The sphere of light gradually swelled. It soon slowly rose upwards. The garden, which had been shrouded in darkness, became increasingly bright.
“Ah. Ah.”
Della staggered backward. Even seeing it with her own eyes, she could hardly believe it. Panting, she reflexively looked down at her hands. Then she widened her eyes.
‘No shadow!’
Her hands were eerily white. There was not a single shadow to be found. Even the parts that should have been shaded were all brightly lit.
‘No way.’
Della collapsed to the ground. It was all light. All the shadows had disappeared. Not even a speck of shadow remained! That meant…
‘I can’t use any power!’
It meant that all her power had been taken while she was still alive. Della lifted her trembling gaze.
The beasts, who had been looking at the light in shock like Della, regained their senses. Startled by the suddenly vanished shadows, they looked around, then stopped moving at some point. Then, they all glared at Della.
“Growl.”
“Screech.”
It was the command of the princess. In the landscape illuminated by white light, the beasts bared their fangs menacingly.
“No, no, no.”
The terror of death engulfed her in an instant. Della scooted backward, still sitting. But it was too late. Horror filled her pupils. In an instant, her vision went black.
“Aah…!”
The beasts pounced on Della, and her body collapsed forward.
“Screech!”
Her screams were soon drowned out by the cries of the beasts. Crunch, crack, snap. The sounds of something being torn and broken resounded continuously. At some point, Della’s groaning stopped abruptly. Even then, the sound of the beasts munching continued.
The princess hurriedly dismounted from the beast. She ran to Irene, who was sitting dazedly, staring at the sphere of light.
“Child, you must have been very scared, right?”
Just a moment ago, the princess had ordered Irene to be killed, so her voice was filled with remorse.
“I’m Dana. What’s your name?”
The princess asked kindly, signaling to the surrounding beasts. The giant beasts quickly moved to stand between Della and Irene.
“Child, it’s too cold here, isn’t it? Let’s go somewhere else.”
The princess quickly picked up Irene. The sound of Della dying was not something to be heard by a child. As she swiftly moved, Irene suddenly snapped out of it and looked at the princess.
“Who are you?”
As she asked, her eyes widened in surprise.
“Oh? You have the same eyes as His Highness the Prince.”
“Prince? Cal? Are you talking about Cal?”
Irene stared into the princess’s eyes as if entranced. Although gray, they resembled Calisto’s eyes, which were like mysterious jewels. A woman with eyes just like those was holding her. The princess’s eyes sparkled with a peculiar light.
“Child, you know Calisto.”
“Yes.”
Irene nodded, her cheeks slightly flushed. The princess exuded a similar dignity and grace to the prince.
‘She seems just like a princess.’
Having recently become infatuated with princess fairy tales, her heart fluttered even more.
“I met him once, no, met, met…”
“Met?”
“Yes!”
Struggling with the unfamiliar honorifics, Irene quickly nodded. The princess burst into laughter. Even though it was their first meeting, Irene’s innocence was utterly charming.
“Calisto is my brother. He’s not one to keep people close, so it’s quite a coincidence that you’ve met him.”
“I met him when I lived with the saint.”
“The saint…?”
The princess was taken aback and asked Irene just to be sure.
“You mean the queen consort, no, Saint Leticia?”
“Yes!”
The innocent reply made the princess stifle a gasp.
‘I almost killed a child who lived with the queen consort.’
She had nearly made a grave mistake.
‘If that light hadn’t appeared, Irene would have died.’
The sphere of light, which had been the height of a person earlier, had shrunk to the size of a balloon.
‘The goddess must have intervened.’
The princess, once again grateful for this miraculous event, looked at Irene.
“But child, do you know how that light appeared?”
“That light? It’s…”
Irene smiled brightly.
“It’s mine!”
“…What?”
“The goddess said it’s mine!”
At that moment, the light balloon shrank to the size of a marble. It fluttered over to Irene and nestled into her palm.
“……The light, is it yours?”
“Yes! Both the light and the shadow, they are all mine. Shadows exist because of the light!”
The princess’s eyes widened in surprise. The power of light granted by the goddess in a moment of crisis. This meant that a new wing had been born right before her eyes!
* * *
Right after Irene awakened as the wing of light and defeated Della’s shadow, Julia was also chosen by the goddess as the wing of protection.
“Kiiek!”
The corpses summoned by Seidel could not withstand Julia’s sword, armed with the power of protection. They lunged fiercely, but before the sword even touched them, their bodies turned into black dust and scattered into the air.
The corpse staggered with a painful groan. Julia seized the opportunity and beheaded the corpse with a single stroke.
Kieeeck―!
