"Have you never once wondered who I am?"
Oviya inquired. Now that she was truly standing before him, Jenkins felt an overwhelming sense of unreality. He was montarily at a loss for words, but Oviya waited patiently.
He murmured,
"I've speculated... that you've ascended to godhood. If not over destiny, then over books. Yes... I've long suspected you were the Sage. I have for a long ti."
The young woman smiled, and the flowers in the clearing blood in response.
"Speaking of books, you left town so suddenly all those years ago, and you didn't even take my gift with you."
As she spoke, she plucked an old notebook from thin air. Ti had left its mark on it, but it endured, making Jenkins feel as though he were waking from a long, vivid dream.
Back then, Jenkins couldn't take anything with him from that "dream." The modern notebook he had was one he recreated using the Book of mories, but the original had been in Oviya's possession all along.
After so many years, it had beco a Bestowal. It wasn't just glowing with a white aura, but a golden one as well, symbolizing the story between two gods.
"You don't need to feel any pressure. I don't want anything from you. I just wanted to see you again, to be sure that our eting wasn't just a dream from when I was still mortal."
She reached out her left hand to touch Jenkins, but he caught it in his grasp. He truly held it, and the feeling of unreality vanished with the warm, soft touch.
"I know what you want to ask, but everything you've experienced has been the result of your own choices. I haven't arranged anything for you."
She firmly pulled her hand free from his and finally touched his face, her smile deepening. Compared to the gods Jenkins had pictured as higher-dinsional beings, she now looked just like an ordinary human girl.
He had seen gods descend to the material world in the form of Saints more than once, but none of them had ever been like Oviya was at this mont.
"The first ti I realized you had finally appeared was last autumn, before you offered that drop of divinity to . I was the one who stopped you from using that painting. What you were attempting to do back then was extrely dangerous."
"Why was it dangerous?"
He asked, but Oviya didn't answer. Instead, she just smiled at him.
"Do you still not understand, even now? Everything... is actually quite clear."
Jenkins's gaze lingered on the face of the older Fini. A complex mix of emotions crossed his face; he didn't know how to react. After a long mont, he sighed.
"So it's really true... then that explains everything. I think I understand the aning of yearning for what you can't have, and I also understand what my greatest trump card is."
"I knew you would understand. Jenkins, your arrival is a gift to this world. More than that, it's a gift to all living beings, and a gift the world has given to ."
Beside them, Audrey couldn't lift her head to gaze upon the Saint's face, but she heard every word of their conversation.
Because on that night in Black Town, after experiencing the story of "Vampire Love," Jenkins had rushed to Audrey's ho to tell her what had happened. Therefore, Audrey completely understood the situation before her.
"So, because he traveled through ti, Jenkins t the great one before her ascension, and they ford a... bond. And when he was born..."
Audrey couldn't discern Jenkins's origins.
"When he was born, the great one must have sensed his return and has been waiting for him ever since. That ti during the water divination ritual, when we traveled through ti again... the one waiting for Jenkins before the Millstone of Fate on the mountaintop was indeed her... Yes, thinking back, the fact that the ritual beca a journey through ti must have been her doing. After all, it's the end of the epoch now, so the great one can't appear directly in the material world to et Jenkins. But she could et him a few years in the past, before the signs of the epoch's end appeared... But it *is* the end of the epoch now, so why..."
"It's the end of the epoch. Can you really appear here directly?"
This was the very question Jenkins was now thinking.
"I will not interfere with your mission. Saving the world is sothing you must do. What I must do is rely banish the Beast of Calamity from the material world once more—that mythical witch."
At this, Oviya smiled again. Though it was still gentle, the emotion behind it was clearly different.
"Preventing calamities from the past from returning to the material world is also a responsibility we must bear. If it were only the power of the Beast of Calamity, you would have to handle it alone. But that is clearly not the case now, which is why I was able to appear. Of course, appearing in this unstable era is normally very difficult. An ordinary divine descent ritual would never succeed. Only a thod like this one would work."
As she spoke, she looked up at the two people at the edge of the clearing.
"Are these the descendants of our school? They're quite good."
Then she turned to Miss Brolignans and asked,
"The ritual, and helping Jenkins... did the Hermit tell you to do this?"
"Destiny guided to do it."
