More than ten years ago, in the underground of Ankland, when black flames burst from the cracks...... When Nia's dagger stabbed Lydia's body, Nia wasn't the only one who fell into flames.

"Nope. Lydia didn't blink, "I'm actually interested in that place...... But I was saved, I told you, didn't I? I even gave you the jewel, and if you have any questions, why don't you ask that 'Your Majesty'? He knows better than I do. After all, when I opened my eyes, I was already on the ground, and what happened in the middle, I really didn't know what was going on in the middle, and I almost died. ”

She said too much, but there was a hint of wanting to cover it up. However, Iss closed his lips tightly and did not ask any further. He knew that the question was actually detracting from their purpose, but he couldn't help it. At that moment, there was indescribable resentment welling up in my heart, for what happened to Niya...... For Lydia's indifference, even schadenfreude.

He always remembered many indelible images, of every figure sitting around the fireplace in Criesburg, telling stories, singing and laughing...... As a child, he even thought that they would be together forever like this, like the closest family members.

Everything has long been shattered, but there is still a nostalgic aftertaste.

"But you know hell, don't you?" said Ed, softly, "knowing the tricks of the demons...... You know where their power comes from, even if you're not using something that was exchanged from them. ”

Lydia raised an eyebrow slightly.

"You said, 'I've learned necromancy, but I'm still a mage.' Ed said he had heard it from Alan," he said...... Why?"

“...... Finally!" Lydia laughed, leaning back lazily in her chair, "I thought no one would ever ask me about this...... I've been so generous with holding the biggest secret in my hands, but no one has ever looked at it more...... On the contrary, I self-righteously feel that the fragments in my hands, the blurred shadows in the moonlight, are the so-called 'real'. ”

"So, where does your power come from?" Ed asked even more boldly, "...... Where does Ankland's power come from?"

"'All strength to God, and all life to God. In the wind blowing through the courtyard, someone replied in a low voice, and the ancient elven language was not very tactful, but had a hint of dragon language.

Ed suddenly turned around, and under a silver bell tree, the elf who had crept in at some point looked at him calmly, and his green eyes, which were as bright as new leaves, were dim in the shadows under the tree.

"......'All glory be to God.'" He said, "Haven't you heard? Those old proverbs contain eternal truths." ”

After months of not seeing each other, the elves standing there looked less and less like the gentle and steady friend Ed remembered. The soft lines of his face seemed to be frozen by an expression of eternal indifference, stiff and cold, lifeless...... Even the brilliant blonde hair began to turn pale and white.

But no matter how it changes, it is still Novi's face.

“...... Are you okay?" Ed blurted out.

The concerned greeting was abrupt and inopportune...... And what he really wanted to ask was not the current owner of this body.

When he realized this, the end of the sentence fell abruptly, and he weakened into a sigh.

Ankland, naturally, will not answer. He looked at him calmly, a faint emotion in his eyes that was too faint to grasp, and he couldn't tell whether it was ridicule or pity.

Ed cowered in tuck. Even if he knew that Ankeland wouldn't do anything to him – at least not now, every time he faced this unfathomable opponent...... This elf who dared to raise his sword against the gods, and even dared to create gods, he couldn't help but feel fear, so frightened that he could barely support his natural anger.

"So," the fearless ice dragon asked, "is your power just from some god?"

He made no secret of his contempt, and Ankeland was not so simply provoked.

"Nope. He replied, "My power is mine." However, once upon a time, I also pursued the secret you are seeking, if you are sure that you can afford to know the answer...... I don't mind telling you. ”

Ed hesitated. But that's more than a suspicion of Ankeland's purpose – whatever his purpose is, whether what he says is true or a lie, he is willing to say it, and of course they are willing to ...... I can only listen to it first.

What made him hesitate was an indescribable intuition...... Intuitively, he didn't want to "take the consequences". The fear that came out of nowhere rose like the cold mist of a winter night, silently permeating his heart, made him shiver. In a trance, he felt as if he had faced this moment at one time - he even knew what would happen in the next moment.

“...... No......," he cried out in horror, his entrails constricting in an instant.

However, black flames were already in the face.

"A dragon can't go to hell. ”

He heard Is's roar and Ankran's still-calm voice, "But you can. ”

- But I didn't want to go to hell!!

He wished he had really called out...... He was so angry that he wanted to curse something, and Vala would never allow him to say anything.

He clearly felt the burning pain, not extreme heat, but extreme cold. The sharp chill shattered through flesh and bones in an instant, greedily wrapping around his soul. There were frenzied black shadows in front of him, like ghosts, but heavier than ghosts, like fog, but thicker than fog. They wrapped around him, tore at him, and countless tiny sounds poured into his ears, like crying, like laughter, like angry roars and mournful whispers, like thousands of voices trying to tear apart the joys and sorrows of their lives into his soul, like thousands of hands trying to tear him to pieces and fill his own soul.

He screamed, but the only thing he couldn't hear was his own voice. He felt like a dough-kneading toy, pulled and deformed, and as the black shadows staggered and scattered, they were like grass in the wind, mud and sand in the torrent...... His edges melted into the shadows, as if he would merge with them.

But in the midst of endless despair and fear, he saw a little light, faint as a candle in the wind, dying, flickering like a little starlight in the dark clouds of a storm.

He tried to reach out, but he couldn't catch it...... Then it dawned on him that it was Celebrian's staff, the gray gem—and it was in his hand.

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