Raize turned his head with a bit of curiosity, but that single glance caused his entire body to freeze, and his eyes could no longer move away.
What entered his vision was a cascade of beautiful hair, smooth like a waterfall and holy like golden sand, draping past her hips. A thin, pure-white dress wrapped around the girl's exquisitely perfect figure as if crafted by heaven itself.
A pair of golden eyes, seemingly containing both sanctity and gentleness, looked at him with emotions that were impossible to clearly describe.
Sei neither knocked nor opened the door. Instead, she treated the door to Raize's room as if it didn't exist at all, passing straight through it.
That familiar, soul-deep sense of stunning beauty washed over him once more, leaving Raize confused as to why Sei had suddenly appeared like this.
"Mmm…"
Laffey, still in deep sleep, slowly furrowed her brows. It was as if she sensed a presence in the room besides Raize and herself.
However, Sei merely cast a faint glance at the childlike and adorable Laffey. A subtle glimmer flashed through her eyes, and an invisible mental wave burst forth.
In an instant, Laffey's brows gradually relaxed, and she fell into an even deeper sleep—so deep that even if someone fired cannons or threw grenades beside her, she wouldn't wake up.
"…Sei, you… is something the matter?"
Raize turned his chair around, looking at the drastically changed Sei with a subtle expression, and softly asked through the voice-modulation device.
Seeing Sei like this for the first time truly threw him off balance and made him uncomfortable. After such a long time together, he knew Sei to be very gentle by nature. When she was smaller, she even carried a childlike cuteness.
But Sei suddenly appearing like this—there was no way she had come to see him without a reason.
There was no trace of immaturity left now. The aura surrounding Sei carried a sense of inclusiveness that surpassed even that of a mother. In this state, even the slightest display of her charm could cause him to lose his composure.
No emotion could be read from Sei's face as she slowly walked up to Raize, who was seated in his chair.
She glanced at the paused game on the computer screen, then looked down at the inexplicably nervous Raize from above and gently spoke:
"You violated our contract."
"…Huh?"
Raize tilted his head slightly upward. The first thing he saw was Sei's grand, full bosom, followed by her dreamlike and exquisitely beautiful face. Her words, however, left him completely bewildered.
He violated the contract?
He did indeed have a soul contract with Sei. She had granted him the power of primordial sacred radiance, and all he needed to do was use that power to protect—
"You didn't violate the other aspects of the contract, but you…"
As if sensing his confusion, Sei's dreamlike face seemed to show a trace of grievance and anger.
Staring directly into Raize's confused azure eyes, it was as if she saw something deeper and different within him. In a daze, vivid memories from the past seemed to resurface.
That was a more mature Raize, dressed in a white cloth garment she remembered, styled similarly to ancient people of the Celestial Empire.
Two pure-white, noble serpents extended from behind him, their bodies coiling outward. She herself, clad in a pure-white dress of the same cloth, nestled at his side, one of the serpents gently wrapping around her slender waist like a guardian beast.
The two of them leaned against each other like lovers, their hearts drawn incredibly close.
That was the only memory she had—the only being who could stand beside her like that. Back then, she didn't even have a name; even the name Sei had been given to her by him.
It was you who told me that besides protecting the world, there were other things I could do.
But now, why has the one leaning against your side changed? That was supposed to be her place!
Thinking of the scene she had seen in the park, Sei felt a tight knot in her chest.
I'm were only accompanying Asia in training for a while, and the two of you already developed things behind my back?
I was clearly the one who came first. (Nep within Raize shot a sideways glance, then sneered disdainfully.)
The God of Bible was aloof—more aloof than any god at this moment. Some beings could surpass her in power, yet none could stand shoulder to shoulder with her.
Because of her great love, she never favored anyone in particular, and likewise, no one ever tried to truly understand her.
She loved all beings and was willing to give her life for them.
Yet in the end, she herself had never experienced the most fundamental happiness or love. Thinking about it now was ironic, even laughable.
A god who had never experienced love or happiness wishing to give great love to the world—just hearing it sounded sorrowful.
With such grievance in her heart, Sei stared straight at the stiff-bodied, stiff-minded Raize. Almost unconsciously, she raised her hands to cup the boy's cheeks, forcing him to look up at her without averting his gaze.
"You kissed her?"
Sei's eyes drifted slightly downward as she spoke words that made Raize's head throb.
He already more or less understood what she meant. She probably knew about what had happened between him and Eu.
Perhaps she even knew quite a lot.
"…Yes."