Serdea Polanticia was an imperial princess, and within the Eastern Empire, she was in effect treated as the Emperor.
Which meant she had never, not once in her life, experienced someone looking down on her from above, other than her father, the Emperor.
That was why this situation felt deeply alien to Serdea.
No, more than that—
Hic—!
It was terrifying.
—At least, that was how Serdea perceived it.
"W-What?"
Wearing a flustered expression, she looked around.
Just a moment ago, sunlight had been pouring down beneath a clear sky.
Now it was gone.
In its place, there was a crimson light, like blood.
And beneath it—
Yutia, who had been smiling with her eyes just moments ago, was now staring at Serdea with vivid red eyes.
Faced with that unreal sight, Serdea froze in confusion.
But only for a moment.
She soon remembered what Yutia had just said to her.
'Do you want to die?'
Words so outrageous that Serdea—an imperial princess, and now treated as the Emperor—had never once heard them in her life.
"J-Just now... what did you say to me?"
In that instant, heat flared inside Serdea.
Even while enduring the fear wrapping around her whole body, she glared back in defiance, but—
"Hhk—!"
It lasted only a moment.
Her mouth shut again.
Because Yutia's eyes were far too chilling for Serdea to show her anger.
Yutia took a step forward.
Softly. Lightly.
While the girl walked all the way up to the throne, Serdea could not say a word.
At last, the girl's face came right up in front of Serdea's.
"I asked if you wanted to die."
At the quiet, cool voice that fell over her—
"N-No......"
Serdea lowered her eyes.
Throwing away any dignity she had as an imperial princess.
Ridiculously enough, Serdea's instincts were extremely sharp, and she had already realized it.
That the being in front of her was absolutely no ordinary person.
Even if she used the power she had obtained, or called in the guards outside—
that human—no, that inhuman being—was something she could never defeat.
The moment that realization sank in, the defiance in Serdea's eyes began to melt away, and fear slowly crept in to take its place.
"W-Why are you doing this to me?"
At last, a shriveled little voice slipped out of her mouth.
At that question, Yutia gave a slight twitch of her brow.
"Don't tell me you're really asking because you don't know?"
"...I haven't done anything......"
Yutia stepped even closer to Serdea, who timidly voiced her side.
"Really? That's strange—"
The girl's pale white hand reached toward Serdea's hair.
Before Serdea knew it, those fingers were idly playing with it.
And then—
Boom—! Craaash—! KRAAAASH—!!!!
Serdea saw it.
Far away, the capital's wall collapsed and shattered like paper.
"I seem to have heard quite a lot of rumors that you're going to marry Teacher."
At Yutia's low voice that followed, Serdea went rigid.
Her eyes merely rolled in place.
...In truth, that rumor had in fact been spread by Serdea.
Of course, Airinna Polanticia had previously told her that Alon was a dangerous man.
Even so, Serdea had never had the slightest intention of giving up on him.
No, if anything, she wanted him even more.
With the Western Empire already ruined, Alon's power would clearly be of use in the balance between the remaining empires—and in the end, Airinna too was someone Serdea would one day have to crush.
But still.
No matter what, the most precious thing was her life.
"...I-I apologize. I will take responsibility for that and—"
"You'll correct it, right?"
"Y-Yes, I will absolutely correct it."
Repeating Yutia's smiling words, Serdea nodded frantically.
Only then did Yutia also tilt her head with a satisfied look.
And at that moment—
Flash—!
"...Huh?"
Serdea blankly looked around.
Everything had returned to normal.
The wall in the distance that had collapsed was now standing firm, defending the capital as if that had never happened in the first place.
The sky that had been bathed in crimson was now shining clear and blue.
As though telling her that everything she had just seen had been an illusion.
It was such a ridiculous situation that all Serdea could do was stare in a daze, but she knew.
What she had seen just before was not some mere illusion.
That was why her face was growing even more confused when—
"Now then, that matter is settled, so let's move on to the main point."
"The... main point?"
Whether Serdea was still dazed or not, Yutia just smiled and nodded.
"Yes, the main point."
"...You mean about the temple?"
"No? Of course not. I told you earlier, didn't I? The temple has nothing to do with this."
"Then what is it?"
"Hm, if I had to sum it up—I'm thinking of telling you how all of you can survive. Using the method obtained from the Seeker."
And then she began speaking.
Without giving Serdea even a moment to ask what she meant.
Some time later—
"Is... is that really true?"
"I didn't come all the way here because I have so much free time that I'd make up lies like this."
Serdea's eyes widened in disbelief.
Yutia still wore that same smile at the corners of her lips.
"Well then, I'll be going now. Be sure to keep your promise."
As though she had said everything she needed to say, she turned without hesitation.
