Heinkel stared blankly ahead.

The scenery that filled her vision—

A temple drenched entirely in red, and…

“A red… moon?”

A foreboding moon hung in the sky.

A crimson moon that cast its glow upon the entire world.

[Spirit.]

“!”

A girl had appeared before she knew it.

She spoke each syllable as if she were biting down on them.

[You should stop while you can.]

A black sacred robe.

Crimson-red eyes.

Seeing her, Heinkel’s mind raced. Her thought process accelerated, constructing, discarding, and deriving multiple hypotheses in an instant.

Not to figure out who the girl in front of her was.

But to understand the reason she was thinking.

To define this abnormal space that had unfolded before her.

And with her exceptionally brilliant mind, Heinkel grasped the situation in no time—

“…”

Without hesitation, she awakened her magic.

She was a mass of magic—perhaps magic itself.

Yet, paradoxically—

For that very reason, she should not be able to use magic.

No matter how revered she was by all mages, she was ultimately nothing more than a Spirit.

Unless she somehow laid her hands on black magic, manifesting magic in her spirit form should have been nearly impossible unless it was of the simplest kind.

But—

Kwa-ga-ga-ga-k!

As if to defy that rule.

Heinkel deployed magic in an instant.

Because she had realized that, within this space, she could materialize magic.

No,

It wasn’t even a realization.

She had already experienced this space before.

Three magic circles overlapped and unfolded around her.

From the three magic circles emerged nine more.

Then from those nine, twenty-seven magic circles appeared.

In less than ten seconds.

The magic crafted by Heinkel—known as the Chalice of the Origin, who had stood at the pinnacle of all mages past and present—

Was such a spectacle that merely witnessing it compelled all to bow in awe.

In this world where only the red light existed—

Kuuuuugggg~!!

The colossal meteor shower she had conjured was plummeting down.

Tearing through the air, shredding even the red light as it descended—

Heinkel’s magic.

However—

“Heh—”

The reaction of Yutia, who gazed at the meteors rushing toward her, was unbelievably lighthearted.

As if she were merely enjoying a spectacle.

Just that level of response.

And she showed no intent to stop the falling meteors.

She simply watched.

With no interference, the meteors crashed into the ground.

Obliterating everything.

The temple roof—

-!!!

The pillars.

The trees.

The ground.

The girl standing before him.

And even Heinkel herself, who had deployed the magic.

Thus—

Drip!

“!”

Heinkel returned to the beginning.

The situation was exactly the same as before.

She was staring blankly ahead, and everything still existed as it had.

The red temple.

The red trees.

The red marble floor.

The red moon.

Everything remained unchanged.

As if time had been rewound.

And—

The girl was still there.

“Hmm— I only meant to give a warning, but your reaction is more intense than I expected.”

At that, Heinkel scowled deeply.

“Why are you here? You should be in the Abyss—”

She tried to speak.

“Shh—”

“…”

But she couldn’t finish.

The girl’s—no, Yutia Bloodia’s—index finger had gently pressed against Heinkel’s lips, rendering her unable to move properly.

“I’ve never once revealed my true form, yet you still figured it out? You’re quite sharp. But this is as far as it goes.”

She smiled at Heinkel as if praising her.

Yet—

Tremble, tremble—

Contrary to her composed demeanor.

From the moment she realized her true identity, Heinkel was consumed by terror, her entire body trembling uncontrollably.

Her rationality vanished, leaving only fear in her eyes.

Yutia, who silently gazed into those fear-filled eyes, gently caressed Heinkel’s face.

Once.

Twice.

And then—

Tap—

She lightly tapped her cheek with her index finger.

“Listen carefully, Spirit. I’ll only say this once.”

And then—

“If he wants help, give it to him.”

“If he does something, accept it.”

“If he asks for your heart, offer it.”

“That is all you can do for him. Understood?”

The girl’s voice poured down.

Like the meteor shower Heinkel had just created.

“If you understand, nod your head.”

Heinkel barely managed to nod.

Because she knew.

That there was no other choice.

“You’ve always been obedient, and that’s good. And—”

At Heinkel’s submission, Yutia patted her head once more.

“You’re smart enough to understand, aren’t you? About me.”

Then, placing her index finger on her lips, she smiled in satisfaction.

And with that,

[Gasp!]

“?”

“?”

Heinkel gasped for air, sweat dripping down her face.

“…Are you all right?”

Alon asked, his face expressionless.

Heinkel, trying to calm her pounding heart, looked at Alon with an utterly perplexed expression.

“…?”

Alon tilted his head slightly, confused by the sudden gaze.

[You—]

Heinkel was about to ask.

There were so many questions.

Even more than when she first saw the black figures behind him.

She wanted to ask right away.

Did Alon know the girl who had just appeared?

If so, what was their relationship?

Why was ‘the Abyss’ following him?

Who the hell was he?

She wanted to ask.

But—

[No, never mind.]

“?”

[…Your request, it was to have that woman learn magic, wasn’t it?]

Heinkel couldn’t bring herself to say it.

