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Chapter 69
The ice that had imitated Ram's body finished breaking apart.
The frozen head fell first.
It struck the earth, rolled through the leaves, and shattered against a root. The pierced torso split open behind it, turning into white fragments that reflected the reddish light of the kakugan for a moment.
Then nothing remained.
Only scattered crystals.
The blackened chain of a collar.
And Ram lying several meters away.
The maid breathed.
One short inhale.
Painful.
Enough.
Link's red eyes locked onto her.
All six kagunes rose behind his back.
Thinner than before.
Longer.
Covered in that black texture that was neither fur nor smoke, but compressed miasma clinging to the extensions like the coat of some impossible beast. Dark sparks constantly traveled across their surfaces. They appeared, jumped, and vanished before touching the ground.
The tips opened.
Rows of solid-mana fangs gleamed inside.
Ram placed one hand against the earth.
She tried to sit up.
Her right shoulder did not respond.
The explosion had moved her away from the kagune, but it had not protected her from the fall. Sharp pain ran from her collarbone down her arm. Her ribs protested when she tried to breathe more deeply.
Crimson Heart had fulfilled its purpose.
It had also died doing so.
The tiny red lagmite no longer rested against her throat. Only the broken mount remained, two warped links of chain, and a frost mark across her skin.
Ram looked at the remains once.
Then focused on Link again.
There was no recognition in his face.
The body was his.
Torn clothes.
Dark horns.
Black hair stuck to his forehead by blood and sweat.
But there was no one behind those eyes.
One of the kagunes moved.
It did not attack immediately.
It slid between the trees, curled around a trunk, and closed its teeth around a branch. The wood cracked. The entire trunk was severed and fell among the dead Mabeasts.
Another kagune descended toward the nearest corpse.
Its tip opened.
Bit through the neck.
The Wolgarm's head rolled away.
There was no life left to drain.
Even so, the extension continued.
Cutting.
Searching.
Reacting to every leaf moved by the wind and every branch giving way beneath the weight of the bodies.
Ram tightened her grip around the broken half of her staff.
It would be useless.
Not against that.
Not even if she still had enough mana to use it.
Link took one step.
The ground sank beneath his boot.
All six kagunes tilted toward her.
Ram gathered what little air she had left.
—Link.
The name produced nothing.
His body advanced.
One step.
Another.
Slowly.
Not because he hesitated.
Because he no longer needed to hurry.
Ram was the only creature in front of him that was still breathing.
Then came the sound.
At first, it was a vibration beneath the earth.
Then branches breaking.
Hundreds of feet pounding the ground in a disorderly charge.
Ram turned her face west.
Clairvoyance was no longer necessary.
She could hear them.
The Mabeasts that had remained behind the first packs had finally reached the area.
They were not dozens.
There was no way to reduce that into a number that made sense within a battle.
The entire forest began to move.
Wolgarms leapt over the corpses of their own kind. Miasma serpents slithered through roots and bodies. Armored creatures advanced while crushing bushes. Wagpigs of different sizes tore through young trees without slowing down.
More continued appearing behind them.
The blood had called them all.
The mana released by Link pulled them toward the center.
And the body that no longer recognized Ram turned toward the noise.
All six kagunes changed direction at once.
Their tips opened.
The black miasma bristled.
The tide of Mabeasts appeared between the trees.
Ram watched Link.
He had not regained consciousness.
Even so, something inside him understood the danger.
Not through thought.
Through hierarchy.
Ram was still alive.
But the horde was bigger.
Louder.
Closer.
A superior target.
The first Mabeasts leapt.
Link did not raise his kagunes.
He did not take a stance.
He did not manifest fire around his hands.
He opened his mouth.
Ram felt the change before she saw the light.
All the miasma accumulated across the six kagunes retreated toward his body.
The dark sparks stopped escaping.
The black fur flattened against the extensions.
The curses activated on the corpses released the last particles of energy they still contained and sent them toward Link.
Mana descended through the kagunes.
Passed through his back.
Rose through his chest.
The air around his face began to distort.
A sphere appeared inside his mouth.
Small.
White at the center.
Surrounded by a crimson layer and another completely black one.
The ground beneath his feet cracked.
Ram opened her eye wide.
She did not recognize the spell.
Nor did she need to know it to understand that she was far too close.
She tried to raise wind.
Her Gate responded with pain.
A weak current surrounded her body.
It would not stop the attack.
Barely protect her eyes.
The sphere inside Link's mouth grew.
Miasma spiraled around it.
All six kagunes drove themselves into the earth and the trees, anchoring him from different directions.
His body leaned forward.
The Mabeasts continued charging.
The first were already less than thirty meters away.
A claw struck a corpse.
A Wagpig opened its jaws.
The Wolgarms jumped.
The voice came out distorted through the energy.
—Breaker...
The forest trembled.
—...Cannon.
Night disappeared.
A column of energy erupted from his mouth.
It was not a narrow beam.
It was a wall.
A torrent of white light, crimson fire, and black miasma that occupied all the space in front of Link. The blast passed through the first Mabeasts before they could touch the ground.
It left no bodies.
It disintegrated them.
Flesh, bones, shells, and miasma disappeared inside the radiance.
The attack continued.
Trees were ripped from their roots and consumed before they could be thrown away. Rocks turned red, then white, and finally ceased to exist.
The tide attempted to stop.
Creatures in the first rows crashed into those coming from behind.
There was no time to flee.
Breaker Cannon widened its trajectory.
The energy devastated the forest in a cone that grew as it advanced. Adult Wagpigs disappeared along with the creatures using their bodies as shields. Serpents beneath the ground were struck when the blast tore away the upper layers of soil.
The horizon lit up.
The column traveled hundreds of meters.
Then farther.
An incandescent trench remained behind.
The shockwave reached Ram.
Her weak wind current broke apart.
She covered her face with her left arm.
The heat did not burn her.
