. . . I never imagined White would appear out of nowhere—let alone recognize me as her master. I knew Elfina had the spears within her for some reason, and I suspected Frank carried a power similar to White's. But to think it was White herself? That was perhaps the most bizarre revelation yet. And that wasn't all. Frank had somehow helped her evolve through strange means I didn't even understand, allowing her to take on her true form—revealing herself as some kind of angel. I honestly couldn't make sense of what was happening anymore. White was with Elfina, yet Frank also had her? And now she was an angel? Wait... why is she an angel in the first place? While I was still trying to process everything, White suddenly recognized me and leapt into my arms, hugging me tightly and calling me "Master Kireina," causing a commotion throughout the room. "Kireina-sama?! It's you!" "E-Eh?" "You may not recognize me, but it's me—White!" "What?!" Of course I recognized her, even in that form. But seriously, why did she have to jump on me like that? Was White unaware of the rules of this world? Or maybe they didn't apply to her? "Huh? What's going on?" Frank asked. "White, do you recognize Kireina? D-Did you say 'master'?" "Yes, Kireina-sama was the one who forged me into a spear..." White began, but I quickly covered her mouth. At the same time, Harumi, Erika, and Matsuo were reacting more to the fact that Frank had just summoned a giant angelic woman out of nowhere. "What the hell, Frank? You summoned an angel spirit woman?!" Erika asked, stunned. "W-What is this? Your new power? A spear from somewhere? This isn't normal!" "It's not normal at all," Harumi agreed, nodding. "What's going on? I really don't get it." "Me neither... I'm confused... and jealous," Matsuo sighed. "I want an angel babe spear too. This isn't fair, Frank. You always get the cool stuff." "Haha, what are you even talking about? It's... hard to explain," Frank said. "I used my ability to trace magical items and recreated the holy spear Elfina can summon. Remember how I traced both and used them against her? Well, when I summoned her again, I could hear her voice faintly. One thing led to another, and I ended up in a strange, ruined temple. I found her there. She and her siblings' souls entered the spear and evolved it." "...?!" Matsuo, Harumi, Erika, Mammon, and I were all completely baffled by the situation. To calm White down, I sent her a telepathic message, urging her to act casual and not reveal that she recognized me. She clearly didn't know—or had forgotten—the rules of this world. "Please, White, calm down. This world is strange. If we talk too much about the world outside, we might trigger a penalty and get assimilated," I told her. "So act casual. Pretend we're not connected." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦 "Wait, what? I had no idea...! My apologies!" she replied telepathically. "I'll try to communicate differently. I'm deeply sorry!" She returned to Frank's side and offered everyone an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Master. I got overly excited," White said. "I met someone in the past who looked like her, but she clearly wasn't." "Ah... huh, okay," Frank muttered. "Anyway, can we calm down now?" Thankfully, the commotion surrounding White helped cover up the incident, and I sighed in relief, nearly wiping the sweat from my forehead. "We'll calm down once you explain why an Archangel is here," Mammon said. "A-Archangel?!" Harumi groaned. "So that's why that light felt so irritating and painful to look at... its warmth alone felt like it was burning my skin." "Yeah, Harumi. We're especially vulnerable to the Holy Light of Archangels. It's best not to get too close," Mammon explained, glancing at me. Then I heard his voice in my mind. "Isn't that angel the White Spear you made using those valuable items?" he asked. "What's going on, Kireina? I really don't understand." "Yeah. Based on what Frank said, he was able to clone White with his powers and somehow infuse her true soul into the copied spear, recreating the real thing," I explained telepathically. "Listen, I had no idea White was an Archangel. I created her. Why would she be someone entirely different? This is strange... somehow, the weapon I made turned out to be someone else. But how? I don't remember using any fragment from an Archangel." "Hmmm..." Mammon nodded. "Maybe your powers can bring forth fragments of entities that were long cast away, forgotten, or dead." "W-What? How is that even possible?" I asked, stunned. "I mean, we're looking at her right now. What's there to doubt?" Mammon replied. "I'll need to talk to Elfina later and see if she can summon her spears. I want to ask White about it," I said. "I haven't retrieved them forcefully because I let her borrow them. She needs protection in this world." "Aww, how thoughtful," Mammon sighed. "So who is this Elfina girl?" "She's my Summoner. Thanks to her, I reincarnated after dying while trying to absorb a powerful attack and saving everyone on our way to Helheim," I explained. "How could you forget that, Mammon? Are you even listening when I talk to you? Haa..." "W-Why are you so mad? Okay, I'm sorry... you're usually not this serious," Mammon said. "Well, now I am!" I snapped. "Now... now I am. Sorry, I shouldn't have yelled." "It's fine," he shrugged. "This whole situation is messed up. What's even the deal with Frank? How did he pull this off?" "Let's ask him," I said. I turned to Frank and his friends and asked if they knew what his powers actually were. "Well, they're technically a top-secret matter our alliance decided to keep... well, secret," Matsuo said. "But you should know Frank has really strange game-like powers." "Matsuo, you just blew the secret, idiot!" Erika smacked him on the head. "Ouch! What the hell, Erika? Don't hit me like that!" Matsuo cried. "I thought we were pals!" "Yeah, and that's what pals do when their pal starts talking nonsense," Erika replied. "Although his powers are confidential," Harumi added, "I bet Frank will tell you anyway, so keeping it secret is kind of pointless." "I was about to explain," Frank said. "In this world, some people can Awaken or manifest supernatural abilities. Most are tied to ancient bloodlines, but some people just miraculously gain powers. That's what Matsuo told me." "Yes. It's said the Planet itself grants such powers to certain individuals for unknown reasons," Matsuo explained. "Maybe out of necessity." "Well, there's also my father. I think I inherited part of my power from him," Frank said. "But I'll talk about that later. As I was saying, I awakened a power. Like Matsuo said, it's game-like. I can level up, increase stats, gain skills, and more." "It's insanely strong and lets him grow super fast," Matsuo said. "He even gets item drops from things! Isn't that wild? It's almost reality-breaking." "Yeah, it's incredible! I never imagined someone could have a power like that," I said, pretending to be surprised. . . .