The day Roxy was separated from her father and younger sister didn’t begin with the syrupy crawl of a slow-motion tearjerker. It was chaos incarnate—Rippers storming from every direction, the scene devolving into a carnival of hell itself.

  “Roxy!”

  Erwin—her father—shouted her name at the top of his lungs, but even that wasn’t enough to cut through the logic-shattering despair.

  The last glimpse he caught was of his wife and eldest daughter vanishing into the smoke, while he clutched Ellie, his youngest, tight against his chest. He had no right to hesitate, not with death’s jagged tail whipping just a heartbeat behind them.

  “Papa… I’m scared.”

  The tiny voice jolted his focus harder than a slap of molten iron.

  He pulled her close and ran with everything he had, because a single falter meant the child in his arms would be torn apart.

  Adrenaline surged, spreading fast, uncontrollable, consuming. He wasn’t a hunter. He wasn’t a warrior. He was only an explorer. His gift was Space—a sense so precise, every nerve thrummed with sonar, charting the void around him. Skin, scent, sound, moisture, vibration—each input painted a living map in his mind. Every insect, every blade of grass, every stone, even roots threading beneath the earth—he knew where they were.

  Around him: fog so thick even light got lost, the roars of monsters hammering his chest until his heartbeat stumbled. His brain overloaded, feeding signals faster than thought. A draft brushed his arm hair, resin mingled with damp earth from dracelsa trees, wings of unseen insects whispering of thinner air ahead, soil beneath his boots breathing, every grain swelling and sinking with hidden life. All of it formed one truth.

  A cave… there.

  Erwin tightened his hold on Ellie and lunged toward a narrow cleft. A Ripper’s tail—long enough to defy physics—lashed for his skull.

  It missed.

  They slipped through the rock gap in the final heartbeat. And on the other side… was another world.

  A cavern vast as a cathedral, its ceiling arched into a temple dome sculpted by nature herself. Bioluminescent plants swayed in living tempo, while trees shone with crystalline shimmer. Strange insects brushed his cheek with orchid-scented wings.

  Every survival alarm in Erwin’s mind went berserk. He had seen lifeforms on five continents, but nothing like this. This wasn’t a cave. Not just a refuge. It was the rebirth of a world.

  He looked up.

  “Gaia…” he whispered.

  There it was—the Tree of Life. The Grail that half the galaxy’s tyrants and explorers had sought. Its trunk speared upward beyond sight, leaves shimmering in colors Pantone had yet to name, resin flowing beneath bark, veins luminous, alive with divinity. Power radiated from it—gentle, irresistible, the kind that made even predators bow their heads.

  This cavern was complete. A brook sang across stone, breezes circulated, ceiling crystals mirrored dawn and dusk, their radiance crafting the illusion of a sun born underground. Any ecologist would kill to study it—if they could even find it.

  But more chilling than its beauty was the sense that Gaia was alive. Watching. She knew they had come. She accepted them. Perhaps she had called them.

  Erwin held Ellie close and breathed deep. “We’ll live here, Ellie. Until the world is safe again. And until then… I’ll find the others.”

  And so began the loop of his life: venturing into hell, returning to paradise, bringing back stragglers who somehow survived. The cavern became a hidden village, born not from intention but from desperation.

  “Papa… come back soon, okay?” Ellie’s words became her morning prayer.

  He smiled each time—smiled with pain buried beneath resolve. “I’ll come back soon.”

  He never took her outside. No one would risk dragging a child into a world where Rippers hunted humans as afternoon snacks. Yet he had to keep leaving… though fear whispered that one day, he might not return.

  Ellie did what little she could. She never whined. Never begged. Never asked to leave. Instead, she traveled in prayer.

  Each day, she stood before Gaia, eyes closed, tiny hands clasped tight.

  “Please… protect my Papa. Bring him home safe.”

  The voice was softer than a whisper.

  But Gaia heard them. She was the heart of this world.

  And every prayer… was beginning to awaken something vast.

  —

  One day, the impossible happened—Gaia flared.

  The sacred tree blazed brighter than a sun burning past its limit, spilling a cascade of radiant colors that bathed the cavern. Every stone, every root, every hidden crevice seemed to breathe in perfect rhythm.

  And Erwin wasn’t there.

  He was outside—doing what a father with hope does: risking his life in a world of Rippers, scavenging twisted scraps of metal to build a transmitter. He believed—against all reason—that his family was alive, somewhere, waiting to hear his signal.

  Months bled away—sweat and blood traded for bent alloys—until at last the first beacon lit.

  But what answered wasn’t his family.

  It was Rippers. A tide of them, crashing in, death arriving free of charge within a heartbeat.

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  He survived again. Maybe because instinct honed from years of exploration refused to break. Or maybe because of the whispered prayers of one little girl—the only child in the universe who never stopped believing her father would come back.

  But when he staggered home to the cavern, silence became a scream in his chest.

  Ellie was gone.

  “Ellie!”

  Erwin’s cry echoed, piercing the cave, sharp enough to slice through stone. He tore through the cave, searching every crevice, every hollow, even cracks too small for a child to crawl into. Nothing. No blood. No struggle. No drag marks.

  This wasn’t the Rippers.

  He knew it. The sacred tree’s aura was too fierce—no beast dared step within Gaia’s roots.

  So why… why had Ellie vanished as if swallowed by mist, leaving not even a footprint behind?

  He searched, frantic, tearing through stone and shadow with desperate fury.

  Days bled into months. Months into years. Still, the echo of her tone haunted him:

  ‘Papa, come back soon, okay?’

  Each day he left the cavern, it wasn’t for scavenged tech anymore. It was for hope.

  Hope that had no right to exist.

