The First Time

As the greatsword passed through the flesh of the corrupted saint, the dark mana keeping the flesh together began to crack. The face of the saintess which was far from human, yet not also a corpse showed an expression that was beyond Siegren's comprehension.

"The answers… you'll know them soon."

**

As the mortal absorbed the numen of the fallen god's power, electrified mana burst into the air. The people of the kingdom watched as the purple skies thundered, rumbling into a strident scenery of imminent doom.

The archmages watched.

The kings of the kingdoms grew alert.

The citizens became worried for their safety.

But Lumi…

Lumi's eyes fixed on the purple light that was encircling Siegren's body.

'No mortal could survive after gaining contact with the numen,' Lumi narrowed her eyes.

'But now,'

—"I'm witnessing the impossible."

The king of Aclaria, who was in the capital killing monsters along with his knights stared at the spectacle before them.

A person… a mortal has consumed the numen.

The numen—it was an ancient power that harbored the essence of the fallen god; the one who was the root of the destruction of the realms of the world, Aeterna.

"Such a dangerous power…" The king exclaimed, "is lying in Aclaria?"

The purple light then dissipated; like a shawl being uncovered, the purple hue drifted to vanish, making the sunlight penetrate slowly as the monsters around them set out to disappear as they flaked into ash-like embers.

It wasn't just in Aclaria.

In Estela and Hescurg, the people watched as the monsters began to vanish as soon as the light appeared.

Soon, purple was replaced with blue skies.

Underneath the blue skies were exhausted knights, adventurers, clerics, and mages.

"D-did we… win?" The mage then collapsed to her feet.

An uproar of joy then burst, with those who have exhausted all their means to fight raising their fist into the air.

**

"Head priest," said one of the clerics. "The saintess' sacrifice wasn't for naught…"

The head priest stared at the sky that was now clear of monstrous beings descending from them. Above all, the saintess' chains that were dangling on top of the heavens already disappeared.

However.

"Lumi," said the head priest. "She's in Aclaria. Send the templars and the priests as soon as you can in that country!"

In the end, the catalyst is still their top priority.

**

The archmage of Estela stared at the large, magical orb floating inside the celestial tower.

"See~ I didn't need to interfere," the archmage said with a sweet smile curving in her lips.

Though the mages couldn't see her eyes under the black veil she was wearing, they knew that her expression from earlier up to now was unchanging. In fact, her expressions never changed.

"But, Archmage…" said one of the sorcerers on her side. "Don't you think this poses a rather bigger problem?"

"That's right, Archmage. We all saw it… something impossible happened."

"Hmm…"

The archmage's eyes narrowed, looking at the orb through her black veil.

It has gone black, losing all connections to Aclaria.

'Hm… It seems like there has been an intercept to the connection. Probably the Aclarian Archmage detected me spying on them.'

'But it doesn't matter.' The Archmage then stood from her seat.

"Let's go," she said.

"Where to… Archmage?"

The Archmage then smiled.

"We're going to the king."

**

It still wasn't clear.

Did the depths' seal come back? If so, then how? The saintess' sacrifice is no more. There wasn't any price to pay, and as per equivalent exchange—the monsters should have stayed in the northern realm. But instead, they vanished into embers, as if they weren't even there.

The head priest reached the castle of Estela shortly that afternoon after he was summoned by the king. He walked to the hallways, with priests trailing behind him as he strode in deep thought.

The battle was won, but it was "…too easy."

The head priest stopped as a woman in a white dress stared at him with her ethereal light-blue eyes peering at him like she could read his deepest thoughts.

Her long, silvery white lashes looked like they were gleaming from the sunlight that was diffused by the arched windows of the castle.

"Aren't you glad, Head Priest? The problem got solved easily, in contrast to what you initially thought."

The woman smiled as she leaned to the head priest.

"This wouldn't have happened had you only taken care of the catalyst properly," she said with a cold voice as she whispered to the old man's ear. "Now I have to do something because of your incompetence."

The woman then drew away from the head priest; however, her sweet demeanor was still there, despite her cold whispers to him.

"I'll see you around, Head priest." She said before leaving the premise.

The head priest's teeth grit as he ambled his way forward to the throne room.

**

Lumi stared at the skies finally clearing up. However, at the same time, the floating structures now went back to their original state. With the mana in the environment stabilizing, everything is going back to normal.

She has to materialize something right now or else—"Hya!"

She'll fall!

As she predicted, the structure finally gave up, with the debris falling down due to gravity.

"Ohgoddessplease—" Lumi was able to hang into one of the structures that was also daring to fall.

Of all times, why did she run out of mana now?

'The power I used to make the platform for Siegren completely drained my mana…' Lumi thought as her vision blurs.

"There she is!" The templar pointed above.

"That's the kidnapped priestess! We've found her!"

From below, she could hear voices shouting. Divine power was also getting closer and closer.

'Hold on. Hold on… Just a little more…' Lumi's fingers trembled as she neared to fall, with her grasp on the structure slipping away.

She has to be awake. She has to use her divine power to run away.

She can't just give up like this…!

"Ah—"

Lumi's vision completely clouded as she completely lost her grip to the building.

As she plummeted down, her vision blurred as her gaze fell to the sky.

But then, when she thought all hope was lost—

She felt as if her body was growing light. At first, Lumi thought it was the exhaustion speaking, until she felt it.

Malevolence—but not erratic. A power that is stable yet wicked.

Suddenly, she feels a person's arms wrapping around her, carrying her princess-style.

But it was far from a fairytale.

'So, he succeeded.' Lumi thought, her eyes daring to close.

"Lumi," he called.

"Ah…" Lumi smiled. "That's the first time you… called my.. name…"

And as she said those last words, her consciousness drifted away, falling into a deep slumber.