The dance steps whirled, light and shadow quietly shifting.
Black Swan held her dance partner's hand, smiling as she looked into those indifferent eyes.
The two were like butterflies flexibly dancing among flowers, their steps light and precise without the slightest error, pleasing to the eye.
"Mm-huh, we're getting into the groove, aren't we."
Black Swan's smile grew richer as she guided the dance steps faster and faster.
Her thoughts flowed, anticipating the arrival of that moment.
"Everyone has a past; the past shapes the present."
"Some people can grasp memory, while others are entangled by it, unable to escape."
"So, I took action."
"I wanted to know what kind of person she—is."
Thinking of this, Black Swan knew the time had come and spoke lightly.
"This banquet has attracted many people."
"The IPC, the Garden of Recollection, the Nameless, the Fools, and… the Annihilation Gang of Destruction."
The surroundings gradually darkened. A beam of light poured down from the dome, following the constantly changing dance steps of the two.
"They were supposed to attend, but… Duke Inferno is dead. He and his offspring can no longer attend the banquet."
In the instant of a spin, Black Swan leaned close to that expressionless face, gripped the cold hand tightly, and asked softly—
"Beautiful Ranger… can you tell me what you did?"
Gazing into Acheron's eyes, Black Swan's consciousness unknowingly invaded her memory.
Amid the increasingly rapid dance steps, fragmented past scenes surged into Black Swan's mind along her fingertips.
In the increasingly distant past, she heard the sound of rain and the sighs issued before life faded.
She saw the dancer before her seemingly holding a blood-red paper umbrella in the faint rain, and in the place within her sight—
Countless corpses of the drowned floated and sank in the flood current.
Then, she saw…
Flames extinguished, Duke Inferno's remains falling one after another.
The entire world seemed dyed black, leaving only gray.
Gradually, a touch of fresh red flooded into her eyes.
In a trance, Black Swan heard Acheron's voice for the first time.
"Excuse me… are you asking me?"
A gentle, calm voice carrying faint doubt, yet it caused Black Swan's hair to stand on end in an instant. Her abruptly contracted pupils flashed with intense horror.
Her consciousness was pulled and roughly shoved.
The hairs on her back all stood up, conveying feedback named fear to their owner.
She seemed to see a snake opening its bloody maw, writhing its huge body to tightly coil around her, squeezing tighter and tighter.
Countless scenes of hunters capturing prey followed one after another. Every sense in her body was desperately reminding her—
Run!
Flee without looking back.
Flee with all your might!
However, Black Swan discovered she could not escape at all. A sea of blood filled with corpses appeared before her eyes.
An unparalleled pulling force was dragging her feet, pulling her toward the deepest, darkest abyss.
She could only helplessly stretch out her hand, exerting all her strength to grasp upward, attempting to seize any life-saving straw.
She felt her body breaking, decomposing, from bottom to top, rapidly annihilating into ash.
Just as her consciousness was about to completely return to darkness, a huge falling sensation arrived.
Her hip-length hair fell messily to the ground. The scene before her eyes gradually became clear, revealing Acheron's wooden yet extremely beautiful face.
Black Swan panicked and tried to pull her hand away, but failed.
Acheron gently supported her waist, as if completely unaware of what had just happened.
Black Swan gasped for breath heavily, disregarding her image, realizing that she had lost control of the lead in the latter half of the dance steps, completely led by Acheron.
She also realized… she had walked the line between life and death several times.
The surroundings brightened again, and the noisy sounds of the banquet surged back.
The beautiful face before her showed no major emotional fluctuations, only faint doubt observable.
"The Annihilation Gang… who are they?"
"…A bunch of insignificant people…" Black Swan answered thus.
Acheron showed no sign of doubt and simply helped her stand straight.
"Memokeeper, what a beautiful dance. Shall we do it again?"
"N-No need. This dance and your dancing posture have left a deep impression on me…"
Cold sweat quietly slid down her spine. Black Swan subconsciously declined politely.
Then, she realized the other party had recognized her identity. Did she know that she had peeked into her memory?
No… that's not right. If she knew, it would be impossible for her to be so calm.
The Acheron before her… a Galaxy Ranger…?
No—
She definitely was not a Ranger!
Black Swan realized she had made a fatal mistake.
Everyone has a past, but some people's pasts are silent deep seas, filled with the corpses of the drowned…
What she saw earlier was the most terrifying and darkest past buried in this Ranger's memory.
However, it was only the outermost corner!
It was hard to imagine—if her consciousness had gone deeper, whether she would have had any life left to return alive.
Although Memokeepers had shed their physical bodies and existed in a special memetic form, freely traveling through many worlds in the starry sea without being constrained by material limits.
But this did not mean Memokeepers would not die.
Among the many Paths, there were still methods capable of completely killing Memokeepers, some of which were instant death upon contact.
For example, entering the memory of someone harboring a terrifying past and becoming completely lost.
In all her travels across the starry sea, this was the first time Black Swan had encountered such a perilous situation, of which even cases in the entire Garden of Recollection could be counted on one's fingers.
Objects capable of triggering such a crisis were usually Emanators involved in major affairs or existences that had survived for an extremely long time.
This kind of crisis could not even be counted as the memory owner's counterattack upon detecting the memory theft.
It was merely an indiscriminate pull on the thief, nothing more…
"Elegant and dignified Memokeeper, may I ask your name?" Acheron spoke softly, pulling back Black Swan's thoughts.
"…Black Swan."
"I will remember your kind invitation. This dance… made me feel close and nostalgic." Acheron said sincerely.
For some reason, while dancing with this Memokeeper, some… most beautiful pasts appeared before her eyes.
Although limited to 'only some,' it was enough to be precious to her now.
"…Thank you, I feel very honored. Then, until we meet again."
After leaving words that tried to sound as peaceful and indifferent as possible, Black Swan left without looking back.
Acheron did not mind either. After savoring it for a moment, her gaze turned to another ballroom exit.
After the beautiful memories, the echoes of that Memokeeper's earlier inexplicable question lingered in her ears, making her puzzled and contemplative.
Acheron walked at a slow pace, avoiding the endless stream of passersby.
Exiting the ballroom hall, she looked at the bustling traffic within sight, her brows slightly furrowed, and casually chose a direction.
"The Annihilation Gang… Annihilation Gang…"
The chaotic, turbid memories in her brain kept churning, slowly becoming clearer.
Her aimless advance stopped. Acheron slightly raised her head, the doubt on her face gradually fading.
"…Oh, it's them…"