Not because Crimson Heart was still working.
Because Link had not aimed the attack at her.
Even so, the pressure dragged her across the ground. Her back struck a root. The remaining pieces of ice from the collar were torn away.
The roar continued.
Then weakened.
The column narrowed.
The white light vanished first.
Then the crimson.
The miasma remained for one instant like a black river suspended between the destroyed trees.
Finally, it dispersed.
Silence returned.
Not normal silence.
Empty silence.
The forest no longer existed in front of Link.
An avenue of vitrified earth crossed what had once been a dense mass of trees. The edges remained incandescent. Some distant trunks burned from within. The ground smoked while tiny black particles rose toward the sky.
There were no Mabeasts.
No wounded ones.
No corpses.
Nothing.
The horde had disappeared.
Link closed his mouth.
A line of smoke emerged between his lips.
His body leaned forward.
He did not fall.
The six kagunes pulled against the trees and held him upright.
The energy he had absorbed from the Mabeasts dropped drastically. The pressure of his mana remained enormous, but it was no longer increasing.
The attack had consumed a brutal amount.
Not enough to restore his consciousness.
Ram slowly raised her head.
Her right ear produced a ringing noise.
The left heard nothing.
She blinked.
Her vision returned in pieces.
First the black earth.
Then the sparks.
Then Link.
He remained with his back to her.
Watching the path he had just opened.
The kagunes began moving.
One cut a tree that was already falling.
Another pierced a Mabeast corpse that had remained outside the blast's path.
Two more extended toward the sides and decapitated bodies that had already been dead for several minutes.
The extensions did not check whether something lived.
They destroyed anything capable of being mistaken for movement.
Link turned.
Ram saw his eyes.
Both remained kakugan.
Breaker Cannon had not awakened the man.
It had only exhausted part of the monster.
The figure began walking toward her.
Slowly.
Each step left a deeper footprint than the last.
The kagunes moved frantically around him. They cut branches, bit trunks, and tore at the earth. One closed its fangs around the neck of a dead Wolgarm. The head flew away and landed near Ram.
She did not look away.
She did not have enough mana left to use Clairvoyance.
Nor for another Fura powerful enough to stop him.
Her right shoulder was useless.
Her ribs prevented her from breathing freely.
Her staff had broken.
Link's protection had disappeared from around her neck.
There was little left to calculate.
She could stand.
Perhaps.
She could run several meters.
No farther.
Link would reach her before the first.
Ram placed her left hand against the ground.
Tried to stand anyway.
Her knee responded.
Her arm trembled.
She managed to raise her torso.
—What a pathetic appearance —she murmured.
She did not know whether she meant him or herself.
Probably both.
Link advanced.
Ten meters.
Eight.
Six.
The miasma along the kagunes stirred.
Rows of fangs opened.
Then something squealed.
Not a roar.
Not a low growl.
A high-pitched sound.
Small.
Furious.
A black shape emerged from beneath the split corpse of a Wagpig.
It was far too small to belong to the specimens that had attacked.
Its body was only slightly larger than a medium-sized dog. Its dark plates had not completely hardened, and several areas of its belly retained a grayish tone. Its legs were clumsy, too large for the rest of its body. Its fangs had only begun to protrude.
A cub.
Perhaps newly born.
It had remained beneath the body of an adult while the battle destroyed everything around it.
It was covered in blood that was not its own.
The small Wagpig saw Link.
It did not notice Ram.
It did not look at the corpses.
It identified the creature dominating the area.
Opened its mouth.
Squealed.
And attacked.
The cub ran.
It did not have an adult's speed.
It stumbled over one leg.
Recovered its balance.
Accelerated again.
Link turned.
The small Wagpig jumped toward his leg.
His body reacted.
A kick.
Nothing more.
Link's foot struck the cub's side.
The creature went flying.
The impact threw it over several corpses before it finally struck the earth beside Ram.
It rolled.
Once.
Twice.
Came to rest on its side.
Its chest still moved.
Barely.
One leg trembled.
Then became still.
Life had not vanished.
But it had come too close.
Link watched the cub for a fraction of a second.
The kagunes oriented themselves toward it.
Then they detected Ram.
A nearly dead creature.
One that was still breathing.
The Oni tried to move away from their trajectory.
Her body did not respond quickly enough.
Link appeared in front of her.
She did not remember seeing him cross the final meters.
He was simply there.
His shadow fell over Ram.
All six kagunes rose.
Three aimed at her chest.
Two toward her sides.
The last positioned itself behind her neck.
Ram raised her face.
The kakugan stared at her.
No emotion.
The extension behind her began moving.
Its tip opened.
The mana fangs settled on both sides of her throat.
Ram did not close her eye.
—Rem is going to kill you.
The kagune stopped.
Not by much.
Less than a finger's width from touching her skin.
A black spark jumped from the miasma fur and vanished near Ram's cheek.
Link's body trembled.
Once.
His fingers closed.
His teeth clenched hard enough for his jaw to make a dry sound.
The kagune tried to advance.
It could not.
The tip shook.
Moved back a centimeter.
Returned.
Ram remained motionless.
The extension positioned over her chest descended.
Stopped.
Another began curling around her.
His entire body leaned forward as though two forces were pulling it in opposite directions.
The kakugan contracted.
The red pupil lost its shape.
For the first time since the mutation had begun, something appeared behind those eyes.
Pain.
Not physical.
Recognition.
Ram saw her own reflection inside that narrowed pupil.
Pink hair.
Blood at the corner of her eye.
The broken mount around her throat.
The kagune beside her neck.
Link's face twisted.
A sound emerged from his throat.
Not a word.
A gasp.
All six kagunes thrashed violently. Two pierced trees. Another struck the earth. The fourth bit the air. The last two tangled around each other like animals trying to escape from the same trap.
Link brought both hands to his head.
Dropped to one knee.
