Amidst a bright and gentle glow, she drifted in a haze, hearing a soft voice. The voice said, "Let's call the girl Seiya, and if it's a boy, let's call him Zero."
Whose voice was that?
There was no answer.
Muddled and drowsy, she drifted back to sleep.
When consciousness returned to her, she felt a chaotic commotion all around, which filled her with a sense of unease. Right at that moment, a voice reached her, laden with incomparable panic and despair: "No!!!"
The cry made her heart constrict violently, as if something were being brutally torn apart.
That voice bore a strong resemblance to the gentle one from before, but now it was brimming with pain and sorrow. She could not help but wonder who this person could possibly be. Why would he utter such a cry of anguish?
She tried to sense the person's emotions, only to find her own thoughts growing chaotic and hazy, as though being pulled by an invisible force.
She heard weeping, and the sound made her sad as well. She did not know why she could feel the other person's sorrow so clearly, only that an indescribable pain welled up from the depths of her heart.
Why weep? She wanted to comfort that person, to tell him not to be sad, but she could not produce a single sound.
Why must it hurt so much?
Don't cry... she called out silently in her heart, hoping that the person would stop weeping.
Yet her efforts were in vain; the crying grew louder and louder, twisting her heart into a knot.
She felt a crushing pressure all around her, as if a pair of giant hands were tightly gripping her body, leaving her almost unable to breathe.
She tried to struggle, but it was useless. She could only submit to that terrifying pull dragging her along, threatening to tear her apart.
Her vision plunged into utter darkness. The light was gradually extinguishing, and she felt herself being swallowed by the dark, as if she would never escape.
Ultraseven watched helplessly as his daughter vanished into the black hole, utterly powerless to stop it.
He listened to the wails of the infant beside his ear, watching Zero cry until he was out of breath. A profound sorrow threatened to overwhelm him, and the world fell entirely silent.
In that instant, Ultraseven seemed to have aged significantly. He stood in absolute silence, his eyes revealing a deep, bone-piercing grief.
His daughter... her light had just been extinguished by a black hole right before his eyes...
The surrounding Ultra Brothers fell silent. They could find no words suitable to comfort Ultraseven. At a time like this, any language was pale and powerless.
Their hearts, too, were filled with sorrow. Their little niece, who had only just taken physical form, had vanished from their sight just like that.
That ball of light, which alternated between mischievous and quiet, had simply disappeared. It felt as though destiny had played a cruel joke on them—a reality they could neither believe nor prevent.
Amidst the silence, they gathered their heavy emotions.
Zoffy stepped forward, gently patted Ultraseven on the shoulder, and then picked up the crying Zero.
"Let's go..." Zoffy said softly, his voice carrying an uncontainable grief and a heavy sigh.
He led the Ultra Brothers as they turned and left, heading back toward the Land of Light.
Upon returning to the Land of Light, Ultraseven silently took the crying, exhausted, and sleeping Zero from Zoffy's arms. He held Zero tight, as if clinging to a final straw of hope.
After a long while, with a resolute gaze, he handed Zero back to Zoffy.
"Take Zero to the orphanage. Ultraseven's children both perished in the explosion. From now on, none of my enemies will ever use this child to hurt me again."
Zoffy silently accepted Zero and let out a deep sigh.
"Are you certain?"
"Yes." Ultraseven nodded firmly, cast one lingering look of reluctance at Zero, and turned away.
From that day on, Ultraseven threw himself even more frantically into his work, taking on high-difficulty missions of all kinds and rarely returning to the Land of Light.
Meanwhile, Seiya had been transported by the black hole into a ruined, temple-like sanctuary.
In the center of the temple, Noa had just finished dealing with matters entrusted to him by the Greater Universe Consciousness and was sitting down to rest. Suddenly, a battered infant Ultra plummeted from the sky, landing squarely on top of him.
Startled, Noa hurriedly scooped up the tiny infant and examined her closely. Her primordial light was gradually fading, and her vital signs were exceedingly weak.
At a loss, yet unable to simply watch a life extinguish before his eyes, Noa hurriedly enveloped her within his own light to nurture and sustain her.
After much effort, Seiya was finally pulled back from the brink of death. Her primordial light stopped fading and began to re-condense.
Gazing at the young Ultra resting within his radiance, Noa fell into deep contemplation.
He could not understand why a little infant had suddenly appeared here, covered in severe injuries. Seeking answers, he summoned the Greater Universe Consciousness to ask what had happened.
The Greater Universe Consciousness arrived at the temple and, upon seeing the little infant, was pleasantly surprised.
"She is actually a part of the Light of Destiny! Within the countless multiverse domains, the Light of Destiny has actually been conceived!" the Greater Universe Consciousness exclaimed excitedly.
Hearing this, Noa was struck with astonishment.
The Light of Destiny—an existence that stood on the very same plane as him, transcending everything else. Furthermore, the Light of Destiny was exceptionally difficult to nurture; since the birth of the countless universes, she was the only one he had ever known of.
The Greater Universe Consciousness instructed Noa to take good care of the little infant, for she might well become the key to the future. With that, the Greater Universe Consciousness departed from the temple, eager to share the wonderful news with other universal consciousnesses.
Noa looked down at the sleeping young Ultra nestled within his light, his heart filled with anticipation.
He wondered what kind of surprises she would bring to the predetermined destiny of the greater universe.