"Verena..." Evelyn's fingers brushed gently across Verena's cheek while Saphira quickly hid under the sleeves.

She had never seen her like this, her savior, her anchor, reduced to something so fragile.

It was always Evelyn who stumbled, always Verena who caught her.

But now… now, her knight had fallen, and the weight of the dragon loomed squarely on her shoulders.

Fairy tales made it simple.

The knight slayed the beast, won the battle, married the princess.

But what if the princess faced the dragon herself?

Did that mean she deserved the knight? Or… did that mean she never needed saving to begin with?

And what about the knight? Who saved them when they collapsed under their own armor?

The thought stung.

Maybe she was more pathetic than she'd ever admitted.

All this time, she'd been spiraling, powerless and afraid, while the only person who dared to shield her paid the price.

Verena was always hurt because she never stepped up. Because she refused to use the one power she'd always had: the power over herself.

A rumble in the air snapped her from her thoughts.

The Somnioris reared its colossal head, its serpentine body coiling through space like liquid starlight, hurtling straight toward her.

"Evelyn! Move!" Vivienne shouted.

But she didn't need to.

Because something inside her shattered and then ignited.

It started as a faint glow at her fingertips.

Blue. Red.

Two opposing currents of light coiling together, fusing into one, then erupting outward like a tidal wave.

The ground trembled beneath her.

Even Evelyn staggered, breath caught in her throat as the energy swelled.

From the sidelines, Vivienne gasped, her expression turning stark.

Her knees buckled from an unknown pressure.

Even the Somnioris faltered mid-strike, crashing onto the invisible floor with a deafening impact.

Evelyn stared at her hands, wide-eyed. "What… is this?"

A mark bloomed across her wrist, faint at first, then brilliant, a geometric design woven with threads of starlight. Recognition struck her like lightning.

The Arcane Trine.

She had heard whispers of it.

A manifestation reserved for the most advanced Zodiac Weavers.

A symbol of cosmic alignment.

The moment when a Zodiac Weaver stopped doubting, stopped running and realized who they truly were.

The mark burned, but not with pain. It pulsed with possibility.

[System Notification]

[Arcane Trine Unlocked: Equilibrium]

[You have awakened your Arcane Trine: the ability to distort, reconcile, and bend reality itself. You merge contradictions. You balance extremes. Where others impose change with brute force, you shift fate quietly until the impossible feels inevitable.]

Her heart raced. The words barely made sense. What was this in front of her?

Magic? Technology? Or something far beyond both?

All she knew was this power wasn't foreign.

"Did I just… evolve my Natal Affinity?"

The Somnioris was still thrashing, its serpentine body coiling wildly across the endless expanse, the ground quaking beneath its weight.

She didn't fully understand what had just awakened inside her, but that could wait.

Right now, there was only one priority.

The death of this damned monster.

Carefully, Evelyn lowered Verena onto the ground, brushing the hair from her face before turning toward the beast.

"You goddamn parasite…" she hissed, spitting onto the illusion of the creature.

Her hand pressed firmly against its scaled form, and the moment her palm met its surface, her mind sparked to life.

It was instinctual now.

She could feel the elements woven within it, the tangled threads of magic and illusion, the fragile seams holding the creature together.

And with frightening ease, she unraveled them.

The Somnioris writhed, its body convulsing, its cries echoing like glass shattering underwater as its own magic turned against it—imploding, collapsing, suffocating itself from within.

For a second, it looked like it was about to explode.

Evelyn winced, bracing for gore and chaos.

But when she opened her eyes, and there was dust.

The colossal creature dissolved into a cascade of glittering particles, swept away by the invisible currents of the trial space.

"Ah… right," Evelyn exhaled, almost laughing at herself. "It was just an illusion…"

"WOOOO!" Vivienne's ecstatic cheer echoed behind her. "I don't know who you are, Miss, but YOU are my knight now!"

"A knight, huh…" Evelyn allowed a small, tired laugh to escape her. "I don't even know you… You're not one of Verena's teammates."

"Ah, no! Totally abandoned. Betrayal, you know how it is!" Vivienne shrugged dramatically, still beaming. "But hey, turns out I'm useless anyway!"

Even now, Evelyn thought bitterly, Verena had been risking herself to save someone else.

"You're a whole damn team, Miss!" Vivienne practically squealed, eyes sparkling. "You don't even need backup at this point!"

But Evelyn only smiled softly, her gaze drifting down to Verena, still unconscious, still breathing.

"No…" she whispered, voice quieter, steadier. "I do."

Because without them, without Verena, without her friends, she never would've made it this far.

***

"A-Are you sure you don't want me to carry Verena?" Vivienne asked, hovering awkwardly beside her.