The kagune beside Ram's throat remained still for one more second.
Then pulled away.
All the extensions retreated.
Not cleanly.
The black fur tore away in strips of miasma. The mana fangs dissolved. The tips closed as all six kagunes contracted behind his back.
Two vanished first.
The remaining four took longer.
Their original reddish surfaces appeared beneath the darkness.
Then those retracted as well.
The kakugan flickered.
His right eye returned to normal.
The left remained black for several seconds.
Finally, the red faded.
Link dropped onto both knees.
His hands touched the earth.
He gasped.
Every breath entered as though he had to remember how to use his lungs.
The miasma stopped swirling around his body.
His horns remained visible, although their crimson lines lost intensity.
Ram watched him.
She did not move.
She did not know whether consciousness would return completely or whether this was merely a pause before another attack.
Link slowly raised his head.
His eyes were human.
Unfocused.
He looked at Ram.
Then at the kagune that was no longer beside her neck.
Then the destroyed forest.
The corpses.
The vitrified path.
The motionless Wagpig cub.
His gaze returned to Ram.
He saw the blood.
Her shoulder.
The broken collar.
The air left his chest.
—Ram.
She tilted her face slightly.
—The gardener has recovered an amount of humanity.
Link looked at the disaster again.
His mouth tasted like blood and ash.
He did not remember everything.
Fragments.
The Wagpig split apart.
The taste.
Pain.
Ram shouting at him.
Darkness.
Then images without order.
Bodies.
Miasma entering him.
Energy accumulating.
Light coming from his mouth.
An ice statue being pierced.
Ram's throat beneath his kagunes.
Link swallowed.
His expression grew more serious.
He looked at the dozens of severed trees, the bodies decapitated after death, and the stretch of forest Breaker Cannon had erased.
—This time it isn't my fault.
Ram looked at him.
The silence lasted two seconds.
—Ram was almost decapitated by an extension coming out of your back.
—I wasn't conscious.
—The extension still belonged to you.
—That is limited bodily liability.
—It also destroyed a considerable section of forest.
—The Mabeasts were coming toward us.
—And you kicked a cub.
Link turned.
The small Wagpig lay beside Ram.
Its chest barely rose.
—I didn't see that it was small.
—The gardener could not see anything.
—Exactly. Not my fault.
Ram kept her eye on him.
Link tried to maintain the defense.
He could not.
His shoulders lowered.
—Fine. Maybe part of it.
—An amount.
—Don't use that word now.
He tried to stand.
His legs trembled.
Not from physical exhaustion.
His body had become stronger.
Breaker Cannon had consumed energy, but the drained Mabeasts had left an enormous reserve inside him.
The trembling came from somewhere else.
Consciousness returning to an anatomy that had changed without permission.
He could feel all six kagunes even while they were retracted.
Not like before.
Their bases occupied different positions.
The two new extensions remained folded between the others, thin and tense beneath his back. Miasma still clung to them.
Waiting.
Link reached Ram.
Knelt.
—Let me see you.
—Ram can examine herself.
She attempted to move her right arm.
Her expression did not change.
Her body did.
A tremor ran through the shoulder.
Link took her wrist before she could try again.
—You can't lift it.
—Brilliant observation.
—The shoulder is dislocated.
—Ram knows.
—Your ribs...
—Also.
—Did you hit a tree?
—The ground. Then a tree.
Link looked at the remains of Crimson Heart.
The mount was broken.
The lagmite was gone.
Tiny ice crystals still clung to Ram's skin and the edge of her clothes.
He touched one.
It melted against his finger.
—The collar.
—Exploded.
—It exploded?
—Ram expected the creator to know about that function.
Link looked up.
—I didn't.
For the first time since he regained consciousness, Ram looked genuinely surprised.
—You didn't?
—It was only supposed to regulate temperature.
—It created an ice replica.
Link looked toward the place where the statue had shattered.
The pieces remained scattered among the leaves.
He remembered the kagune piercing that false body.
Then Ram being thrown clear of the attack.
—The lagmite reacted on its own.
—The circuit reacted.
—I didn't design that.
Ram touched the broken mount.
—Then it did something you didn't understand.
—That happens more often than I'd like to admit.
—To everyone else too.
Link let his hand fall.
The idea came slowly.
Crimson Heart had detected a lethal attack.
Destroyed its own core.
Released all its energy.
Moved Ram.
Created a substitute.
One final protection.
The object Link had built to keep her from feeling cold had saved her heart from one of his own kagunes.
He did not know what to feel.
Pride.
Horror.
Relief.
Guilt.
Everything at once.
—It worked —he murmured.
—Once.
—I can make another.
—Beatrice-sama will have to inspect it.
—Yes.
—And Ram will decide whether to wear it again.
Link looked at the red mark on her throat.
—You'll wear it.
The pink eye narrowed.
—The gardener does not give Ram orders.
—I almost killed you.
—That reduces your authority.
—The collar stopped me from doing it.
—A defense that destroys itself during every fatal attack sounds expensive.
—I'll make ten.
—No.
—Five.
—No.
—Three.
—Ram does not negotiate half-naked, injured, and surrounded by corpses.
Link looked at her clothes.
Part of the cloak was gone. The right sleeve had torn, leaving the shoulder partly exposed.
He looked away.
—You aren't half-naked.
—You looked for too long before deciding.
—I was checking the injuries.
—Naturally.
—Don't start.
Ram exhaled.
Her breath broke halfway through.
Her face paled.
Link forgot the argument.
—Don't move.
—Ram needs to return.
—I need to set the shoulder first.
—Do it.
He held her arm.
—It's going to hurt.
—Ram knows.
—You could pass out.
—Ram is not Barusu.
—That does not answer me.
He placed one hand behind the shoulder.
The other held her arm.
—On three.
—One.
Link pushed.
The joint returned to place.
The sound was dry.
Ram clenched her teeth.
