"What... what is this?!"
"Don't come any closer—aaahhh!"
"It's over... it's over..."
"What happened?"
The black threads were not invisible; everyone could see them. People fled in every direction, trying to evade them, but the threads ignored bricks, stones, grass, and trees, piercing straight through. Everyone nearby was pierced by the threads.
They screamed in terror. Some collapsed onto the ground, while others frantically tore off their clothes to inspect their wounds. Chaos erupted everywhere.
But they soon discovered that they... seemed to be fine?
The black threads had clearly passed into their bodies, yet no blood flowed. Some reached out, trying to pull them free, but grasped only empty air.
"I... I'm not dead?"
"What is this thing?!"
"How strange... why?"
The prince stared grimly at the thread connected to his body and rubbed it between his fingers, but he could not feel anything at all.
When he raised his head and looked at the air beside him, his entire body suddenly froze, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints.
Suspended in midair, he saw the soul of the real "prince." A thread had pierced that translucent body as well.
Out at sea some distance away.
Thanks to their swift movement through the water, all the Banshees had successfully avoided the threads. Still shaken, they looked toward the land.
[Loving Mother] stood completely still, countless threads densely connected above Its head and stretching out in every direction.
One of the Banshees suddenly shuddered, as if recalling something. "Th-that voice just now..."
Right before that "Mira" was about to explode, someone had warned them through the Link to get away.
It had been an incredibly familiar voice, one they could never mistake. The Banshees had obeyed instinctively.
"Lord, is that you?"
After a while, a response came through the Mind Link.
"It's