  Erwin became the leader of the hidden village. He built systems, shielded the survivors, and wore the mask of composure. But beneath the surface was a father who had lost two daughters—and refused to accept it.

  Until the day he gambled everything.

  “This time… it has to work.”

  He built the transmitter again. Stronger. Ten times stronger. A signal carved to pierce through mist, atmosphere, and dimensions. This time, the call reached where it was meant to go—Sigma Two.

  But the price came bundled.

  Rippers swarmed again. Bigger. Smarter. Hungrier.

  He didn’t care. He’d trade his life for one sound he hadn’t heard in over a decade.

  “Dad…”

  Erwin froze. He turned slowly, terrified the sight would shatter if he breathed too hard.

  And there she was.

  His daughter. Grown. Fierce. With the same fire in her eyes he’d ached for all these years.

  Words weren’t needed. They never were.

  He walked forward and pulled Roxy into his arms—held her so tight the universe itself seemed to stop. So tight nothing in existence could tear them apart again.

  For the first time in 4,396 days…

  Erwin’s heart beat to the rhythm of one word:

  Family.

  "What did you just say, Father? Ellie’s gone!? She wasn’t with you this whole time!?"

  Roxy’s voice shot up higher than she ever intended. Her face drained from excitement into a hollow void in less than a heartbeat.

  All her life she had dreamed of the day her family would be whole again. And what she got… was a confession more brutal than a bomb going off in the middle of a battlefield.

  “Yes… it was my fault. Ellie was young—too young. I should never have left her alone.”

  Erwin’s tone dropped lower with every word, until it collapsed into silence. His once-brave posture now sagged under the weight of pain, bearing a guilt he had carried alone for years.

  Roxy clenched her fists, then reached out, pressing her hand firmly on his arm. “Father… don’t blame yourself. I know you did everything you could. And I believe Ellie didn’t just disappear—someone, or something—took her.”

  Her gaze locked on his, steel in her eyes. The squeeze of her hand became a silent oath. “Ellie is still alive. I can feel it. And I will bring her back.”

  Erwin exhaled heavily, as if ten years of life escaped his chest in one breath. “And how, Roxy? Even I… don’t know where to begin.”

  She didn’t hesitate. “I’ll go back. Twelve years ago. To the day Ellie vanished.” A steely resolve sharpened around her. “If I know what happened, I can stop it.”

  Erwin froze. He knew she wasn’t joking. The little girl he once carried across rope bridges… was now ready to cross time itself to bring their family back.

  My child… you’re no child anymore.

  Emilia, silent until now, spoke up grimly. “If you want to go back… you’ll need the Dark Gate. And Trinity’s permission.”

  Erwin nodded. “And he’s not one to bargain easily. You know what that means.”

  Roxy lifted her chin, as if daring fate itself. “We’ll never know… unless we try.”

  Silence followed.

  Skyler stayed fixed on her. He didn’t see the commander of Sigma Four standing there. He saw an older sister willing to give up everything for her family.

  He stepped closer, giving her the kind of genuine smile she had come to know from him. “I’m coming with you. We’ll bring Ellie back—together.”

  Zoe, who had been lurking in the shadows—utterly unlike herself—had been listening the whole time. Normally she would burst into any conversation—full puppy energy, or vanish to chase something shiny. This time she stayed hidden, so quiet even her breath made no sound. A single tear slid down her cheek before she even realized it.

  She wiped it away roughly, pretending nothing had happened, and slipped out with the excuse of just taking a walk.

  Skyler saw. He didn’t call her out. He just followed her, quietly, letting her know she wasn’t alone. Beneath the glow of the cave’s crystals, he asked softly:

  “You’re coming too, right?”

  Zoe answered without turning around. “Hah… honestly, it’s only because I’ve got nothing better to do.”

  She rolled her eyes—hard enough for a blind man to catch the lie.

  “…So I figured I’d kill some time. Don’t go thinking it’s because I want to help Miss Redhead.”

  Her tone snapped shut, sharp as a door slammed, though Skyler knew she hadn’t locked the latch. He only smiled faintly, neither mocking her nor pretending to play along. He understood—Zoe hated showing weakness. To anyone. Sometimes even to herself.

  In truth, she was the only one here who had actually crossed time before. The only one who could face the universe’s madness head-on. And most of all… I can see it. She wants to help.

  Less than a minute later, Emilia appeared, one hand on her hip, the other casually swinging her oversized cannon, twirling it with the ease of a tennis racket.

  “I’m coming too,” she declared. Not a request. Just a fact. She strode forward with a confidence so thick it could be bottled and sold.

  “Try to keep up, Peach Girl.”

  Zoe twitched, then darted forward to overtake her. “Excuse me!? Auntie! Don’t call me Peach Girl!”

  Emilia spun, an expression saying that insult was worse than a curse word.

  “Ohhh… must’ve hit a nerve. You’re blushing.” Zoe smirked wickedly.

  “You little brat!” Emilia raised her gun before remembering where they were. For one tense second, her face became the definition of holy restraint.

  “Go on, shoot! Bet you couldn’t hit me even if you tried!” Zoe stuck her tongue out and bolted away, her laugh sharpened with the practiced edge of a seasoned troll artist. She knew exactly how far to stretch Emilia’s patience before it snapped.

  Skyler laughed out loud for the first time in days. It reminded him he wasn’t facing this madness alone.

  Behind them, on the wooden balcony, Roxy and her father still stood. Erwin tilted his head back, deep in thought, then shook it off and pulled his daughter close again.

  She hugged him back, whispering with the weight of a vow: “…I will bring Ellie home. No matter what it costs.”

  And so the four of them set off, heading back toward Eternus Castle—the place where the true gamble would begin.

  A gamble between time… and the heart.