Chapter 416

Puyuyu and the children were playing on the training ground. Lucy had blended in as well. Seeing the humanoid-shaped hole in the Crest Tree, she must have come out from there.

White and green flowers were blooming on the tree"s branches, with what looked like b.l.o.o.d.y fruits being in the process of ripening.

Puyuyu sang a weird song. Muu and Lucy held a big leaf together with the children, imitating the song. It looked soothing, but since I have to deal with Ciel"s treatment, I"m going to leave this place.

"Lucy, you"re going to come as well."

"Mastah, wiff yuu!"

Lucy disappeared from among the children with an instantaneous blur, just to reappear in front of me.

『She"s so adorable that I"d love to cuddle her!』, Helme excitedly declared in my left eye.

I can totally understand. Her hair is made out of white and green petals. The small, rainbow-colored flower ornaments suit her abnormally well. Her odd eyes look like tiny marbles. Her ear cuffs and collar look good on her. And she wears tree-made clothing as it"s worn by fairies. Her entire outward experience cries tree girl.

After Lucy climbed on my shoulder, we departed.

◇◇◇◇

We headed south above the Sea of Trees with the pecking of woodp.e.c.k.e.rs accompanying us from below. The sky trip on Rollodeen took like no time. We immediately went past the orchard, and the former prison of Golgonshura came into sight.

Blue flowers were blossoming in what used to be Golgonshura"s domain. Previously countless, pretty b.u.t.terflies had fluttered around the area as if to create a sanctum, but their numbers had decreased significantly. Most likely a side-effect of the place having lost its symbolic power as sanctum.

Akreshys-sama mentioned that the egg stone contained Golgonshura"s divinity, but I guess it"s difficult for the demi-G.o.ddess to maintain her sanctuary while locked in there.

However, despite her losing her domain and sanctuary, the giant tree prison, which looked like a b.u.t.terfly with flapping wings, remained the same. It exuded a sort of pressure.

Previously, Tsuan had mentioned that the church"s ruin exploration department would be interested in this place. I think so as well. It"s a coffin that feels like it fits perfectly as a prison for a G.o.d.

Suddenly Rollodeen growled a warning. She wasn"t looking at the tree prison. Her head was instead pointed straight at a point ahead of us. Is she trying to look deeper into the ravine?

Strange, jet-black mana was surging out from there.

『Your Excellency, Rollo-sama seems to have noticed it as well…it"s dense darkness. Darkness spirits are forming vortexes, too』

『Yeah』

The petal-like patterns were pretty, but it was a ghastly mana of darkness that almost looked like you could hear groans from the underground. Seeing how the floral patterns were breaking apart, does that mean a wind is blowing?

I stared at the evil, black wind that seemed to stream out from deeper down the ravine.

On my left shoulder, Lucy was looking in the same direction as well.

A part of the blue flowers in the area had withered away after coming in contact with the dark mist-like mana. It reminded me of Akreshys-sama"s warning that I had to be mindful of the 【Cemetery of Ancient G.o.ds】. But, we"re nowhere near Ancient G.o.d Go Rad"s ruin. That particular ruin is further south from Cydale.

When I talked about Professor Domidon about his experiences over there together with Red Tiger Storm, I was also able to catch a glimpse of the Sea of Trees map he had placed on the table. The map did a close-up of this area.

I had a copy of it with me as well, so I took it out of my pocket.

In the north lay the Heim River and Hekatrail. Cl.u.s.ters of big holes continuing towards the Pel-Heka-Line were situated in the center. Those seemed to dot the Sea of Trees as if puncturing the terrain. The Hino Villa, Phenimul Village, and inn towns were connected through bigger roads. The map showed only parts of eastern Mt. Baldok, the western Benrack Village, and the Bewitching Baraydus Mansion. Mine City Tandarl was only mentioned in writing.

Then it also listed raw materials and creatures inhabiting the Sea of Trees. The road spots with high attack frequencies by adventurer dropouts and bandits, and the names of the various monsters inside the forest.

But even if it doesn"t cover all the details, anyone seeing this map would be able to tell just how amazing it is. I guess it"s only natural and I can fully understand why he"d become famous in Hekatrail and Southern Mahaheim. This map is evidence of Professor Domidon and Mie-san"s excellence.

Maybe they possess skills related to map creation.

Several types of magic tools were dangling from the waist, so I roughly stuffed the copy of the map in there.

