At the heart of Bulwark Star's central hall, deathly stillness and chaos alternated in the air.
Neos and the others calmly faced the fallen apostles who were recovering from their confusion.
Resistance had long since lost all meaning—ever since stepping inside, they had prepared themselves never to return.
Lasting this long had already far exceeded their expectations.
It was worth it.
Neos even pulled a relieved smile at the nearest apostle.
The crimson light in its eyes flickered. It seemed somewhat confused by that smile, but the energy blade gathering in its hand still rose mercilessly toward his head.
Bzz...
A faint hum, yet one strangely clear, suddenly came from within the host crystal sphere that had long since gone dark and lifeless nearby.
Then, threads of pure deep-blue light seeped from the depths of the crystal core through its cracked surface.
The light was weak, yet it carried a sense of "order" utterly incompatible with the surrounding dark-red filth, sacred to the point of coldness.
The blue light wound along the cracks, swiftly converging and weaving—
Into a humanoid outline made entirely of flowing data, suspended in the air before the host.
The outline rapidly sharpened and gained detail, ultimately taking the form of a little girl in a high-tech blue skirt.
Her eyes were closed, and deep-blue data chains cascaded around her like waterfalls, as though she were a spirit formed from information and logic itself.
"Supreme Wisdom..." Mio's silver eyes widened slightly.
The data-formed girl's lashes trembled as she opened her eyes.
Those eyes were clear and deep, carrying an indifferent insight into all things—and a distinctly visible... impatience.
She swept her gaze across the surroundings: the shattered host, the flowing dark-red energy, Neos's heavily injured team, and the fallen apostles who had just come to their