Eating Emilia**

When Pyris neared the place where he expected everyone to be, he sensed only one presence: Emilia.

A smile crept across his face.

Emilia had always harbored strong feelings for him, feelings that transcended mere loyalty or admiration. Her connection with the past Pyris had been something extraordinary—a bond that surpassed the boundaries of mere subordinate and superior.

For the current Pyris, though, this connection carried an otherworldly familiarity.

"It's as if nothing ever changed," he thought, his gaze distant. "Like the past and present versions of me were never separate but fragments of the same whole. Now, after reincarnation, those pieces have fused, making me complete?"

This wasn't a new realization. Pyris had felt this truth growing within him for a long time, intensifying with every leap in power. The further he pushed his limits, the closer he felt to uncovering the answer that had always eluded him.