With a chilling scream, the corpse’s entire body turned black. It stiffened momentarily, then quickly disintegrated into black dust. Julia wrinkled her nose slightly at the foul smell that entered her nostrils. Turning with her sword in hand, she went to the still-crying Doctor.
“Doctor, it’s over now. You can get up.”
“Ugh. It’s unfair. I can’t die like this. I haven’t even seen Irene get married. Boohoo.”
The Doctor still thought he was dead. It seemed it would take time for him to realize otherwise. Leaving the Doctor as he was, Julia searched for Dietrian.
‘Where is His Highness?’
“Ahhh!”
As if on cue, Seidel’s scream echoed. A black aura tore through Seidel’s shoulder and upper body.
“Aaah! Aaack!”
Clang! Seidel dropped her sword and clutched her shoulder. Blood flowed incessantly from the wounds inflicted by the aura.
“Aaah! It hurts, it hurts!!”
Though Seidel lacked emotions, she could feel pain. In fact, because she lacked emotions, the pain was even more terrifying. This pain awakened feelings she thought were long dead.
“I will kill you!”
Seidel screamed with bloodshot eyes. Dietrian was the first to corner her like this. Her mind was filled with only one thought: she must kill him.
‘No matter what, I must!’
Simultaneously, her power as a wing spread throughout the temple. She tried to summon any decaying corpse buried within the temple. Unfortunately for Seidel, her attempt was futile. Julia, noticing the spread of dark power, immediately surrounded the area with the power of protection.
“Why, why…!”
Shocked by the sudden loss of power, Seidel’s eyes widened. The dark blue barrier blocked her power. At the same time, the black aura tore through Seidel’s heart. That was the end for her. Thud. Dietrian coldly watched her fall before sheathing his sword. Julia approached with a smile.
“As expected, I knew you would finish quickly.”
“If I were alone, it would have taken much longer.”
Dietrian lowered his stance to ensure Seidel was truly dead. Then, he looked curiously at the bluish light emanating from Julia’s scabbard.
“Is it a power granted by the goddess?”
“Oh, you recognized it immediately.”
“I saw you dealing with the corpses earlier.”
The tainted corpses had crumbled into dust as soon as they touched the blue aura. It wasn’t just that. When Julia first created the barrier, Seidel’s sword had faltered as she fought Dietrian. He had also glimpsed a future involving the wings in Gilead’s dream.
「There is only one wing left. Congratulations, Saint.」
Thus, it wasn’t hard for Dietrian to realize that Julia had awakened as a wing bearer.
“It feels completely different from aura. Much purer.”
“They call it the power of protection.”
“The power of protection, indeed.”
The power of protection. A force to safeguard something. It was a fitting power for Julia, who had spent her life protecting the royal castle.
‘Perhaps she could protect Leticia as well.’
Having seen Leticia’s strength with his own eyes, his previously anxious heart felt slightly at ease. It was then.
“Your Highness!”
Julia exclaimed in surprise. Dietrian turned around, startled, to see her face glowing white. Not far away, a massive sphere of light was slowly rising into the sky.
“What, what is that?”
Dietrian could not even guess the nature of the light. Though it was gentle and soft, he couldn’t completely let his guard down. He quickly ran to the collapsed Doctor and helped him up.
“Doctor. You need to get up. We must leave this place.”
“Ugh, Irene, oh, what, what is that…?”
The Doctor, who had been sobbing, lifted his head. Through his crooked glasses, he dazedly looked at the sphere of light that brightly illuminated the temple.
Meanwhile, the sphere of light grew larger and rose higher. It ascended with the momentum to illuminate not just the temple but the entire capital. When it finally touched the clouds, it became a brilliant pillar of light that lit up the whole world.
It was an incredible sight. Like a goddess descending, the enormous pillar of light connected the earth and sky. Everyone in the capital who saw this astounding scene was shocked.
“It’s the power of the goddess!”
“A wing has awakened!”
“The wing of light, it’s the wing of light!”
People who had been frozen in place began to awaken from their shock one by one. They started to bow in instinctive awe and fear.
As everyone worshiped the power of the goddess, there was one who stood upright, glaring at the pillar with hatred. Rehir, or rather the darkness that had consumed Rehir.
‘Seidel and Della are dead.’
The two wings left to him had vanished so easily. It felt like swallowing molten lava. Horrifying and dreadful. The pillar of light seemed to be warning him. Do not dare to covet my land. You can do nothing.
‘Don’t make me laugh.’
Rehir began to chuckle. Then he abruptly stopped and spoke with a grimace.
“I still have one more card to play.”
Sigmund’s most beloved, and therefore the most miserably fated, wretched human. The soul of the deposed prince, Julios.
