"She's not stable," Helena muttered, barely able to hold her barrier up as she saw Vivian's actions.
"She's past control…"
Vivian wasn't acting normal, and it seemed that her transformation had made her whole personality change, which could be extremely bad.
But Helena's gaze suddenly turned as she noticed Ruby approaching her.
Ruby, slumped behind a broken archway, turned her bloodied face up, forcing her eyes to stay open.
Her left arm hung at her side, completely limp, her shoulder coated in dried blood. Her right eye was swollen shut. She was still alive, but not by much.
"Vivian… she's… burning too hot."
Helene gritted her teeth.
"I know!"
Then—
Regulus rose at last, staggering slightly. He looked toward the flames that wreathed Vivian's silhouette, and, with a hoarse voice, shouted:
"My Saintess!"
Far across the battlefield, past ruined pillars and cracked walls, the Saintess of Ashes turned her head. Her expression hadn't changed once.