And while Serdea watched Yutia, who seemed ready to vanish like the wind—
"W-Wait."
Without meaning to, she stopped her.
"What is it?"
"...Why are you telling me something like this?"
She truly could not understand it.
At that question, Yutia thought for a moment.
"It's not for your sake."
"...What?"
"Nor for the Empire's. It's just—"
Then she turned her body back toward the door.
"It's for Teacher."
After leaving behind the words, 'Teacher wouldn't want to see it,' she walked out of the audience chamber.
Serdea only stared blankly at the place Yutia had left for a moment—
Bang—!
The door suddenly swung open again.
It was Yutia, who had just leisurely walked out.
Frowning in confusion, Serdea instinctively took a step back.
But—
"Ah, and just in case, let me say this too. Make sure you really do correct it, okay? If I keep hearing things like that even after I leave—"
"—then I can't promise what'll happen next."
At that advice, the imperial princess turned pale and had no choice but to nod her head hard.
Click—
At last, silence fell over the audience chamber.
A month had passed since Alon crossed the Empire's border and finally arrived in the Eastern Empire.
Long, if you called it long. Short, if you called it short.
In the meantime, a few things had changed for Alon as well.
First, he had learned some information.
That the protagonist of Calypsophobia had already vanished before Divine blood ever appeared.
After that, even the information guild had been unable to find where Calypsophobia's protagonist was, so in the end, there was no choice but to leave that as an unresolved question.
The other change was that the preparations for the magic were almost complete.
More precisely, the preparations for the magic that would return Seollang to normal.
Alon naturally looked at Seollang, who was asleep beside him.
Even during the journey, she was of course still acting.
A smile stayed at her lips the entire time, as if she were happy no matter what, and her tail still swayed lightly.
As if this were what was right.
"Alon."
...He had only just begun to think that maybe he should finish the preparations a little faster, when Evan's voice broke through his thoughts.
"What is it?"
"I think we're almost there."
Alon naturally turned his gaze outside the carriage.
And there, far in the distance—
"That's......"
Along with countless Divine blood, he saw a single crack.
A crack large enough for Divine blood to enter.
"I suppose that's the place."
At Evan's words, Alon nodded.
It really was just as the Sculptor had told him.
If there was one difference from her explanation, it was that she'd clearly said there would be no one there, but in reality, there were quite a few Divine blood gathered around the crack.
After watching the situation for a moment, Alon said,
"From here on, I'll go alone."
As he spoke, he prepared to get out of the carriage.
"Alone, sir?"
"Yes."
"...Wouldn't that be a little dangerous?"
"I think so too."
Penia immediately agreed with Evan.
"Teacher, let's go together."
Even Seollang stepped in, but Alon firmly shook his head.
If nothing happened, then it wouldn't matter.
But he could not rule out the possibility that, by some chance, something might happen inside that crack.
'Of course, I could take Seollang with me, but—'
By the same token, if something did go wrong, someone would still be needed here to protect this place.
"Don't worry."
Reassuring the group, Alon stepped out of the carriage alone.
"...Do you think he'll be alright?"
A little ways from the crack.
Watching Alon walk through the Divine blood in the distance, Penia muttered under her breath.
Evan scratched his head with a somewhat complicated expression.
"Weeell— he'll be fine. It's Alon."
"I guess so......?"
Evan nodded for now, but he did not hide the heaviness in his mood.
"Every time something like this happens, I end up feeling a little complicated."
"Ah, I get that too."
"Right? Even if you want to be helpful... the scale itself is just absurdly different—"
Muttering, 'Wouldn't it be nice if some awakening event dropped on me too,' Evan kept his eyes on Alon so he would not lose sight of him.
Then—
"...Hm?"
He suddenly made a puzzled sound.
"What is it?"
Ignoring Penia's question, Evan stared for a while at where Alon was moving before finally parting his lips.
"Uh—"
"Uh?"
"I don't know if I'm seeing things or what, but......"
"If you're going to say something, stop dragging it out and just say it."
At Penia's urging, Evan fell silent for a moment.
"...Why did wings form on Alon?"
"What kind of nonsense are you talking about?"
Penia scolded him as though he had said something ridiculous, but the moment she turned her gaze back toward Alon—
"...Huh?"
A deep confusion rose on her face too.
Because just as Evan had said, enormous wings had formed behind Alon as he walked toward the crack.
And not just ordinary wings, but a pair of left and right wings made from countless Divine blood, as though they were following after Alon.
Which was why—
"...That's not a coincidence, right?"
"...Does it look like a coincidence to you......?"
"I don't think so, but......"
They could only watch blankly—
as the Divine blood near the crack gathered together as though by a lie, followed Alon, and entered the crack with him.
Still understanding absolutely nothing, they had no choice but to stand there and stare.

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