Twin Miracles

"We remember...!"

The two voices spoke in unison, echoing through the soul space.

This was the vow they had made together when their souls fused.

"No matter what happens, we will always be together."

66

The moment the words fell, an unprecedented power emerged from their fused souls.

The intertwined light of Celia and Soteria no longer separated. It spiraled, merged, and finally transformed into a brand-new soul shining with silvery-white radiance.

As the light faded, a new "she" floated in the void.

Behind her, illusory wings woven from light and shadow slowly spread open. Each beat dispelled the purple-black mist around her.

"Impossible! Impossible!" Echo's consciousness avatar was blasted back by that power. For the first time, a tremor of fear appeared in the chorus made up of countless voices. "This fusion... this perfection... should be mine! My collectible!"

The shock lasted only an instant before being replaced by even madder greed.

It roared and drove every trace of resentment within the cages into a foul torrent charging at Celia.

"Excellent—wonderful!" Echo let out a frenzied howl. "You will become the brightest jewel in my crown!

The torrent was mixed with countless twisted faces: the old Knight's fury, the bard's sorrow, the elven girl's despair... Forty-six imprisoned souls became the purest resentment, sweeping toward her and blotting out the sky.

But Celia neither dodged nor resisted head-on.

She merely closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then, she heard them.

She heard the old Knight's longing for glory, the bard's grief over love, the elven girl's yearning for freedom...

These souls were not truly evil. They had merely been trapped for too long, twisted too deeply.

"Your battle is already over," Celia said softly, her voice carrying the echoes of two souls at once. "You should never have