A confused silence settled over Alon and Penia.

Penia instinctively rolled her eyes.

Alon likewise stayed silent without saying much.

It wasn't so much an intentional silence as it was simply not knowing what to say.

Although they had just escaped from the strange gate, they weren't completely clueless.

Alon could easily figure out what was going on here.

......No, in fact, anyone would have noticed.

Alon shifted his gaze to look at the coffins lined up behind Evan.

Each of the three coffins had portraits of Alon, Penia, and Rine placed on them.

It was hard to breathe in this suffocating atmosphere, and they could only stay silent for a moment.

“......Marquis???”

At Evan's voice, filled with disbelief, Alon paused to think about what to say.

“......It's been a while.”

He greeted him.

......His first words after returning to the original timeline were an awkward greeting.

---

The atmosphere in the funeral hall became incredibly awkward upon realizing that Alon and Penia had returned.

But only for a moment.

“......Marquis, I’m so glad, but we need to move immediately.”

“Me too. That's a relief. I was wondering what to do, but this should make controlling Kalpha a bit easier.”

“......I’ve caused trouble.”

“No, not at all. Just the fact that you’ve returned is such a relief—if you had really passed away, things wouldn’t have gone well. ......Truly.”

“Then, let’s talk more in detail next time we meet.”

Duke Altia and Count Zenonia quickly left after expressing their relief.

“Brother…”

“It’s been a while, Saint.”

“Truly, truly thank goodness. Brother.”

Following them, Saint Yuman of Rosario looked at Alon with deep emotion.

Alon scratched his head with an awkward expression beneath his blank face.

“Somehow, I seem to have caused you concern.”

“Not at all. The fact that you’re back—really, it’s such a relief.”

Yuman, nodding repeatedly as if truly relieved, tightly grabbed Alon’s hand.

Alon looked slightly puzzled.

Of course, he had realized that the Saint had gone out of his way to help him last time.

But still, he didn’t expect someone to cry over his death like this.

He found it surprising, even puzzling.

“Brother, you should rest for a while. I’ve treated your major wounds already.”

After treating Alon, Yuman briefly left the tent.

Shortly after.

“...?”

“Is it really you, Marquis...?”

Evan, who had been staring at Alon in a daze like he’d seen a ghost, finally spoke.

“Do I look like a fake to you?”

“......No, it’s just, I can’t believe it. Didn’t you disappear with that monster? What on earth happened?”

Alon pondered how to explain, then decided to ask a question first.

“I’ll explain later, when it’s just the two of us. This isn’t something to talk about in front of everyone. More importantly—how much time has passed?”

As he asked, Alon noticed Penia in the distance, talking earnestly with Celaime Mikardo.

Evan, still curious about Alon's whereabouts, answered first.

“Three months have passed.”

“......Three months?”

“Yes.”

“......Three whole months?”

“Yes. You had completely vanished without a trace for three months.”

The unexpected passage of time.

Alon calmly calculated how much time had passed while he was in the past.

‘If I roughly estimate it, that sounds about right. Did time flow almost 1:1 between here and the past? No, that still feels a bit strange.’

If Alon had understood Penia correctly—

He should have returned not to now, but to three months ago, the moment he got sucked into the beast’s maw.

That’s the time Penia remembered from the strange gate.

‘Well, since I came back without much of a time gap, it’s not a big deal.’

Had he returned two or three years later instead of a few months, things would’ve been much more troublesome.

Alon let out a small sigh of relief.

‘So then, my first priority should be to go to Greynifra.’

Thinking of Rine, he started planning his next steps.

At that moment, Evan asked as if he'd been waiting.

“By the way, Marquis, where is Rine?”

“I was just about to go bring her back.”

“......? You’re going to bring her back?”

“Yes.”

“Didn’t you go in together?”

“There’s something like that.”

Evan’s face shifted from confusion to intense curiosity.

But eventually, he nodded as if he had no choice.

“Still, I’m glad you’re back, Marquis. Honestly, you came back at the perfect time—might be just enough to prevent the world from falling apart.”

“......? Falling apart?”

“?”

“?”

“Oh, right. I guess you wouldn’t know, Marquis.”

Evan clapped a fist into his palm and nodded.

Alon raised a brow in confusion.

“While you were away for three months, a lot of things happened.”

“......What kinds of things?”

“Well, Colony and Ashtalon are on the brink of war.”

“... ...?”

“Oh, and Caliban and Ashtalon too. Also on the verge of war.”

“....??”

“And, Raksas is throwing a fit saying they’ll go to war with Ashtalon as well...... though Ashtalon’s been the only one getting beaten up so far.”

Evan’s report was completely unexpected.

......In Psychedelia, the allied kingdoms had never fought each other.

Alon, deep in thought, recalled what Evan had said earlier.

‘Still, I’m glad you’re back, Marquis. Honestly, you came back at the perfect time—might be just enough to prevent the world from falling apart.’

As if this situation had occurred because of him.

Alon asked, just to be sure.

“Just checking, Evan. All the stuff you just mentioned......”

“Yes, just as you guessed, it all happened because you disappeared, Marquis.”

