Tohsaka Rin was locked in a truly grueling battle, the most hopeless fight she had faced in over a decade. In previous conflicts—whether against Kirei Kotomine corrupted by the Will of All Evil, the Will of All Evil itself, or the Walkers before—though difficult, hope had always been visible. But now... she could see no path to victory.

No matter how she fought, they would not fall; no matter how she struck, they would not vanish; through it all, they never once showed a sign of defeat.

"Gemini Volley."

Countless jewels shot towards the army ahead, an indiscriminate, omnidirectional bombardment leaving no gaps. The roar of explosions converged, raising smoke and dust that obscured vision. Then, as the haze cleared, the enemy stood utterly unharmed.

"Why is this happening? Why? Why..." Tohsaka Rin instinctively retreated, a sense of devastating defeat washing over her, a feeling she had never known before.

She could accept it if it happened once or twice, but now... She had long since lost count of how much time had passed since entering this world, yet her Innate Domain had never ceased functioning.

Here, she possessed infinite stamina, boundless energy, even immortal life. But none of these things could grant her victory. Facing an army that would never crumble, her fighting spirit was being systematically eroded—this was a battle of the mind.

Boom boom boom!

A barrage of artillery fire roared from the opposite side. Rin was flung backward by a massive shockwave, slamming hard onto the ground, only to rise again...

Wait? What is happening?

But the moment she tried to move, she froze. She realized her body simply could not obey her command.

Impossible. I shouldn't be wounded here, nor can I die. Why can't I move? My body... it's shaking?

Finally, she saw it: her feet, her hands, her entire body was trembling violently—shaking from fear, from the utter lack of hope for victory, shaking because the strong façade she maintained had been ripped away, exposing the truest, most vulnerable part of herself.

"So this is the real me? So weak, so fragile..." Rin lay on the ground, a self-mocking smile in her eyes. She had always believed herself strong, only to realize now that she had merely been forcing herself to be so.

The only reason she believed herself strong was because she had to be; otherwise, she couldn't be Tohsaka Rin.

"But whether I am weak or strong, both are parts of Tohsaka Rin. Ah, I see now." Looking up at the myriad of cannon fire raining down upon her, the girl suddenly smiled. In that moment, she finally grasped the meaning and existence of this world.

This was her inner world, her complete manifestation. Attacking her from the opposite side was the version of herself that was always putting on a brave face, while the one currently knocked down was the weak, helpless self.

"Just appearing strong on the surface isn't enough; the heart must be strong too. So, I must first shatter that superficial strength?"

The girl lay motionless on the ground, then slowly extended her right hand toward the sky. "Yes, I am weak. I have always been weak. But... precisely because I know my weakness, I desire to become strong. I have lived ten years striving for that. If I lose my resolve here, what becomes of the future? I am not some decorative vase; I don't need protection. If I cannot become stronger here, everything up until now becomes meaningless. My confidence and fighting spirit will not be broken by these illusions!"

"This place... this is my world!" the girl roared, as countless artillery shells detonated around her. Amidst the churning smoke and dust, she slowly pushed herself up.

Then, more bullets, cannonballs, even missiles, were launched at Tohsaka Rin.

"I can block them. I definitely can block them. I believe in myself; if it's me, I can definitely stop them, because this is my world—I am in control of everything!" Yet, she simply held her hand up and walked forward step by step. The flames raging around her, the speeding bullets—they all stopped half a meter in front of her, unable to breach her space.

"Believe in myself, and I can do it, because I am the sovereign of this world... I will certainly destroy the enemy, I certainly can."

Crack.

With a light snap of her fingers, a single jewel flew to the center of the opposing army. It burst instantaneously, yet no explosion followed. Instead, at the moment of fragmentation, a brilliant, dazzling starry sky suddenly appeared overhead, and all the armored units were instantly swallowed by it.

...

Fighting a Level 3 Walker alone, Mugino Shizuri finally understood what an impossibly daunting challenge this was... Impossible to win, impossible to win—that phrase had echoed countless times in her mind.

Neither Atomic Break nor the power of the Fallen Angel seemed to have any effect on the enemy before her.

"What should I do? At this rate, I can't possibly win, nor can I break through," Mugino felt immense anxiety.

