Sea Man and Ocean Ranger merge into one

Seeing the pink figure dart past her, a trail of starlit afterimages lingered in its wake.

Lofiel snapped out of her daze, glanced at the slowly vanishing giant insect, then at the already disappeared Edenia. Without hesitation, her body turned into light and chased in the direction Edenia had run.

Even though she knew full well that she was no match for that thing, Lofiel could never abandon Edenia and Alice.

She always considered herself a selfish person—someone who, when faced with danger, could abandon others and run away alone.

But she was also someone deeply tied by emotion. For those she had truly accepted, even if she knew she would die, she would give everything to help them.

In her previous life, Lofiel had been like a pure white lotus—gentle, innocent, always trusting first and giving her all to others.

And for that, she suffered persecution from Noah and others like him, ending in a miserable death.

That was why, in this life, reborn Lofiel no longer trusted easily, and treated enemies with cold cruelty.

Yet, no matter how much she changed, her kind nature and innate gentleness could not be erased from her very bones.

She had her own bottom line—no matter what, she would give her all to help those she had acknowledged.

And Edenia and Alice were exactly such people.

As Edenia ran, a flash of light appeared beside her, and from within it came Lofiel’s voice.

“So eager to run ahead—have you really thought of a way to deal with it?”

Having seen Lofiel’s magic before, Edenia showed no surprise, only answered seriously.

“No. But if I don’t do anything just because I don’t have a way, then there really won’t be any chance at all.

I… I don’t know what to do, but there’s this unknown impulse in my heart telling me—

As long as I want to do it, then I will surely get a satisfying result.”

Right now, Edenia couldn’t use her own power.

But in her heart, she had already faintly guessed the reason.

The little assistant had said before—Edenia’s personality was her true self, and right now she was resisting that personality.

Having lived more than twenty years as a man, she couldn’t instantly become a complete girl.

She had wondered before why, after becoming Edenia, she unconsciously acted and thought like a girl.

Until just now, she finally remembered.

Patch 64!

It was the 64th revision she had ordered in her previous life, and its changes were as follows:

After turning into a girl, if the personality didn’t change, wouldn’t she still just be a foul-mouthed, jealous, short-tempered madwoman?

So why not change it so that, once becoming a girl, any behavior that didn’t match the word “beautiful” would be forcibly corrected?

“So… does that mean this is all my own doing?”

Edenia’s heart was a swirl of mixed feelings—she never expected she had dug this pit for herself.

But now, the effect of the patch was different from before. It no longer forced her to become a young girl.

Instead, it awakened her truest personality, making her more and more like her real self.

That was why she unconsciously did and said things she had never done before.

But there was no time to dwell on this now. If she didn’t try to accept being Edenia, she wouldn’t be able to use her true strength.

“Not a bad answer. Let me carry you for a bit.”

Hearing Edenia’s words, Lofiel was satisfied. She returned to her human form from light and, reaching out, scooped the running Edenia into a princess carry.

“Uwah!”

Edenia let out a strange cry.

“Sumo, you’re too slow. Let me carry you.”

Smiling softly at the girl in her arms, Lofiel once again became light, dashing forward at incredible speed, ignoring all obstacles.

In only a few seconds, the two returned to the battlefield from before.

But unlike earlier, the place was now entirely covered in black liquid, resembling a swamp.

The people who had been here moments ago were now gone—leaving only desolation.

Judging from the way the worm had dived down, everyone here must have already been swallowed into its ‘stomach.’

“Even this fast, we’re still too late?”

Standing at a safe distance from the black liquid, Lofiel held Edenia in her arms and spoke as she looked on.

“No! It’s not too late! We still have a chance to save them. Giving up now is far too soon!”

Curled up in Lofiel’s arms, Edenia shouted back, eyes fixed on the scene before them.

She knew that right now, she might not be able to do anything.

But—

If she accepted being Edenia, then she would surely be able to change the situation.

After all…

“A cute girl can do anything, you know ♪ Hehe~”

Sumo decided to accept herself. Even if her heart resisted, to save the trapped people, this was the only choice.

Besides…

If Sumo and Edenia were both her, then why should she resist herself?

Her fear of “falling into femininity” was only an excuse she had made.

What truly made her resist was the feeling that she wasn’t worthy of that self.

The other self was so noble, beautiful, and admirable.

While she had been just an ordinary person—and suddenly being told Edenia was her true self felt far too unreal.

She believed she could never be as beautiful as Edenia, even if they were the same person and shared the same personality.

But now—

Sumo slowly realized something. Her refusal to accept herself was, in a way, arrogance.

If they were both herself—if they were the same person—why care about being “worthy” of being herself?

And so, a thought appeared in Edenia’s heart.

Perhaps, when Sumo and Edenia’s personalities truly fused into one, the real Edenia would finally appear in this world.

But… not yet.

Right now, Sumo couldn’t simply force herself past the resistance.

So she could only use the patch’s power to gradually accept herself.

This wasn’t “falling into femininity”—it was becoming closer to her truest self.

Thinking this way, the resistance in her heart lessened greatly.

So, at this moment, in order to save those who had been swallowed, Sumo decided to accept that beautiful self.

And naturally, the pink lady who symbolized beauty appeared once again.