In the nameless ruins near where Veer and his cohort had camped twice, the Mythria group stood gathered. The Queen—mother of the twins, Myrieth and Lythria—paced back and forth, as though struggling to make a difficult decision.
She murmured, "What should we do regarding Velithra?"
Vryger stepped forward and bowed. "My Queen, let me go there. I was the one who doubted you. Let me fetch her."
The Queen looked at him, her voice tinged with irritation. "You... What do you think you can accomplish by going there?"
Vryger replied, "I will find Velithra and return immediately."
The Queen looked at him and said, "It's not that easy. Unless you have the protection of someone like me or Rylagh, you'll undoubtedly find it extremely difficult to escape. So, absolutely not."
Vryger wanted to continue, but seeing that the Queen had no interest in his plea, he sighed and stood silently.
The Queen turned to Sylwen. "Anything?"
"Still trying to connect to her source. The source of Leaf."
Myrieth kept her head down, fiddling with her fingers while occasionally glancing at her father's visage. Rylagh was recovering within the sparkling barrier, which she occasionally reinforced with her magic.
She asked, "Mother, has the King already crossed the limits of humanity? Where is our ancestor at a time like this?"
Lythria's mother paused, looking past the ruins toward the distant sky, where two lights struggled against one another. She shook her head.
"No... Even our ancestor has not crossed those limits." She turned once again. "Sylwen, any leads?"
Sylwen shook her head. "No, my Queen... we—"
Suddenly, she stopped, her pupils constricting. "Ma'am... she—our ancestor is actually right there. I can finally sense her leaf source."
The Queen asked in surprise, "In Drudar?"
Sylwen nodded. "Right near the plaza. But she isn't responding to my calls. Somehow, she seems to be partially unconscious."
The Queen closed her eyes and began murmuring under her breath as a faint green glow surrounded her forehead. When she opened them, her expression was filled with shock, as though she could not comprehend why their ancestor was there in the first place.
She looked back at Sylwen, who nodded in confirmation, assuming the Queen was merely surprised by their ancestor's location.
"Now the realm transportation spell will work properly," Sylwen said. "We can return to Mythria."
"Good. Prepare to return," the Queen ordered.
"But before that ..."
She looked intently at Sylwen. "I will go to our ancestor. How could I have missed that? Open a realm portal as close to her as possible."
Sylwen, Vryger, and Aowyn all raised their voices in concern.
"But, Your Highness—"
"No buts. You will take everyone here safely back to Mythria."
Sylwen muttered under her breath and nodded. She began chanting her spell.
"Enlightened beings of the Abstract, lead the path to the carrier of the Mystic Leaf..."
As she spoke, a swirling whirlpool of spatial interference began to form, and blood trickled from Sylwen's lips.
The Queen looked at Myrieth and Lythria and sighed. "Go back to Mythria with everyone and manage its affairs properly until I return."
Lythria clenched her fists tightly as she took a deep breath. Her shoulders trembled when she felt her mother's gaze upon her.
The Queen walked slowly past them after giving her husband Rylagh a last look, leaving only Sylwen beside the portal. As she stepped past her, while no one was looking, her eyes widened in immense shock—as though she had realized something that even she, the Queen of Mythria, could not comprehend.
As though the very reason for their ancestor's presence there was a paradox.
At the very last second, as the Queen's foot crossed into the spatial realm, a crown slipped into Sylwen's hands.
"Huh?" Sylwen uttered.
Just then, a figure blurred past her and vanished into the spatial rift. Everyone froze, stunned. Sylwen's gaze swept across the group in shock as she realized Lythria was gone.
Aowyn cried out and dashed forward in an attempt to follow Lythria, but the spatial rift disappeared immediately. Her outstretched hand touched nothing but empty air.
"Sylwen... this..."
Sylwen tried to say something, but she suddenly fell to her knees and began vomiting.
Meanwhile, Myrieth walked slowly toward Sylwen as everyone stood frozen.
She knelt beside Sylwen but did not help her. Instead, she gently took her mother's crown from Sylwen's hands.
She gazed at the crown's golden radiance, the faint emerald light intertwined with a delicate blue glow.