It also reminded me of a story about the 【Valley of Hidden Carving】 I heard from Higlia. That one is located even further south from Go Rad"s ruin, so it"s outside the ancient wolfmen"s turf.

"Nn, weird mana, inside?" Eva asked in my back as I was brooding.

She must have found it strange after having continued to survey the area from above. Ciel, wrapped up in violet mana, floated above Eva"s head thanks to . Ciel was using her fingers to touch the mana surrounding her while narrowing one eye as if mystified.

Her nails scratched along the layer of violet mana, and each time Ciel did that, a part of her nails turned into small, red b.u.t.terflies. Her fingertips were blinking reddish violet, about to vanish.

Rebecca, who had been sitting in front, warned Ciel from doing this any further."

"――Mana because the demi-G.o.ddess"s domain disappeared? MAybe there"s some sort of underground cave deeper down the ravine?"

"Probably. The dense presence of an underground G.o.d, or maybe the troops of the Tree King of Wonders…it"s also possible for it to be some sort of darkness G.o.d of the orcs…I feel like on of their eight G.o.ds had a G.o.d with a name that could suggest such attribute," I replied to Rebecca.

In response, Shuhelia asked me from behind Eva, "Your Majesty, you mean underground forces that fought against the demi-G.o.ddess?"

"Nn, there are underground other than Rolga around."

"In that case, I think it"ll be impossible to maintain the orchard here. Although it"s a wonderful place, sort of like a paradise as it has no monsters."

Certainly this orchard does remind one of heaven"s paradise said to have housed Adam and Eve.

"Should I head out to scout?"

"…No, Ciel"s healing comes first. Though it might become necessary to revive Golgonshura for that…" I told Kisara.

I can guess that it"s some sort of underground power, but for now I"ll ignore that darkness mana. Moreover, the rein sticking to my neck is unnecessary, too.

Reading my intentions, Rollodeen immediately descended to the ground. And immediately after her forepaws touched the soil, I jumped off my partner"s back while carrying Kizeleg"s silver coffin above my head by having it wrapped up in .

Even without looking back, I knew from the magic elements that everyone else had leaped off as well.

For starters, I gave the sealer"s sealing door another check. The door had remained unchanged as we left it behind. Greek thunder swirl patterns with the same flair as you"d find them on Greek temples were engraved on the doors surface, just as before.

Recalling the Greek mythology I read in a book back when I was still on Earth, I scanned the surface and spotted a mark with faint traces of mana remaining which looked like a wand. This wand symbol may signify the huge wand Golgonshura used when unleas.h.i.+ng that terrifying wave magic.

After seeing Rollo playing around with the door, Lucy exclaimed, "Divain Beas.h.!.+ I vill do my besh too!"

Do your best at what?

Lucy imitated Rollo in tapping the door, treating it like a drum. Meanwhile Rollo became engrossed in scratching the door as if abusing it as a scratching post. Her claws gradually dug out the door"s surface, and Lucy began to eat the splinters of the scratches. Those seem to be metallic, so I really wonder whether they taste good.

"Lucy, are you okay with digesting that?"

"Mastah, guardans aar shtronk!" She declared with her marble eyes sparkling.

Blackish tree and metal splinters were sticking to the area around her mouth. But oh well, whatever. It"s not like this is some holy ruin and since it"s no memorable place either, I let Rollo and Lucy do as they please.

"Rollo-chan, is totally entranced with this~"

"Nn, Rollo-chan, Lucy-chan, cute."

"…Yes, they remind me of the magic beast Tantarahln who live in the Spirit World," added Shuhelia.

I was curious about the beast she had mentioned there. But even so, I used this downtime to lower Kizeleg"s coffin. I erased the around it without reeling it back in, causing the coffin to drop on the ground in a somewhat rough manner.

I doubt Kizeleg is going to mind, though.

"……Gnnhh," a voice, carrying a trace of echoing, reverberated from within the box.

Going by its tone, I could feel a certain extent of discontent from it, but I ignored it. Having heard the voice, Rebecca clad herself in a thin layer of blue flames and readied her magic wand, before looking at Kisara.

"…Kisara-san, is Rotalz fine?"

"Yes. I entrusted him to Sarah-san. He will a.s.sist Cydale in its development."

While nodding at Kisara so as to show my appreciation, "The maintenance and extension of the infrastructure is an issue, but we never know what might happen, as you could see from the fight with the War G.o.d Faith."

