The duel had ended, and each faction quietly carried out their roles.
The Loki Familia used Meryl chains they had brought along to bind the captured spies. Though the spies no longer resisted, they were restrained one by one for appearances' sake.
The spies showed no sign of displeasure at being bound. As professional assassins, they had long been prepared for this, and if it meant being freed from their"teacher" Svartá's control, they welcomed it.
Svartá's orphanage had been a cover for two factions: the elves led by Regos, and the others led by Svartá.
The elves, inspired by Svartá's ideals and the charisma of the royal high-elf, revered him. Meanwhile, Svartá's group despised his madness but followed orders simply because they had nowhere else to go.
Being captured here meant facing divine judgment. At the very least, they thought, it would mean release from this hellish world.
Then, suddenly,
"Uh, um, "
Bound in chains, Soron spoke up. The cat-person girl Anakiti, who had been tying him up, looked at him suspiciously.
"What is it?"
"P-please… help Svartá!"
Anakiti couldn't grasp the meaning of his words immediately.
"...You want us to let her go?"
"N-no, not that… um, well…"
Soron faltered, which only made Anakiti more confused. At that moment, Tiona approached.
"What's going on?"
"This kid wants you to help Svartá."
"Svartá? Who's that?"
"She's the one who dueled with the captain."
It wasn't unusual for Tiona to forget or mix up names, so Aki responded with a slight sigh.
"Oh, right. And why does she need help?"
"That part's unclear…"
They both looked toward Svartá, and then,
"Hey, doesn't she look pale?"
"Yeah…"
Just as they noticed, Svartá dropped to her knees. Unable to use her hands because of the chains, she collapsed.
"Svartá!?"
Her comrades rushed to her side but stumbled and fell over each other in the process. Tiona and Anakiti, noticing the change first, immediately hurried to her.
"Are you okay!?"
Examining her condition, they realized she was suffering from a status ailment, specifically, poison.
"Aki, get the antidote potion!"
"Right!"
Tiona, understanding the severity, gave orders at once. Anakiti pulled the antidote potion from her backpack and forced Svartá to drink it. But the symptoms did not improve, in fact, there was no sign of relief at all.
"It's useless…"
Svartá spoke through the poison's haze, stunning the two with her words.
"This poison... it's a special concoction made by that man… it can't be cured. Antidotes, even the universal elixir… none of them work."
The two were left speechless.
"Could it be that the others are poisoned too!?"
"No... I'm the only one. I'm the only one who has the key information… they didn't need to silence the others."
Svartá's voice was weak and barely above a whisper, as if the poison was sapping the very breath from her.
Tiona scanned the surroundings, trying to calm herself.
"What happened?"
"Captain, it's… this."
Finn, noticing the commotion, approached. Other adventurers also gathered, curious.
"Is there no way to cure it?"
"Once it activates, there's no cure. At least, none that I know."
Finn's face darkened with regret upon hearing that. To him, Svartá was the first comrade he'd ever met who worshipped the same goddess.
The atmosphere around Svartá grew heavy with despair as she confessed that survival was impossible.
Meanwhile, Lefiya felt uneasy about something Svartá had said earlier.
Activate…?
They spoke of poison, but never in terms of"activation." Lefiya racked her brain, searching for something that felt off, and then recalled Svartá's words before the duel.
"I was fitted with a… collar, "
The collar. That was what unsettled her.
"Excuse me."
She knelt beside Svartá and looked at her neck. There, wrapped around simply, was a choker.
Lefiya reached out and removed it.
"What is this–?"
"Eh!?"
"What's this!?"
On it was a dull glow of strange characters.
"So this is… the true nature of the collar."
The characters weren't written in Common Koine or the sacred hieroglyphs, but from their appearance, it was clearly some kind of magic.
Svartá smiled faintly despite her weakened state.
"Hehe, you noticed, huh? I'll reward you with the secret. The collar activates when, "
"When the one bound by the spell becomes aware of information or actions that would put the caster at a disadvantage."
Lefiya cut in, finishing Svartá's explanation. Svartá's eyes widened.
"You…"
"That's ancient Elvish, right? The language elves used daily in the 'ancient' times."
"You can read it?"
"I studied a bit while learning magic. I can't handle complex long chants, but this much is doable...!"