The diviner replied respectfully, and Oviya paid her no further mind.
Jenkins shook his head, montarily clearing away the extraneous thoughts.
"We can talk about the other things later. My ti to act in the outside world is short. Co with now. But I hope that after everything is over, you'll appear before again to answer so of my questions."
Erging from his shock, Jenkins was surprised again to find how easily he had accepted all of this. He rembered what he needed to do and didn't let his personal feelings interfere with the plan.
"Wait."
Oviya said, looking into the distance. Jenkins followed her gaze and easily spotted Alexia's aura flying toward them.
He imdiately let go of Fini's hand, took a few steps toward Alexia, and embraced her as she landed.
"Wait a little longer. I'm on the third level now. It'll be over soon."
Alexia returned his embrace. After they parted, she gave a very cautious bow to the slightly older Fini. Then, without a word, she handed him a... small, black-and-white ceramic kitten figurine.
"What's this?"
Jenkins recognized it at once—the cat was Chocolate. The craftsmanship was exquisite and light, perfectly capturing all of Chocolate's adorable features.
"This is your second chance. It will allow you to use one of your abilities a second ti within the Mysterious Realm."
"Did you get this underground?"
Jenkins had just learned of Alexia's whereabouts from Hathaway.
"Yes."
An undeniable lie.
It had been sent from the distant future by his unborn niece via the Dawn Express. And though Jenkins sensed the lie in her words, he didn't press the matter.
"Alright. This is incredibly useful. But Alexia, you have to explain this to after I get out."
He clutched the small ceramic statue of Chocolate in his palm.
"Of course."
Alexia nodded and then looked again toward the older "Fini." Oviya stood with her hands behind her back, smiling at her. The two won locked eyes for a mont, and a sky-blue magic cube suddenly flashed in Alexia's pupils. Without a single word exchanged, Alexia was the first to look away.
"Co back soon. I'll be waiting."
She said softly to Jenkins. He nodded, gave Alexia a kiss, and then, with Oviya, transford into a golden light that flew toward the tower.
The ritual array carved into the clearing flickered a few tis before its light slowly faded. A sweet fragrance had filled the air, but after the two departed, Nolan's characteristic sll of exhaust fus rushed back in.
The noise from outside the clearing also returned, as if their departure had allowed this patch of land to reconnect with reality.
Audrey and Miss Brolignans finally let out a breath of relief. The forr walked over to Alexia, who stood in the center of the clearing. Audrey had so many questions—for instance, was it permitted by the Church of Destiny for the founder of her school to be a heretical god? She also had many mysteries she wanted solved, like what exactly Jenkins was. But at that mont, she didn't know what to ask.
"Alexia, what are you looking at?"
The first question she voiced had nothing to do with any of those mysteries.
Alexia, who was looking up at the inverted shadow beneath the tree, had a lancholic expression. She touched her lips where Jenkins had just kissed her.
"I was wondering where Jenkins's final path will ultimately lead."
"No, I just want to know what you're looking at."
Audrey also looked up at the hanging shadow. The white silhouette was reflected in both their eyes. Alexia shook her head.
"I'm looking at Jenkins's second chance. But that's not important. What's important is what Jenkins will ultimately gain in the end."
A golden light patrolled the dark interior of the theater before suddenly surging into the body of Jenkins, who was seated in the third row. Slumped in his seat, Jenkins shuddered violently and then opened his eyes.
To his right lay his backpack and two tal cocoons. In the empty seat to his left, the tal puppet was gone, replaced by the older "Fini."
"It seems a rather remarkable guest has arrived."
The tal puppet's voice ca from behind the two blood-red curtains. It probably never expected Jenkins to summon a Saint. After all, there was no record of a god ever entering a Mysterious Realm.
The curtains parted. The backdrop on the stage was still the rows of seats from the final scene of *Magic Girl*, and a three-legged stool sat on the stage, the tal puppet perched upon it.
"Co out. Now that I have revealed myself, is there any need for you to hide?"
Oviya didn't open her mouth, but her voice materialized in the puppet theater.
Her voice faded, and for a mont, nothing happened. But soon, a woman's fair hand pierced through the oil painting that served as the backdrop. Then, the painting was torn open, and a woman in a black robe stepped out from behind it and onto the stage.
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