The light in the clearing returned to normal. Although it was still in the shadow of the rocks, and it was still a little cold, at least the view was clear. Ed shook off his hand, stiffened by too much force, and shuffled back to the mage, looking at it with anticipation and unease.

Luckily, the passing anger seemed to return to the mage's body. He still looked pale and frail, but at least he didn't look like a dry corpse anymore. However, Ed fears that his soul may well be gone...... His eyes were unfocused, anger and horror were still frozen in the few wrinkles on his face, but the corners of his mouth were strangely slightly hooked upward.

“...... Is there any salvation?" asked Correll, leaning over.

Edyu hesitantly held out his hand.

"His heart didn't grow there. "Or do you want to touch something else?"

No matter how nervous Ed was, he wanted to roll his eyes. Why didn't he find out that this elf was also a bit of a talker...... Isn't it true that small guys are especially prone to growing into chatterbox?!

He actually wanted to see if he could touch the slit. But for a moment, he thought of the corpse in the cemetery of the Arctic Light, and his stomach began to churn involuntarily - he didn't want to be like Eric, with his hands stuck in a corpse and unable to pull it out!

Reason returns after instinctive disgust. He realized that the situation in front of him was quite similar to that time. Eric had said that his hands couldn't actually feel the corpse...... It was empty, like a door to another world.

How did he pull Eric out then?

Ed unconsciously touched his chest—where the little crystal ball had been lying.

It's been a long time since he's lost it...... It's been a long time since I've thought about it again, but this moment suddenly feels a little nostalgic.

What closed the "door" and allowed Eric to escape was probably the powerful and pure power in the crystal ball...... A power that belongs to Nyo. But if this rift in front of him leads to the place where the gods were born, the eternal sea of nothingness, will the power still be useful? will it not be absorbed like the magic power he unleashed before?—— but he has the blood of the gods and has not been devoured...... Is it because I can't digest it and I'm spitting it out?

He thought about it in a daze, but his hand was stretched out again. He might be able to try again......

His arm was grabbed.

The hand was as cold and powerful as pincers, almost crushing his bones. Ed's gaze fell, and he lifted it again in surprise - it was Stobel's hand!

The next moment his heart sank. Stobel was taller than him, and his eyes seemed to be slightly narrowed as if he looked down at him, and there was indifference and mockery in his eyes...... This is definitely not the look in Stobel's eyes.

However, as his gaze swept over the corners of the mage's stiffly upward-curled mouth, a vague sense of familiarity calmed him.

“...... Master Verona?" he whispered.

Corell's eyes flashed, and the sword rose slightly as the hilt was clenched by him—one man's body contained the soul of another, and to the elves it was no doubt that the undead were ...... They should never exist. Even though he wasn't a pure elf, that disgust seemed to be engraved in his soul.

Stobel's eyes suddenly rolled to him.

His head was still slightly bowed, not moving at all, and he didn't seem to be able to fully control the body...... That makes the action look extraordinarily permeable.

"I'm dead, yes. He said, "He's not dead yet." ”

His voice was muffled and dragged, word by word squeezing out of his throat...... But it can still perfectly express the arrogance and contempt that is empty-eyed.

“...... So, is Stobel's soul still there?" Ed asked.

"I'm holding him. The mage said, "Useless fool, if I hadn't bothered to bother with more idiots in the Great Dharma Tower, I would have told him to 'go back to the gods'! ”

He smiled whimsily, and his words grew more and more fluent, the tone of Verona and the voice of Stobel.

"He's ...... in his body," Ed tentatively spoke.

"It's a crack. The mage slowly opened his mouth, looking rather happy, "Do you want to drill over and take a look......?" It's easier if you're willing to die. With your 'talent', you might even be able to be a god if you don't get swallowed." ”

“...... No, no, no. Ed shook his head repeatedly, "That'...... Can you close it?"

That's a "shortcut" indeed. For a moment, he even thought that if he could really enter the Sea of Nothingness, maybe many secrets would no longer be secrets...... Maybe he can find the answer to all his problems.

But he wisely extinguished that impulse—he wasn't strong enough to do that.

“...... Yes. Verona replied nonchalantly, "But I'm afraid he won't be able to cast spells again." ”

Ed opened his mouth and closed it again.

How could a mage who couldn't cast spells sit in the Tower...... It's better to survive than to die.

"What do I do?" he asked, "what can I do?"

"Wait. Verona said.

“...... Oh. Ed nodded obediently, "That'...... What about you?"

A strange smile gradually appeared on Stobel's muscular face. It's still weird, but there's an indescribable calmness and ease.

"I," he said, "am dead...... Those who die should die well. ”

Ed looked at him in amazement. He seems to have heard someone say something like that...... This sentence clearly has a different meaning.

"There are comings and goings, there are lives and deaths...... There are prosperity and decay. The dead mage lifted a hand that didn't belong to him and stabbed it heavily on Ed's forehead, "The rules of the gods may have been broken, but this world is not without its own rules. And, child...... More important than 'don't cheat on time' is 'don't cheat yourself'. ”

His voice grew lower and lower, until it finally disappeared.

Ed blinked, as if he didn't understand, but inexplicably, tears fell down his eyelashes.

.

Middle-aged mages are not as prone to tears as young people, even if there is deeper sorrow and helplessness in their hearts.

He knew better than Ed how Verona had closed the rift in his body, and what the old mage had done to get the last bit of freedom...... His soul ceased to exist.

If he had noticed Carmack's hatred of him earlier, perhaps he would have been more guarded. But he didn't really understand why Carmack hated him so much until now - he could feel the darkness but couldn't see through it, and the only person who could give him an answer was gone.

He was in a heavy mood, but did not ignore the careful comfort of the dark-haired young man.

"He said you 'probably won't be able to cast any more spells'...... But it's just maybe. Ed said.