The time goes back to a short while ago, at the moment the sun was setting.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and follow me.”
In the pine forest, which had been hacked into a field of stumps by inhuman force, Vera stood on a small earthen mound and waved to Lian behind her.
“Why… why are you in such a rush? Did you forget I’m a patient?”
Lian walked up panting… her arms were cradling several bouquets of pure white flowers.
Seeing her look so exhausted that she could barely catch her breath, Vera patted her forehead with some concern.
“What’s wrong? Are those sword wounds acting up again?”
“It’s not that… but I’m still using Magic Power to slowly neutralize those sword marks you left… that’s why I’m so tired. They truly are wounds caused by a Relic. By the way, where did you throw that thing? Wasn’t there a hilt left?”
“Who knows? I just tossed it. If you’re tired, do you want me to carry you? Come, let Auntie carry our lovely Little Lian.”
Vera crouched down, making a gesture as if she were going to pick Lian up. Hearing her teasing tone, Lian’s face immediately fell into an expression of utter disgust.
“I’d rather crawl on the ground than let you carry me.”
“Tsk… Little Lian really can’t take a joke. Then let’s just walk arm-in-arm — like we did when we were shopping a few days ago.”
“Tsk your head! Just get moving!”
Being repeatedly teased, a huffy Lian pushed Vera’s back to move her forward… Their destination was the small grave in the clearing deep within the pine forest.
“Diana, I’ve come to see you.”
The stone cross that originally stood on the grave had long since been carved away by the violent ice and snow blades of the Demon Sword that day.
Standing there now was a new monument that had only been commissioned from Cyrus’s cemetery two days ago.
The tombstone recorded the name of the deceased — “Diana Clausure.” Vera knelt before the grave, stroking each word that formed her younger sister’s name.
“And your Brother Leon, he’s back too. He didn’t lie to us, and he didn’t abandon us… Moreover, just as he promised you before, he inherited your mother’s surname… He is a Great Hero, the likes of whom the world has never seen before and will never see again. You and your mother will never be forgotten now.”
Diana’s mother had not been a concubine officially married by the Emperor of Yilansiya. She wasn’t even a noble — she was merely a hunter girl whom Vera’s father had encountered in the mountains during a hunting excursion.
Vera’s father had not yet ascended the throne at that time… but even after he did, he was unable to marry that hunter girl as a consort. All he could do was bring the daughter born of that hunter girl back to his Court and grant her meticulous affection.
“Her name is Diana. Although her surname is different from yours… you must treat her like your own sister.”
Vera still remembered that day when her father led Diana to her while she was practicing her swordsmanship. She saw that in the eyes her father used to gaze at her sister, there was both infinite doting and profound guilt.
The memories gradually faded. Vera stood up and looked up, realizing that the felled pine forest could no longer block the sunlight. the sunlight falling on her was warm… as if someone were spreading their arms and gently embracing her.
She stood silently in that sunlight for a long, long time… It wasn’t until Lian knelt before Diana’s grave with those pure white flowers that she slowly backed away.
“I’m here, Diana. Don’t believe a word of your sister’s nonsense… I’m just an ordinary person. I’ve just happened to do some things that weren’t so ordinary. I brought you flowers this time. You really liked this kind of flower when we were still in the Imperial Capital, didn’t you? I think it was called…”
Lian hesitated for a moment. She remembered how many petals these plants had, when they bloomed, and what medicinal value they held… but remembering their names had never been her strong suit.
‘Moon-soul White.’
“There used to be many in the gardens of the White Sea Imperial City. You still can’t remember the names of flowers, just like before.”
“You can’t blame me… because I always mix them up with the names of flowers from my original world.”
“Alas, this is your Brother Leon. He can’t even remember the names of a few flowers.”
“Don’t badmouth me in front of her! She’ll take those words seriously…!”
The two continued to bicker like children before the grave… and in the woodland some distance away from them, a petite figure wearing a Wizard’s hat and a robe was searching for something amidst the unthawed ice and snow.
She circled around the woods and eventually discovered a pile of snow that was much thicker than anywhere else.
She knew this was what she was looking for. So, she reached her hand into the snowdrift and pulled out the item buried within it —
“Frosted Demon Sword… I’ve finally found you.”
Sephy waved her hand to open a spatial gate, then stepped into it with the Demon Sword, of which only the hilt remained, and vanished.
……
After watching the last gardener close the valve of the fountain in the garden and depart, Lian quietly slipped into the garden of the Youlin Courtyard and headed toward that small pavilion.
She had come to find the “truth” that Feiyin had mentioned that day.
Although Feiyin said to come three days later… in reality, as soon as she received permission to leave her sickroom, she had run to this pavilion to search high and low.
