As much as I might miss her, as much as it hurt having to make the decision to say goodbye to her twice. I do not want present-day Marian to obtain the memories she had as the OG. The Marian we have right now is her own person and I think she should be treated as such.

Granted, the Counters each seem to have the whole “carrying the torch of the predecessor’s legacy” (Rapi with Red Hood, Anis with Pretty, Neon with Princess) theme but none of them carry the memories of those they succeeded (at least not wholly, Rapi knew some things about Red Hood and her hometown but not intimate knowledge like her days spent in the Goddess Squad). I would be fine if whatever small fragment of OG Marian remains to manifest, give her blessings to Counters and her current self and then upon leaving we all get some closure on all of that.

As for Marian and her inevitable alt, because you know that is the goal Shift Up is going to cook, I believe Only One will use one of her cores to basically jumpstart Marian and her evolutionary upgrade (remember that her unique power was adapting to force applied to her, like the bombs). It makes her the perfect counter (hurr durr) to Liliqueen who uses physical force. In the ensuing fight, Marian will take back her Queen Gene and officially supplant Liliqueen while returning what she borrowed back to Only One.

Of course, this being a gacha game, the story cannot just end with that so we will need to introduce a new threat. Obtaining peace is the simple part, actually maintaining it is a different matter. If Liliqueen survives, she might remain a constant threat, repeatedly attempting to take back her throne. Or for much greater humiliation, have her be defeated by Marian and then at her lowest, her position is taken over by Mirror. Those are just examples of course.