Even sensing the terrifying power, the ice dragon didn't dodge it—it was hard to dodge.

It wasn't a tiny bubble that Nana spat out, but a giant hammer that enveloped almost the entire space at the bottom of the tower. It roared, and the sound erupted with a chill that could freeze everything in an instant, colliding with the invisible force.

There was no dazzling light, no loud bang, only the white mist condensed by the cold air as if blown away by a strong wind, only a little curling white shadow scattered at the edge.

Then, blood stained Ed's entire vision.

The wings that poked out as the ice dragon retreated were silently cut off in half...... More precisely, a small half of it was swallowed. The dragon's searing blood rained down on Ed's face and into his blue, blackened eyes.

He froze for a moment, screaming uncontrollably before he realized what had happened.

Shattered memories sliced through his mind like an ice pick. He saw the white dragon fall from the black sky, and the rain of blood fell on him, cold as a sharp blade, burning like a blazing fire, burning him to ashes little by little.

The cane fell to his feet, and he crouched down with his head in his hands, and the only sound in his ears was his own terrible and shattering voice. The world swirled away in chaos, leaving only a lifeless gray, and he lingered in it, never to leave, never to be freed.

He felt as everything that remained of his body poured out with tears and screams, leaving only a cold, empty shell, floating in the eternal sea of nothingness, gradually annihilating.

He didn't resist – he should have given up a long time ago. Why did he think he could change the outcome?

But something grabbed him tightly, shaking desperately, shaking back the little consciousness that had not completely disappeared from him.

His hand was rudely pulled away. His eyes widened in fear and dazedness, reflecting the faces of his long-lost friends.

“...... What are you crying about?!" Is's look was so ridiculous and so vivid that it slammed into his eyes.

"Don't you deserve to be beaten...... Isn't it true that I'm hurt worse than you?!" He roared loudly, but clearly in vain.

Ed was still shivering, shaking like he had sunk in a frozen lake, his clenched teeth oozing blood. The eyes were clear for a while and blurry for a while, but always with a faint color of blood.

He couldn't tell. He couldn't tell if it was real or illusory...... Is it the past, the present, or the future. He couldn't respond either—he feared that as soon as he spoke, the figure in front of him would dissipate like a fog.

“...... Wake up!" Iss wiped the blood from his face indiscriminately, vaguely aware of something, "See, I'm still alive!"

His hands were so heavy that they almost wiped Ed's face, and the sound of him in his ear rattled through his blank mind.

Ed reached out slowly, grabbed his clothes as he touched his shoulders, and pressed his forehead against his chest.

He could hear his heartbeat...... Then his heart could beat again.

Isis could only tolerate him rubbing his hands and face full of blood, tears and snot on himself, and patted him on the back angrily and helplessly: "Okay, okay, it's my ......"

He almost said, "It's my fault...... But even if there was one thing, this time he would never admit it.

"Isn't it your fault?!" he said, "do you really think that the power of the Source is so easy to control? You are like a monkey playing with fire...... I warned you a long time ago, didn't I? If you're going to do something stupid, tell me first!"

Ed's cry was lowered and intermittent as he roared more and more justifiably, but he still refused to let go or look up.

"Is it enough? Is it enough?" Is, who was weak and had a headache, "I really want Naria to see your ......"

He stopped suddenly.

The wooden door was being slammed, and the sound was so loud that the three-storied tower, which had probably become unbearable, rumbled like thunder in their ears.

"Ed ...... Is?...... Open the door for me!"

—Naria's voice.

Ed jerked his head up, finally coming to his senses in shock. They looked at each other and looked at each other's faces in a panic.

“...... Get your face clean!" Iss pushed him away and jumped up, "Hurry!"

"Wait!" Ed dragged him down.

Iss looked even worse than he was - he was bleeding all over the floor, and Ed was dizzy to see, but he couldn't figure out where his wounds were.

He didn't care about casting spells, and he had no time to tell what kind of power he was using.

The potential of human beings is endless...... Almost instantly, he had cleaned up all traces - blood, stone statues that had fallen to the ground, cracks, splinters, freezes, and charred black on the ground and walls that had not yet recovered...... I didn't know what spell I was casting until the end.

Iss couldn't care about it anymore. They looked at each other again to make sure they all looked too good to be better, and then opened the door with trepidation.

It's dawn. Naria stood outside the door in the sun and morning dew, raised half of her eyebrows, and tilted her head slightly to look at them: "...... Finished fighting?"

Ed nodded, then quickly shook his head again.

“...... Still want to fight?"

Ed stared at his toes and shook his head silently, and Iss turned his head to look out where he was.

Naria took a breath and let out a helpless sigh.

- Did she think they had matured a little bit anyway, but it didn't turn out at all?!

“...... Let's go home first. She said.

.

Ed staggered along the way, his steps vague and ghostly, Is's anger unsubsided, his brow furrowed, annoyed and powerless. Naria saw it, but didn't ask anything. When she returned home, she prepared a hearty breakfast as usual, thoughtfully letting them go to a good rest, with a smile on her lips and a cold heart in her eyes.

A person and a dragon who are as worried as sitting on pins and needles can only hide in the room and discuss in a low voice.

"You've got to tell her. "Tell the truth." Otherwise, I have a hunch that things will get bad. ”

Maybe it's worse than the destruction of the world.

Ed, who had come back a little bit of courage and sanity, lowered his head and muttered quietly, "Why didn't you say it...... You did it first......"

"But why would I want to beat you?" Iss snorted, "because you owe it! You're just a human being! Who gave you the guts to let you fuse all kinds of different powers like this...... They may have created the world together, but it's not for nothing that they're separated, run in different ways, with different rules!"

Ed still lowered his head and lowered it for a while, feeling guilt and unwillingness, despair and hope, indomitable determination and hesitation of gains and losses in the bottom of his heart repeatedly entangled together, but finally stubbornly came out: "...... But I don't think so. ”