The flames that blossomed from Banessa’s fingertips swiftly charged at Tenua.
A violet aura flared up to block the flames.
But it was insufficient.
Tenua’s aura crumbled like dust within the white flames.
The white flames, as if they had been waiting, burrowed into Tenua’s body from all over.
Leaving the clothes intact, it was only Tenua’s body that burned.
The flames of purification.
A long time ago, it was created by the goddess to burn away the evil of the world.
It was an immense power capable of instantly annihilating monstrous beings, those of darkness.
Banessa’s will to kill Tenua had awakened this power, which had been dormant for a long time.
“Taaaaah!”
Tenua screamed horribly with his eyes wide open.
An ‘evil creature’ could never withstand the flames of purification.
“How does it feel?”
“Aaah! Let go! Taaaaah!”
“How does it feel to become a bug?”
Banessa whispered, clutching Tenua’s collar, with white flames flickering in his crimson eyes.
Tenua thrashed about like a madman.
“Aaah! It hurts! It’s painful!”
“Of course, it would be.”
“Enjoy the pain. It’s going to continue for a while.”
“Taaaaaaah!”
“I have no intention of killing you easily,” Banessa said, returning Tenua’s earlier words with a grin.
* * *
The moment Banessa awakened as the third wing and the beasts in the sky were falling down struck by fire arrows.
A person was walking hurriedly through the streets of Heden. He was a cool-looking young man with black hair and golden eyes.
He might have been seventeen or eighteen years old.
Despite his youthful appearance, he emitted a mature aura due to his distinctive presence.
A gray cat that was diligently following him asked in dissatisfaction.
“Sigismund, sir, are you really going to interfere in that human’s fate again?”
“Yes.”
“What about the law of causality!”
“The price will be paid, that’s all.”
“I have to pay for it too! I just finally became a cat, now I have to turn back into dust!”
Sigismund chuckled.
“Cat or a lump of dust. It’s the same, not being human.”
“It’s completely different! Cats have legs!”
“Break the contract with me and return to your own country if you don’t want to become dust. I’ll make a contract with a more obedient and intelligent magician than you.”
“Ha, as if there’s a magician smarter than me!”
The master of the mage tower said as if it was outrageous.
At that, Sigismund snorted.
“Now I see you’re under a serious delusion.”
“Meow!”
Sigismund ignored the mage tower master meowing incessantly beside him and hurried on.
Shortly after, a building with a hospital sign appeared.
He entered without hesitation.
Merchants covered in dust were anxiously peering inside at the entrance. Among them, some were squeezing out tears.
Sigismund passed by them too naturally. His demeanor was so confident that no one thought to stop him.
“Her Highness has lost too much blood. The pulse is almost undetectable.”
“Then what do we do!”
“There’s no way at the moment. It can’t be healed with human power. We can only hope for a miracle.”
At the voice coming from inside, Sigismund’s gaze flickered coldly. It was when he grabbed the doorknob.
“Meow!”
“Be quiet.”
The mage tower master flinched at the timid protest. Sigismund glared at him coldly.
“Terminating the contract is not an empty threat. If you don’t want to bear the cost, then leave.”
“But, Sir Sigismund, you would have to become a child again!”
“What’s so bad about living as a child? Are you saying we should let a child die because of some price?”
He rebuked and entered the consultation room. The doctor examining Leticia was startled and looked up.
“Who……”
He couldn’t finish his sentence. As soon as his eyes met the golden ones, his gaze softened and he collapsed to the side.
The merchant sitting next to him became the same.
Sigismund approached the bed.
Leticia was lying down, her neck wrapped in bandages.
Looking at her, still unconscious, Sigismund’s gaze filled with pity.
“I’m sorry.”
He had been looking forward to seeing Leticia in person for a very long time. But it wasn’t supposed to be like this.
“If I had known your body would end up like this, I would have planned differently.”
Tenua’s revival was intended by Sigismund.
He had hoped to awaken the third wing by stopping him.
Everything had gone smoothly according to Sigismund’s plan.
The third wing had already awakened, and the next ones would have been influenced by this event as well.
It wouldn’t be long before Leticia gained another wing.
However, he had not anticipated that Leticia would be injured so severely in the process.
“Why… do you not think at all about your own well-being?”
The biggest variable that disrupted his plan was Leticia’s nature.
It was because she, despite being ill, had confronted Tenua alone and ended up like this, trying to protect others.
