As soon as his voice fell, a pitch-black magic circle emitting an ominous aura materialized in front of the boy. The black water surging from it roared toward the silver-haired woman like a flood from a burst dam.
The silver-haired woman's eyes narrowed slightly. She gripped the hilt of her sword tightly with her left hand. The magic power wrapped around the blade grew denser, gradually condensing into a faint, looming phantom of a crescent moon that radiated heart-palpitating waves of energy.
"Netherworld Style: Azure Moon Break!"
The magic power concentrated at the tip of the blade erupted suddenly, transforming into a pitch-black crescent moon. With the momentum to tear the sky asunder, it slashed toward the equally pitch-black magical torrent.
Although the long sword began to corrode rapidly the instant it touched the black water, the fierce momentum of the slash did not diminish in the slightest. It split the torrent before her in two, revealing a path leading straight to Tike.
The silver-haired woman didn't hesitate for a moment, arriving in front of Tike in a flash.
Facing her approach, Tike made no move to defend or counterattack. He simply watched quietly as her hand reached out to him.
The woman's hand finally landed on the top of his head, stroking it gently.
"My name is Kurnugi. I look forward to meeting you again, human."
Then, the woman's skin began to wither rapidly. In the blink of an eye, that graceful body turned into bleached bones, finally crumbling into fine powder that scattered in the cold wind.
From beginning to end, the expression on Tike's face never changed. Only after the woman's body had dissipated did he slowly utter a single word.
"Strange..."
Ur finally snapped back to reality. Her first instinct was to check on Tike, and her arm subconsciously reached out. However, when she saw the lifeless pallor on the boy's face as he turned his head, her hand paused in mid-air.
"Tike?"
Reacting to the call, Tike twitched his nose slightly, as if confirming something. Then, his dull eyes gradually regained a trace of clarity. Reflected in them was the familiar figure who had temporarily frozen the wound on her left shoulder with Ice Magic.
Tike tilted his head gently, then opened his arms to her. The fatal wound on his chest had healed completely at some unknown point, as if it had never been there.
Ur understood the meaning of his gesture in an instant, and a softness flashed through her eyes. Her paused hands reached forward, gently pulling Tike's thin body into her embrace, feeling the slight trembling coming from the boy.
Just then, a gentle energy quietly flowed over Ur's left shoulder, causing an itching sensation like ants crawling across her skin.
Ur turned her head and was surprised to find that the wound on her left shoulder had completely healed, leaving not even a scar.
And Tike, within Ur's embrace, slowly closed his weary eyes and fell into a peaceful, deep sleep.
---
In a haze where almost all sensations were dull, only hunger was exceptionally clear.
I want to eat. This was the first thought that emerged in his chaotic consciousness.
His limbs, flailing blindly, touched something hard. Instinctively, he opened his mouth and bit down hard.
"Mmph..."
Accompanied by a girl's suppressed cry of pain, Tike slowly opened his eyes.
The soft sensation coming from his back confused him a little.
Because of magic training, he had always slept on the floor with his sisters. Why was he waking up in a bed today?
Sitting by the bed, Ultear saw that Tike had finally woken up. Joyfully, she hugged his thin body, crystal tears sliding uncontrollably down her face and wetting Tike's clothes.
"Thank goodness. I was so scared you would never wake up again."
"Hmm?"
Tike frowned slightly, about to say something, but his attention was completely seized by the scent of blood lingering at the tip of his nose.
"Big Sis, your hand..."
"It's nothing."
Ultear let go of Tike somewhat flustered, trying to hide her injured hand behind her back. But she saw Tike gently point to his own nose.
"I smelled it all."
Saying this, Tike gently pulled the hand Ultear was trying to hide in front of him. He saw the clear teeth marks still seeping blood on her fair palm.
Tike blinked, then opened his small mouth and unhesitatingly bit his own pale arm, carefully comparing the shapes of the two bite marks.