Her eyes shone like pearls.
She briefly glanced toward the spot where her mother and sister had disappeared.
Slowly, she rose to her feet and placed the crown upon her head. She closed her eyes.
Everyone exchanged shocked glances before bowing to Myrieth. Aowyn looked toward Vryger and Laria as they bowed as well. The others remained stunned by the Queen's disappearance and Myrieth's sudden change.
Myrieth slowly walked toward her father and knelt beside him.
"Once I've healed him enough to travel... we depart."
Everyone kept their heads lowered, except for Sylwen, who remained on her knees, letting out pained groans.
.....
At the guesthouse Caria slowly ascended the stairs, her composed façade fracturing with every step. Beneath her calm demeanor, her teeth ground together in subtle, repressed tension. Downstairs Canthia was healing Eleana more than physical healing she was restoring her mind.
When Caria reached the upper landing—outside the very door from which Veer had once stumbled, stripped of his name and memories—her gaze caught on a table tucked into the shadows. A pale-faced nurse was gritting her teeth, hands trembling as she tried to dress the wounds of a figure strapped to the wood.
It was barely a girl anymore. It was a butchered monstrosity.
It was the transformed Noelle. Her ethereal limbs had been hacked away at the stumps, and half of her face had been caved in, leaving a ruin of torn flesh and bone. What remained of her body looked twisted, unnatural—anything but human.
Standing beside the table was another woman: the red-haired Black Knight, Nyelle. Her armor was drenched in crimson, caked and darkened with layers of drying blood. It seemed she suffered heavy injuries in her stomach.
Nyelle's weary eyes flicked toward Caria. "You recovered?" she murmured, her voice raspy.
Caria stared at the mutilated form on the table, her brow furrowing in sharp, cold confusion. "Noelle... Why is she here?"
"Because everyone else refused to touch her," Nyelle replied flatly. "And the wounded downstairs were panicking at the sight of her."
Caria's expression hardened, a dark edge creeping into her tone. "That wasn't what I asked. Why is she alive in here? Why are you even wasting effort treating a thing like that? Are you now showing pity for this sister of yours who betrayed everyone."
Nyelle froze, looking momentarily dumbfounded by the cold pragmatism in Caria's voice. Before she could form an answer, Caria turned away, pushed open the heavy door to the room, and vanished inside.
"I...even if she become a monster..how ..how can I abandon her."
Nyelle's words rang in the air.
....
Sometime ago far away from the plaza, Riessa felt she could not move. Her whole body was wracked with pain. She didn't know where she was, even forgetting who she was. Who was she, really? She couldn't open her eyes. She couldn't even feel her own limbs.
She drifted like a leaf carried by current until she reached somewhere familiar—a memory of a distant land.
Sunlight pierced through ancient arched windows, and she raised a hand to shield her eyes. As she looked around, she saw a small girl dressed in vibrant, colorful clothes, looking just like a little princess.
The small girl's face was slightly blurred, yet Riessa was washed over by a wave of warmth and melancholy as the child spoke. "Ah, Riessa, there you are! Look, my brother brought mangoes. They're so sweet—have one!"
Riessa felt she herself was not much bigger than the small child. Riessa looked down at the fruit; they looked ripe and delicious. She grabbed one and took a bite with her small hands. It was sweet—so wonderfully sweet.
"But Riessa, Brother fell down and got hurt..." The small child's eyes welled with tears as she spoke. "He told me not to worry, but—"
Riessa actually heard herself reply, "Ah, let me take a look. Who injured the young master? I'll go beat that tree!"
The little girl burst into laughter hearing her words. "Haha! Riessa, you're so funny! How can you beat a tree?"
"Why not? Using a stick?"
"Are you dumb? You'll just hurt yourself instead!"
"What, is the tree going to attack me too?"
The small girl laughed joyfully, and Riessa felt herself smiling at her beaming innocent face. Looking past her, she spotted a young boy walking toward them. His hair was a little long, and the details of his face were hazy.
He was walking through that huge door. The colors around felt so much warmth and vibrant.
