Kevin

Beyond the gates of the Final Domain lay, in a sense, chaos. There was no sky, no earth, no world to speak of.

The Black Wall was a step removed from that. It could exist deep within major Hollows, but it was bound by the laws of the world, preventing high-level Ethereals inside it from descending.

Gepetto, for instance, had always operated beyond the wall through puppet symbiotes. By gathering Ethereals, he hoped to raise the Ether concentration at a single point outside the wall high enough to descend.

But back to the matter at hand.

Griseo gripped the Demon Blade and unleashed a Starlight Cross Slash. The boulder split into four, then Ether Energy exploded across the cut surfaces. The severed stone shattered into fragments and scattered to either side.

There were simply too many fragments. Some inevitably flew backward... or, more precisely, straight at Remiel Dan.

Before stepping forward to cut the boulder, Griseo had withdrawn the power of The Stars Signets from Remiel Dan, leaving her black wings restored to their original state.

The fragments would not kill her, but they were more than enough to hurt her in her weakened state.

"Whoa! Little—no, big sis! Help!"

Remiel Dan instinctively covered her head and folded her wings into a shield, but the fragments came too fast. She did not even have time to activate her time domain.

Bang! Bang!

The sound of heavy impacts rang out.

Beneath her wings, Remiel Dan froze for a second. Then she checked herself. She was completely unharmed, without a single wound.

Huh!

Was she really that lucky?

But when Remiel Dan opened her eyes and looked ahead, the sight stunned her: a figure stood before her, with a wall of ice between them and the flying stone.

At the moment of