♣♣♣
WITH the Kaguya destroyed, Curalius found a place to settle, and we got off her back, finally placing our feet on solid ground. The soil of Edesa Kura was left cracked and covered in protrusions, most of it washed away by the tidal wave. It was a disaster.
Devastation—in its most literal sense. This was Renge’s power, and the reason he called himself someone who was only capable of destruction. Even from afar, I couldn’t imagine that there used to be a country on this newly formed wasteland.
“I wish I could say it’s all over now, but we’re not that lucky,” Dad whispered as he looked up at the sky.
I looked up in disbelief. I was getting used to the dark sky by now, mostly because I thought it was dark due to the rainclouds and tornado Renge invoked. But that wasn’t the reason. I gulped.
“Th-The Sugula…” I muttered in shock.
Until now, I could always vaguely see the Sugula from afar, but now it wasn’t visible. The sky was covered in darkness, so much so that I had to ask myself why we could even see each other.
“The ground is glowing,” I pointed out.
“Huh? It is?” Dad looked down.
“It’s the Air…” Curalius explained. “The Sugula is doing this. It’s started sucking up the Air from the ground.”
“It’s sucking up the Air?!”
This explained why I could see Dad and Curalius despite the dark sky. The Sugula above us was starting to suck up the Air.
You’re joking, right?! What’ll happen to Wisty Air if it drains away all the Air?!
“Tina, you’re awake.” Renge descended from the sky, noticing me.
“Oh, Renge! Are you hurt?!” I asked, worriedly looking him over for any injuries.
“Huh? Me? I’m fine… You were watching?”
I was worried because it looked like the Kaguya might crush him in its hand, but he looked fine. Instead, he greeted me with an anxious expression.
Oh, is he worried about how I might react…?
“Yes. I saw your power,” I nodded.
The devastation of Edesa Kura. The country deserved this fate, but in a sense, its citizens were all brainwashed. Their country caused suffering to people across the human and demi-human continents. But even so, there wasn’t a country or race out there that could vanish off the face of the world without someone to lament it.
“Yes, well…I did warn them, for what it’s worth,” he said sadly. “I doubt many of them survived, though.”
“Renge…”
He looked like he was in pain. The sorrow in his eyes was evident. I reached out my right hand and cradled his cheek. He looked at me with surprise.
“I know, Renge. I know you didn’t want to kill anyone,” I told him. “But there’s no overlooking what that country did. They created the Sugula and were ruled by the Kaguya with a Will of Its Own. There’s no telling how many of the Kaguya’s body doubles were hiding there. You did what had to be done.”
“I completely destroyed the concept of the Dwarf inside the Bottle’s existence,” he said. “From now on, even if you mix a Saint Elixir with Kaguya, something like it won’t ever be born again.”
“Really?!” I couldn’t hide my delight at that news.
“But the matter of mankind’s faith in the false gods…that’s something that has to be dealt with thoroughly, or the contamination will keep spreading. There’s no forgiving the people who abducted you. I couldn’t risk them trying to hurt you in the future. So I acted on impulse. Even though I shouldn’t have done this…”
“That’s not—” I tried to refute his words.
“What are you two getting all emotional for?” a voice suddenly cut into our exchange.
Huh? Did I just hear Shida’s voice?
I turned around, looking for him, and—
Wh-What?!
“Ah, Elf of the Sun?” Renge said, surprised. “What are you doing here…?! And that’s—”
Shida was floating in the air, and on the hill behind him was a large group of mechanized soldiers, mythical beasts, demi-humans, and people.
What’s going on?!
“Hah, don’t underestimate me, comrade of the olden king!” Shida exclaimed. “Through your advice, I have fully unleashed the Olden King’s Grimoire’s power. And with my mana, using your teleportation magic is child’s play!”
“And also, since I knew you would blame yourself for killing Edesa Kura’s citizens, I instructed him to save as many people as possible,” Curalius explained.
“C-Curalius?!” Renge exclaimed.
What?!
“Oh, the Blue Demon Wolf of De Marl. I thought we’d never meet again,” another voice called out from behind me.
“Oh, you survived, too?” Dad said. “The Mechanical Alchemist, Reiden Park.”
“Reiden!” I called out upon seeing him.
There were mechanized soldiers on the hill, accompanying the people, after all. They must have been Reiden’s creations.
“Hey, Tina, since when do you know Reiden?” Dad asked me suspiciously.
“Huh? Well, we were, uh, having some business negotiations…” I said, unsure of how much detail to go into right now.
“Seriously?” Dad gave me an exasperated look.
“Oh, yes, you mentioned a selling machine,” Reiden said. “I did say I’d help you with it, assuming we both got out of the country alive. I’ll make good on that offer.”
“You meant it?!”
Right, I should introduce him to Shida next—wait, no. That’s not important right now.
“Can you tell me what you’re doing here, first? Dad, Shida, Curalius.” I looked at them each in order.
“Listen here, young lady. It’s been a week since you went missing,” Dad said, exasperated. “Of course we’d come save you.”
“It’s been that long?!” I thought it might take that long to travel to Edesa Kura, but I had no idea how much time had actually passed.
“I was administered the Saint Elixir you made, and it helped me greatly recover. I considered refusing to take it, but when I heard you were abducted, I decided to agree.”
Like I thought, Curalius wanted to refuse extending her life, but she changed her mind when she thought she could help save me.
“When I returned to Rofola on a whim, I found the Blue Wolf there,” Shida gestured toward Dad. “When we heard you went missing, my wife became so worried she kicked me until I agreed to help.”
“I-I’m sorry?!” I apologized.
The part about Nakona kicking him was probably a lie, but Nakona probably did something that was close enough to kicking him. I wouldn’t put it past her!
“Hmph, don’t mention it,” Shida scoffed proudly. “You are my sister-in-law and my apprentice, after all! And my wife is here to see you, too.”
“Yeah! Well, there’s a lot to unpack here, but… Wait, Nakona’s here, too?!” I just couldn’t keep up anymore.
“Yes, even if the olden king’s friend hadn’t destroyed this country, she would have certainly sown devastation in her own way…” Shida shrugged. “Though I suppose there’s a limit to how much destruction a single human can sow. But still, if my wife asked me to do it for her, why, I’d have unleashed all I had upon the region, and it would’ve been destroyed just the same!”
“Uh-huh…” I cringed a little.
The way he was trying to act cute about it was honestly pretty gross!
“The Elf of the Sun, eh…” Reiden mumbled. “So your group would have been able to destroy Edesa Kura whenever you wanted, after all. I see.”
“Reiden…” I looked at him sadly.
“Correct, Mechanical Alchemist,” Curalius nodded her long head. “However, since we are blessed with so much power, we Mythical Beasts elect to simply observe the human continent’s conflicts from afar. Renge especially takes care not to interfere…”