Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation

"Cross over..."

I suddenly had a brainwave. I quickly pulled Nicola aside and whispered:

"Do you think this might have something to do with us transmigrating here? Remember, our souls crossed over..."

"You mean the original souls that inhabited these bodies?"

Nicola immediately caught on.

"Yeah! Maybe the original angel who owned this body was some powerful being. She's usually dormant, but became active when I lost consciousness!"

I combined various plot lines from online novels, coming up with what seemed a reasonable explanation.

"Unlikely..."

Nicola looked at me doubtfully.

"We both crossed over, how come nothing happened to me? And I don't see any other personality taking over when you sleep, do I?"

I was rendered speechless.

"Plus, you said she was powerful, why would she be suppressed by a small fry like you? Needing you to be unconscious before making trouble?"

She poked another hole in my theory.

"And don't forget, you also lost consciousness when the vampire hurt you, but nothing happened."

"Okay, you make good points!"

Battered by Nicola's barrage, I conceded defeat.

"But it might be related to a strange dream I had before waking up. I feel like I was dreaming the whole time..."

Since we were on the topic, I revealed all my doubts.

"Oh? A dream? What was it about?"

Nicola's interest was piqued.

"I...can't remember..."

I hesitated, unsure what to say.

"I know I dreamt something, but the details are gone..."

For dreams, this was common - waking up barely recalling them. But this was likely an important dream!

"It had something to do with blue wings!"

That was the only fragment I could dredge up.

"Hmm..."

Nicola looked at me skeptically.

"Isn't that just déjà vu? Hearing me mention blue wings made you feel like you'd seen them before?"

"What!"

I bristled, annoyed she called it déjà vu. But wasn't that a prime example of it?

"Fine, you may be right!"

"What do you think then? Don't forget we're in the same boat. Be careful or you might get taken over if you lose consciousness!"

Afraid she'd dismiss it as not her problem, I tried to scare her.

"Maybe yellow wings! Imagine waking up with shit-colored wings...Oh, could be green, wings in the forgiveness color"

"Goddamn forgiveness color!"

Nicola nearly jumped up. As though someone had cuckolded her.

"I just feel we don't even understand how we crossed over and became angels. It's too early to consider this."

Unable to refute her, I conceded again. Indeed, we had many mysteries unsolved. My weird symptoms were just more troubles.

"What if I get replaced someday?"

I anxiously asked Nicola.

"Let's not overthink this for now."

Unsure how to respond, she tried to reassure me.

"Whoever it was, it annihilated the enemies yet spared us. So they're well-intentioned, it shouldn't be an issue...I think."

"Hmm..."

We whispered half the day yet reached no conclusions.

"What were you two discussing so secretly?"

Noticing us return much later, Selene asked curiously.

"What else, my sudden killing spree..."

I replied helplessly.

"Where are Adrian and the others?"

I realized several people were missing.

"They went into the tower," Selene pointed behind her.

Sure enough, the three of them emerged from the first floor entrance.

"Find anything?"

They must have investigated the device again, hoping to activate the teleporter.

"No go," Alfreed shook his head, seeming vexed.

"That device remains an utter mystery, no idea how to operate it."

"We daren't experiment blindly in case something goes wrong," Elanora added regretfully.

"Shame the ones who knew how perished, it would've helped to keep one alive."

"Well..."

Unsure how to respond since I killed them all - or rather, my body did. Still my fault if blamed though.

"Is there really no way?"

Hayden asked unwillingly.

"If the device doesn't work, we'll be stuck here right?"

"We should leave soon if there's no breakthrough," Adrian suggested.

"Lingering long might lure more monsters. Escaping later would be harder."

Something seemed off about his words - were they too loud?

"You..." Alfreed looked at Adrian meaningfully.

"Shh!" Adrian winked at us.

Heading off via the island path, he said, "Better go now while we can, might be too late later."

"Right!" I readily echoed, following him.

"We're sitting ducks against monster hordes, no matter how strong we are."

"Let's slip away...nothing worth staying for anyway."

Seeing this, the rest readily followed, spouting similar words.

"What's going on? Still dangers on the island?"

Once we'd gone some distance, Nicola couldn't resist asking.

"Not danger per se, but a survivor," Adrian replied, signaling us not to keep looking back.

"Survivor? What do you mean?"

I was confused by what he meant.

"I faintly heard movement upstairs in the tower earlier, but didn't mention it."

Adrian smiled at me.

"One monster likely survived and is hiding."

"Survived?"

I racked my brains before quickly guessing.

"You mean the succubus Camille?" Alfreed had admitted killing Claudia, and I saw the dark elf's corpse, so the only one left was obvious - the succubus Camille.

"She's alive? Impossible!" Selene objected immediately.

"Even that black-winged angel failed to survive. Camille is what, 5th rank at most?"

She spoke what we all thought.

"You're right, but I didn't see the succubus get hit," Alfreed recalled.

"Really?"

I obviously had no clue, so I looked to Nicola since she briefed me earlier. Any questions should go to her.

"It's true now that I think about it," Nicola nodded.

"Your disintegrated sword killed almost everything in the lake vicinity. But the closest monsters on land were only those three. Come to think of it, I didn't see a third sword near the island."

"Because she was underwater then," Adrian continued.

"She and Feliciana fell in almost together. Feliciana was barely hurt, but the succubus was injured - hit by Purification thrice and Water Arrow."

"So when Feliciana killed the rest, she might still be underwater, hence escaping notice."

Alfreed suddenly understood.

"With 5th rank durability, such wounds wouldn't be fatal. After surfacing and seeing her comrades dead, she wisely hid rather than show herself."

"Bingo!" Adrian smiled.

"Ignoring the device, silent escape was impossible on that exposed island. She could only conceal herself and wait for us to leave."

"Why not search and catch her then? It's tiny, we might learn to operate the device from her," Hayden asked, puzzled.

"Forced interrogation has too many uncertainties," Adrian firmly rejected that idea.

"We're clueless about the device. False intel or refusal to talk would lead to wasted effort. Since we only want to return home, getting her to activate the teleporter herself makes more sense. So better make her think we've left before she attempts anything."