Her left hand closed around Link's shirt.
She did not scream.
He expected her to insult him.
It did not happen.
For several seconds, she remained leaning forward, breathing against his chest.
Link did not remove his hands.
—Ram?
—The gardener said three.
—Waiting only prolongs the fear.
—Ram wasn't afraid.
—Then it didn't matter.
The hand gripping his shirt tightened.
—Ram will decide how to punish you later.
—That means you're fine.
—No.
Link helped her sit against a root that had somehow remained intact.
He examined her shoulder.
The joint was back in place.
There was swelling.
Her ribs were another problem.
They did not seem to have punctured anything, but every breath hurt.
—You need mana —he said.
Ram opened her eye.
—You need a doctor.
—That too.
—Not the same thing.
—Your Gate is almost empty.
—Ram can feel that.
So could Link.
He did not know exactly how.
Before, he would have needed Beatrice to examine someone. Now, with his horns visible and the new sensitivity extending from the kagunes, he could perceive Ram's flow.
Or its absence.
The mana within her was too thin a current.
Fura.
Clairvoyance.
Barriers.
The prolonged battle.
She had consumed much more than she could recover without her horn.
Crimson Heart had used the last of its own charge, not Ram's, but the explosion and injuries had left her body trying to sustain itself without resources.
—I can give you some —Link said.
Ram watched him for several seconds.
—You don't know how.
—I have two horns.
—That does not teach you the procedure.
—My body understands it.
—The same body tried to tear Ram's head off.
Link closed his mouth.
Valid argument.
Far too valid.
—I won't let it take control again.
—You said that before losing it.
—I didn't know that could happen.
—Now you don't know your new limits either.
Silence returned.
The small Wagpig made a weak sound beside them.
It did not move.
Still alive.
For now.
Link looked at it.
Then at Ram.
—Luci went for help.
—Yes.
—She could take a while.
—Yes.
—You don't have enough mana to wait for hours.
Ram knew.
Her skin was starting to cool.
Not because of the weather.
Crimson Heart no longer regulated anything.
And her body did not possess enough resources to maintain all its functions normally.
Link extended one hand.
—Let me try.
Ram looked at his palm.
She did not take it.
—What will you do if Ram's mana rejects yours?
—I'll pull it back.
—And if you can't?
—Beatrice will kill me afterward.
—That does not help Ram.
—Then I won't fail.
The answer came out firmly.
Not arrogantly.
Link moved a little closer.
—I'm not going to fill you. Just give you enough to return.
Ram lowered her gaze toward his hand.
—Roswaal-sama does it precisely.
Link felt something unpleasant in his chest.
Not jealousy.
Not exactly.
It was awareness that he was entering a part of Ram's life that had always belonged to Roswaal.
The missing horn.
The nights.
The dependence.
The borrowed mana.
—I'm not Roswaal.
—Ram is grateful for that every day.
—Then this will be different.
She looked at him again.
—That is the worrying part.
Link allowed both horns to fully emerge.
The red lines lit up.
He did not absorb mana from the surroundings.
For the first time, he attempted the opposite movement.
Energy crashed against the inside.
The horns were accustomed to taking.
Devouring.
Pulling toward his body.
Forcing them to release mana in a controlled manner was like trying to make a river flow uphill.
Link closed his eyes.
Reduced the pressure.
He did not think of a spell.
He did not need an enormous image.
No fire.
No dragons.
Only a current.
A small amount.
Mana descended from the horns.
Passed through his head.
Traveled down his arm.
Gathered in his open palm.
Ram watched reddish light appear beneath his skin.
—Too much.
Link reduced it.
The light dimmed.
—Like this?
—You still don't know.
—There's only one way.
Ram raised her left hand.
Placed her fingers over his.
The contact did nothing at first.
Cold skin.
Dried blood.
A trembling pressure.
Link rotated his hand.
Interlaced their fingers.
Ram raised an eyebrow.
—That doesn't seem necessary.
—It keeps you from pulling away.
—Ram can break your fingers.
—Not now.
Her eye narrowed.
—Useful motivation to recover.
Link lifted his other hand.
Hesitated.
—I need to touch where the horn used to be.
Ram stopped breathing for an instant.
Her forehead.
The place hidden beneath the pink hair.
There was no visible wound.
Time had closed the skin.
The absence remained underneath.
Link had never touched it.
Rem had explained what it meant.
Ram lived without that part of herself.
Depended on mana received from others to compensate for what her body could no longer do.
—Do it —she said.
Link carefully moved her bangs aside.
His fingers brushed the forehead.
Ram tensed.
She did not retreat.
He placed his palm over the place.
The difference was immediate.
He did not need to search for a route.
He felt it.
An emptiness.
Not a physical hole.
An incomplete structure.
Ram's channels reached toward a point that no longer existed and diverted from there, forced for years to function in a different way.
Link's body reacted.
One horn burned.
Then the other.
Mana descended.
Ram opened her eye wide.
—Wait—
The first current was too large.
Link's mana entered like liquid fire.
It did not burn.
Ram's body attempted to reject it simply because of the difference in volume. A wave traveled through her forehead, neck, chest, and back. Her pink hair lifted. The ground around them became covered by a sudden wind.
Link cut off the flow.
—Sorry.
Ram drew in a breath.
Her pupils took a moment to focus.
—"Too much" appeared to be a clear phrase.
—I thought I had reduced it.
—That was reduced?
—For me.
—Ram understands a little better why Beatrice-sama hits you.
Link kept his palm over her forehead.
—Again.
—Less.
—Yes.
—Much less.
—Yes.
—A human amount.
—That isn't a measurement.
—For anyone except you.
Link closed his eyes.
This time, he did not open the current.
He allowed a thread to escape.
Nothing more.
A strand of mana passed through his palm and entered Ram's incomplete channels.
Her body did not reject it.
The energy was warm.
Not like the fire of a spell.
