It meant that all eyes watching this place had vanished.

Dalia went pale.

“P-Please don’t do this, sister....”

Sebastia seized Dalia by the collar and hauled her up.

“The only people in this world who may call me sister are my own blood—and Erilot.”

“Why are you doing this to me... everyone is always tormenting me...!”

Dalia’s voice trembled, her eyes brimming with tears.

Sebastia smiled coldly and pressed her face close to Dalia’s.

“I’ve wanted to strike that face once and for all.”

“...What?”

At that moment, Sebastia roared:

“Do you know how many of my Guard died because of the Crumatus?!”

“...!”

It was true. Dalia had rescued those consumed by despair, but could not revive those who perished under it.

“They were bright young souls with their whole futures ahead of them!”

“...”

“They endured harsh training for a single dream! And you slaughtered those on the brink of realizing it!”

“...”

“Their bodies were torn beyond recognition—you couldn’t even gather the remains! And you dare call yourself a saint?!”

“I—I didn’t know... I thought it was just an herb...!”

“Now you know. Live like a criminal. You should never raise your head again!”

“...”

“But your chilling father stirred up the gossipmongers to make you a saint, and you shamelessly swallowed the title.”

“...”

Sebastia glared at me while still gripping Dalia’s collar.

“Tell your cousin—who you’d tear apart—what the Guard really means, Erilot.”

“The Guard is the source of the flame. The mother and protector of those called flames.”

“Do you understand, Dalia Astra? You cast my children into the abyss.”

Dalia trembled violently. How could gentle Dalia stand against the most intimidating of the Guard, Sebastia? Without mercy, Sebastia hurled Dalia beside the Mongma.

Thud!

Dalia slipped and fell, staring up at Sebastia in shock.

“Good. I will use the blessing you call ‘sainthood’—to create the Celestial Steed.”

“P-Please don’t... don’t do this...!”

Sebastia spread her hands over the air. Instantly, a sphere of divine energy manifested on the ground, enveloping Mongma and Dalia.

I simply folded my arms and watched Dalia.

“Thank you for coming, Dalia. I was planning to bring you along after capturing the Mongma.”

“...What?”

“The Mongma cannot withstand my blessing, so I intended to rely on your healing power.”

“N-No, no! Don’t do it!”

It was futile. Sebastia’s blessing had already begun. The chamber trembled faintly as though in an earthquake. Dishes and tablets rattled and shattered, the sharp noise frightening Dalia further.

“N-No. Father! F-Father...!”

The Mongma alternated between purification by Sebastia’s blessing and restoration by Dalia’s holy power. I could feel the corruption’s edge slowly being cleansed.

About thirty minutes passed. Sebastia was sweating coldly. I wiped her brow.

“Are you all right?”

“Of course.”

“How much longer do you think it will take?”

“Well... about ten more minutes...”

Then:

Bang! Bang, bang, bang!

Someone was battering the heavily barred door.

“Lady Dalia!”

It was the younger Mashitabva’s voice.

‘Those Veil scoundrels!’

They had found us in under an hour. How did they know? ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ This was on the Blessed Land of the Capital—no one else knew its location.

“Keep going, sister.”

“Be careful.”

I hurried to the door.

‘I can’t use the Mongma here.’ If it were purified by Sebastia, the monster might vanish entirely. ‘I must buy time.’

“If you do not withdraw, Dalia will never return whole.”

“Try touching her finger, and I’ll slaughter you all—your family, your lovers, your friends...!”

“Why is she so precious to you?”

“Because I’ve waited my whole life to meet her!”

At those words, Dalia sobbed and cried out:

“Mashitabva!”

“Lady Dalia!”

I shook my head at their desperation.

“As soon as you break in, Dalia will—”

“Save me! Save me, Mashitabva! Please—!!”

I glared at Dalia. ‘That mouth of hers...’

I turned to Sebastia.

“Sooner or later she’ll break.”

“I’ll raise the output.”

“Ma-aaah! Mashitabva! Kyaaah! Kyaa!”

‘That’s real!’

All that left her body was magic. Sebastia’s blessing was powerful but only affected corrupted magic. That was why she trained her life for it—it did nothing to humans.

Yet Dalia screamed as if to die, piteously clinging to the Mashitabvas.

“Can’t you be quiet? Purification is not a dangerous blessing—rather—”

BAM—!

The door exploded inward; a broken plank flew at me. I was hurled across the room toward Dalia and the Mongma.

“Ugh...”

“Lady Dalia!”

“Mashitabva!”

Dalia reached out to the younger brother. He bolted to her side, followed by Grimie’s soldiers, the elder Mashitabva, and the white-hooded knight.

But in that instant—

“Kyaaah—!”

“Ahh—!”

Dalia and I screamed together.

“Erilot!”

Sebastia shouted.

“Sister... my strength... is failing....”

“I’m trying to sever it, but I have no strength...!”

“Lady Dalia!”

Just as the younger Mashitabva was about to step into Sebastia’s divine sphere, Dalia and I floated upward.

Our vision went black.

“A-ah, ugh, ugh...”

“K-k-kgh, ugh...!”

We saw our bodies falling to the floor.

‘...Seeing that? My body?’

The younger Mashitabva caught Dalia just before she hit the ground. I fell, crashing onto the floor.

[Erilot! Snap out of it, Erilot!]

Only after we fell did Sebastia, who’d cut her blessing, rush over.

[Lady Dalia, please come to! Lady Dalia!]

Her voice sounded strangely muffled, as though heard underwater—some barrier dulled our senses.

“Wh-what do I do, Mashitabva...? Can you hear my voice?”

A clear voice called beside me. Turning, I saw...

“Yuse-eun.”

Brown hair in lush waves, warm brown eyes. A head shorter than me by two finger-widths...

It was Se-eun.

She stared at me in disbelief.

“H-Hye-min sister? Is that you? How did you—”

“...”

“What is this...?”

Se-eun gazed at our floating bodies.

“Sister... you were Erilot?”

We stared at each other in stunned silence.

“Well, look at you—becoming spirits.”

“I’ve never seen created beings become spirits before... Oh? There are others visible too!”

Grimie’s soldiers and the guardian stars around Sebastia pointed at me excitedly.

“Dalia, I just need to return to my body now, right?”

Even Masa, excited, flew toward Dalia.

“What are you talking about? Wait!”

Amid the chaos, I found myself staring blankly at someone else.

A young man of about twenty stood among the Mashitabvas...

I knew him—from ancient memories. He and his twin stood there, gazing at me equally stunned.

Tears filled the clear eyes of the one beside the elder Mashitabva.

“You wicked person.”

“...”

“Do you know how long I waited to see you again?”

“...Mashitabva.”

Dalia flinched and looked at me.

“What?”

I descended slowly toward the ground.

The Mashitabvas’ guardian stars—the ancient true Mashitabvas—approached and then enveloped me in an almost suffocating embrace.

“We’ve missed you.”

“We prayed every day to the gods to let us see you again.”

Both spoke simultaneously:

“My... our Messiah.”

Dalia’s expression froze.