I opened my eyes to a misty forest clearing. Trees towered above, blocking out the sky regardless, but the mist turned everything an opaque gray.

 

It was familiar. A place that I had been to many times in the past, but one I hadn't returned to recently.

 

"The Lost Woods, huh?" I muttered and sat up. As I did, I noticed Aria lying on the ground beside me.

 

A faint trace of guilt, but then realization passed through me. If she was here with me, then we couldn't be back where it all began. But then why...?

 

I shook my head. I could worry about that later. Right now...

 

My cultivation base was working. My mana reserves were filled. My body was in top shape. If anything, I was at the top of my form.

 

And yet there was something oppressing me- No, shrouding me.

 

Usually, I could just use my Absolute Memory to go back, but at the moment I couldn't. That 'Absolute' Memory wasn't working properly. The events and places I needed to recall were blurred. Not enough to stop me from getting there... but enough for me to not risk it with someone else.

 

And considering that unknown Goddess intermeddling as well as the conflicting powers that lashed out at the end when both Serena and Xinxin tried to stop her... It was a better idea to get my bearings.

 

A soft murmur. Aria's sweet voice.

 

I walked over to her and then checked on her condition. Grabbing her hand, I allowed a bit of my spiritual energy to check her form.

 

There were still traces of that Goddess, but they were swiftly fading. Whether that was because of where we were, the fact that we had gone back in time, or my own influence, I didn't know.

 

However, it seemed that she was out of danger for the time being. Then, the next situation was to sort out what to do now.

 

There was something keeping us... Keeping me here. At the same time, time itself was flowing strange. A distorted flow.

 

I could sense Xinxin's connection with me, that faint karmic thread still wrapped around my wrist. But it was indistinct, half present like something from a mirage.

 

"That Goddess is more powerful than anticipated." I lightly tugged on the thread, trying to use it as a link to get back to my dear disciple. But it didn't move. Rather, it was like trying to grab a beam of light or a shadow.

 

I sighed and then picked up Aria instead.

 

She didn't stir, still sufferring from the aftereffects of that possession it seemed.

 

Looking at her unconscious face and the stained white dress, I shook my head. "It seems that trouble always happen when we're together, doesn't it?"

 

Whether that was by design or coincidence at this point, I didn't even know. Still, it seemed to be a fact.

 

I shook my head again and then glanced at my surroundings.

 

It was indeed that same forest clearing where I first awoke. In that case, if I followed the path I remembered... It should lead me to the outside.

 

Nodding to myself, I started walking and decided to do just that.

---

An eerie and somber atmosphere. The Lost Woods were a misty area shrouded in that gray fog that seemed suspended in time.

 

Not only that, but because of my increased abilities, I could sense things that I didn't before.

 

Demonic and malevolent weapons that were buried deep underground. The ominous auras of powerful undead beings, forcibly restrained by holy light. And then some beings of pure light, bound by shadows. And those were only a few of the creatures that were scattered throughout.

 

They didn't sense my observation, probably because they operated by different 'rules' than the spiritual sense I used. Even so, their presence brought up more questions than I had answers to.

 

What was their purpose? Failed creations by Serena that were sealed away after they proved too powerful?

 

At first, that was what I would have thought. But after meeting what happened in Yggdrasil... I wasn't too sure.

 

But more than that, something about a few of the existences I saw seemed familiar to me.

 

An angel with flowing blue hair and a bright smile, slumbering peacefully.

 

A man with spiky blonde hair, quietly sitting atop a gray stone throne, his head lowered in regret.

 

They weren't anyone I knew. I also didn't get the sense that they were from Earth. But-

 

*That's a tragic story isn't it? After all of that, he still doesn't get the girl?*

 

A faint memory that I couldn't remember.

 

*I guess it's a bit sad... Should I change it?*

 

A soft female voice. An indistinct young woman, idly spinning a tablet pen in her right hand while looking at a computer screen.

 

*You should have other endings at least. I mean, that's the whole point of a game like that, isn't it?*

 

A headache. I winced and shook my head, turning my attention away from those two.

 

That memory... It wasn't something from this world. The computer screen and those words... It had to have been on Earth. But that woman...

 

A faint sense of longing and regret. Something that I forgot but shouldn't have forgotten.

 

"Tch."

 

I shoved that aside and kept walking.

 

Whatever the case, it wasn't something to concern myself with.

 

If those were memories from myself before I threw away my name, it didn't even apply since I had changed so much. And if they weren't, it would only distract me.

 

The faint sound of crackling undergrowth echoed as I walked forward. Branches snapping, leaves crumpling.

 

"Still..." I muttered as I walked forward and then glanced at Aria's face. "That woman... seemed a bit similar to you, didn't she?"

 

I couldn't see it. Her figure was indistinct and the memory itself was hazy. But her voice and the sensation- Or rather, aura that woman gave off was extremely similar to Aria.

 

A faint suspicion began forming in my mind. The reason why it came to this, how I got involved with Serena and maybe my strange death. That was because-

 

Snapping branches in the distance. Faint footsteps.

 

I narrowed my eyes and cut that train of thought short. At the same time, I gathered darkness around me and formed blades in the air. "Who's there?"

 

There wasn't an immediate response. But then, the footsteps drew near and a figure emerged from the mist.

 

Inhumanly beautiful features. Snowy white hair and azure eyes. Not only that, but a lacy black dress that hugged her body and highlighted her flawless skin. When she noticed my presence, she nodded. "So I wasn't mistaken back then."

 

I blinked and then called out her name. "Saphira?"