Like Crimson Heart before it broke.
A temperature that did not impose heat, but reminded the body what its own should be.
Ram closed her eye.
Mana advanced slowly.
It first filled the channels closest to the point where her horn had been. Then descended toward the Gate, circled the heart, and spread toward her limbs.
Link felt the route.
He was not merely giving.
He could perceive.
The accumulated exhaustion.
The irritation in the muscles.
The strained Gate.
The injured ribs.
And something deeper.
A fierce resistance to receiving.
Ram had built her entire life around functioning with less.
Less mana.
Less strength.
Fewer possibilities.
Receiving a foreign current was not rest.
It was admitting a lack.
Link opened his eyes.
Ram was too close.
Her forehead remained beneath his palm.
Her left hand was still intertwined with his.
Her pink hair moved in the wind produced by the mana.
Her face had recovered a little color.
—You don't have to fight me —he said.
The eye opened.
—Ram isn't fighting.
—I can feel you trying to close the route.
—Instinct.
—Leave it open.
—Do not give orders.
—I'm asking.
She held his gaze.
Then released the breath.
The resistance weakened.
The flow entered more smoothly.
Link reduced it even further, avoiding saturating her channels. Their mana touched, mixing only enough for Ram's body to accept it.
The sensation passed through Link as well.
Wind.
Not a gust.
The idea of wind.
Light.
Sharp.
Proud.
A current capable of bending around obstacles without admitting it had ever changed direction.
Ram felt the fire on the other side.
Not the explosions.
Not the destructive heat.
Beneath all of that was an enormous reserve, yes, but also disorder. Currents moving in several directions. Hunger. Miasma. Images. The echo of the six newly born kagunes.
And fear.
Far more than Link showed.
Fear of losing control again.
Fear that he had killed her.
Fear of returning to the manor without her and looking at Rem.
Ram closed her fingers around his hand.
—Enough.
Link stopped the transfer.
He did not immediately remove his palm.
—Do you feel better?
—Yes.
—How much?
—Enough.
—That isn't a measurement.
—Now you understand the annoyance.
Link smiled faintly.
The expression disappeared when Ram raised her hand and took his wrist.
She slowly separated his palm from her forehead.
The air between them seemed colder afterward.
Link let the pink bangs fall back over the place where her horn had once been.
—That was strange.
—Ram has received mana before.
—Not from me.
—That was the strange part.
Link looked away.
—Don't tell Rem like that.
—Like what?
—"I received mana from Link and it was strange."
Ram appeared to consider the sentence.
—Ram could say it was warm.
—Worse.
—Intimate.
—Much worse.
—Pleasant.
Link looked at her.
Ram's face remained perfectly serious.
Only her eye revealed a tiny amount of satisfaction.
—You're getting revenge.
—Ram has no idea what you're talking about.
—I almost decapitated you.
—That deserves greater revenge.
—Then save some for later.
Ram released his hand.
Tried moving her shoulder.
The pain remained, but the muscles responded. The transferred mana had not healed her bones. It had restored enough strength to support her body and use a limited amount of wind.
—You can stand —she said.
Link placed one arm behind her back.
—Slowly.
—Ram does not need to be carried.
—Your ribs are injured.
—She can walk.
—You passed out trying to prove something similar.
Ram stared at him.
—During your vacation —he corrected himself.
—Ram remembers.
—Then learn.
—The gardener voluntarily suffocates himself during training.
—That's unrelated.
—It is entirely related.
Ram tried to rise.
Her legs responded.
Her ribs did not.
She leaned over.
Link caught her.
Ram's left arm ended around his neck.
Link's wrapped around her waist.
They ended up far too close again.
—I can carry you —he said.
—No.
—That wasn't a question.
—Then it will not have an answer.
Ram looked at the destroyed path.
—We must make sure no Mabeasts remain.
Link extended his senses.
Hearing.
Smell.
The new perception in his kagunes.
There were no growls.
No distant movement.
Only falling trees, fire consuming branches, and one small breath near them.
—One remains.
Ram followed his gaze.
The Wagpig cub remained lying down.
Its chest barely moved.
—You're going to kill it —Ram said.
Link did not answer.
He helped her sit against the root again.
Then walked toward the creature.
Every step allowed him to feel his new body more clearly.
The six kagunes wanted to emerge.
Not from hunger.
Reflex.
The miasma clinging to them reacted to the cub. He could feel its weak mana. Its accelerated heart. Its fading life force.
He could also feel something resembling a mark.
He had not struck the small Wagpig with a kagune.
The kick should not have applied a curse.
Even so, the miasma released during the mutation had adhered to its body.
It was not a complete curse.
Not yet.
Link knelt.
The cub opened one eye.
Red.
Small.
It saw him.
Tried to rise.
One leg failed.
Its mouth opened.
Tiny fangs bit the air.
—You still want to fight.
The Wagpig squealed.
Link extended his hand.
Ram spoke from behind him.
—Do not put your fingers near it.
—It has no strength.
The creature bit.
Its teeth closed around two fingers.
Link felt no pain.
The little Wagpig tried to squeeze.
It could not.
—See?
—Ram sees that you don't listen.
Link allowed it to keep biting.
The creature breathed too quickly.
The side where the kick had landed was caved in. Several ribs had broken. One hind leg rested at the wrong angle.
—It was just born.
—It is still a Mabeast.
—It didn't choose to come here.
—None of them chose what they are.
Link looked at the bodies around them.
True.
That did not make the others innocent.
They had attacked.
They would have reached Arlam.
The cub had attacked too.
But it could not distinguish between a threat and the being that had just killed everything it knew.
—Its mother was here —Link said.
Ram looked at the split corpse of the adult Wagpig.
—Possibly.
—We killed her.
—She tried to kill Ram.
—I know.
The cub released his fingers.
Its head fell.
Link placed one hand against its neck.
The pulse was weak.