Something inside Riessa's chest fluttered. What was that feeling? She wanted to call out to him, yet a sudden wave of shyness held her tongue.
"Oh, Riessa! Sister! So you two were here!"
"Brother, look what she's saying!" the little girl giggled, jumping around him. "Hahah, haha!"
As Riessa watched the laughing girl chatter with her brother, their voices abruptly grew distant, replaced by another sound entirely. It felt as though she were being yanked out of her happiest memory and dragged back to a place she never wanted to return to. The brother and sister vanished, swallowed by darkness and emptiness.
"Riessa... open your eyes..."
"How long are you going to keep me waiting?"
The void dulled into silence. Her surroundings gradually took shape through a lingering haze, clearing to reveal a breathtakingly beautiful woman gazing down at her.
She swept a stray lock of hair behind her ear, the movement catching the light on her ornate earring. Clad in violet, obsidian robes and a veiled hat, she possessed a timeless, youthful beauty—skin like pale jade, lips painted a sharp crimson, and features carved to cold perfection. Yet when her crystal-clear, water-like eyes settled onto Riessa, the sheer weight of her gaze sent a shudder straight through Riessa's soul, even as her paralyzed body refused to twitch.
Recognition clicked into place. It was her master. "Ma... Master..."
The woman gave a slight nod, her voice devoid of all emotion. "Your arms and legs are broken. Your abdomen is severely burned, even though you raised such a great defense. Who did this? And where is Star?"
As she said this she looked around trying to find traces of Star.
Memory flooded back, and light slowly returned to Riessa's blank eyes. That damn girl, Welsria, had been nothing more than a puppet—and Riessa had been caught in the blast too late to evade it completely.
Meeting her master's unblinking stare, she answered awkwardly, "Master, it was an explosion from a doll. I didn't realize it was a puppet until the last second."
Her master nodded slightly, pressing further. "Where is Star?"
Riessa barely managed to shake her head. "I don't know. He should be near the burning castle. The old man said he was going to save his friends."
This damn old woman... Riessa thought inwardly. Why is she so obsessive?
"Oh? He has friends now. Good, good—let this lady take a look..." Her master's knuckles tightened, a flicker of sharp emotion crossing her composed face.
Riessa winced as a distant tremor shook the ground beneath them.
"What's gotten into Drudar? Why is he causing so much trouble?" her master murmured coldly looking above squinting her beautiful eyes. She saw a emerald sword rising up the clouds. The strange thing was that she didn't seem surprised.
"Has he finally gone senile?"
"Hmm that seems the weapon of that so called goddess Priessa. Why is it with him ? And how can he fly so easily now ?"
Riessa suddenly cried out, "Master, hurry!Its not the time to get your answers ! Junior Brother—he's in danger! He was almost killed earlier!"
"What? What did you just say? Who dares?!" Her master cut her off before she could finish.
"Master, calm down and hurry up!"
Abruptly, the woman's fury vanished into eerie calm. She looked down at Riessa, whose breath caught in panic as though she suddenly realised something. "No, Master, you can't do that!"
"Obviously, I can, I need some answers before I move.." she replied smoothly, letting her hand rest gently against Riessa's forehead before closing her eyes.
Riessa spoke in an aggrieved tone, "Master, you can't just go around peeking into people's memories..."
"Why not?" Her master murmured as she though she was watching her memories. "Hmm... who is this old man? Oh, there he is—Star... Hah? What happened to you two? And what is that puppet that looks just like him...?"
Suddenly, her master snatched her hand back, stumbling a step away with wide, shocked eyes. Even she shuddered, halting her intrusion immediately.
She glanced toward Riessa, her voice tight with disbelief."Who was that person ? That Woman ?"
Riessa shook her head bitterly,"I don't know. Even I was almost experimented by that woman. "
"Just how did that happen? His body... is he even alive?"
"Master, he is alive," Riessa rasped with breath. "But this king is after him for some reason..."
Dark lines shadowed her master's flawless face as she tilted her head toward the sky, her voice dropping to a lethal chill. "Fucking imbecile... Even if you manage to defeat that fake saintess, I will kill you myself, you bastard of a king. "
"Just like how I killed your imbecile brother."