"Yes. Delgug was powerful. It is no wonder that he has been a priest of the War G.o.d Faith that squared off against Demonoid Cuberas in the south of the desert," Kisara commented after having fought against Delgug.

She had collected all the light rings and light hatchets that didn"t get damaged. Both weapons had lost their glow, but currently Eva was holding onto them.

"…The combat monk called Unki was fairly strong as well. Nothing less you"d expect from a religious group representing the divine domain"s forces," Shuhelia supplemented.

Eva and Rebecca nodded with serious expressions.

"Well, we got to know Grandpa Labius, so it"ll probably be okay. Moreover, the village is run by Quiche who"s now a

"Mastah, protekt!" Lucy nodded so as to demonstrate her consent.

"That"s true. The transformation of an area into a sanctuary through and Lucy"s , was it?" Rebecca reaffirmed while smiling at Lucy, and then tossed a ping-pong-ball-sized blue fireball towards Eva.

Eva returned that ball with a metallic ping-pong racket while smiling.

"I hadn"t expected for my combat occupation to be connected with that part though."

"Nn, Shuuya, you"re good at water. Also, you can use sage art. So, if you combine spirit and blood with your already existing water and sage art, you will be possibly able to acquire spirit water sage magic, spirit water sage art, spirit magic, spirit aura, or some other unknown magic technique?"

Spirit aura art or spirit magic, huh? Maybe those exist.

Rebecca caught the flame ball that had been returned to her with a force as if smas.h.i.+ng with her index finger which was engulfed by blue flames and revealed a smile. The ESPer here was Eva, but Rebecca was one in the making.

Eva then made her ping-pong racket cling to her metallic feet, before melting it all. This resulted in her metallic legs splitting apart and instantly transforming into her magic wheelchair. Eva slowly sat down on the wheel chair after the transformation had finished.

So she can do something like that as well huh?

I stared at Eva"s new wheelchair. It was equipped with a rectangle s.h.i.+eld, similar to the Gatling s.h.i.+eld as the Gouf Custom used as standard deployment. It also had small, multilayered air exhaust openings. Blood, mana, and small metallic beads had come out of those.

Eva inserted her tonfa into the oblong s.h.i.+eld. It was apparently a gadget where the tips of the tonfa would protrude out of the s.h.i.+eld"s tip. Given that the tonfa"s ends were pointed, it made the whole construction look like a pile bunker.

I guess it imitated a close combat style that got influenced by Rebecca"s Kulbul Boxing. You could call it a heavy tank style, maybe?

Suddenly, the black tonfa extended from the center of the mostly white, metallic s.h.i.+eld. Now they looked more like lances or Gatling muzzles than the metallic stakes of a pile bunker. Can she actually shoot metallic bullets from the tips of her tonfa or something?

No, those are tonfa, so that"d make no sense, would it? But even so, Eva sure is cool on her new wheelchair. But I didn"t point that out.

While being reminded of my own sage art"s growth, I spoke up, "…I don"t know whether it"ll be an original skillset or an extension of sage art, but I think the concept of spirit aura already exists. It"s probably not just the ability to see ghosts either. Spirit spear, blood, chain, and master. Those are also related to the meaning of the combat occupation."

"Shuuya-sama, I remember that Witch Soldier Ranmy, who excelled in guidance sorcery she had been taught by our masters, had mentioned spirit sorcery and spirit auras in the past."

"I remember that name. A witch soldier who used to be your comrade in the past. She made an appearance during our conversation about the eyeball of the blood bone nymph I own, didn"t she?"

Ranmy competed with one of the blood bone nymphs.

"The story from back then, huh…? It was right after we had some fun together. It was about a traitorous witch soldier, wasn"t it?" Rebecca reaffirmed with her cheeks bright red as she had apparently recalled out wild s.e.x on that day.

"Nn, Kisara-san"s stories are interesting. They also taught me the reason why the Empire of Dawn Goldix and the Great Desert Goldix were named like that."

Rebecca and Eva repeated some of the information while nodding at each other, and Kisara went along with their talk.

"…For her to fight that nymph and then fall in love with the enemy sure was unexpected."

"Such things might happen, if you fight the same person for a long time, I guess?"

"Nn, even if both were women, the feeling of love between people doesn"t change."

Certainly. There exist all sorts of men and women.