The miasma beneath its skin reacted to the contact.
A black line appeared.
The curse.
Link pulled his hand away.
The mark continued spreading.
The small Wagpig convulsed.
—No.
Instinct emerged from within the six kagunes.
Activate.
Drain.
Consume.
Link felt the creature's heart.
He could stop it.
He only had to want to.
That certainty did not come from Beatrice or from any studied spell.
His new anatomy knew.
The curse answered to him.
Link closed his eyes.
He did not activate it.
He did the opposite.
Forced the mark to remain dormant.
The black lines stopped.
They did not disappear.
They remained along the neck like an unfinished drawing.
—You can control it —Ram said.
Link opened his eyes.
—I think so.
—A reassuring phrase.
—I didn't kill it.
—Yet.
The small Wagpig stopped convulsing.
Link opened the backpack.
Rem had packed concentrated broth, dried meat, and a bottle of water.
He took the broth.
The bottle was still warm.
He unscrewed the cap.
Ram watched.
—That was for us.
—I don't need it.
—Ram does.
—I'll give you half.
He poured a small amount onto his palm.
Moved it close to the snout.
The Wagpig did not react.
Link wet its lips.
Its tongue emerged.
Tasted.
Then its mouth opened.
Link let a tiny amount fall in.
The creature swallowed.
Its chest moved a little more strongly.
—That is Wolgarm broth —Ram said.
—It's a Mabeast. I don't think it has moral objections.
—You are feeding a Wagpig another species.
—Nature isn't kind.
He poured a little more.
The creature drank.
Not much.
Enough to stop fading.
Link stored the bottle.
—It'll survive if we treat the injuries.
—"We"?
—I'm taking it with us.
Ram looked at him.
—No.
—It's small.
—It will grow.
—That tends to happen with babies.
—It will become a several-ton creature capable of running through a house.
—It can pull the carriage.
Ram closed her eye.
—The gardener already suggested that regarding an adult.
—Then it was a good idea.
—Roswaal-sama ordered the Mabeasts eliminated.
—We eliminated the threat.
—This is a Mabeast.
—It's an orphan.
—That tried to attack you.
—All my animals tried to attack me.
—That is not a recommendation.
Link slid both arms beneath the cub.
Lifted it.
The little Wagpig gave a weak squeal. It attempted to bite his chest and ended up resting its snout against his shirt.
It weighed more than its size suggested.
Its still-soft plates retained warmth.
—Look.
—Ram is looking at a poor decision.
—It can't walk.
—That does not improve the decision.
—I'll take it to the enclosure.
—The Wolgarms will try to eat it.
—Then they'll learn to coexist.
—Or Ram will find pieces of pig scattered across the grounds.
Link manifested one kagune.
It did not emerge violently.
The extension was thinner.
Miasma fur covered part of the surface. The rows of teeth did not appear.
It curved around the small Wagpig, forming a kind of black cradle.
The cub opened its eye.
It did not attack.
Link's miasma completely surrounded it.
Instead of frightening it, the presence appeared to calm it.
Its body stopped trembling.
—It already recognizes me —Link said.
—As the creature that almost killed it.
—As its new caretaker.
—Kidnapping through self-created orphanhood.
—Adoption.
Ram examined the small Wagpig wrapped inside the kagune.
—What will you call it?
Link looked at the creature.
The oversized legs.
Broad snout.
Dark plates still soft.
—I don't know yet.
—Surprising restraint.
—I want Rem to help.
—Rem will try to convince you to return it to the forest.
Link looked at the destruction extending before them.
—What forest?
Ram fell silent.
Breaker Cannon had opened a corridor that could be seen disappearing into mist and smoke.
—This time it isn't my fault —Link repeated.
—Still false.
—The Mabeasts appeared because of the explosions.
—Yours.
—Roswaal sent us.
—Because of your explosions.
—I lost consciousness.
—Because you ate Mabeasts for weeks without measuring the consequences.
Link frowned.
—When you say everything together, it sounds like my fault.
—Ram possesses a talent for explaining.
The little Wagpig snorted.
Link looked at its face.
—He agrees with me.
—She.
Link blinked.
—What?
—It's female.
—How do you know?
Ram stared at him.
—Ram possesses eyes.
Link tilted the kagune.
Tried to check.
The cub squealed and moved one leg.
—All right, all right.
Ram closed her eye.
—The great artificer, unable to identify a female cub.
—I've never owned a pig.
—You had never owned a dragon either, and you built one.
—Charizard is easy to recognize.
—It isn't a dragon.
—It uses Dragon Claw.
—That does not answer anything.
Link returned to Ram.
—Then a female Wagpig.
—You still cannot keep her.
—I already fed her.
—That does not establish ownership.
—She bit me.
—Neither does that.
—I kicked her.
—Definitely not.
—We share a history.
—A history of abuse.
—You're exaggerating.
Ram attempted to stand.
Link used his free arm to help.
The cub remained suspended inside the kagune, pressed to his side.
—I'll walk —Ram said.
—I'll carry you.
—No.
—You can't use your right arm.
—She has two legs.
—And injured ribs.
—Ram already received mana.
—That did not put the bones back together.
She took one step.
Her body tilted.
Link wrapped an arm around her waist.
Ram ended up leaning against him.
—Demonstration concluded —he said.
—The terrain is uneven.
—Of course.
Link lifted her.
One arm beneath her knees.
The other behind her back.
Ram opened her eye.
—Put me down.
—No.
—The gardener is already carrying a Mabeast.
—I have six kagunes.
—Do not use them to carry Ram.
—After nearly piercing you with them, I wasn't planning to.
The answer removed part of her protest.
Ram looked at the extensions folded beneath his back.
—Are there still six?
—Yes.
—Thinner.
—Faster.
—And covered in miasma.
—Yes.
—They applied the Wolgarm curse.
—Every time they touched something.
—You can activate them.
