Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed from the staircase. It was Jessica, who should have been in the assembly hall, descending the stairs. Following close behind were J-Miss and Miss Windsor, occupying the two physical bodies Jenkins had created for them.
The eting had been temporarily suspended to prevent any potential impact on the great hall floating above the church, as Hathaway's group might attempt to harness the power of the Gate of All Things. It was clear the three won already knew what Alexia intended to do.
"To turn fiction into reality, you must borrow from sothing real," they explained. "It cannot be built entirely on falsehood."
J-Miss and Miss Windsor were the perfect examples of this principle, having transitioned from fiction to reality themselves. J-Miss, in particular, had once been a demigod—the most powerful being in her possibility world.
"So, that ans you need the power of a true god, at the very least?" Sigrid asked from her spot by the wall.
"Yes. And preferably, the power of a true god whose nature is similar. It doesn't need to be their full power—even a sliver would be enough."
The three of them ca to a stop beside Sigrid, their eyes fixed on the faintly glowing Alexia, who stood lost in thought.
"This is rather troubleso," Alexia murmured. "I've never heard of a deity whose divine domain is mathematics."
The silver dragon offered her critique of divine power without any reservations.
"But it doesn't have to be mathematics," Princess Sophia reminded her. "Wouldn't 'Knowledge' be a fitting substitute?"
As Princess Sophia pointed this out, Anathasia struck her right fist into her left palm. "Of course! Was this also part of the Sage's plan?"
The words had barely left her lips when two beams of light—one black, one white—materialized beside them. Their radiance was so intense it overwheld the sky-blue glow emanating from Alexia. Yet only she could see the two figures within the light, for they had co for her alone.
The silver dragon seed to realize sothing. She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow but remained silent.
They were two won. One wore a black robe and a tall, pointed hat with a wide brim. The other was dressed in the standard white ceremonial robes of the Sage's Church, her long hair spilling over the garnt's hood.
They appeared almost simultaneously. To Alexia's eyes, their conflicting auras of bizarre distortion and sacred order seed to warp space itself, lending a strange new quality to the empty ground before the gate.
Even the others, who could not see the Witch and the Goddess, sensed that so powerful presence had just descended upon them.
The Mythical Witch and Sage Oviya approached together, and Alexia turned to face them. She didn't ask about her own predicant. Instead, she asked,
"Is Jenkins... is he alright?"
"Doing well enough," the Witch answered first. "It's just a sha that white bone sword of his broke. A real pity." Alexia couldn't make out the Witch's face, and thus couldn't discern the intent behind her quick reply.
"You need not worry. Jenkins is safe for now," Oviya said, "but he needs you." She extended a finger toward Alexia. She was using Fini's body, though it now had the form of a young woman. A brilliant golden light shimred at her pale fingertip—divine power, far more potent than what even a Saint would typically be blessed with.
Alexia's gaze was captivated by the golden radiance; she knew it was what she craved. She subconsciously reached out, her finger moving to touch the light on "Fini's" fingertip. But then, a silly image of Jenkins holding his cat flashed through her mind. The short woman's focus returned. She shook her head and retracted her hand.
"I'm sorry," she said, "but I don't think this is for . Your power is wonderful, but I no longer intend to walk that path."
Oviya didn't insist, simply withdrawing her hand. The black-robed Witch beside her looked as if she wanted to say sothing, but in the end, she just shook her head. Then, in a flash of white and black light, she and the goddess vanished.
"The path you have chosen is one no one has walked before."
Those were the Sage's parting words.
"Yes, no one has walked it," Alexia affird, "but Jenkins... he truly showed that it exists."
Alexia gazed at her own hand. The silver dragon watched her with keen interest.
"Did you really refuse her? Don't look at like that; I didn't see a thing... So, where are you going to find divine power similar to your own now?"
"Jenkins."
"He is a god, true, but does his divine domain include knowledge? Or perhaps the Sage has already shared so of her power with him?"
Alexia didn't answer. Instead, with a flick of her right wrist, a shimring, crystalline chip appeared between her fingers. Its appearance added new layers to the complex patterns at her feet, patterns no one but her could decipher. At the sa ti, the cube that had been hovering motionless above her head finally stirred and began to rotate.
"What is that?" Sigrid asked from the wall, only now noticing that Hathaway, who should have been beside her, was gone.
"It's materialized knowledge."
It was J-Miss who answered. "The fragnts of information granted by the [Knowledge Bestowal] ability look like this when they are materialized. But doing so is incredibly difficult. It requires not only the specific ability but also imnse proficiency."
"Yes," Alexia confird. "Jenkins tried to give so knowledge before he left, but I refused."
Jenkins's [Knowledge Bestowal] ability had originated from Alexia herself, back in the fiery card ga Mysterious Realm. It was therefore plausible that she possessed the power to give physical form to those illusory fragnts of knowledge.
The irregularly shaped blue chip floated from Alexia's hand, rising to resonate with the cube, which was now spinning faster and faster.
"If she refused Jenkins's kind offer, why did she keep it? Did Alexia foresee all of this?" Sigrid wondered aloud.
"Won are often like that," the silver dragon comnted. "Even if you don't want a gift from your lover, you can't bring yourself to throw it away." Unsurprisingly, her remark earned her a gentle "warning" from Princess Sophia.
Alexia closed her eyes, spreading her arms and raising them toward the heavens. A wind began to stir. The power of the three books flowed into her body with increasing speed as she reclaid the strength from another possibility for herself.
Her feet lifted from the ground, her long hair dancing in the air behind her. A brilliant azure radiance blood forth once more, so intense that the onlookers had to squint against its light.
The blue crystalline chip, a record of knowledge from another world, finally rged completely with the cube that represented her [Mathematical Principles]. The patterns of geotric shapes and arcane formulas on the floor expanded, covering the entire area beneath their feet.
Within the light, the silver dragon was the first to hear it. A mont later, everyone else heard it too: a chorus of singing voices and the chi of distant bells.
With great effort, like the very first ray of sunlight breaking over the horizon, a single beam of white light appeared from nowhere. It shot down from the stone ceiling, enveloping the short woman. The light was faint, but it was there.
She opened her eyes, suspended in mid-air. As the others watched in awe, her face slowly faded, dissolving into the light.
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