Lefiya lowered her gaze to the collar around Svartá's neck and began deciphering the string of characters. After several tense seconds of silence… she finally spoke.
"Aki, keep giving her the antidote potion and the magic potion to restore her mental strength! Aisu, go fetch Riveria-sama and Toki immediately!"
Lefiya gave her orders with urgency. The two quickly sprang into action.
"This 'collar' is actually a magical 'spell' made up of two parts."
As Anakiti carefully administered the two potions to Svartá at regular intervals, Lefiya explained what she had deciphered. She held a piece of parchment for taking notes and furiously scribbled down the translation.
"The first part is a spell that continually produces a 'poison.' This poison resembles the toxic spores of the dark fungus monster, but since it's based on surface-dwelling creatures, it's not quite as strong."
In ancient times, monsters that managed to venture above ground passed on parts of their magical cores to their offspring, but compared to their dungeon-dwelling kin, their power was far weaker.
"However, this spell uses the wearer's mental strength, her mind, to keep producing the poison."
"So, it's not that the antidote potion doesn't work, but that even if it does, the poison just comes back again?"
"Yes."
Lefiya nodded in confirmation without pausing her writing. What she was transcribing was the spell of the collar.
"Then we just have to break her mental strength, right? Make her mind collapse?"
"In that case, the second spell activates."
Lefiya shook her head at Tione's suggestion.
"The second part triggers when the wearer can no longer produce the poison. When that condition is met, the magic sealed inside the spell causes the wearer's body to explode."
"Covering their tracks… that's thorough."
While many grimaced at the revelation, Svartá looked at Lefiya with a question in her eyes.
"Why…?"
"Why are you so desperate to save me…?"
Lefiya answered without stopping her work.
"There are many reasons. You have the most information, so restraining you makes capturing the others easier. And… frankly, I don't want to see someone die right in front of me."
But then she hesitated.
"The main reason… is because if you die, Toki will be heartbroken."
"Huh?"
"You told me once that you have two people you can call sisters, one is Asfi, and the other is probably you."
Lefiya's hand stopped moving, signaling that her analysis was complete. She looked Svartá straight in the eye.
"So, I'm helping you because I don't want to make him sad. That's my reason."
"…I see… Toki really found someone wonderful…"
"Svartá!!"
Just as Lefiya and Svartá finished their conversation, Toki returned, his face twisted with pain.
"Lefiya, what is this spell on Svartá!?"
"This." Lefiya said, handing him the parchment.
"A two-stage structure, 'poison' and 'self-destruction.' A curse, essentially… He left behind something troublesome…"
"Toki, what about that man?"
"He's over there, turned into a bit of art."
After reading the parchment, Toki closed his eyes and searched within himself. After a few seconds, he began chanting.
"[Release the bonds of that one, O chalice of holy water, Soul Seik.]"
He brought his fingers to the collar on Svartá's neck. Magical energy concentrated at his fingertips and formed a single droplet, which fell onto the spell and burst. Moments later, with a faint shattering sound, the characters vanished.
Toki exhaled a sigh of relief. This time, the ordeal was truly over.
𓂀═════════════𓂀
"What? I come when you call me and it's already done?"
Riveria returned with Ais. Lefiya bowed apologetically.
"I'm sorry! It was an emergency, and I wanted Riveria-sama's wisdom, but Toki solved everything…"
"If it's settled, that's fine. Besides, since it was made by that man, I'm not sure I could've helped much."
Riveria helped Lefiya raise her head and then turned to Finn and Gareth.
"By the way, you two, it's freezing over there. Make sure it's passable."
"…I'm tired from the duel, though."
"…What a demanding elf."
Grumbling, the two headed in the direction Riveria came from. Despite their complaints, smiles lingered on their faces. They had known Riveria long enough to recognize the bright, relieved atmosphere around her.
"By the way, Toki, how long do you plan to stay like that?"
At Lefiya's comment, Toki scratched his cheek.
"Well, I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling if I undo this… I don't think my mind is weak enough yet, so maybe I'll just stay like this for now?"
"It looks a bit strange since you're not fighting."
"...Alright."
With resolve, Toki began the spell to remove it.
"[Sleep, blood, until the time comes again.]"
In an instant, his hair and eyes returned to their original color, and he lost consciousness.
"...Huh?"
𓂀═════════════𓂀
A/N: Next chapter is the ending…ends. That was a long one…
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