Sigismund smiled bitterly and held her hand.
“You are not alone anymore. Now, you should also consider the feelings of those who care about you.”
It’s certainly different from the past when she had to bear everything alone.
The number of people who love her is increasing day by day.
“If you get hurt, those who love you get hurt. Even if their bodies are intact, their hearts will bear a big wound. So, you must take care of yourself.”
Even though Leticia couldn’t hear him, he continued to speak softly.
As if a father was comforting his daughter, as a grandfather was telling old tales to his granddaughter, hoping that a trace would remain in her soul, so that she might cherish herself a bit more.
“Of course, whatever situation may arise, I will save you. Dinute and everyone else feels the same.”
As if proving his words, his power flowed into her body.
The dragon’s powerful life force healed the torn wounds, aligned the broken bones, and produced the missing blood.
Even after ensuring all wounds had healed, Sigismund infused his life force for a while longer.
Just in case something happened to Leticia, his energy would protect her.
Despite the constraints of causality that a dragon who swore to leave the world of humans must adhere to, he had no hesitation.
Time passed.
Sigismund’s fingertips flickered translucently. It was time to leave.
He gently brushed Leticia’s hair behind her ear and whispered tenderly.
“Leticia, it’s time for you to open your eyes. Heden needs your strength to protect it.”
At that, the mage tower master, who had been sitting on the floor crying pitifully, got up.
The mage tower master, soon to disappear, looked at his forepaws with sad eyes and gave himself one last cat’s wash.
Then he lightly climbed onto Sigismund’s lap.
Sigismund scratched behind the tower master’s ear as he spoke.
“I am looking forward to the day we meet again. At that time, I will gift you a power much greater than what I have just given you. You must take good care of yourself.”
With those words, Sigismund and the tower master disappeared.
And a moment later, Leticia slowly opened her eyes.
Her clear green pupils were revealed.
As she slowly lifted herself up, her long golden hair cascaded down.
She felt very strange.
It was as if she was dreaming, with no sense of reality.
Yet, she was fully aware it was reality. Leticia quietly looked down at her arms.
‘All the wounds have disappeared.’
Her arms, which had been torn in various places from Tenua’s attack, were now completely healed.
Leticia, who was slowly blinking, got down from the bed.
She felt unbelievably light, as if it was impossible to believe she had been attacked by Tenua.
She walked past the still-sleeping doctor and merchant towards the mirror.
A white hand carefully unwound the bandage wrapped around her neck.
After a moment.
‘Indeed.’
As expected, the wound from Tenua’s sword had completely healed.
Only the clothes soaked in red blood were proof that what she had experienced was not a dream.
Yet, Leticia was not surprised.
While she had been asleep, she had faintly heard the voice of the one who had helped her.
[You are no longer alone. Now, you must also understand the hearts of those who cherish you.]
Despite it being a voice she was hearing for the first time, she felt a full sense of affection towards her.
Perhaps that’s why.
Her eyes welled up with tears. Not because she was sad, but because she was happy.
She had met another who truly loved her.
[I am looking forward to the day we meet again.]
Leticia could not know who he was.
But she whispered with a faint smile.
“I, too, dearly wish to meet you again.”
Whoever that person might be.
She resolved to personally convey her words of gratitude the next time.
As she turned to leave, a small flame sparked at Leticia’s feet.
“……?”
It was because her third wing had awakened and she had become aware of its power, but Leticia, who still knew nothing about Banessa, had no clue at all.
Surprised, she blinked as white flames burst forth.
It seemed as though they were asking to be touched by her.
‘Could it be hot?’
Even as she thought this, Leticia found herself already certain of the answer.
‘It won’t be hot.’
What might be a terrible pain to someone else would absolutely not be so for her.
Thinking this, she reached out her hand as if enchanted.
The cotton-like flame jumped onto her hand.
Just as she had guessed, it wasn’t hot at all. It even felt somewhat cool.
A gleam appeared in Leticia’s eyes as she looked at the flame.
‘How fascinating.’
For some reason, she was reminded of Behemoth while looking at the flame.
The wind spirit that Ahwin had used, which she was so fond of and didn’t know what to do about.
It exuded the familiar feeling characteristic of spirits.
“Could you be a spirit, too?”
At that very moment, a long drum sound echoed three times in succession. Doo-woong, doo-woong, doo-woong.
It was the highest alert signaling the appearance of a superior magical beast.
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