Rose and the false Nora continued falling into the endless darkness.
Wind howled past them.
The abyss seemed bottomless.
Even after several minutes, neither of them had touched the ground.
Rose clenched her fists.
"So..."
"This is how it ends."
She had survived countless battles.
Escaped monsters far stronger than herself.
Yet in the end...
She was defeated by a single artifact.
A bitter smile appeared on her face.
"I never imagined we'd end up like this."
Beside her, the false Nora remained strangely calm.
She looked upward toward the shrinking light above.
Then she smiled faintly.
"It seems Fate never intended for us to die."
Rose frowned.
Before she could ask what Nora meant—
Darkness swallowed them both.
Their figures disappeared completely.
...
Above the abyss...
Klaus calmly stood with folded arms.
The black orb floated before him.
A satisfied smile spread across his face.
"It should be over soon."
All he had to do now...
Was wait for the orb to release its completion light.
Once that happened...
Everything inside would be erased.
---
Far away...
A young girl sat quietly beneath the shade of a lonely tree.
Her breathing was steady.
Her eyes remained closed.
Water floated silently before her.
It no longer resembled ordinary water.
Every droplet moved according to an invisible rhythm, circling around itself without spilling a single drop.
Nora had remained in this meditative state for hours.
Perhaps even days.
She had already learned how to manipulate water.
She had already learned how to shape it.
Yet...
Something was still missing.
Every attempt ended the same way.
She could create the symbol.
She could maintain it.
But it possessed no authority.
No meaning.
No power.
It was merely...
A beautiful drawing made from water.
Nora slowly frowned.
"What am I missing?"
She replayed everything she had learned from the Thread of Seven Hands.
Ocean God.
Water.
Will.
Emotion.
Sealing.
Again.
And again.
Nothing.
Frustrated, Nora slowly exhaled.
Then...
A simple thought appeared.
"If..."
"If I were Ocean God..."
"...how would I create a sealing sorcery?"
The moment the thought appeared—
Everything changed.
Nora suddenly realized her mistake.
She had spent all this time trying to imitate Ocean God's symbol.
Trying to reproduce every line.
Every curve.
Every pattern.
But...
Runic Sorcery was never about copying symbols.
The symbol...
Was only the language.
The true sorcery...
Was the meaning hidden behind it.
Ocean God didn't create a seal because he drew a beautiful pattern.
He created a seal because his will desired to restrain.
His authority became the runes.
His emotions gave purpose to the water.
The water wasn't the sorcery.
The water merely carried the sorcery.
Nora's eyes widened.
"I understand..."
She slowly raised one hand.
This time she didn't immediately shape the water.
Instead...
She closed her eyes.
Inside her consciousness...
She found herself standing once again upon the endless ocean.
Only this time...
She didn't try walking.
She didn't try controlling it.
She simply became still.
Gradually...
She stopped feeling like someone standing above the ocean.
She felt...
Weightless.
Fluid.
Gentle.
Every wave became her heartbeat.
Every current became her breathing.
She was no longer controlling the water.
She had become one with it.
Then—
She opened her eyes.
The floating water before her moved by itself.
No longer forced.
No longer unstable.
It flowed naturally around her fingertips.
Nora slowly extended one finger.
This time...
She drew an entirely different symbol.
It wasn't identical to Ocean God's.
Not even close.
Its structure was simpler.
Its flow gentler.
Yet somehow...
It felt alive.
The moment the final stroke connected—
The surrounding water trembled.
Nora stared silently.
"This..."
"...is mine."
Every person's will was different.
Therefore...
Every person's Runic Sorcery would naturally become different.
Ocean God's symbol belonged to Ocean God.
This symbol...
Belonged to Nora.
Not because she copied him.
Because she understood the same principle.
A small creature wandered nearby.
An ordinary Initiate beast.
Nora calmly pointed toward it.
The watery rune floated through the air before attaching itself to the creature's forehead.
Nothing happened.
For several seconds...
Everything remained completely normal.
Nora wasn't disappointed.
She calmly whispered,
"Seal."
The rune immediately responded.
Blue light spread across the creature's body.
The beast suddenly froze.
It struggled violently.
Its aura rapidly weakened.
Its muscles lost strength.
Even the essence flowing through its body slowed dramatically.
Nora could clearly feel it.
The creature's power hadn't disappeared.
It had simply been...
Locked away.
Its strength now belonged to her will.
As long as the seal remained...
The creature could never access its full power.
The once dangerous Initiate beast now looked no more threatening than an ordinary animal.
It stumbled clumsily across the ground, completely confused.
Nora couldn't help smiling.
"I did it..."
"I finally did it."
Ocean Sealing Sorcery.
Not Ocean God's version.
But Nora's.
A sealing art born from her own understanding.
She immediately created another seal.
Then another.
This time the symbols formed much faster than before.
Each one flowed more naturally.
Each one obeyed her will.
The corners of Nora's lips slowly lifted into a bright smile.
"This is only the beginning."
With renewed confidence, she dismissed the floating water.
The runes dissolved peacefully into countless droplets before disappearing into the air.
Nora looked toward the distant Goldsteel Shelter.
Her eyes burned with determination.
"It seems..."
"...I'm finally ready."
Without another word—
She began walking toward Goldsteel Shelter.