"Every person has their own emotions. Anyway, she betrayed the Black Witch Church and joined a dark organization called 【Southern Dark Sand Society】, didn"t she?"

Kisara"s white, silky forelocks hung down across her black ma.s.s, looking as if snow was falling into the designs depicted on the mask. The contrast between black and white was truly beautiful.

"…Yes. Ranmy hailed from Ahearne. Her father was a desert knight. I heard that her country was at war with 【Sandstorm Country Septon】, a nation sharing the name of the western Sand G.o.d Septon. She mentioned that the young prince of that sandstorm country was a spirit aura user, but…for it to have been true…"

While repeatedly making breaks in her speech, Kisara told us what she knew. It sounds like she used to be an acquaintance of Ranmy.

"Mastahs , shtronk!" Lucy declared while vividly throwing both her arms into the air.

Going by Kisara"s reminiscence, there exists a group of blood bone nymphs, and not just one. They"re a demonic bone race who likes to suck blood. Relatively many of them live in a town called 【Stabbing Rock Town Hoody】 that"s located between the "Bone Waterfall of Sandstorm" and the "Sand Bone Mountain of Dawn" in the great desert"s south west. That area appears to be famous for being inhabited by swarms of the S-Rank monster Big Frog Dragon Guon. It"s said that all sorts of desert monsters, including that particular dragon, gather in that region.

But, the area also has ferocious monsters who prey upon those guon frogs. In short, it"s a fairly dangerous area even within the desert. That"s why the blood bone nymphs are different from pure vampires like the twelve families, despite them sucking blood.

Or rather, it sounds like the desert is as multi-racial as Pelneet. All places in this world are thriving with all sorts of different races…not to mention that the great desert appears to be absurdly huge, too…

While nodding, I looked at Kisara"s head. A pair of small horns was growing out of her skull. They were smaller than Lefas, but they were similar to those of the Goldiba race. There"s probably no doubt about Kisara having some Goldiba blood in her. Thinking about all that, triggered nostalgic memories in me about the Goldiba village.

"…I also consider the stories about the desert region to be a fresh experience."

"It"s the same for everyone. We"re all from South Mahaheim. Besides, I"m curious about Alson-san, Dad"s relative." Rebecca replied to Shuhelia, just for her smile to immediately vanish.

Seeing Rebecca look so sad, I suppose talking about Kisara"s masters comes close to a taboo. Also Ibhin, Rebecca"s relative and possibly a high elf cousin.

"…Nn, story connected to the white star stone of old."

"That"s right. Delgug of the War G.o.d Faith had talked about him a bit, but…if he"s continuing to wander the land, he might still be alive."

"Yep. I"ll try going to the religious district next time, but it looks improbable that I"ll be able to reunite with him."

The world is vast, and seeing how he belongs to a wandering group, all the more so. I can totally understand why she believes that a reunion remains out of reach.

"If the Black Witch Church"s methods of communication have not changed, I believe that I will be able to help you with the search. However, it might be difficult, if he is wandering all over the world."

"Oki! I"m already happy that you"ll try for my sake! Thanks, Kisara-san――"

The picture of a small, blonde girl being buried in Kisara"s b.o.o.bs is something I"d love to join, but now"s not the time for that.

"Well, let"s tackle this with a mindset of what will be, will be. It might be possible to contact him easily with Kisara"s communication method, but even if that proves impossible, you still could reunite with him at some weird, unexpected place."

"Oki, thanks. Your words are very persuasive, Shuuya."

"Really?"

"I mean, look at it like this. You picked up this old, white star stone underground and without knowing anything about it, you continued your great adventure for Rollo-chan"s sake, and then we met each other by coincidence in Pelneet, right? And then you defeated Schmihazar and coincidentally met Kisara-san who had equipped that old white star stone, which had been sealed inside that white giants…"

"Nn, true."

"Yes."

"You got a point. I guess it"s hard to explain it away with good luck."

If I had been operating within the framework of Fate G.o.d Ashura, it might have been possible. But, I don"t want to believe in something like fate. I"m me. I think, therefore I am. As if I"d accept that my will as an individual and my thoughts were just part of a greater game of dice played by the G.o.ds.

As I was having all sorts of philosophical thoughts about fate, individual will, and divine interventions, I informed the others, "…Anyway, everyone, please get ready."

"Nn, do my best."

Rebecca and Eva nodded.

"Jody?" Ciel asked curiously.

