"The Hydro Archon... Focalors?"
Staring at the barefoot, blue-haired girl who looked identical to Furina, Neuvillette and Furina froze for a moment before deducing her true identity.
Indeed, compared to the bizarre aura of the curse surrounding Furina, the girl before them radiated pure, unadulterated divinity.
"The other me... was actually hiding inside the Oratrice all this time?"
Only now did Furina realize why her other half had vanished without a trace.
"Is it time for the judgment? Wait... Furina, and Neuvillette? This is the Palais Mermonia?"
Clad in her divine raiment, Focalors initially looked dazed, thinking her plan had succeeded. But as she took in her surroundings, her pupils shrank, and a look of pure despair washed over her face.
This wasn't the Opera Epiclese, nor was it the hour of judgment. This meant the future had not unfolded according to her script.
If that was the case, did it mean her plan had failed? Was Fontaine doomed to never be saved?
Just as she was sinking into an abyss of hopelessness, Neuvillette spoke.
"Hydro Archon Focalors, I believe it is time you explained your design... Why did you invite me to be the ludex of Fontaine? And why did you force Furina to masquerade as you?"
"There is no point... in explaining such things now, is there?"
Focalors, believing herself to have failed, hung her head low like a child who had done something terribly wrong.
"Everything has failed. Now that the truth of Furina's masquerade has been exposed, the Heavenly Principles will surely know."
Drowning in pessimism, she didn't know what else she could possibly do.
"No! Other me, we haven't failed yet! There is still a chance to turn this around!"
Furina had wanted to ask for details too, but seeing her other self so devastated, she immediately began to explain.
"With Miss Jibril here, any problem can be solved! Right, Miss Jibril?"
She instinctively looked toward the "sister" who had promised her aid.
At that moment, Jibril was sizing up Focalors, nodding repeatedly to herself.
"Miss Jibril?"
Focalors blinked, noticing the Flugel girl for the first time. Her heart skipped a beat.
If her senses were correct, she had just been forcibly stripped from the Oratrice—along with her very godhood—by a completely foreign power.
Over five hundred years, the Indemnitium accumulated by the Oratrice had surpassed what an ordinary god could control. Even she, the Hydro Archon, found it overwhelming; that power was supposed to be strong enough to destroy the Divine Seat of the Hydro Archon.
And yet, that massive energy was absolutely nothing to the Jibril standing before her.
The strength this girl displayed was on par with—if not superior to—the Heavenly Principles.
If this being was willing to help...
"Miss Jibril, would you..."
Having grasped the situation, Focalors wanted to inquire about Jibril's intentions.
Right then, Jibril gave a satisfied nod.
"Not bad, not bad at all!"
"Miss Jibril, are you willing to help us defeat the prophecy?!"
Focalors was suddenly overjoyed.
"Huh? What did you say?"
Jibril blinked, looking confused as if she had been tuned out.
"My Lady, we were talking about the prophecy and the curse..."
Focalors lowered her voice, asking cautiously, fearing that Jibril was offering a polite refusal.
"Oh! That little thing!"
Jibril shook her head dismissively.
"No problem! I already said I'd handle everything. No need to repeat such trivialities."
Hearing this, Focalors finally let out a long sigh of relief.
"Thank you, Miss Jibril!"
Furina offered her gratitude, then asked out of curiosity:
"By the way, Miss Jibril, what did you mean just now when you said 'not bad'?"
They had assumed she was talking about the prophecy, but it seemed that wasn't the case.
"I was talking about you two!"
Jibril said quite frankly.
"Identical sisters are a rare find. Master likes our Flugel legion, and he likes the Misaka Sisters legion. A sister-combo like you and Furina will definitely suit Master's tastes."
Focalors and Furina exchanged a bewildered look.
"Master?"
Furina hesitated, reflexively hugging herself. After a moment of internal struggle, she gritted her teeth.