"Do you want to become stronger? Then fall..." Suddenly, Mugino's expression shifted. She heard a voice resonate deep within her heart, soft yet filled with temptation.

"Who are you..."

"I am the Fallen Angel," the voice replied gently. "Descend completely into hell, dedicate yourself to the abyss, and you will gain greater strength. You will inherit my lineage."

"Are you asking me to sell my soul?" Mugino sneered.

"No, not exactly. It is to accept all of me."

"Accept?" Mugino paused slightly, then looked toward the enemy ahead before stating heavily, "I think you've misunderstood my intention. Even if it means selling my soul, even if it means descending into hell, I have never cared for such things. If I can evolve again here, I will accept any amount of sin."

"You possess that aptitude. Then accept it now—all the power of Lucifer, the third daughter of the Fallen Angels, a heritage from Hell..."

As the voice faded, in the next instant, Mugino felt it: countless things flooded her mind... the deepest recesses of Hell, solitude in sin, cruel gazes, mournful cries... everything originated from the abyss.

All she had to do was receive it all.

In an instant, the wings behind Mugino transformed into three pairs—a Seraphim of Six Wings.

Then, the black wings covered the entire sky, blotting out the sun, making the dense black mist around them seem trivial in comparison at that moment.

A beam of white light blossomed between the girl's fingers—Atomic Break... High Output.

Mugino Shizuri could only maintain low output because she possessed a human body incapable of enduring the backlash of high output. But now, she was a Six-Winged Fallen Angel.

The black wings drowned the enemy, the white light destroyed them—the fusion of black and white, but not in Heaven...

...

A terrifying illusion.

Misaka Mikoto experienced the sheer horror of this sorcery. Waves of indescribable fear relentlessly assaulted her, the ineffable tremor in her soul pushing her consciousness to the brink of collapse. Even when she modified her own programming to resist, even greater terrors would manifest.

This was only natural; her opponent was herself. No matter how she altered the code, her "self" would always find her weaknesses.

She was amazed she had managed to maintain consciousness this long under such an assault.

However, she sensed something was fundamentally wrong.

While this illusion was terrifying, meticulously targeting her weaknesses and offering no avenue for resistance, it possessed one massive flaw—it was too unreal.

Anyone could recognize the horrors before them as phantoms. Even if they induced fear, they weren't enough to shatter a person's heart or soul. Even she, whose will wasn't perfectly firm, hadn't been broken. What about someone with an unshakeable will?

The impact would surely be smaller.

A fear-inducing illusion could only serve to strike at others; it couldn't truly eliminate an enemy. What was truly effective was making the victim so immersed in the fantasy that they couldn't pull themselves out, even knowing it was an illusion.

What is that?

"Why, that would only be..." Shokuhou offered a slight smile, completely ignoring the terrifying figures in her vision. She slowly walked up to the other version of herself and gently embraced her.

"What are you doing? I won't accept your surrender," the other 'Misaka Mikoto' sneered but did not struggle.

Shokuhou gently shook her head. "No, I'm just giving you happiness."

"What?"

"No matter what, you are still me. How could I kill myself? So, I can only share the happiest thing I know with you. No, it's happiness that even I haven't achieved—only you, only you can fully enjoy it..."

Her psychic waves seeped into the other's mind. Shokuhou didn't forcibly rewrite anything, as the opponent's ability was the same as hers, perhaps even superior. Instead, she gently enveloped her and began transmitting every single image of happiness she could conceive, piece by piece, into the past... memories that were rewritten, yet felt utterly real.

It could only be called Heaven: gentle, peaceful, blissful, omnipotent... and slowly sinking into that paradise.

Gradually, the surrounding horrors vanished. The two girls, immersed in blissful fantasy, closed their eyes.

After an indeterminate amount of time, one of them slowly opened her eyes and spoke softly to the identical girl she held, "You had a beautiful dream."

With that, the sleeping girl dissolved into motes of light that vanished into her embrace.

"As expected, a fantasy of happiness is the strongest illusion," Shokuhou Koujing smiled faintly, lightly adjusting her golden hair over her shoulder as she carried her satchel, then squinted one eye in thought.

"Hmm... I feel like I should get a pair of glasses. That would be more stylish."

P: This book is also being updated simultaneously on China Mobile Mobile Reading. Friends reading on their phones can download it there. A