"No. It's fine."

"But you've been carrying her since—"

"I said it's fine," Evelyn nearly snapped, her grip tightening around Verena's unconscious form.

They'd been walking for what felt like hours now, weaving through the warped labyrinth. It wasn't like any maze she'd known.

The loopholes in space yanked them in every direction, down, up, sideways, wherever fate decided to toss them next.

Somehow, they stumbled into the third trial.

"UPDATE ANNOUNCEMENT."

"ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-TWO STUDENTS HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED."

"FIVE HUNDRED FIFTY-SIX STUDENTS REMAIN."

The message echoed in their minds, emotionless, clinical, delivered straight into the heads of every surviving student.

Yet, the distant screams still sliced through the air, along with the low growls of unseen beasts lurking nearby.

They entered a tunnel.

It wasn't promising.

Each step squelched under their feet, not like mud, but softer, almost… organic.

The walls pulsed faintly. The floor beneath them felt uncomfortably like walking across flesh.

Vivienne winced. "That many eliminated already? Trial Two must've been hell…"

"How did you even end up with Verena, anyway?" Evelyn asked, too drained to mask her suspicion.

"Oh, I fell through a loophole somewhere. Did you?"

Evelyn only nodded. Her legs were trembling now, betraying her fatigue, and even with the strange magic coursing through her, the weight of Verena in her arms was catching up to her.

Eventually, she relented.

They rested in a quiet alcove that pulsed less than the rest of the tunnel.

Nearly an hour passed in silence.

When Evelyn finally stirred, Vivienne's head was leaning on her right shoulder, fast asleep.

Verena's weight pressed against her left, her head gently resting there as well.

"Wake up, you useless knight!" Saphira's shrill voice suddenly pierced the quiet.

"Wha—?!" Verena jolted awake, groaning as pain pulsed through her skull. Her hand instinctively flew to her temple.

"Verena, how are you feeling?" A soft hand cupped her cheek, startling her.

Her eyes widened as they met Evelyn's.

"E-Evelyn…? Wait!" She shot upright, alarm flashing in her gaze. "What happened to the beast—?!"

Vivienne practically bounced up beside them, grinning like a kid at a festival. "She obliterated it!"

"...Say what now?"

Evelyn just sighed, too tired to explain.

Judging by the awe plastered on Vivienne's face… the details could wait.

But seriously… Evelyn actually obliterated that motherfreaking thing?

Jesus Christ, the novel nerfed this girl so hard.

This...

This was what she lived for! A cool, overpowered heroine!

A woman who didn't let some pretty boy with good hair reduce her to a lovesick puddle of simping!

…Wait. Correction. Evelyn was a big simp.

But that wasn't the point!

What killed her was that even with all this ridiculous power, with fate practically bending over backwards for her, Evelyn still let herself be strung along by a man who never once gave her the kind of love, the kind of strength, the kind of damn self-respect she deserved.

In the novel, even with this jaw-dropping, world-shaking power that made everyone stop and stare?

She used it… for Raphael.

Like, girl.

Are you dead serious right now?

All that cosmic, destiny-fueled power… wasted on a man who didn't even deserve to breathe in her general direction?

A man who never had, and never would have, any real power over her?

Unbelievable.

If it were her? She'd be turning entire star systems upside down for herself. Not for some emotionally constipated love interest.

"About that promise I made to you…" Evelyn paused, her expression unreadable. "Forget it."

Say what now?

"Why so suddenly?" Verena frowned, heart doing that weird little skip that only ever spelled incoming disaster.

"You always told me to focus on myself," Evelyn paused. "To love myself better… so I'm gonna do just that."

Oh great.

Now it sounded like one of those dramatic break-up scenes where someone finally has their self-worth epiphany before they jump headfirst into another trainwreck relationship.

The only problem?

They weren't even together.

But it felt like that. Probably to Vivienne too, who was eyeing them like she'd walked in on an uncomfortable family argument.

Saphira just looked outright disgusted.

"A-Ah… I see… that's… good," Verena managed, biting back the weird twist of guilt creeping up her spine.

"And Verena?" Evelyn's voice softened, eyes locking onto her. "You should focus on yourself too. You really don't… you know… do that."

Yeah, she knew. It hit like a slap. A very deserved slap.

"If it weren't for your clumsy a—"

Saphira's mouth was immediately smothered by Verena's hand before she could finish that sentence.

"Yeah… I know." Verena sighed, then turned to Vivienne, grabbing her shoulder like passing off a package. "First… bring this girl with you, please?"

Less burden? Check.

Plot movement? Check.

Honestly, that's what mattered.

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