Link remembered the bodies stopping.
Life leaving them.
Hearts going silent.
—Yes.
Ram watched his face.
—And deactivate them?
Link looked at the incomplete mark around the cub's neck.
—I'm learning.
—Then do not touch anyone with them until Beatrice-sama examines them.
—I'll need one to carry her.
—The Wagpig is not "anyone."
—That was cruel.
—It is a Mabeast.
—Now she's family.
Ram rested her head against his shoulder for lack of any other comfortable position.
—Rem will hate that sentence.
—Rem loves animals.
—Rem tolerates the Wolgarms because you broke their horns and control them.
—This one is small.
—For now.
Link began walking.
He did not know exactly where the original path was anymore.
The forest had changed too much.
Ram raised her left hand.
A weak wind current appeared.
Enough to move leaves and find a route.
—Right —she said.
Link obeyed.
The first step made Ram press her lips together.
—Does it hurt?
—No.
—You lie worse than Emilia.
—That is impossible.
—Almost.
Link adjusted the arm behind her back.
Pulled her closer to reduce movement around the ribs.
Ram ended up against his chest.
Her pink hair brushed his neck.
—Like that.
—Ram does not need comfort.
—Everyone does.
—The gardener does not.
The sentence arrived without apparent intention.
Link stopped walking for a fraction of a second.
—What does that mean?
—You drag a rock while suffocating and burning your body.
—That's training.
—Today you lost consciousness because your body spent weeks accumulating something you didn't understand.
—It won't happen again.
—You don't know that.
Link continued.
The truth walked beside them for several meters.
He did not know whether the mutation had finished.
He did not know how much miasma it would take to trigger another.
Nor whether the next time he would be able to stop before killing someone.
He had been less than a breath away from Ram's throat.
Crimson Heart had saved her once.
Afterward, only a word and something inside him had stopped the final attack.
He could not depend on either.
—I need to speak with Beatrice —he said.
—Yes.
—And Puck.
—Yes.
—Roswaal will try turning this into a military advantage.
—Yes.
—Subaru will shout that I evolved.
—Probably.
—Rem...
His voice stopped.
Ram raised her head slightly.
—Rem will be frightened.
Link tightened his arms.
Not around Ram.
Around himself.
—I almost killed you.
—You didn't.
—Twice.
—The first activated the collar.
—The second time I stopped for nothing.
—It wasn't nothing.
—What was it?
Ram thought.
The kagune had been over her throat.
She had mentioned Rem.
The extension had stopped.
But she did not believe the name alone had returned Link.
There had been something earlier.
The scent.
The voice.
Familiarity.
The same resistance Link had shown every time his body attempted to turn a person into a target.
—You recognized me —she said.
—No.
—Part of you did.
—That wasn't me.
—It was your body.
—That doesn't mean it was me.
—Then decide where one ends and the other begins.
Link did not answer.
—Until then —Ram continued—, both will share the blame.
—That doesn't help.
—It wasn't meant to.
The small Wagpig moved inside the kagune.
Opened its mouth.
Bit the surface covered in miasma.
Its fangs could not pierce it.
Link looked at her.
—She's hungry.
—Rem prepared dried meat.
—I'm not giving her more until someone examines her.
—A sensible decision.
—I can have those.
—By accident.
Ram rested against him again.
The mana she had received continued circulating through her body.
Link could vaguely feel it through the point of contact between them. He did not control her. He did not know what her body did with the energy once it was inside.
But he recognized a little of himself in the weak wind guiding their path.
The sensation was strange.
Too close.
—Does the mana feel all right? —he asked.
Ram opened her eye.
—Are you asking about efficiency or fishing for another compliment?
—Efficiency.
—It's heavy.
—Bad?
—Disordered.
—That doesn't sound good.
—Also warm.
Link looked forward.
—Don't say that part in front of Rem.
—Ram will decide what to tell her sister.
—I can stop carrying you.
She looked at the corpse-covered terrain.
—The gardener would not do that.
—No.
—Then it is a useless threat.
—I'm only asking for discretion.
—About the mana or the position?
Link looked down.
Ram was still in his arms.
Her face near his neck.
One arm around his shoulder.
—Everything.
—Ram will explain every detail.
—I gave you mana.
—Without technique.
—I carried you.
—After kicking a cub toward Ram.
—I kept you from dying.
—After trying to kill her.
Link closed his eyes.
—I'm not winning this conversation.
—Another sensible decision.
A golden light appeared between the trees.
Link stopped.
Ram raised her head.
Luci emerged from the forest.
Her tiny humanoid form flickered from exertion. She was flying faster than her reserves should have allowed.
When she saw him, she stopped.
Her light increased.
—Link!
The quasi-spirit launched herself forward.
Hit his forehead.
Link tilted his head from the impact.
—Hello.
Luci pulled back.
Examined him.
His eyes.
Horns.
Blood.
Then she looked at Ram in his arms.
—Ram.
—Still alive —Link said.
—Good.
—Yes.
Luci descended onto the pink hair.
Ram raised her left hand and touched her tiny body.
—You found help.
The quasi-spirit pointed upward.
A roar tore through the night.
Branches shook.
Wind descended over the destroyed forest.
Charizard appeared above the trees.
Its enormous wings cut the air as it lost altitude. The flame on its tail illuminated the sky. Rem was in the front saddle, leaning forward, both hands gripping the handles.
Beatrice traveled behind her.
Puck flew beside the right wing.
Roswaal appeared farther away, moving through magic.
Subaru had been strapped beneath the second saddle with far too many belts.
—I SAID I COULD SIT! —he was shouting.
Nobody heard him over the wind.
Charizard saw Link.
Then the strip of forest that had been erased.
The bodies.
Ram.
The cub wrapped inside a kagune.
The mechanical head tilted.
Raised its thumb.
Link stared at the gesture.
—I don't know whether that's appropriate.
Rem saw him.
