Sirin's figure in this dream began to blur. It was a sign that she was about to be expelled from this dreamscape.
Once she left the dream, it would mean that Sirin's power activation this time had failed. All her efforts would be in vain. Not only would Frélle not be saved, but it was very likely that other areas would also be affected.
The moment she realized she was about to leave, the light in Sirin's heart extinguished for a moment, just like that crystal ball.
She still couldn't do anything... Shu had entrusted everything to them, but she had failed to complete her mission... She knew Shu could start over, but...
What if this was already the result of a restart?
She couldn't use the Key of Remembrance now, so she didn't know what the current situation was.
But what difference would it make if she knew? It was too late now... In her current state, she could at most stay in this dream for another minute. What could she do in this one minute?
The wall might be just one last bit away from being broken through, but the wall now was no longer that fragile wall, but tough flesh. Without a sharp weapon, how could she cause any damage?
And... the most important thing was... would it really be useful after the wall was broken through?
Uncertain... just like life. After stepping out of one's comfort zone, everything was uncertain...
...
The crystal ball in the darkness touched Sirin's fingertips. In this darkness filled with dripping slime and various low whispers, a faint fluorescent light gently lit up.
It flickered rapidly three times, then stayed lit for a long three seconds, repeating this cycle.
It was very weak, not even as bright as a firefly. It was very fragile, so fragile that the moment Sirin saw that glimmer of light, she held her breath, afraid that her breath would extinguish it.
It pulsed irregularly in the darkness, like a person's chaotic heartbeat, a messy electrocardiogram like a musical score. But in this darkness, it was more like life than the flesh.
There was light in Sirin's eyes.
"Heh..."
Time remaining until exiting the dream... one minute.
Enduring the sharp pain feedback from her body, Sirin reached out and gently grasped the crystal ball. "Frélle... did you know? I was once in a cage too, imprisoned by the lies I wove for myself."
Struggling to support herself, Sirin slowly climbed up from the ground.
"I have also lost very important things. I believe you must be the same, having something you longed for, but for various reasons, you couldn't touch it, didn't dare to touch it...
"Actually... we're a bit alike... both alone, both helpless, longing, and hoping..."
Time remaining until exiting the dream—forty seconds.
Sirin finally stood firm, then gently pressed the crystal ball against her heart.
"You can hear it, right... my heartbeat. Even in a dream, you can feel my life existing now, because I am a person... and you are the same, a living, breathing person with a heartbeat and your own ability to think.
"Not a hollow puppet!"
"What is thought (self)?" Amidst the entwined tentacles, Frélle looked at the glowing Sirin through the remaining gap and asked a question.
The last sound was slurred, two different words overlapping, making it impossible to tell what she was saying.
"Thought..." Sirin's eyelids drooped slightly. "I don't quite understand how to explain it... but there's one thing I understand very well... and that is..."
Sirin suddenly raised her head.
"You just cried out for help to me, right!!"
The tentacles in the room froze. In the enveloping darkness, Frélle's hazy eyes suddenly opened wide.
Three short, three long, then three short...
S... O... S.
Time remaining until exiting the dream—twenty seconds!
Sirin's grip on the crystal ball tightened. A crisp sound came from her hand.
A crack appeared in the center of the crystal ball, but the brilliance it emitted grew even stronger at this moment.
"When I was trapped, someone once told me," Sirin said to Frélle with a smile. "So-called magic is doing what others want in a way they don't understand...
"Today, I'll let you witness it—the magic of the magical girl Sirin☆!"
Ding—!
The crystal ball in Sirin's hand suddenly shattered into countless pieces. And the light stored within it erupted in an instant. The brilliant light completely illuminated the entire room for the first time.
The brilliance scorched the twisted, grotesque tentacles. They shrank back frantically, wanting to return to their safe place, wanting to regain their disguise.
Time remaining until exiting the dream—ten seconds!
In the brilliance, the fragments of the crystal ball refracted a dazzling array of colors. And Sirin suddenly reached out and accurately grasped the largest piece of the crystal ball in the air!
The sharp edge of this fragment instantly cut Sirin's hand. Trickles of blood seeped from her hand, flowing onto the crystal fragment.
At this moment, a power that was difficult to ignore suddenly appeared in this dream. In this instant, it gave Sirin control over the entire dream!
Even if it was only for an instant!
The power of [Vision]!!
The crystal fragment was like an irregular sharp blade. The moment it cut Sirin's palm, she also stabbed it back into the flesh wall behind her, into the pit she had dug out before!!
The light that had erupted from the crystal ball disappeared at this moment. The room returned to darkness.
Exited the dream—
Sirin disappeared from this room, leaving only the fragment from the crystal ball stuck in the gap.
Frélle stood in the center of the room. She didn't even know when she had stood up.
The instantaneous light had made the tentacles leave her side. And now, the re-enveloping darkness made them reappear, returning to Frélle's side.
It's over...
Just like the bird in the cage that finally flaps against the cage, in the end, it achieved nothing, and was only left with injuries.
The tentacles were about to cover her. Frélle lowered her head and, through the darkness she had long been accustomed to, looked at the crystal ball fragment that had fallen by her feet.
That was the last of my things... yet it was so easily destroyed. She's really too much...
Forget it... it's all over. Anyway, she has long been accustomed (submissive) to this kind of life, just like...
...
Strange...
Frélle lowered her eyes to her trembling hand.
I clearly...
...should have been used to it by now...