Naturally, she had found nothing. But the more she came up empty-handed, the more curious she became about the “truth.”
Since Feiyin had not specified a particular time, she had no choice but to come to the pavilion now that the third day had just ended — specifically, when the bell had struck its twenty-fourth chime — hoping to discover something different from before.
“Hello, Miss Lian.”
Things turned out exactly as she wished. She saw a silver-haired girl with red eyes sitting in the pavilion. The girl was smiling and waving at her.
“…Feiyin.”
Lian did not rashly step forward but stopped at the steps of the pavilion. She let Magic Power circulate through her body… entering a combat-ready state.
“There is no need for such hostility. As I said, the truth you requested is right here.”
“Do you mean… you are the truth? The you I killed that day wasn’t your real body, so now I have to kill the you here once more?”
“Of course not. What I mean is, within the scope of what I know, I will answer some questions for which you desperately desire answers. Why don’t you come and sit first?”
“No need. I’ll ask you from right here.” Lian refused Feiyin’s invitation. She did not see the deep shadows that used to loom around Feiyin in the past… but she would not let her guard down because of that.
“Very well. If there is anything you wish to ask, please do so freely.”
“You’re the one who turned me into this, right?”
“Just as I told you that day — the one who turned you into this current, lovely form is indeed me.”
“Fine… Then, was it also you who teleported me back to my world sixteen years ago?”
“…How could you ask such a ridiculous question?” A large question mark seemed to appear on Feiyin’s face.
“Didn’t I say that day? What I know is related to the ‘transformation,’ and I am only responsible for your ‘transformation.’ The Summoning back then was a feat achieved by Yilansiya using the power of the entire nation, along with the Sage, the Holy Maiden, and their lot. If a member of the Demon Race like me could do such a thing, why wouldn’t I have just thrown you back before you killed the Demon King?”
“…You didn’t participate in the Great War. Before you revealed your true form so conspicuously, no one knew what abilities you actually possessed. And you said you were the one who turned me into this… but even the Sage couldn’t figure out exactly what trick you played on my body.”
“Even so, it’s a bit much to pin something even the Demon King couldn’t do on me, don’t you think?”
Feiyin’s expression appeared slightly aggrieved for a moment, but it returned to its usual calm in an instant.
“Lady Sephy couldn’t see it because I didn’t use a Spell. What turned you into this was my Miracle.”
“Miracle…? Are you referring to those anomalies like the ones the saints of the Holy Nation have… but you’re a member of the Demon Race…”
“I only say it that way so it’s easier for you to understand. You said it yourself, didn’t you? A so-called ‘Miracle’ is nothing more than an Anomaly. An Anomaly cannot be interpreted through the methods of an Analysis spell — you’re aware of that, right?”
“…”
Lian fell silent. What Feiyin said was very reasonable.
If she, as a Magus, could have thrown Lian back to her original world, then there was no reason why Gila, as the Demon King, couldn’t have done the same.
Moreover, what she said about the difference between a Miracle and a Spell aligned with the knowledge Lian had learned from Sephy.
When she and Sephy stayed at the Sage’s Tower, they had also considered the possibility that the transformation was a Miracle or a similar Anomaly… but they quickly ruled out that possibility.
Spells and Anomalies indeed cannot be treated as the same, but the rules they follow are similar. Just as a Spell consumes Magic Power, an Anomaly requires the user to pay a price.
And the more powerful the effect of an Anomaly, the heavier the price required. An Anomaly capable of ignoring all magical influences and completely turning a Hero with immense power into a young girl… just how great a price would be required?
‘Whoever used such an Anomaly would surely die. No, it would be impossible to achieve such a thing even using one’s life as the price.’
That was the conclusion Sephy had given. So, Lian shook her head.
“You’re lying. Such a thing is impossible. Anomalies like ‘Miracles’ have limitations.”
“If it were a human, of course, they couldn’t do it. But I’m not a human; I’m a Shadow Demon. A price that a human cannot pay, I can afford.”
“What price did you pay?”
“Hmm… probably 2,000 years of lifespan?”
“…What did you say? You paid a price of 2,000 years of lifespan just to turn me into a woman?”
“That is correct. But you needn’t worry; I am only 545 years old this year. Considering the oldest old fogey in our race lived to be nearly 3,000 before dying… I should still have 500 years of life remaining.”
“I’m in no mood to joke with you! Reveal your purpose immediately!”
Lian rushed in front of Feiyin and grabbed her by the collar. Facing her agitated behavior, Feiyin did not offer any resistance… she simply gazed at her with those same calm eyes as always.
“I am not joking with you. I truly turned you into the form of a girl at the cost of 2,000 years of my life. That is why, when you asked to be changed back, I told you I couldn’t do it — because my remaining lifespan is no longer enough for me to do so.”