"Mm..."
Aponia nodded lightly, her eyes slowly closing as she let out a soft breath, as if she had made some sort of decision. When she opened them again, the eyes meeting Gwen's were already blood-red, like two flawless red crystals that made it impossible to look away.
At the same time Aponia opened her eyes, an unimaginable surge of psychic power burst from her tall figure, setting the entire Elysian Realm in motion—
Aponia's Psychic Tide
Behind Aponia, the beautiful, butterfly-wing-like hem of her dress rose into the air. As soft light flowed across it, it transformed into a pair of slightly illusory butterfly wings.
Those translucent wings carried Aponia aloft, leaving her floating in midair like a mythical spirit.
"Please... return..."
As her gentle, consoling voice fell, Aponia opened the hands she had kept clasped before her. One illusory crystal butterfly after another drifted out, and with a turn, two pairs of arms as ethereal as those dreamlike wings appeared at her sides.
"Hmm?"
Meeting Aponia's blood-covered eyes, Gwen raised a brow. As his Cosmo circulated, he completely ignored the massive psychic force crashing over him like endless waves, as well as the pressure coming from the entire world, and voiced his question.
Clearly, Aponia was not trying to hurt him. She simply wanted him to return.
But why?
Even without simulating the thoughts of other intelligent people, Gwen immediately arrived at the answer—
A test.
Alicia's identity was far too special, and she had once met that kind of ending. As her best friend, it was perfectly normal for Aponia to set a test for him—
At least, compared to those "good friends" outside who encouraged their besties to put their boyfriends through all kinds of bizarre trials, Aponia's method was entirely within Gwen's range of acceptance.