Reo was in a very cold, deep, and dark place. She felt as if she were in the bottom of a pit. Her body felt frozen and numb, but she could still feel pain inside her heart.

She was unable to move. She didn't want to move. She didn't care.

'Let's just leave things like this.' Reo stopped thinking, because she could only feel despair. 'Mommy won't be coming back anymore, nor will Daddy. I'll just sleep. I'll stay in my dream. I don't want to wake up.'

Longsword of the Remnant Flame!!

Seiji controlled his robot as it wielded a gigantic longsword. He stood at the very front of the combat line, killing many monsters at once with moves copied from anime. He even managed to slice off a corner of the monster-nest apartment.

The heavy weapon he created was nearly one hundred meters long, and it could easily slice any battles.h.i.+p in half. Combined with his wide a.r.s.enal of anime techniques, almost anyone would tremble, wouldn't they!?

He just needed to use one ultimate ability to wipe out so many monsters! One use would simply cost 9998...

'Cough cough, I should stop going off tangent.'

At this moment, with Seiji and the Honey Candy Girl army's efforts, they had already pressed all the way to the front of the monster nest.

Seiji continued to wield his anti-battles.h.i.+p blade as he led the charge at the monster nest. It seemed like they were right at their goal, but this would also be the most dangerous step.

Mayuzumi failed to suppress the darkness from spreading. The darkness had spread to an incredibly large area already and kept increasing in size, with new types of monsters endlessly appearing. Their party was completely surrounded.

A few swings of his blade destroyed a small portion of the monster nest. Then, Seiji turned around his mega blade and forcefully stuck it into the ground.

"Bankai! Senbonzakura!!"

Numerous huge blades popped out of the ground around the monster nest and then shattered and split into countless cherry-blossom-shaped sword pieces that filled the air, causing huge damage to the monster nest.

"Destroy!!" Seiji pulled out his anti-battles.h.i.+p blade again and continued slicing at full force!

"Haruta-kun, Reo's still inside..." Mayuzumi reminded.

"She won't be injured because she sealed herself already. She's completely shut off from the world!"

It was akin to using an A.T. field. A barrier of the heart... just what should he do to break past it?

No matter what, he decided to first focus on getting her out!

Many bright flashes appeared as various ultimate abilities were unleashed on the monster nest, causing ma.s.sive destruction!!

These attacks came from the Honey Candy Girl army.

'They were having difficulty dealing with the overwhelming swarm of enemy monsters, so how could they still have time to cast so many ultimate abilities!?'

Seiji looked at Mayuzumi. "Sensei!?" 

"I didn't command them to do that. They did that on their own." Mayuzumi was similarly astonished.

Seiji reflexively looked over at the Honey Candy Girl army.

The Honey Candy Girl army didn't seem to be in chaos or disadvantaged after using so many ultimate abilities. Instead, they actually seemed more mobile than before, and many characters were also looking in their direction and smiling vividly.

It felt like... almost as if they weren't NPCs!

'It's as if something has been injected into them.' Seiji suddenly had that thought.

He looked over at the angel-attired "Seiji" next to him.

This "Seiji" had a blank expression.

But the very next moment, that "Seiji" actually looked back at him, and also smiled brilliantly at the real Seiji.

Seiji and Mayuzumi were both astounded by this.

But this smile lasted for only one second before "Seiji's" expression turned blank again.

'Hey... just what the h.e.l.l is this!!?'

Seiji and Mayuzumi were now feeling somewhat frightened.

Just what was this? However, it wasn't the time to investigate this matter.

"It doesn't matter what it is! They're on our side, so let's destroy... whoops, let's get Reo out first!!"

Seiji took a look at the mostly demolished monster nest as he continued wielding his anti-battles.h.i.+p sword.

"Ora ora ora ora ora ora!"

Have you ever witnessed an anti-battles.h.i.+p blade being wielded like a kitchen knife?

Seiji wielded his blade furiously as he completely demolished what remained of the monster nest, like slicing vegetables with a kitchen knife. Half-buried under rubble, he finally saw what he was looking for.

A pitch-black crystal.

"Right here!" He had his tremendous robot fly over and grab the crystal and bring it before him.

He could faintly see the little girl's figure within the crystal.

"Reo, wake up!!!" Seiji shouted at the top of his lungs.

The little girl within the crystal moved slightly.

"I told you before: staying at the bottom of a pit just because it hurts and you don't want to move won't accomplish anything!

"And what's even more unsightly and worse than not moving is sealing yourself off completely in an effort to escape from everything!!

"This is incredibly foolis.h.!.+ Because your pain won't diminish, nor will it vanish; it will only remain in your heart and continue to increase!!

"Rather than doing something so foolish, why don't you vent it out instead! Say something! Shout! Cry!! Get angry!!!

"I told you that I'd listen to you! No matter what method you use to communicate with me, I'll listen! I'll do what I can for you!!

"Come, Reo! Stop huddling in your blanket, and open your eyes!! Come out!!"

Seiji's shouts contained his heartfelt feelings, and they echoed throughout Reo's entire soul realm. The sincere feelings within his words were transmitted to the little girl's soul.

Reo slowly opened her eyes. "Brother Harano..."

Seiji immediately opened up the c.o.c.kpit and jumped out to face the crystal when he heard her voice.

"I'm right here, Reo-chan." He smiled gently and reached out his hand. "Come out now..."

Reo remained silent.

"Although you met with something incredibly unfortunate and extremely painful, the world isn't as cruel as you think," Seiji said, looking straight at her. "In reality, you still have your uncle, and your friends... your life is just beginning, and there are still so many wonderful things that you haven't experienced yet.

"That's why you shouldn't seal yourself off. Don't hide in the bottom of the pit: bravely walk forth, and go experience those wonderful things and lead a blessed life.

"That's... what your mother and father hope for as well."

Reo's entire soul realm fell silent.

It was true silence. The darkness stopped spreading, all the monsters froze in their tracks, and even the Honey Candy Girl army temporarily ceased battling.

A nervous Mayuzumi observed this from the robot c.o.c.kpit in silence.

Seiji's hand remained extended to Reo as he looked at her. Reo was also looking at him.

"Thank you, Brother Harano..." she said in a soft voice. "What you say is probably correct. But... I have no more strength left. My heart hurts, and I feel so tired. I can't move; I don't want to move; I just want... to keep sleeping... to sink downwards..." Her eyes began to droop as she spoke.

"Reo!"

"I'm sorry... Brother Harano... I just... want to see Mommy again..."

Tears poured out from the little girl's eyes. She completely shut her eyes.

"Reo..."

Seiji wanted to say something else when he suddenly heard a strange noise from above. It sounded like countless bats, bees, and various other types of insects were flying above.

He reflexively lifted his head to see what it was. Seiji saw that the sky which had always been covered in dark clouds was now filled with an incredible amount of gray-black shadows!!

The shadows now covered the sky...

The sky couldn't even be seen anymore due to the sheer number of shadows in the sky! Seiji felt that anyone with trypophobia would instantly faint at this sight!

Seiji and Mayuzumi were both rendered speechless by the sight.

They saw that a large portion of the shadows started gathering together rapidly and twisting together, transforming into what appeared to be a gigantic female head. The body, feathers, and claws soon followed suit...

Two humongous clawed hands formed underneath the feathered shadow and began to reach down towards Seiji.

Seiji's first reaction upon seeing these disgusting and abnormal claws reach for him was to jump back in his c.o.c.kpit and have his robot hold on tightly to Reo's crystal. He focused fully on dodging the grasping claws!!