Thoughts of death began surfacing in Theo’s mind. No matter how quickly he could chant a defensive spell, he didn’t have the power to block that kind of destructive force.
Was this it, then? Would he fail here?
Just as he swallowed that bitter sense of helplessness, he felt sothing shove him hard in the back. His body was launched into the air—then slamd back down to the ground.
When he looked up again—
He saw the Nymph, skewered by the massive spear, blood gushing from her chest.
“...Huh? Why... why did I...?”
She didn’t seem to fully grasp what had happened to her. Perhaps the shove to Theo’s back, her interception of the magical spear—it hadn’t been intentional.
That was when Elga let out a guttural scream.
“Leonor...!!!”
The ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ na shocked Theo into clarity. Even without saying anything, it seed Elga had known too—who this girl really was.
“You—did I ever tell you my na...? I don’t know. I can’t rember. I can’t rember, but... that voice sounds familiar... I have to find my heart and leave this castle...”
Life slipped away.
Even knowing this was all a dream, Elga closed her eyes as if she couldn’t bear to witness the sight.
A fleeting instant.
Yet it felt eternal. As if ti had driven its nails into his skin, refusing to move forward.
Slide.
Then Elga slowly turned her back. Her movents were desolate—cold, even.
━━──!!!
Then, with an earsplitting scream, she charged the spider.
She struck, crushed, bit down with her teeth.
There was nothing human about it anymore. But choosing vengeance over mourning—yes, that was very much Elga.
The spider, which had been pushing forward with relentless montum, began getting driven back.
Every ti Elga’s axe fell, one of the spider’s remaining nine legs broke off, one by one.
“...The Lady of Lioness... she’s gone berserk!”
Mirna’s body trembled as she said it. Perhaps what ca to mind were the tales of the Lioness berserkers—the warriors who had driven House Drayco into repeated ruin.
Now that it had co to this, no one could stop Elga. Not even if her body shattered to pieces.
Grrrrrrr─!!!
That sight—so terrifying, yet so beautiful—filled Theo with a crushing sense of sorrow.
He didn’t want to see Elga suffer any more than this.
There was only one way.
He had to end this fight.
Clap.
Theo brought his hands together and cald both his emotions and mana.
The trait 《Calm Mind》 he possessed was extrely useful in monts like these, allowing him to chant spells without being overwheld by sadness or rage.
His skin prickled, his joints ached, and it felt like his bones were grinding together—
But he couldn’t stop.
He would shatter this world’s broken gearwork.
Rank 8.
“Dirge.”
***
......
When he ca to, Theo was lying in a soft bed in a sunlit room.
The breeze ruffled the curtains. As he sat up, he saw a beautiful table set in a sunny garden below the window—tea cups, cake, and cookies.
And sitting there was a woman with black hair.
Theo slowly rose and stepped outside into the garden. The woman didn’t so much as glance his way. She simply sipped her tea in silence.
“Lady Aira.”
“......”
“No... you’re Bael, aren’t you.”
Perhaps he had hit close to the mark, because the figure looked up at him. The way her lips stretched into a smile that reached her ears—it was grotesque. Creepy.
“That’s right.”
“Then stop pretending to be Queen Aira.”
“I like this look. It’s pretty. And... I’ve spent so much ti with that girl, I’ve grown attached. Unless... would you prefer I took the form of that monstrous spider?”
So she was aware of how hideous she looked?
That was unexpected.
As if reading his thoughts, Bael spoke.
“You think I enjoy looking like that? Anyone would turn into that, if they were forced to live in the deepest pit of soone’s heart, endlessly feeding on toxic sewage and garbage.”
Theo didn’t answer. He looked around instead.
Unlike the dark underground waterfall where Bael had been coiled, this place looked like a scene out of a radiant tea party.
He asked, “Where are we?”
Honestly, he wasn’t sure if he’d get a real answer.
But Bael, setting down her cup, replied calmly.
“My dream.”
“Yours?”
“You all ca into Aira’s dream to find , right? This ti, I invited you. A dream within a dream, so to speak.”
“......”
“Surprised that it’s even possible? Of course it is—well, not for just any rabble. But for , Bael, it’s nothing. Solomon made for the impossible.”
“But you betrayed Solomon.”
Theo knew it. The traitor who brought Solomon’s fall—was this very creature. And after experiencing her firsthand in battle, he could feel it.
Ars Nova, a being who freely manipulated high-order magic. If a creature like that betrayed him and fell into enemy hands, it made sense—even soone like Solomon, who wielded Rank 10 spells, would be brought down.
At that, Bael laughed softly. The way she did it—just like Aira—it irritated him. She was the enemy, and yet here she was, trying to confuse him with a familiar face.
Bael spoke.
“You’re half-right. Yes, I betrayed Solomon. But he didn’t fall because of . That was just... the way things were going to be.”
“The way things were going to be?”
“You see as your enemy, don’t you, Theo? But I’m not. Neither I nor that pitiful queen Aira are your true enemy.”
“......”
“You really don’t know anything, do you? Well... I guess that makes sense. They kept your existence under the tightest secrecy. And at the sa ti, kept all the stories from reaching you.”
He didn’t fully understand.
But Theo could tell that Bael was trying to tell him sothing important.
So he decided to listen—closely.
“Then tell what I don’t know. You brought to this place for a reason, didn’t you? You want to tell .”
There’d be no reason for her to go through all this trouble otherwise. They weren’t exactly sharing tea out of affection. Bael said:
“Theo. Do you believe in fate? In cycles—rise and fall? That things are born shining brightly, then crumble and fade away?”
“If you think you can trick with poetic nonsense, don’t bother.”
“Oh? And here I thought no one could fool the wily Theo Gospel. But no, what I’m saying is real. Once every thousand years... the world reshapes itself.”
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