Positive little sun, magical girl, I am awesome

"Stay? Stay where?!"

Lilith struggled to steady herself amidst the swaying. The HR person, who had been just a table away from her, suddenly seemed to be getting further and further away.

The upper half of the person's face had melted away. Perhaps because of this, she never answered any of Lilith's questions. But somehow, an answer crept into Lilith's mind and was about to emerge!

Lilith took a step toward her.

"Boom!"

The computer in the corner finally exploded in the shock, and the only light source in the room—the red light from the projection screen—disappeared, plunging the room into darkness. But Lilith could still catch a glimpse of the HR sitting there, only it grew shorter as it melted.

"boom--!"

A tremor, accompanied by an even louder collapse, came from beneath her feet. Lilith looked down and saw that the smooth floor of the conference room was cracking inch by inch.

Is the building about to collapse? Lilith could no longer stand. Her narrow A-line skirt and stiff block-heeled shoes restricted her movements, forcing her to crouch low and sway precariously.

Once her knees touched the ground, the cracks had spread to her feet, and the floor split open. Through the cracks, she didn't see the view below, but rather...

The boundless, star-studded, deep universe.

Lilith's pupils shrank sharply. This so-called office building was nothing more than a lonely island floating in the vast sea of ​​stars!

A dizzying, weightless sensation washed over Lilith, and her feet slipped from her feet as the floor tile she had been lying on drifted into the depths of the starry sky!

The broken boards, the tangled data cables, and the fragments of the red curtain that were still frantically popping up "Bluetooth connection failed!" all began to float and spin along with Lilith, as if they had been sucked into a giant cosmic vortex.

The world seemed to collapse, and Lilith couldn't help but scream, but she heard no response.

In the vast sea of ​​stars, all was quiet, and naturally, no screams could be heard.

As Lilith tumbled, she barely managed to grab onto an exposed steel bar in the floor slab. She struggled and looked around, searching for the woman whose body was dissolving but who was still sitting at the table. The woman had drifted far away from Lilith, but her mangled body was still facing Lilith's direction.

Lilith gritted her teeth, reached out and tore open the hem of her A-line skirt, kicked off her shoes that were in the way, and an indescribable anger burned in her brain. At that moment, she had only one crazy thought:

—Grab her!

In the weightless space of space, Lilith was no longer driven by the inexplicable gazes and words of others. At this point of collapse, she regained control of her body and mind. Taking advantage of another concrete wall flying over her, Lilith suddenly leaped!

The HR sitting at the table had only half a face left, and half of her body had also disappeared. But after Lilith started to act, the corners of her tightly pursed lips twitched.

Even though it was all over, the girl seemed unwilling to accept her fate. She stepped on various objects—chairs, keyboards, even the floating torsos of other interviewees—leaping upwards, inching closer and closer, until—

Lilith could already see the name tag on the HR person's face. With all her might, she lunged at the figure sitting at the table in the endless black light!

I thought I would grasp at nothingness, or touch a cold, inhuman mechanical being, but—

Just as her fingertips were about to touch the other person, that melting, liquid metal-like hand suddenly clenched in the opposite direction and gripped Lilith's wrist tightly!

Lilith was stunned for a moment, but her hand instinctively and tacitly returned the grip.

The hand was indeed as cold and icy as Lilith had imagined, yet it steadied her body as she swayed in weightlessness.

Lilith had already guessed her identity!

"Why!!!"

Lilith saw the tears welling up in her eyes drift upwards and land between the two of them, her chest almost bursting with rage: "Why did you do this to me!"

However, the universe remained deathly silent; she could neither hear her own voice nor the other's response.

A very soft sigh, yet seemingly echoing deep within her soul, came from within.

The HR person, despite her broken body, actually stood up from the chair. Only then did Lily realize how tall she was when she stood up, and her mouth opened and closed as if she were saying something.

"What?" The HR spoke without making a sound, and Lilith could only hold her hand tightly and float forward, trying to decipher her lip movements.

The next moment, a tremendous pulling force came from her wrist! Before Lilith could react, the woman exploded into a myriad of starlight right in front of her!

"Ah ...

She felt like a shooting star caught by gravity, plummeting rapidly into the depths of that vast sea of ​​stars!

All light and perception were stretched into blurred lines at this moment.

In her final moments of consciousness, all that remained was the hand that gripped her tightly, a hand composed of cold data and an unknown will.

Lilith suddenly opened her eyes, her fingers clenching as if in spasm, as if she still wanted to grab that cold hand, but the touch in her hand was warm and dry.

Sunlight streamed through the dormitory windows, casting warm beams of light into the air, where dust motes floated gently.

She turned her head blankly, her stinging eyes able to see again, her gaze focusing—

It's Zephyrion.

The black dragon, now in human form, curled up on the carpet beside her bed, carefully resting its upper body on the edge of the bed, while its head nestled into Lilith's outstretched palm as she slept soundly.

He exuded a warm aura, even his hair. Lilith felt as if there was a warm fire in her palm, pulling her back to reality from that bizarre dream.

He seemed to still be asleep, oblivious even when Lilith grabbed his hair hard. His sharp, aggressive eyes were closed, and his breathing was long and calm. His warm breath brushed against her wrist, again and again, in rhythm with the pulse beneath her skin.

The suffocating red in the dream, the cold scrutiny, the weightless universe, and the final sigh—all of it receded like the tide, replaced by the warmth before my eyes.

Lilith slowly sat up and gently patted Zephyrion's head.

The sleeping black dragon let out a comfortable gurgling sound from its throat, and rubbed its head against her palm, seeking more caresses.

“Zefirion,” Lilith called his name, stroking his black hair.

With a single sound, the black dragon opened his eyes. It was a rare moment of peace for the two of them, and he himself did not want to disturb it. So he remained lying on the edge of the bed without speaking, only looking up at Lilith with his wet eyes.

Lilith's gaze gradually became clear and complex. She stared into the black dragon's eyes, which were full of trust and reliance. She now understood those absurd fragments in the dream.

She cupped Zephyrion's face in her hands: "You are not my natural kin, are you?"

Zephyrion paused, stopping his head from fidgeting.

Lilith continued, "Rather than saying I'm your creator, it's more accurate to say you're... something I drew from that system, right?"

"you……"

Zephyrion's golden-red vertical pupils, which always burned with an untamed flame, were now filled with disbelief. After a moment of stunned silence, he finally came to his senses:

"You remembered?!"

Lilith looked at him silently without saying a word.

Zephyrion's eyes reddened, filled with a mixture of grievance, resentment, and even shame and anger. The precious moment of tenderness he had just shared vanished once more. He pulled away from Lilith's hand, stood up, and roared hoarsely:

"Yes, I lied to you, so what! I'm not your best friend at all! Fustwin, Zora, Elosil, or anyone else, they're all more important than me! More important than me! I'm just, just a—"

He couldn't continue, because Lilith also got up from the bed and gently hugged his head again.

"it does not matter."