The clamor outside kept echoing in her ears until Titania finally gave up resting and went out, annoyed.
"What's all this noise?! Can't a person get some peace around here?!"
Her irritated voice quickly returned the rowdy crowd to silence.
In truth, Titania didn't actually need rest.
Right now, she was a being of pure Memoria. As long as her internal Memoria wasn't fully consumed, fatigue and confusion meant nothing to her.
Her choice to isolate herself in a quiet place for "rest" had a simpler reason:
She never imagined that someone like Hoshigaki Sora could actually die.
Titania had expended enormous effort, secretly fishing Sora out of the star before the Starcrusher Swarm King could notice.
Yet now, despite all the boasts of being "guaranteed to survive," that very someone had lost all signs of life, unable to rise again.
What an absurdly fragile existence, Titania repeatedly thought, though an odd, nameless emotion still lingered in her heart.
Just as she was trying to sort through this unfamiliar feeling, the commotion outside rudely broke her concentration.
Seeing Titania step out, some among the crowd gathered their courage to speak up after realizing who she was.
"Commander Titania, there's a rumor spreading that Mr. Sora has died, so we were debating over this."
"How could Mr. Sora die? Stop spreading nonsense!"
"Exactly! Mr. Sora is the Crimson Dragon who stormed the Swarm Disaster Zone seven times in and out! How could someone like him possibly die?!"
Clearly, those present found Sora's death utterly unbelievable.
He had boldly stormed the insect-infested hell countless times. How could he vanish without even a whisper?
Titania badly wanted to reveal the truth.
She had been the one to pull Sora from the star, after all. She had seen clearly: aside from severe burns, Sora's entire abdomen had been sliced open.
Even now, Titania swore she could still faintly smell something—the scent of cooked flesh.
Just recalling that scene made her head spin. Without a second thought, she quickly turned and left.
Only upon reaching a quiet, deserted place did she manage to suppress the nauseous turmoil within herself.
"What the hell was that? Didn't you promise me we'd have a fair and proper final duel?"
Liar! Big liar! You stupid, idiotic liar!
Titania cursed inwardly a few times, finally steadying herself.
Yet as soon as she turned around, she found several figures surrounding her.
It was those Iron Cavalry girls.
"What's this?" Titania's lips curled into a sardonic smile. "Shouldn't you be worrying about Sora instead of bothering me?"
"Tell us..."
"Huh?"
"Tell us exactly what caused Sora to end up like this!"
Voices trembling with suppressed rage came from beneath the armor. Though Titania couldn't see their faces, she knew their expressions couldn't be pleasant.
"You want revenge?"
"Don't ask such an obvious question! If not revenge, what else can we possibly do?! Just stand by and watch?"
As they spoke, Titania thought she heard a tremble, a hint of tears hidden behind anger.
Guilt and sorrow saturated the Iron Cavalry. They mourned the quiet passing of their friend, fallen silently like a drifting leaf, and blamed themselves for not standing beside him at the very end.
But despite their hearts brimming with emotion, none shed a tear.
Just as Sora once said, "Weeping within armor is a hallmark of heroes."
Yet, they were not heroes—just ordinary friends who weren't there when he passed.
And the reason they didn't cry by Sora's side was equally simple: he'd never have wanted to see them weep.
"We weren't even there... at the very end..."
"So you'd prefer to run off to your deaths?" Titania raised an eyebrow. "I never knew my clones were this foolish."
With the Iron Cavalry's current power, she held zero belief they could defeat the Starcrusher Swarm King. Going there meant certain death.
"Then what else can we do? Should we just stand by and watch the murderer who killed Sora roam freely across the galaxy?"
Just thinking about that monster freely wandering space after flinging Sora into a star made their bodies tremble violently.
They would never allow it. Even if it cost their lives, they'd make sure that bastard paid.
Titania could clearly sense their determination through the Memoria, seeing their resolve.
Then, she suddenly smiled coldly.
"Given Sora's stupid personality, recklessly sacrificing himself to save others, do you think he'd want you rushing to your deaths?"
"Don't make me laugh!"
Titania's expression turned deadly serious.
"That fool Sora would obviously want you to survive in this galaxy, not throw your lives away for his revenge!"
Her words deeply resonated within them. If Sora were still alive, he'd surely never accept the Iron Cavalry sacrificing themselves like this.
"Then tell us, do we just watch that bastard escape justice?"
"Who said anything about that?" Titania flashed a chilling smile. "That bastard is mine to hunt."
Eventually, she and the Starcrusher Swarm King would inevitably clash again—and when that happened, she'd tear that insect apart, limb from limb.
Sora was my rival. Who gave you permission to interfere?
"I am a god. If someone dares touch what's mine, they'll pay the price."
Titania's gaze swept coldly across the clones born from her genes.
"All you need to do is obediently watch me rip that bug apart!"
She spoke deadly seriously. Anyone could hear clearly—Titania wasn't joking.
The Iron Cavalry fell silent, conflicted. Should they really leave the revenge entirely to Titania?
She was a newborn AEON; certainly, she had the power to do it.
But if they couldn't exact revenge personally, their hearts wouldn't rest easy.
Usually, whenever they faced a tough decision like this, they'd simply look to Sora and settle it together.
But now, with Sora gone, perhaps they'd need to handle these problems on their own.
The atmosphere fell into a brief, heavy silence.
Seeing the clones lost in their thoughts, Titania merely snorted and turned to leave.
The Iron Cavalry continued struggling internally until someone nearby suddenly broke the silence:
"Why are you all still here?! Hurry up and gather—the others are already discussing how to revive Sora!"
