Above the sky, the moon-like sphere shone with a silver radiance, bathing the darkness-covered earth in light.
Before the monument at the center of Silver Shore Square, a small figure with pink hair stood tall.
Xiaoyu raised her starlight staff high, the astrolabe at its tip slowly turning.
Countless motes of starlight flowed from it, streaming upward into the βmoonβ in the heavens.
The silver-white glow grew even brighterβlike a vast sea of milk rippling across the night sky.
The crowd around her stirred and murmured in awe.
A few children standing in line couldnβt help themselvesβthey ran forward, dropped to their knees, and bowed before Xiaoyu.
One by one, more people followed.
The dark mass of humanity knelt as one, reaching out toward their savior, like the earth itself rising from the ocean depths as waves crashed and rolled outward, only to surge back again.
The silver light washed over them all, shimmering like a tide that was slowly ascending to the heavensβ¦
