did not touch the Time Stone.

The Space Stone alone was enough to provide the energy needed for her Divine Body's evolution. The Time Stone's purpose was merely to let her comprehend the mysteries of time and gain control over its power.

Matou Sakura floated within the Imaginary Pocket she had created. She slowly closed her eyes, holding the Space Stone in one hand and the Eye of Agamotto containing the Time Stone in the other. Blue and green radiance continuously intertwined around her body.

Meanwhile, in the outside world, Captain America Steve's story had already come to an end. Without outside interference, fate slowly continued along the path it was meant to follow.

Time passed, and the outside world had already reached 2010.

Meanwhile, within the Imaginary Pocket created by Matou Sakura, the once-empty Imaginary Pocket had been transformed by the power of the Space Stone into something akin to a Cave Heaven from an immortal cultivation tale.

A vast blue sky, with enormous islands floating in the air.

Beneath the islands lay profound darkness, where endless Black Mud writhed.

Above the island, inside the luxurious villa.

Pernor happily ate the pudding before her. Its sweet flavor was the best remedy for driving away all unpleasantness.

"Belfast, the desserts you make are getting tastier and tastier~"

Pernor looked blissfully at the Maid before her. Belfast had once been a great ship that My dear Sister had brought back four years ago.

Though Pernor had no idea why a mass of steel could turn into the beautiful, dignified, and voluptuous Maid named Belfast before her, what mattered most to Pernor was that her desserts were delicious.

"Thank you for the compliment, Lady Pernor."

Belfast smiled gently. As a Maid, nothing brought her greater joy than receiving her master's approval.

Though, strictly speaking, her master was Lady Matou Sakura.

However, ever since she had received new life from Lady Matou Sakura's hands, four years had passed without her seeing her mistress.

If not for the connection through her soul core remaining intact, she would have thought she had been abandoned.

"Would Lady Pernor like anything else?"

The perfect Maid poured Pernor her favorite extra-rich milk coffee.

The pure white, slightly viscous coffee was Pernor's favorite, and only she knew how to appreciate this unique delicacy.

It was also a flavor that had troubled Belfast, the perfect Maid, for a long time.

Because Pernor's request at the time had been for the milk coffee to taste like My dear Sister's little sister juice.

As a Maid, though she could be a little improper in certain regards, that request had truly frightened her at the time.

After all, she had never tasted that part of Lady Matou Sakura. How was she supposed to know what it tasted like?

If possible, she would have liked to sample it before attempting to recreate it, but Lady Matou Sakura had already entered seclusion by then, making her ulterior plan impossible to carry out.

Still, after nearly half a year of effort and as many as six hundred and seventy attempts, she had finally concocted the flavor Pernor wanted.

Pernor's response, however, had been that it was just slightly off—an imperfect product infinitely close to the real thing.

Yet that tiny difference was an impossible hurdle Belfast could not overcome no matter how she adjusted the recipe.

"I want chocolate cake."

Pernor stared at Belfast with her large pink eyes, looking like a child.

"And an ice cream sundae!"

"Certainly, Lady Pernor."

Belfast smiled softly and committed those requests to memory.

She wondered when Lady Matou Sakura would emerge. She missed her dearly.

Belfast walked outside, where the warm breeze lifted her hair.

Though this was a Cave Heaven created by Lady Matou Sakura, everything here was no different from the outside world.

Yet as a Ship Girl, she had no understanding whatsoever of how such things were accomplished, which left her deeply curious.

She walked to the edge of the island, where an invisible force prevented her from taking another step forward.

This was the place.

Looking down, the writhing Black Mud appeared terrifying, like some living thing.

Yet Belfast did not feel afraid, because she knew that her companions were being nurtured within it. Though they might not belong to the same faction, they were all Ship Girls—beings who had received new life from Lady Matou Sakura's hands.

A black shard of stone appeared in Belfast's palm, wrapped in a pure white glove.

The shard was roughly the size of a tennis ball, its surface extremely irregular. Yet immense energy lay hidden within it, and it was nourishment for the companions who had yet to be born.

This was something Lady Matou Sakura had given her before entering seclusion. It was called an Origin Crystal.

Like feeding goldfish, Belfast tossed the Origin Crystal in her hand into the writhing Black Mud beneath the island.

Before the Origin Crystal could even touch the writhing Black Mud, a mass of Black Mud swallowed it in midair like a venomous snake striking at prey. The writhing Black Mud became even more active, revealing its faint consciousness to the outside.

That was joy... And in the deepest part of the island villa, the girl floating in space slowly opened her eyes.

Blue and green radiance emerged within those dark golden pupils.

Forty-Eight, Miss Maid

Matou Sakura slowly opened her eyes, the power symbolizing time and space surfacing within them.

After spending so long—nearly tens of thousands of years—she had finally mastered the power of time!

As for space, she had mastered it long ago.

Kamar-Taj's Space Gate magic had always involved the manipulation of space. It was a culmination of spatial control magic, and having comprehended and mastered it long ago, sensing space naturally posed no great difficulty for her.

By thirteen thousand years, she had already grasped the mysteries of space in her hands.

And now, after having a vast amount of its energy absorbed by the Divine Body, the Space Stone had grown even dimmer.

Although the Space Stone possessed infinite energy, that infinity was based on its connection to space, drawing energy from across the entire universe to achieve so-called infinity. Over the tens of thousands of years, the Divine Body had continuously extracted enormous amounts of energy from the Space Stone, causing it to suffer a certain degree of depletion. Recovering from forty thousand years of absorption would require over a hundred thousand years.

But it no longer mattered. The Space Stone's existence was no longer of much use to her.

What the Space Stone could do, she could now do as well.

Putting away the somewhat dimmed Space Stone, Matou Sakura looked at the Time Stone in her other hand.

The tens of thousands of years she had spent were achieved by accelerating time through the Time Stone.

By the time outside, only ten years had passed for her in total, but within the world created by the Time Stone, she had already lived through tens of thousands of years.

Gazing at the beautiful Time Stone, Matou Sakura considered it briefly before placing it back into her pocket as well.

It was time to go out. Before entering seclusion, she had used her mechanical activation ability to create Belfast from the world of Azur Lane. She felt quite at ease leaving Pernor in Belfast's care.

There was also the fantasy creation beneath the island. Judging by the time, that child was about to be born as well.

When she pushed open the door, the tens of thousands of years made everything before her seem somewhat unfamiliar. A trace of confusion appeared in her eyes, then quickly faded away.

"Lady Matou Sakura!"

A somewhat familiar voice rang out from nearby. Following the sound, she saw Belfast, the Ship Girl she had created four years ago—the first new life she had created using the AllSpark's power.

Transformers?