Her expression changed.
Relief first.
Then concern.
Then she noticed Ram in his arms.
Her gaze moved down to the broken mount around Ram's throat.
Returned to Link.
He felt that no amount of regeneration would save him from the conversation approaching.
Ram followed his gaze.
—Now you can explain that the transfer was warm.
—Don't.
—Intimate.
—Ram.
—Pleasant.
—I'll drop you.
She held his gaze.
Link tightened his arms around her instead.
Ram closed her eye with the slightest satisfaction.
—Useless threat.
Charizard began landing.
The air current shook branches, corpses, and ash. Rem did not wait for its claws to completely touch the ground.
She released the belt.
Jumped.
Puck formed an ice platform beneath her feet and slowed the fall.
Rem ran.
Link remained still.
Ram in his arms.
Luci on her hair.
The small Wagpig inside a black kagune.
Behind them, a corridor of destruction stretched toward the horizon.
Rem stopped before them.
Her eyes traveled over everything.
—Link.
—I can explain.
Ram opened her eye.
—This time it wasn't completely his fault.
Link looked at her.
—Thank you.
—Only most of it.
—That doesn't help.
Rem looked at her sister.
—Nee-sama.
—Ram is fine.
—You're hurt.
—A minor difference.
Rem touched the right arm.
Ram grimaced.
The blue eyes hardened.
—Not minor.
Link tried handing her over.
Ram kept her arm around his neck.
—She can't support herself —he explained.
—She can —Ram said.
—She can't.
—Ram can.
—Don't start —Rem ordered.
Both closed their mouths.
Rem looked at the broken collar.
Then Link.
—Crimson Heart...
—Saved her.
—Did you know it could do that?
—No.
Some of the anger left Rem's expression.
The worry did not.
—And that?
She pointed toward the kagune.
The little Wagpig poked its snout out.
Squealed.
Rem blinked.
—It's a cub —Link said.
—Rem can see that.
—I adopted her.
Ram spoke before Rem could respond.
—Ram approved nothing.
—I fed her.
—That is not a contract.
—She bit me.
—Neither is that.
Rem looked at the cub.
Then at the black extension holding her.
Finally at the four additional points under Link's back, barely visible whenever the kagune moved.
—You have six.
The silence changed.
Beatrice descended from Charizard through a door.
She saw the kagune.
Her expression became completely serious.
Puck landed beside her.
Roswaal appeared behind them.
Subaru managed to free one hand from the restraints.
—DID YOU EVOLVE?!
Link closed his eyes.
—I knew you'd say that.
Ram rested her head against his shoulder again.
—Ram would like to return to the manor before the next explanation.
Rem nodded.
—First we will examine nee-sama.
Then she looked at Link.
—Then Link.
Her voice was gentle.
That was worse.
—And afterward —she continued—, we will discuss the cub.
The small Wagpig bit the edge of the kagune.
Link smiled faintly.
—That means she can stay.
—No.
—You said we'll discuss it.
—Yes.
—Then there is a possibility.
Rem closed her eyes.
—Link.
—All right.
The cub gave another squeal.
Luci descended onto her head.
—Small.
—Yes.
—Pretty.
Rem looked at the broad snout, dark plates, and small fangs.
—You will not use Luci to convince me.
—I didn't tell her anything.
Luci lifted both arms.
—Family.
Everyone fell silent.
Link looked at the quasi-spirit.
The cub stopped biting.
Ram opened her eye.
Rem brought one hand to her forehead.
Beatrice muttered something about disastrous influences.
Puck hid a laugh.
Roswaal studied the little Wagpig as though already calculating the cost of reinforcing an enclosure.
Subaru gave a thumbs-up from within the restraints.
Charizard copied the gesture.
Link smiled.
—Family.
Rem looked at him.
Then at the injured Ram.
The destroyed forest.
The six new kagunes.
The nearly dead cub.
She released a long breath.
—First, we go back.
It was not acceptance.
Nor was it a final rejection.
Link decided to count it as a victory.
Charizard lowered its body.
Beatrice opened a door toward the saddle so Ram would not have to move more than necessary. Link entered while still carrying her. The kagune carefully placed the cub in the rear space.
Ram was settled in front of him.
Not because either of them considered the position proper.
Because she needed support during the flight.
Rem occupied the front seat.
She turned one final time.
—Hold her properly.
—I am.
Ram raised an eyebrow.
—Ram hopes the order does not carry a double meaning.
—Don't start in front of your sister.
Rem slowly turned around.
—What does that mean?
—Nothing —both answered.
Subaru was still hanging beneath the saddle.
—I WANT TO KNOW!
Beatrice tightened another strap over his mouth.
Charizard spread its wings.
The small Wagpig curled inside the kagune, surrounded by black miasma and warmth. The incomplete mark remained over her neck, dormant beneath Link's control.
Ram rested her back against his chest.
The mana he had given her continued circulating inside.
Link felt six kagunes folded beneath his skin.
The first shifted.
Then the second.
The new ones responded behind them.
They did not try to emerge.
For now.
Rem sent mana into the handles.
Charizard ran.
Its feet left the ground.
The ruined forest dropped beneath them.
From the sky, the path left by Breaker Cannon looked like a black wound cutting through Mathers territory.
Ram stared at it.
—Roswaal-sama will charge you for that.
—This time it isn't my fault.
—You keep repeating that.
—Because it's true.
The Wagpig cub snorted.
Link pointed at her with one kagune.
—She agrees.
Ram closed her eye.
—You already resemble each other.
Charizard roared.
Its wings carried all of them toward the manor.
Below remained hundreds of corpses, a destroyed collar, and the first signs of a mutation none of them yet understood.
Ahead waited Beatrice, questions, new restrictions, and a Rem who would not easily forget that her partner had tried to kill her sister.
But Ram was alive.
The little Wagpig was alive too.
And for that night, for Link, that was enough.