Royal Airfield

"Wow, is that really true?"

"There were actually creatures that never aged or died, but perished when exposed to light?"

"So what happened next?!"

Raily listened intently to the old man's story, not even realizing she had finished the entire pot of thick soup.

At first, she had only figured she might as well listen since she had nothing else to do, but once she started, she became completely engrossed.

Those ancient histories and all manner of rare, marvelous tales instantly drew the inexperienced young girl in, leaving her unable to tear herself away.

The convictions and principles of the characters in those stories brought her a joy she had never known before.

"After that, the swordsmen staked their lives on destroying the demons once and for all. Sunlight, a thousand years overdue, finally shone upon the earth, and peace returned to everything. The end."

"Yay!"

Raily waved her arms happily, as though she were part of the story herself. She had not even noticed that she had been listening for several hours.

"Ho ho ho, what matters most is that will. Even when lives end and eras change, as long as that will is passed on, any hardship can be overcome."

"Mm-hmm!"

Raily nodded eagerly, wholeheartedly agreeing with the old man in black robes. After listening to his stories for so long, she had come to firmly embrace the ideals within them.

From her sparkling eyes, it was easy to tell she had already begun imagining herself entering those stories and joining their adventures.

The old man in black robes nodded kindly, and even the campfire seemed to burn a little more fiercely.

That was no illusion.

Finally! She finally took the bait! I was about to bring out the story of Chrysanthemum Hero versus the Peach Blossom Monster. Missionary work really isn't easy!

Beneath the kindly old man's face, Lin Jin was moved to tears by his own persistence. He had worked desperately to instill his ideology through those stories, and at last, the young girl had bought into his beliefs.

Lin Jin was not a god who controlled dreams, after all. He could not pull off anything as precise as making an hour in a dream last only a minute outside.

Sensing the fluctuations in the outside world, Lin Jin had even resorted to the stories he had been saving for a last resort. At last, he had successfully recruited his first believer just before time ran out.

"But what comes next is the truly important part."

Lin Jin's expression grew solemn again. Everything from beginning to end had been preparation for this moment. Success or failure would come down to this.

"Now then, young lady, would you be interested in carrying on this will?"

"Hmm?"

The old man in black robes held out his palm. A tiny flame appeared out of thin air, neither spreading nor moving, simply resting quietly in his hand.

"What is this?!"

Raily felt something familiar about it, but for the moment, she could not recall what it was.

"This is a trace of Essence left behind by a great being known as the Sunfire God."

"Though his true form has fallen into slumber, his power remains immense. This is the flame he left behind, and it is also hope."

Looking at the "relic" in his hand, the old man in black robes let a perfectly timed hint of sorrow enter his eyes.

Raily seemed to realize something as well. She stopped asking questions and quietly listened.

"In the most ancient of times, this world held a terrifying being known as the Abyss, who sought to devour all life at every moment."

"In that era, countless gods fought against the Abyss. That war, utterly beyond comprehension by today's standards, finally ended with the Abyss driven back into the deepest depths beneath the earth."

"And the Sunfire God was the deity among them who embodied flame and order."

"To preserve the spark of life, he suffered far greater injuries. Even today, he has yet to recover, but he still watches over us."

As the old man spoke, the tiny flame flew from his palm and came directly before Raily.

Raily carefully touched the faint little flame with both hands. It did not burn her; instead, she felt warmth.

"Child, you possess a special bloodline. Are you willing to shoulder this responsibility, gather faith for the Sunfire God, and help him recover sooner?"

"I... I'm willing!"

Raily stared straight into the old man's eyes and declared it loudly.

Whoosh!

As though Raily's answer had triggered some mechanism, the tiny flame plunged straight into her body. She immediately felt a drastic change.

Her bones tore apart, and her flesh grew.

It felt as though her entire body were breaking apart and being reassembled, yet it was more like an evolution. Every part of Raily was constantly being reshaped into something more advanced.

Collapsed on the grass, Raily fought to endure the pain, but everything in her vision grew increasingly blurred. In her final moment of consciousness, she faintly heard the old man's last words.

"Thank you... Flame Saintess."

"Flame Saintess... does he mean me?"

Royal Airfield

A remnant of an ancient civilization, this was one of the three territories controlled by the Gear Council.

Of the twenty-five districts under Ironkeep's jurisdiction during its golden age, only three remained. It was a civilization in terminal decline, unable to regain its footing.

Yet more than material deprivation, what plagued this place was a retreat of the spirit. Not a single bug intended to reclaim their lost lands.

The councilors had long since been terrified into submission by that great catastrophe. Their policies were extremely conservative, and all they thought about was how to preserve the three remaining regions.

Even the Royal Airfield, once a bustling hub where countless airships docked and departed, had become a site for manufacturing and storing supplies within the territory.

The equipment used to build large airships had been completely abandoned. Even if it still worked, there were no longer any bugs who knew how to operate it.

An oppressive atmosphere that left bugs feeling suffocated had become the norm here.

And within one utterly ordinary little dwelling, a transformation was about to unfold.

"Ah, my head hurts so much. Was I dreaming?"

With her head aching, the ladybug curled up on the floor gradually woke and looked toward the jar before her. The light inside remained unchanged.

"What a strange dream. But why did it feel so real? That feeling was like..."

Raily struggled to clear her head. She had never expected to spend her precious day off asleep.

Only when she noticed the changes outside did she remember that the bugs in the Royal Airfield had to assemble for a daily roll call. Anyone absent would be punished.

She hurriedly straightened her clothes. Loathing the territory's conservative ways did not mean she wanted to deliberately challenge its rules.

She was still only an ordinary bug, radical in thought but frail in body.

Yet the moment she stood up, Raily noticed something strange about her view.

"Have I... gotten a little taller?"

Raily realized that her perspective was slightly different from before, and her body felt somewhat unfamiliar as well.

She hurried over to her mirror and examined herself carefully.

Her limbs seemed longer, and her shell had become harder and glossier.

There was even a faint air of nobility about her entire body.

More unbelievable still were the components scattered across the floor.

The prosthetic limbs she hated yet could never escape had fallen off completely.

"My hands! They've grown back?!"

If the earlier changes could be explained away as illusions, then these brand-new arms and hands that had grown out of nowhere were something Raily could not comprehend at all.

She tried clenching her new hands tightly. The long-lost sensation awakened her memories once more.

"Could it be..."

An incredible possibility suddenly surfaced in her mind, and she turned to look at the faintly glowing Essence in the jar.

The more she looked at that light now, the more familiar it seemed.

"The dream was real! Was I really chosen by the Sunfire God to become the Flame Saintess?!"

Raily let out an ill-timed shriek, while the wings on her back, now several times larger, trembled rapidly in a display of her panic.

Yes, young lady. Take up the great duty of passing on the flame!

Watching his handiwork, Lin Jin spoke with a smile from within the jar.