Despite everything, Victoria still found it strange that Lucia hadn't returned yet, though she believed she would be fine. However, the calmest of them all was Nova—he didn't seem to care about anything. That was odd, especially since back at the waterfalls, he hadn't cared when Lucia jumped in, nor did he even glance at her, raising suspicions that Nova might truly be under some kind of brainwashing.
Even so, both of them had to keep moving—until suddenly, a being of light appeared.
Meanwhile, Lucia flew as fast as she could to reach the others, but her resurrection had drained all her energy, leaving her weak and exhausted.
—"No… I… I can't… give up… I have to keep going… damn it…" she muttered, forcing herself on, until her strength finally gave out. Just before collapsing completely, someone appeared before her.
Slowly, she opened her eyes. When she managed to open them fully, she realized she was being carried in a wooden cart. Peering out, she saw the driver—an old man whistling a tune.
Lucia asked him where he was taking her, and he replied that it was to the nearest village. Since she hadn't yet regained her strength, she decided to let him take her there.
As the horse trotted along and the old man kept whistling, Lucia took the chance to ask about his life.
—"Ah, my life? Ha… it's been the worst."
—"Why? Did something happen to you?"
—"Yes. Ever since the Empire returned, it's only brought trouble."
—"What do you mean? Tell me."
—"Well, since there's still a long way to go, I'll tell you."
"See, girl, we humans are a very intelligent species. But what happens when we misuse that intelligence?
Hahaha… after all, we are and always have been a primitive and violent race toward anything different. Long ago, a young generation rose up against the government because they were sick of being controlled. They formed the GASP Empire. Soon they crushed everything and became the rulers of the world. But it didn't end there—they bet everything on technology. And because of that, we clashed with God, demons, angels, aliens… you name it.
In the end, we weren't perfect. Because of that, we fell quickly. Whenever someone tries to do good, they end up discovering the rotten truth: governments take huge amounts of money to ignore and protect criminals. That led to waves of crime and murders.
That's why the Stermintrons revealed themselves. They saw the ugly truth, and when they finally attacked us, we more than deserved it."
—"Hey, those Stermintrons… aren't they those super-advanced robots?"
—"Yes, young lady… oh, we're here now."
—"Well, thank you for the company, old man."
—"Hahaha, company? You're like my granddaughter, girl. Hahaha."
Once in the village, Lucia focused on searching for Nova and Victoria. But after looking everywhere, she couldn't find them. Growing worried, she saw the forest in flames and knew something terrible had happened. With her strength finally restored, she flew off as fast as she could…