"I shall also contribute to you, Your Majesty, while making sure to not get in the way of your honorable bloodkin-sama."

"Hehe, Shuhelia-san, you don"t need to strain yourself so much. I"ve been working on my blue flame techniques every day as of late." Rebecca bragged while forcing herself to put on a brave face.

On the surface she was overflowing with confidence, but that probably doesn"t reflect her inner thoughts. Well, one"s att.i.tude usually allows a prediction of the true state of things.

Rebecca"s outfit was covered by an extremely thin blue flame membrane, and a huge cl.u.s.ter of blue flames floated above her head. The thin blue fire strands extending from the membrane looked like snakes. The cl.u.s.ter looked like a wandering blue flame soul and it seemed as though lasers might shoot out from there at any time.

With her waist lowered a bit, Rebecca wore a katar in her right hand. Her left hand was free while her magic wand was visible at her waist.

I think that her magic wand is an outstanding magic tool. It seems to allow her to adjust the power and fluctuations of her flames as well as releasing series of firewalls, flame pillars. and fireb.a.l.l.s. But, Rebecca isn"t an ordinary magician anymore. She can fight in close combat, and when it comes to ranged combat, she"s got her blue flames.

Is that why she needs that wand? Though, it"s not like it raises her mana somewhat like her make-up.

I considered voicing my questions, but opted against it. I"m sure she also has her own sort of pride as

"…Okay then, I"ll summon the Burning Knights as well, seeing how there"s a risk for Golgonshura to revive. I think I"ll also have Alray and Hueremy join in, too."

"N, nya."

"Nn, roger."

"I"ll fall back a bit with Ciel and focus on defense."

"Sure."

Rebecca released her weapon stance, grasped Ciel"s hand, and took some distance.

"I"ve been taking care of your scythes and scales, you see?" Rebecca informed Ciel, but Ciel only gazed at her sadly with her remaining eye while b.u.t.terflies kept scattering away from her.

For a second, Rebecca became teary-eyed when seeing Ciel like that, but she immediately shook her head. I had her retrieve the dolls of Hueremy and Alray from Ciel. At that time, Ciel looked like she was almost going to cry, but thanks to Eva"s soothing, it all ended peacefully.

I poured my mana into the porcelain dolls, causing them to immediately grow in size and slowly come to life. Before long, two lovely cats landed on the ground.

"N, nyano," greeted Rollo first with a motherly expression.

The other two answered and rubbed cheeks with her. But given the situation, I warned them to keep the greeting short and get ready for combat.

Hearing that, the three cats meowed in response while instantly growing in size. Rollo turned into a somewhat larger black panther while Alray and Hueremy became imposing, big tigers. Immediately afterwards, the three pounced on me and launched a licking attack.

After I sternly rebuked them and told them to get off me, they went over to Eva instead to get pampered.

"Rollo-chan Squad! Let"s fight together!"

Once Eva told them so, the three meowed their approval and took up position around her. While wondering how Eva was supposed to move like that, I summoned the Burning Knights.

The two greeted me while full of fighting spirit as usual.

"Your orders are to be on standby. I don"t know whether it"ll turn into a fight. Also, you previously fought over here, so I think you remember this place."

"This is the demo G.o.ddess"s…I…"

"We got scattered by the mana blades of that mighty b.u.t.terfly G.o.ddess."

Although it was just the tone of her voice, they sounded somehow vexed. Their puff-puff quality went down, too.

"Yep, it"s the place where Golgonshura had been sealed. And, depending on the developments, it"s possible for her to revive too. So I summoned you in preparation for that."

Once I told them so, their puff-puff gushed out through the gaps in their magic armor. They crossed their s.h.i.+ning bone swords, just to fervently appeal how they"d win the next encounter. It felt as though the temperature in the area had risen, too.

As they pulled off some horseplay with Shuhelia joining the fray as well, I looked at the ruby loop on my fingers. But, well, even if I let Adombrally out here, the custom-made puppet-frame he could possess wasn"t present. It had been totally turned into sc.r.a.p metal by Golgonshura"s attacks during the previous battle. That"s why Adombrally won"t get a turn this time around.

But, seeing how his demonoid martial arts based on a whip-staff seem valuable to have around, I got to negotiate with Vero-cchi to provide us another one next time.

At that point, I retrieved Golgonshura"s egg stone and the white gem out of my pocket. By the way, nothing happened even when I placed both stones on top of each other.