"As long as you can solve the curse of Fontaine, I will do anything!"
She closed her eyes and puffed out her chest, showing the resolve of a heroic martyr. She had come this far; she wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice herself.
"Regarding that, I feel the same," Focalors added, raising her hand. "However, I must clarify: Furina is a human version of myself that I created. You could call us sisters, or you could call us mother and daughter."
"Isn't that even better?!"
Jibril's eyes sparkled.
"That's exactly like the situation with the Misaka clones! Master won't mind at all!"
"That's good to hear, then."
Focalors patted her chest, looking relieved, before asking curiously:
"Speaking of which, for a master to command the submission of someone as powerful as Lady Jibril... he must be truly extraordinary!"
She blinked, trying to fish for more information. Though she was the last to arrive and knew the least about Jibril, her grasp of the current dynamic was much sharper than the human Furina's.
"But of course!"
Hearing the praise for Su Mo, Jibril first beamed with shared pride, then waved her hand dismissively.
"But you don't need to be so tense! I'm not here to demand payment for a favor. Master wouldn't do that either; no one will force you to do anything you don't want to do."
"However, regardless of the method, once you've joined the chat group, you will inevitably become one of us!"
Hearing Jibril's words, Furina relaxed once more, feeling a twinge of shame. While paying a price for a miracle was only natural—and saving Fontaine at the cost of herself was a bargain—not having to "sacrifice" herself to a stranger was a relief. Yet, she now felt a strange guilt for getting such a "free ride."
Having fully relaxed, she grew even more interested in this "Master" Jibril spoke of.
He wouldn't demand payment or force them, yet they were destined to become his "property"?
"It sounds like... destiny," Furina whispered, her cheeks flushing slightly as she thought of the romance novels she secretly read.
"An inevitable result without a clear cause... Has this 'Master' also mastered the power of Fate?!"
Focalors, being far cleverer than her human counterpart, immediately linked this to their own unbreakable prophecy, realizing the kind of Authority Su Mo likely wielded.
"Could it be that Miss Jibril plans to have that Master intervene to rewrite Fontaine's fate of sinking?!"
At Focalors' deduction, both Neuvillette and Furina turned to Jibril with eyes full of hope. Fighting Fate with Fate seemed perfectly logical.
However—
"For a minor matter like this, there's no need to trouble Master!"
Jibril shook her head, denying the possibility.
"While Master has indeed mastered the Authority of Fate—and even reigns over the destiny of the entire multiverse—a planet-level fate like yours can be shattered with a little bit of brute force!"
As she spoke, under Focalors' worried gaze, the Flugel girl looked up.
"As for the curse you want solved... if I'm not mistaken, the 'Heavenly Principles' and 'Fate' you speak of are just the Gods of Time and Space looming over this continent, right?"
With that, Jibril raised her hand again, opening a spatial rift in front of her just as easily as she had summoned Focalors.
Through the shimmering portal, Focalors and the others caught a glimpse of magnificent, ethereal palaces and architecture, floating above a sea of clouds.
It was a city built in the heavens.
"Celestia?!"
Focalors gasped, her breath catching in her throat.
Neuvillette's eyes also went wide in disbelief.
"The Island in the Sky... is that not where the Heavenly Principles and the gods reside?"
What was Jibril planning to do?
As their hearts pounded with shock, Jibril reached casually into the spatial tunnel.
Focalors saw a flash of light and shadow. On the other side of the portal, a massive throne appeared, along with a white-haired girl—the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles—fast asleep like a small bird.
Is that the Shade of Space?! She... she really is in a deep slumber?
Just as Focalors was reeling from this revelation, Jibril's slender hand withdrew from the portal. The rift snapped shut.
The image of Celestia vanished, but in Jibril's grasp, there was now a white-haired girl with golden, slitted pupils.
The existence that stood above the Seven Archons, the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles, the Shade of Space... was now being held by the scruff of her neck.