"Autozam…" Primera whispered. She was terrified by what she saw. "The ship is enormous…" Dozens of soldiers fought using combat robots that hovered in the skies of Cephiro, readying their laser weapons. "Why are we still here?" Primera asked Lantis, who remained silent, watching everything unfold with an expressionless face. They should have gone back to help defend the people.

"Primera, return to the castle," he commanded.

"What?"

"This isn't your place this time. Go back to the castle. Protect yourself."

"O-okay..." Primera left Lantis's side, floating a few feet away, then turned to look at him one last time. What are you planning that I can't be involved in? she wondered silently. She didn't like this command, knowing she had been very useful to Lantis until now.

Should I stay here? Should I just wait like this? Lantis urged his magic steed towards the impending battle that was about to erupt. He could see the radiant figure of Rayearth amidst the encroaching darkness and the forces of Autozam. The entire castle, now shielded again, stood behind her protection. What will that girl do? She could be killed...

In NSX, Eagle Vision looked at Rayearth on his monitor. He only needed to give the command, and all his forces would obey. The developments on the field were rapidly and incredibly changing, unpredictable. Fahren and Chizeta had just declared war on him. Their positions had now reversed 180 degrees. He now had to face them all at once.

"Cease fighting, everyone!"

He heard it clearly, but... "I won't stop..." was his determination. "Now!"

"STOP!" It was more of a heartfelt plea...

Umi and Fuu watched the highly unbalanced battle from two different locations... They screamed as they felt their respective ships shaking violently. Autozam had attacked Fahren and Chizeta, and Cephiro. But why wasn't Hikaru fighting against Autozam? What was on her mind?! She just dodged and repelled attacks without firing back! With her immense firepower, she could have driven back Autozam's troops and fleets.

"I HAVE TO TELL YOU, EAGLE VISION!" she yelled angrily while flying forward.

"I won't listen... There's no time to listen..." as if responding to the Magic Knights Rayearth's words.

Geo was shocked to hear the whisper coming from Eagle's mouth. Eagle looked at the battle between Rayearth and Autozam's robots with a frozen face. His face reflected the glitter of battle filled with light, explosions, and fire...

"Prepare my FTO."

Hikaru did everything she could to approach the light path created by Eagle Vision, which was almost reaching Cephiro. She had to stop him before everything became too late...

"YOU MUST LISTEN TO ME..." Hikaru shouted with all her might, trying to get her message across. The light path was right in front of her eyes. She was about to collide with it... She knew, she could die... Hikaru raised her fiery sword high and decided not to evade because this was the only way...

"THE PILLAR SYSTEM IS A MISTAKE!" She swung her sword... "THE PILLAR SYSTEM MUST END!" The words were drowned out by a terrifying roar. Her fire shot through the light path, then struck NSX.

Immediately, an emergency alarm sounded. The power supply within NSX was disrupted...

"The Mashin has breached!" Everyone gasped... The red Mashin blazed and shattered the path Eagle had created. Eagle was shaken... This was truly beyond his expectations, beyond his endurance. The alarm grew louder, deafening.

"Evacuate the ship!" Geo ordered, while Eagle froze in place, and fell to his knees. Geo quickly caught him. The monitor in front of them showed a clearer picture...

"Zazu, fire at that Mashin!" Geo commanded.

Eagle wanted to say "wait". But his throat choked up. The Mashin was a massive energy conglomerate, with the largest part located in its central body. Eagle could sense the presence of a person and grasp her figure... This was truly impossible... That young girl without a physical form stared at him from a distance. Eagle gripped his head. It wasn't his physical eyes seeing, he realized. In his heart, he felt that girl reaching out her hands to him... What does she want to do... to help me? Eagle wondered.

NSX began firing. At the same time, Eagle lost consciousness... His eyes were open but vacant. He still thirsted to see that figure. He couldn't respond when his name was called in such a panicked tone...

"He's using too much mental energy!" Geo shook Eagle's body. "He might run out of energy!"

Run out of energy... The words entered his ears as if from a distant place.

"Cut off his connection to the path he created!"

"We can't force it. His brain could get scrambled!"

Those who cared for him... were debating to save him...

"What are you going to do, Geo?!"

"I'm going to wake him up by sending an electric shock!" Geo detached some cables connected to equipment on Eagle's head and connected them to his own. He concentrated... "Wake up, Eagle... Wake up, I say!"

Electricity surged with a roar, accompanied by an increasingly rapid beeping sound, like a machine nearing its capacity.

"This is insane!"

"Better than him going crazy! WAKE UP!"

Eagle's body jolted from the electric shock. Instantly, he opened his eyes and regained his composure. He quickly sat up and gasped for breath... "Wh-where am I?"

"Eagle! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Geo pulled Eagle to sit.

Eagle ignored them as he searched frantically on the monitor. "Where is that girl?" Geo and Zazu exchanged puzzled glances, not understanding his question. "Where is that red mashin?!" Eagle was furious. "Where is she?!" He shook Geo's body.

"We managed to bring her down..."

"What?!" Eagle stared at the monitor displaying the battlefield outside. The situation had reversed with Fahren, Chizeta, Celece, and Windam joining forces to attack Autozam. But, he didn't care about the on-going battle. "You brought her down?!"

Eagle gripped his head... "The Pillar System is a mistake! There shouldn't be... There shouldn't be a Pillar in Cephiro anymore... You understand all of that, you know the truth, but why do you still cling to your desires?" she said that from her heart.

He searched for that girl frantically. He scanned all parts of Cephiro to find where the red mashin had disappeared. What he found wasn't the red mashin, but a familiar black figure... "Lantis..." He tensed.

He zoomed in on the image. Lantis was looking directly at him, so coldly. He was kneeling on the ground, holding an unconscious girl with red hair who was bleeding in several places. It was the girl he had seen before. Lantis aimed his sword at him.

"Do I have to fight you?" Eagle read Lantis's lips movement. "Do I have to kill you?"

Months ago

"Lantis!" he yelled, stopping Lantis, who was already prepared on his magical steed. "Are you returning to Cephiro today? Are you back to end the Pillar System?"

"Yes," Lantis replied, facing away. Before him stretched the somber night sky...

"Isn't there any other way?"

"To become the Pillar, the Pillar candidates must undergo a selection process. Those who win it become the chosen Pillar..."

"Are you planning to find the candidates and... kill them before they can undergo the selection?"

"Yes."

"Could that action endanger your life?" Lantis didn't answer. He turned around, facing Eagle, hoping Eagle wouldn't ask further. "I understand. You could die because of this... but why do you still cling to your desire? You could live here..."

"Eagle... I know what I'm doing. This is my duty as a magic swordsman."

"Alright, I understand. This is where we part ways. You've made your decision, so stick to it no matter what happens. Don't retreat. I too have made a decision..."

"About what?"

"That's a secret. I won't retreat either."

"We have truly parted ways..." Eagle closed his eyes. "Repair the damage. Gather the surviving soldiers. This is our final stand."

Eagle staggered out of the command room. He refused Zazu's offer to help... Zazu glanced at Geo, who instructed him to follow Eagle. Zazu nodded and followed him out of the room.

Geo faced a computer and nervously typed in some codes. "Provide data on life records." He entered some specific codes related to Eagle Vision. "Three hours." He read the message on the monitor about how long it would take to retrieve the data. Hopefully, no one would suspect this, he thought to himself.