As I thought, they need mana as an energy source to become active, or rather, awake.

I looked at the white gem with its pretty brilliance. And I reconfirmed the blue letter of the covenant carved into the stone.

『Covenant - No fighting with Shuuya Kagari, no fights with his friends either』

The covenant was still valid as the contract remained in effect.

『This is a pledge that will continue for eternity until we disappear, even if Golgonshura-sama is freed and revived』, Ciel had replied in the past when she still used to be full of life.

You could describe the personalities of those two b.u.t.terfly women as highly whimsical. But, their loyalty towards Golgonshura was the real deal. And because I had earnestly accepted their feelings, I had formed such a contract with them. I"ll answer their strong spirit from back then.

So, even if it might come with a risk, I"ll challenge it as long as it has the potential of curing Ciel.

"Let"s go…"

Seeing my resolve, everyone except for Rebecca and Eva readied their respective weapons. The Burning Knights rode the two tigers. And I saw how Lucy held small branch blades in both her hands.

"Mastah," she said as my figure was reflected in her tiny marble eyes.

I nodded.

First I invoked .

Ugh, it hurts.

I sensed how bile and blood welled up inside my mouth. This feeling of having my stomach twisted was even worse than during sage art. But, I have to get used to it.

The blood spreading underneath my feet covered the area with a layer of blood in an instant. Even Golgonshura"s prison.

A s.h.i.+ning blood lake, huh? I feel like it"s bigger than before.

At several places you could also see spheres that combined dense Lucival blood with bile. Crimson blood gushed out of the upper parts of those spheres. The geyser-like blood continued to stream while forming small mountains as if to whittle down the spheres.

Just as that was happening, I poured mana into Jody"s gem. The gem immediately absorbed my mana, before radially releasing rays of light. Those light rays changed colors, using white, black, blue, and grayish silver colors. As they kept busily switching, the white gem started to glow dazzlingly.

As I got blinded by that intense lighting, the gem itself left my palm, floating up into the air. The blue letters on its surface also shone very brightly. Those letters transformed into ancient characters like those drawn on the Crest Tree of the Lucival.

Next, the white gem"s interior moved around while expanding and shrinking repeatedly. The gem"s surface turned into a viscous, gooey ma.s.s. Then the outer layers started to peel away like the skin of mandarin oranges, exposing the central part of the gem. At the same time, you could hear something akin to the thumping of a heart.

The gem looked like a crystal, but it throbbed like a true heart, and released mana ripples into the air instead of a blood flow. Moreover, white moths swarmed out of the gem"s interior as if the gem was just a coc.o.o.n. The swarm of moths gathered around me.

I felt like Jody"s spirit was thanking my spirit for forming a covenant with her.

Therefore, I focused on sage art. Spurts of blood, formed by the blood at my feet, occurred around me as I invoked . I concentrated on carefully grabbing one moth after the other with the countless blood flame hands extending from the blood spurts…as if to answer her grat.i.tude.

Walking up a bit, I grabbed the floating gem with a hand. With Jody"s voice echoing in my mind, I sent all the flame hands into the central part of the gem, including the white moths.

This is also fate, isn"t it?

Simultaneously I activated , which immediately triggered huge numbers of tiny, s.h.i.+ning, thread-like chains to grow out of my palm"s surface, just for them to encroach upon Jody"s gem as if to surround the swarm of moths that had fused with the gem. On top of that, a geyser of blood pierced through the gem from below, apparently utilizing the power of the surrounding .

Just after lotus-like blood flowers blossomed from the gem, which got showered by a raging torrent of glowing blood, a beautiful b.u.t.terfly illusion came into existence. A phantom of what seemed to be Jody"s smile also appeared in the background.

And then I experienced a weird sensation. It was different from my time with Catiza. Back then it felt like s.h.i.+fting from anxiety to relief, but this time it"s something else.

From the very start, I felt serenity, relief…love. The instant I clearly heard 『Thank you for the Covenant』 in Jody"s voice, my mana was sucked inside the white gem together with my blood through the chain tentacles. More mana than during sage arts was consumed.

A heart-beating sound, close to a percussion instrument, resounded from the gem, and a s.h.i.+ning net crest was carved onto the gem.

『…Now that I think of it, this is also the fate of an instant…this…fickle life…I shall offer it to you for the rest of my life. Once again, thanks for giving me the power to live on…』

※ Piiing ※ ※ permanent skill acquired ※