Because the moment she did—

She knew, with absolute certainty, that she would not survive.

So—

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Alon, still looking slightly confused, nodded.

[Fine, I’ll accept.]

“Huh? But just a moment ago—”

[…That was just a joke. I was slightly annoyed, that’s all.]

No, to be precise, she glanced at the red gemstone on Alon’s brooch,

Then awkwardly curled her lips into a smirk.

“Kiiiyaaaah~!”

Penia, who had seemed on the verge of turning into ashes just moments ago, shrieked like a pterosaur.

[…Come starting tomorrow.]

Alon wasn’t entirely sure what had just happened.

But for now, he nodded.

***

“Thank you so much~!”

“There’s no need. You paid a price, and I merely upheld my end.”

“Still, thank you~!”

With sparkling eyes, she bowed several times before practically floating away with happiness.

…It was almost like watching a chubby Shiba Inu waddling around in an old YouTube video.

As he watched her figure recede, Alon recalled the events from earlier.

‘What was that? Something definitely changed.’

Everything had seemed normal at first.

But at some point, something had drastically shifted.

‘And those eyes…’

Alon wasn’t particularly sharp at reading people’s emotions through their eyes.

But even he could tell.

It was unmistakably—

A look of fear.

“Marquis.”

At that moment—

Evan’s voice called out.

“…What is that?”

In his hands was a pile of something.

“Oh, this? Gifts for me.”

The gifts were stacked so high that he had to turn sideways just to see ahead.

“Gifts?”

“Yes, despite everything, I’m quite the handsome man, you know. The female mages seem to be quite interested in me. Haha!”

“?”

“..?”

“…Marquis, that look of utter incomprehension is a bit hurtful. Especially coming from someone who barely shows emotion on their face.”

“Did I make such a face?”

“Yes.”

Evan sighed deeply.

“Well, technically, they were given to me, but in reality, they were meant for you.”

[…No need to explain, I understood the moment I saw it.]

Before, Basiliora had been nowhere to be seen when they went to meet Heinkel.

But now, as if it had been waiting, it finally showed up.

“Marquis, why don’t you give that snake-headed bastard to the librarian? Maybe she can correct him once and for all.”

[Pfft! Don’t talk nonsense! That damn—]

Basiliora, who had been speaking boldly, suddenly lowered its voice.

It stretched its body like a meerkat, scanning its surroundings before—

[You think I’d ever bow to that demon?!]

It finally shouted,

“…What a spectacle.”

[You’re more of a spectacle!]

As the two bickered childishly,

Alon and his group finally arrived at their temporary lodgings.

“Marquis, speaking of which, I have something to report.”

“What is it?”

“It’s about some rumors. Earlier, you asked if there was any useful information to gather, remember?”

“Were there many?”

“Well, since I haven’t visited the information guild in a while, a lot has piled up.”

Evan then began relaying the accumulated rumors.

“Hmm… That seems to be everything.”

After the report, Alon sorted through the rumors.

Out of all of them, three were particularly noteworthy.

First, Eliban was erasing strange figures while following the Stalian Kingdom’s route.

Second, something major had happened in the capital of the Varnos Duchy.

And lastly,

The rumors about Luxibl Duchy—or more precisely, the mystical jungle of Lonovellia.

The rumors regarding the Varnos Duchy and Lonovellia—

These were worth investigating.

‘Monsters devoured the capital of Varnos, and black magic is spreading in Lonovellia.’

But the most concerning of them all— was Varnos.

The reason—

‘The fall of Varnos… That’s supposed to be the beginning of the Four Factions Episode…?’

Indeed, the destruction of Varnos marked the start of the Four Factions Episode, which normally occurred in the mid-phase of Psychedelia.

Of course, Alon was aware.

That much of what he knew about Psychedelia’s narrative had already become irrelevant.

But even accounting for that—

The emergence of Agui, the Devourer, was happening far too soon.

“…Evan.”

“Yes, Marquis?”

“Soon, visit the information guild and get more details about the Varnos Duchy.”

“Understood.”

Alon entrusted Evan with further investigation.

A few days later—

“Take care~!”

“…See you next time.”

Leaving behind a beaming Penia, whose face practically glowed with happiness,

Alon set off for Lonovellia to meet the Thunder Serpent Tribe.

At that same moment—

Inside the royal palace of Ashtalon—

“I greet Your Majesty.”

“Where is Zukurak?”

“He said he had a stop to make and headed elsewhere. He asked me to inform Your Majesty that he had to visit a place briefly.”

King Stalian V furrowed his brows slightly at Duke Merkiliane’s report.

But—

“It can’t be helped.”

He soon exhaled deeply and then asked Duke Merkiliane,

“So, did you investigate what I asked?”

“Yes, I did.”

“And?”

“…To put it bluntly, the identity of Marquis Palatio—”

Duke Merkiliane hesitated for a moment, as if struggling to say it.

Then, calmly, he reported,

“He appears to be a deity of another race.”

At that—

“What…?”

King Stalian V’s voice trembled faintly.