At these words, the Iron Cavalry felt hope ignite again in their hearts.
But suddenly, a figure blurred past them with astonishing speed.
"That was... Titania?" The Iron Cavalry stared after the swiftly disappearing back, baffled.
How was it possible Titania seemed even more anxious than they were?
...
Since the matter at hand was resurrecting Sora, everyone quickly gathered together.
By the time Titania arrived, many had already assembled here.
Robin stood off to the side, eyes reddened, looking thoroughly exhausted. Jobs was anxiously discussing something with the others.
Titania saw Fenille waving toward her and quickly moved to her side.
"Resurrecting Sora? Is this for real?" she asked Fenille bluntly.
Sora had just died, yet they already had a plan for revival?
"Of course it's real," Fenille said calmly. "Just wait a moment for the details."
After the Iron Cavalry arrived, crowding the area further, the meeting finally began to discuss how to bring Sora back!
Jobs proposed the revival plan. "Sora's body is gradually recovering on its own—the real problem lies with his brain."
Extreme heat had cooked Sora's brain instantly, destroying all the memories stored there.
To counter this, Jobs suggested a perfect solution:
"We extract the Memoria containing Sora's memories from his body. Once his body completely heals, we convert the Memoria back into consciousness."
Indeed, he was suggesting exactly the method he'd planned to use to revive his wife and daughter.
In this universe, memories weren't only stored within the brain—every cell in the body recorded them as well.
Through Memoria extraction, these memories could be isolated and preserved. Once Sora's body fully healed, the Memoria could be transformed into consciousness and reintegrated into his restored body, successfully resurrecting him.
Hearing this, everyone present immediately broke into joyful expressions.
"But we face two problems," Jobs quickly added. "First, we currently have no way to obtain a concentrated source of Memoria."
Their present location was deep within the Swarm Disaster Zone. The IPC certainly wouldn't make a casual delivery here.
"Second, we need a star capable of supporting Sora's physical regeneration."
The stellar radiation currently affecting Sora's body wasn't sufficient for a complete recovery.
Yet every star near their temporary base had been drained away by the Afterglow Swarm King, and even Dragreder had fallen silent due to Sora's condition.
Two massive problems lay before them.
"The nearest suitable star is hundreds of light-years away, far outside the Swarm Disaster Zone," Jobs explained.
If they reached that star, the IPC could deliver the Memoria to them. But leaving meant abandoning this place, the sole sanctuary for countless refugees still flooding here.
"No," Fenille suddenly interrupted. "There's one other place that fulfills both conditions."
Everyone's gaze fell on her at once. The Iron Cavalry and Robin seemed to realize what she meant.
Titania immediately broke into a grin. "Then it's settled—let's head straight to the heart of the Swarm Disaster Zone, Tartaro!"
Tartaro, the Soul Springs planet, was itself composed entirely of dense Memoria. Moreover, it still orbited a star untouched by the Afterglow Swarm King.
Both conditions could be met perfectly there. No other location could be more ideal than Tartaro!
Robin stood stunned for a moment upon hearing this. Somehow, they'd come full circle—returning to the very place they'd once visited for leisure. But now, Tartaro had become key to Sora's revival.
Once the goal was set, everyone immediately sprang into action.
Jobs quickly announced their destination to the entire encampment, allowing those unwilling to participate to depart by ship.
After brief deliberation, the refugees made their choice.
The elderly, children, sick, and disabled boarded departing ships, while all others resolved to press onward together.
"We owe our lives to Mr. Sora! Now he needs our help—how could we possibly hesitate?"
"There are countless insects blocking the way forward—leave them to us!"
"Charge! For Sora!"
The refugees who stayed behind were fired up, fully prepared to rush straight into the swarm-infested region without fear.
Sora had charged into the Swarm Disaster Zone alone to save their lives. Now, when he needed their help, they would spare nothing.
In future days, many would sing praise for this very scene:
"I ask you all: why do you march?"
"To crush the Swarm! For Sora!"
"And if you never return?"
"Then so be it—we never return!"
Countless souls surged out from the temporary camp, plunging straight into the very heart of the Swarm Disaster Zone.
On ships speeding far away, the elderly, children, and wounded watched silently as the distant light of the camp was swallowed by the swarm, vanishing bit by bit.
This was a scene that no one present would ever forget.
Meanwhile, in the supernova's blazing core, the sleeping Starcrusher Swarm King finally stirred awake, having fully digested Afterglow's limbs.
The scorched areas from its battle with Sora had completely healed. Golden patterns wrapped around its abdomen and back, shining brilliantly.
Then other colors began to appear:
Silver-white patterns symbolizing the Diabolical Swarm King spread across its wings, granting it speed surpassing the speed of light.
Pale-pink markings from the Deceiver Swarm King appeared near its thrusters, enabling it to create duplicates.
Brilliant gold markings from the Afterglow Swarm King clustered at its abdomen, allowing it to absorb and fire stellar energy.
And finally, deep-blue patterns representing itself emerged, reigning supreme over the others.
The Starcrusher Swarm King now wielded the power of every Emanator, save only the Calamity Swarm King.
Yet, Calamity's power was meaningless to it—because...
A piercing screech resounded through the universe, instantly echoed by countless True Stings:
Because the Starcrusher Swarm King itself already possessed absolute dominion over the swarm!
Newborn AEON, prepare to die!
In the blink of an eye, the Starcrusher Swarm King transformed into a silver-white streak of light, hurtling straight toward Titania's location.
The decisive battle between old and new Emanators—spanning countless light-years—was finally reaching its climax!