(Ah, it really was me who bit her.)
After confirming this, Tike whispered an apology to Ultear.
"I'm sorry."
Ultear revealed a gentle smile and shook her head lightly.
"It's okay, you didn't mean to. You slept for so long; it's perfectly normal to be hungry and bite random things."
(A long time?)
Although puzzled by the time span Ultear mentioned, Tike had something more important to do right now.
He lowered his head and began to gently lick Ultear's palm.
"Hehe... that tickles..."
Ultear felt a tingling sensation in her palm from Tike's sudden action, but she didn't stop him. Instead, she stroked Tike's hair gently with her other hand.
Soon, Tike lifted his tender face. Only then did Ultear hurriedly withdraw her hand, a faint cherry-pink blush rising on her cheeks.
Although the teeth marks on her palm were still clearly visible, the wound had visibly healed and was no longer bleeding.
At this moment, Tike brought up what he considered the second most important thing.
"Big Sis, I want to eat something."
Ultear smiled knowingly at his words. She got up and went to the table in the middle of the room, skillfully peeled a boiled egg from the large bowl on it, and gently brought it to Tike's mouth.
Tike swallowed the whole egg in one gulp, licking the corner of his mouth as if savoring the taste.
Seeing this, Ultear brought the entire bowl to the bedside, intending to peel them one by one for Tike.
But the starving Tike obviously couldn't wait. He impatiently reached out and took the large bowl. Ignoring the shells, he poured the eggs directly into his mouth, clearing the entire bowl in moments.
"You're too impatient; be careful not to choke. Here, drink some water." Ultear handed Tike a glass of water, then teased with a smile, "Do you like eggs that much?"
Tike took the glass and gulped down a mouthful, then nodded slowly.
"They're alright. I just suddenly remembered eating something similar to an egg before. That thing... was pretty crunchy? By the way, how long did I sleep?"
"Seven days..."
Tike froze, his small face filled with surprise.
"How could I sleep for so long?"
"The doctor Mom hired said you had temporary Magic Deficiency Syndrome. It seems to be because you used too much magic when fighting that silver-haired woman."
Hearing Ultear's explanation, Tike looked confused.
He had a lot of questions.
"What silver-haired woman?"
"Huh?"
Now it was Ultear's turn to be surprised.
"Don't you remember? The woman who claimed to be your biological sister and said she wanted to take you to see your birth mother."
Tike scratched his head in distress.
"That happened? I have no memory of it. Then why didn't I go with her to check it out?"
"Because... you didn't like her." Saying this, a trace of unease flashed in Ultear's eyes, and she asked somewhat anxiously, "Do you regret it?"
"I wouldn't say I regret it, especially since I don't remember," Tike said. "Besides, since I didn't like her, there's no way I would have gone with her, right?"
"Do you like me and Mom more than her?"
Ultear leaned forward slightly, asking this question with a hint of anticipation.
Tike nodded affirmatively and added, "Because you guys smell really good! I like it a lot!"
Getting caught by the dark cult and taken to the Magic Development Bureau before was because he was powerless to resist—and well, he could barely get fed there.
But now it was different.
He was living quite comfortably with Big Sis, and the scents around here were much better than before. He really couldn't think of any reason to follow someone he didn't like to find a mother he wasn't even sure he would like.
At least send someone whose scent I like immediately!
"Is that so~"
Hearing Tike's answer, Ultear let out a sigh of relief, a look of joy appearing in her eyes.
She had a gut feeling that if Tike had really left with that woman, they probably wouldn't have seen each other for a very long time.
Ultear had already experienced the pain of being separated from important people and really didn't want to go through it a second time.
She held Tike's hand and looked earnestly into his eyes.
"Tike, will you leave me?"
"I..."
Just as Tike was about to answer, a violent roar suddenly rang out from outside the house.
"Maker Magic is useless! When exactly are you going to teach me the magic you used to defeat that woman?!"