“???”

Words that made no sense.

Alon instinctively pointed to himself and asked again.

“......Because of me?”

“Yes, because of you, Marquis.”

“......Really?”

“Yes. If you hadn’t come back, we’d probably be at war by now......”

With almost 100%, no—150% certainty, Evan stated.

Alon raised the same finger he’d pointed with and silently clutched his head.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t begin to understand how things had gotten to this point.

And to make it worse—

"Ah, and I think you should check on Seolrang’s condition right away too. Right now... something seems seriously wrong.”

With that added bit of news—

‘......What on earth is going on????’

Alon's mind grew even more tangled.

***

The 'dragon' slowly lifted its head, thinking that the end was near.

What came into view was Suin.

The beastkin with golden hair— in just a little more time, she would be completely devoured and become a small sacrifice for the greater cause.

It hadn't expected things to turn out this way.

From the deep, dark abyss where Suin could not see, it thought.

In truth, when the Apostle had first fallen, it had intended to abandon Suin’s body without hesitation.

There was no doubt her body was highly desirable—perfect for descent, and undoubtedly well-suited to wield its power.

In other words, she was an ideal vessel for sacrifice in the name of the cause.

But even so, the reason it had tried to give up on Suin’s body was—

Because there was no place inside her ‘heart’ for it to enter.

These beings must usually feed on broken minds, gnawing away at them and gradually taking over.

Yet Suin’s mind, which should have shattered from the Apostle’s influence, had remained completely intact.

......So intact, in fact, that even arrogance had no way of slipping through.

What’s more, it had even lost the Apostle by then.

So it had decided to give up on Suin and seek out another vessel.

That was—until just recently.

From within the endless abyss, it began to observe Suin’s mental state again.

It was now endlessly unstable—only a few more whispers away from collapsing entirely.

The dragon couldn’t comprehend why Suin’s state had changed so much.

Last time, her willpower had been so strong there wasn’t a single crack.

But now, even without it doing anything, her mind was steadily collapsing.

Like a flower wilting over time, she was falling apart naturally.

So the dragon watched the girl’s body it had once given up on for just a little longer.

And eventually, recently, it had gotten results.

It had already managed to share some of its power with Suin.

Which meant—she was becoming more and more ideal for descent.

So the dragon, now elated, calmly observed her mind as it continued to be dyed by the abyss.

And finally, today—

[Child, do you not desire more power?]

It spoke to Suin.

In the dragon’s eyes, her mind was now in perfect condition for possession.

Twisted beyond repair, to the point where it no longer needed to hide.

“......I don’t need it.”

[Why do you say that? Don’t you want revenge?]

“......Revenge?”

[Yes, against the world that made you this way. Don’t you want to get back at those who killed what was precious to you?]

Suin’s pupils trembled violently.

Watching this, the dragon grinned wickedly.

It knew.

Whenever the girl heard mention of her ‘precious one’, her mind would waver terribly.

It had even transferred power to her once before, using that memory.

Recalling the weakness that could move her, it kept whispering persistently.

“......I already got my revenge.”

[The revenge isn’t over.]

“......Why not?”

[To begin with, if the others hadn’t let your precious one die, none of this would’ve happened.]

“Other people?”

[Yes, other people. You should take revenge on them too. It’s their fault for failing to protect what was dear to you.]

Such a sweet whisper.

...............Such a wicked whisper.

Now even the corners of Suin’s eyes began to quiver.

Seeing that, the dragon crawled out of the abyss without hesitation and

Materialized in front of Suin—Seolrang.

It had to be cautious, as materializing again would require much time.

But the dragon was sure of it.

This was the only moment when possession would succeed.

[Come. Let me help you. Accept me, and you can kill them all—those who failed to protect what was dear to you—]

So, without hesitation, it revealed itself, smiling viciously as it opened its mouth—

“Lady Seolrang!!”

—But could not finish its sentence.

[······.]

The sudden interruption left the dragon uneasy, but it soon smiled again.

Even if someone had interfered, Seolrang’s gaze was still fixed on it.

So the dragon tried once more to speak—

“The Marquis, the Marquis is alive!!!”

“!”

At the cry of the girl who burst through the door,

The dull, lifeless eyes that had been staring at the dragon as if she were dead— began to regain their light.

Her dim golden irises started to shine brilliantly.

Her drooping tail swayed, and her limp ears perked up toward the sky.

“R-Really?”

“Yes! He’s on his way here right now!”

As the girl confirmed it again, Seolrang’s eyes widened in disbelief.

And in that moment, the dragon saw it.

The spirit that had been buried in the abyss— was being restored at an absurd rate.

[W-Wait! That’s a lie! Just a lie meant to deceive you—]

The dragon tried to shout in panic,

“Masterrrrrrr~!!!!”

But before it could say anything—

Crash!

Seolrang shattered the window and bolted out.

[······.]

Left all alone, the dragon stared dumbly at the broken window.

[······????]

Its expression was one of disbelief.

[......What the hell. Was that.]

Only its strangely pitiful voice echoed through the space.