Drawn by death, the now active and playful lesser spirits found their way to empty husks. And while mana-rich elemental crystals were ideal, so were empty vessels.
Headless corpses around Erda began to rise, walking around harmlessly and aimlessly. But due to the nature of death inflicted on the bodies, these spirits would eventually turn into an abomination.
"…"
Witnessing this particular sigh over and over again, Luna's heart froze. As if their deaths weren't already ugly, they had to be killed even in the afterlife. She turned to Jan.
"Take care of the corpses and burn them to ash—they would not want to be resurrected a second time," Luna commanded calmly.
"Understood," Jan noted.
She wasn't oblivious to the uncomfortable faces they all made, but it had to be done, and they all knew. But… having to personally take out walking corpses of their loved ones? Not everyone had the stomach for that.
"…"
Luna clenched her fist, looked up, and whistled, calling for Nees. Nees, the black and white wyvern who illuminated the sky, descended upon her command, standing tall. It tilted its head, looking at the young man in Luna's arms curiously.
"Nees, keep him safe," she said.
"Drun!" Nees chirped, cradling its body around Alum.
..
In front of the warehouse, cultists and guards were at a stalemate.
"Come any closer and they're all dead!" they'd threaten. "So… make way and we'll leave—peacefully," one of the squad leaders said.
"Bastards…" the gray-haired vice command of the guards uttered under his breath—you've already doomed this place and yet you demand to walk away…!?
Even still, there wasn't much they could do except for saving the people that remained.
"—You're afraid, aren't you?" the vice command said. "As soon as you saw that silver light and the wyvern, you all got desperate to run—why's that?"
"…!?" The cultists flinched.
"Is it because of me?" Luna asked calmly as the guards let her pass. Indifferently, she issued an ultimatum, "Surrender or die."
"…" They hesitated, "As if we'd listen to a little girl like you—"
Luna, in front of their barriers, slit through the shells—mana rapidly surged as it coursed through her body, feeding Moon Fracture the amount required to effortlessly cleave each layer. In panic, cultists channeled magic, aiming it at her and the hostages, and threw their melee combatants toward her. But… Luna knew something they didn't.
"Not a wise choice," Luna said coldly.
They all hesitated again.
"Because. I will not just kill you. If that was the case."
—Is she… threatening to torture us? What kind of a Princess does that?!
But with the cult members' fleeting thought, loud chirps could be heard from above, looking up, wyverns circled them. The rest of Luna's squad had arrived.
"Let me rephrase. Submit, or… something worse than death."
On a final note, the cultists lowered their swords and their mana.
..
Nearly all the survivors are being treated by the Wyvern Squad. Night Ouen arrived to help with the cleaning and magibeast defense while the merchants continued to Yuflan with a stingray escort.
"…"
That said, nearly everyone was being treated, except for a few stuck inside a barrier. The two youths couldn't hear what the medics were saying either—the spell was a sanctuary-level barrier. And breaking through to treat those inside was going to require an absurd amount of mana, which they couldn't afford to expend.
"What is the—" Luna was about to ask, then saw Depth Cutter. "Matter…"
"We're unable to breach the barrier—if we wait longer… the victims inside might not survive," Erwin replied.
"And the kid holding the catalyst won't cancel the spell?" she asked, looking at the boy who stared at them listlessly, then at the girl who'd fallen asleep, clinging to him. But then frowned as she saw unconscious naked bodies covered in fluids. "And the one who activated the barrier is still out," she added calmly.
"Huh…? You know who the catalyst belongs to?" Erwin inquired.
"You know him, too," Luna shrugged. "It's Little Artillery's," she said.
"Oh…"
"Either way, the cleanup is going smoothly," she said, materializing Moon Fracture.
The boy flinched, and indifference turned into fear—Krrrrrrrr-ch-ch… mana crackled, lightning sparks discharged as Luna stabbed Moon Fracture into the rapidly pulsating barrier. Her mana was draining rapidly as Moon Fracture inched into the dense sanctuary. It pushed back, regenerating each time Moon Fracture cut into it.
"Mmgh…" Luna squinted as she clenched her teeth, pushed harder, her mind straining from the rapid mana drain.
The sanctuary eventually flickered more rapidly, trying to keep up—Cr...CRACK!
Dense mana shards scattered as she got through, leaving Luna sweating and panting. The boy closed his eyes, holding the girl tightly as he braced for the worst to come.
"Treat them," Luna said, composing herself.
