“Ah…”

Then, a change occurred in Siena. The deteriorating condition of her collapsing body momentarily stopped, and it was dyed with a bright blue light along with the magic circle.

Siena’s red pupils gradually returned to green.

“It worked.”

Tirium said, wiping off the sweat. It seemed to be a taxing spell for her aged body, and she was soaked in sweat.

As the crystal ball sparkled, the light comprising Siena was sucked into it. Slowly, like collecting grains of sand.

Hope was glimpsed in Siena’s eyes. It was much brighter than the sight of her preparing for the end without vitality. I felt relieved.

“Thank you, Duke.”

“…Let’s meet again later.”

It might be tormenting Siena with false hope since she had already lost her physical form.

But I wanted to believe that I could see Siena again. Even if it was a vain hope, I wanted to dream of miracles in this absurd world.

Because I didn’t want to lose anyone else.

Perhaps she sensed my feelings. Siena smiled gently, folding her clear eyes.

“If I had known you were such a good person, I should have become more friendly. Not fighting, but…”

“The past is over. Don’t worry about it.”

“If we meet again, I want to be friends then. Elizabeth, can I call you Lizzy at that time?”

“Why not? Just call me if you want.”

At my words, Siena burst into laughter, finding something amusing. Well, it was good if she could laugh.

Just before being completely absorbed into the crystal, Siena whispered to me.

“Duke.”

“Yes?”

“Defeat Kirei Waray. His weapon is not just manipulating the dead through magic. Now I can remember. The reason he could complete the alchemy of Kirei, the reason he could instantly plunge the empire into chaos unlike before, was that he stole something.”

He stole something?

“What is it?”

“Long ago, what the gods had prepared for the human they cherished. Kirei stole it. To stop him, you must find and destroy it.”

Perhaps the Duke has already seen it.

“What is that…”

Not knowing what she meant, a single thought passed through my confused mind.

‘Ah.’

The crimson status window. The unreadable virus.

‘Could it be?’

Is that status window the weapon Kirei stole?

“Wait a moment…”

“Goodbye, Duke. See you again later.”

I wanted to ask more, but we didn’t have time.

Leaving meaningful words behind, Siena became a small cluster of light and completely disappeared into the crystal. The crystal that absorbed the light of Siena turned green, resembling her eye color.

“Siena!”

Ruth, Benedict, and Michael called her name simultaneously with voices full of anguish, but the crystal remained silent.

Tirium, carefully holding the crystal tinged with a mysterious green color, said, “The lady has left.”
“Lady Bee has now fallen into a peaceful sleep. Nothing should happen for a while.”

“…How can she be awakened again?”

When I asked, looking at the crystal ball, Tirium smiled, revealing her teeth through the wrinkled folds.

“To recreate the physical body or send her back to the embrace of the gods is the only way. However, currently, there is no technology to create a human body… It seems it will take a long time.”

“Alchemy-like procedures such as regenerating the body are forbidden in this country.”

Even if it were possible, Siena would likely refuse. She was too exhausted to come back to life.

“I will take measures to guide her to heaven, and the higher-ups will probably approve. She is a victim of Kirei. Besides, the old sorcerer there will find it difficult to come back to life eventually. Isn’t that right? In Quina, there has never been a case of reviving the dead either.”

“That’s correct. O little god.”

Tirium was very polite in front of Zero. Regardless of being a sorcerer from another country, ultimately, there was not much difference between them and the empire’s people.

‘Why did the Kaladia Empire persecute and suppress sorcerers so much that they couldn’t even leave a trace?’

Even if it was a crazy guy like Kirei, I didn’t feel any foul odor from Tirium.

‘The gods’ preparation for humans, the red status window that Siena mentioned, what is that?’

My head was extremely complicated. My head was dizzy too, perhaps because I had fought severely with Kirei. Everyone, including me, looked terrible.

“Ugh…”

Ruth groaned from the piercing wounds.

“Hey, magician. Wake up. If you fall asleep, it’s over.”

Mihael supported Ruth. Benedict tried to do first aid, tearing his clothes if necessary.

“Lu has lost too much blood.”

In response to Benedict’s worried words, Ruth joked with a pale face.

“Even the green elf-blooded lady is not a joke.”

“They’re all the same.”

Aston intervened. Lips of Ruth and Benedict were slightly protruding with a gushing sound.

“…Prince Aston is in the same situation.”

He said it playfully, but everyone suffered severe injuries.

Originally, Mihael should use sacred power to treat the injured comrades, but she was already in a state of serious injury.

“Tirium, do you know any healing-related sorcery?”