"On it," Erwin said, calling for the other medics.
"…" Luna walked up to the now pale sword, having lost its deep blue color and drained of all mana, she tried to grab it—
"It's not yours," the boy said, grabbing her wrist.
"…" Luna didn't shake him off; rather, she crouched down. "I know. It belongs to a friend of mine. I'm returning it."
"…" the boy reluctantly let go.
"—Commander! It's urgent!" Erwin exclaimed as he ran. "It's… Little Artillery is dying!"
"…!?"
Ignoring everything, Luna blinked towards Alum, bursting into a tent. Alum was surrounded by a few medics, breathing raggedly.
"That's the situation?" Luna urged, trying to sound calm.
"Huh—oh, um, this one's suffering from severe blood loss. It's a miracle he's still alive, but that won't be the case for long. His blood is also very strange, a blood transfusion won't be possible…" Ophelia replied.
"Have you searched his void ring?"
"We did, but…"
"…" Luna stared at Alum's face, blanking out. "Take…" she murmured.
"Huh?" Ophelia and the others raised their eyebrow, flashing Luna a concerned look. "Take…?"
"Take my blood," she said, pulling up her sleeve and handing them her arm. "We match," she stated.
"H-huh?"
..
Hugging her knees and watching from the sideline, Luna's face was completely red. She'd act rash, forgetting it was her squad—of course, they'd have her blood packs with them.
"Commander, his condition has stabilized." Ophelia walked up to her. "But how did you know?" she asked, her green hair cascading off her shoulder as she tilted her head.
"Uncle had us do a test…" Luna murmured.
"Ooh~" Ophelia giggled.
Luna frowned. "For your information, it's not like that. He's Lady Saint's fiancé."
"I know, I know. But that makes me wonder if an heir is possible bet—"
"Perish the thought. It's rude," Luna scolded her coldly.
"S-sorry. My curiosity got the better of me."
Luna sighed as she then walked toward her best friend. She sat by the mattress and looked at his face, now returning to normal colors.
'What are you doing, making me—her worried?' she uttered under her breath.
"And… why can't you be worried?" Alum said, slowly opening his eyes.
"That's—huh…? I don't know?" She tilted her head, confused.
"…" Alum chuckled.
"I was worried. I thought you'd die."
Alum took out a candy. "Not that easily," he said, tossing the sweet purple candy in his mouth.
"With all that blood loss? Rea—" Luna frowned, but caught the candy he'd flicked into her mouth. "What are you…?" she teased.
"It's a secret," he replied, stretched as he tried to get up. "What are you doing?" he asked the girl who pushed him down.
"Rest," Luna said, her hand not budging from his chest.
"…Fine," Alum sighed as she released him. "How's the situation?"
"All the remaining cult members are dead. They died the moment they tried to confess," she shrugged.
"I see."
"The survivors are recovering. The rape victims are having their memories erased and are being extensively cared for."
"…"
"Here."
Luna handed Alum Depth Cutter. The blade had lost all its colors, only the engravings and gem retained their spark. But it was to be expected—the sword did get its deep blue color from his mana, after all.
"…Did they manage to break through the barrier?" he asked, his tone clearly disheartened in her ears.
"No. I did."
"…How reassuring."
"What's with that hesitation just now?"
"No… nothing." Alum averted his eyes.
"…" Luna leaned toward him, squinting her eyes in suspicion.
But then, smiled gently as he turned to her. "Oh, I read this book on the journey, mind if I share?"
"…" her eyes widen.
"Don't want to?"
"Mm. That's not it… It's a coincidence, actually, I've got something to share too," she shook her head as she melted into a smile.
..
Meanwhile, in a dim, quiet hall, a girl with silver-gray hair and a blond boy with silver-blue eyes sat around a table, discussing all matters of importance.
"—A-aaaaw~! She's so cute," Noel exclaimed, seeing the little Chely as Amethely flipped through the album. "I didn't know she used to have white hair."
"Nn~nn!" Amethely nodded. "Big sis was so adorable—oh, and you can also notice the change in her hair as she grows older."
"…" on the side, Miu sipped her hot chocolate. "But it feels kinda weird…" she murmured, lowkey judging Noel.
"Why?" Noel and Amethely tilted their head at the same time.
"I mean… I know you and Elly like each other, but you're not dating yet, right?"
"Huh? But we/they are," Noel and Amethely voiced.
"…"
Miu blinked. Then blinked again.
"Huh…? Huh?! Wait, really?!"