I held Kayla close as we continued our freefall into complete darkness.
“Night Sight,” I cast, but our surroundings remained pitch-black.
We had no other choice—I summoned Nahan and Sha-Lau with Familiar Enhancement Level 7.
“Do what you can,” I instructed them.
“Yes, Master.”
“Got it.”
Sha-Lau immediately cast a spell that caused us to stop falling. Nahan’s magic tore through the surrounding space, and we landed gently on the floor of what looked like a stone building.
“Is this a temple…?”
We were in a mysterious space, surrounded by thick, pure white columns that seemed to stretch infinitely in every direction. The ceiling was about 20 meters high, emitting a light that reminded me of fluorescent lamps. The floor, columns, and ceiling were made of a material that looked like marble.
“Kayla, do you know what we should do?”
“Hmm…” Kayla pondered, her hand on her chin. Just then, the floor trembled slightly.
“Be cautious, Master! Something is coming!” came Heavenly Turtle Nahan’s telepathic warning.
Sha-Lau, the Phantom Wolf King, drew closer to us.
Then, the white floor cracked open, and black shadows sprang forth.
The four shapes were like children of the Demon Lord—smaller spheres, but just as dark and inscrutable. Each was about five meters in diameter, and they had us surrounded.
“Let’s call them Baby Devils. Sha-Lau, Nahan, intercept them. Kayla, let’s get some distance.”
“Yes, Papa!”
As soon as I gave the command, everyone sprang into action. By this point, there was no need for detailed instructions.
Kayla took my hand, and we broke through the encirclement with Dimensional Step.
Sha-Lau and Nahan stayed behind, attacking the Baby Devils with lightning and fire magic.
In retaliation, the four black spheres began to vibrate and emitted pale blue beams—but Nahan’s barrier effortlessly deflected them.
Meanwhile, the Baby Devils staggered under the onslaught of the familiars’ magic, their forms beginning to break apart.
Then, Kayla joined the fight. It was as if hundreds of marbles were forcefully embedded into their bodies. One fell to the floor and exploded. After the dust settled, where each black sphere had been, only a yellow gem remained. It seemed these foes were divine-class monsters.
By the time the third demon was defeated, we were back in the White Room.
✦ ✦ ✦
In the White Room, it was just Kayla and me.
Well, that’s not surprising, I guess. We’re too far from Arisu and them, and besides, the inside of this sphere is kind of like being in a different world.
“Kayla, I want to ask something. When you said you were communicating with Mia… was it before the barrier was deployed?”
“Yes, Papa. Because Coeurl was talking to his master, I thought maybe I could talk to Mama, too.”
So, Coeurl is still just a pet to her… Well, it doesn’t matter.
“Did you know right away that Coeurl was communicating with Algrafth?”
Could Kayla have some weird extrasensory perception going on? It wouldn’t be surprising, really. Mia did seem to have done some tinkering when she created Kayla.
Kayla looked puzzled but then said, “I can hear it.”
“So, you can hear it, huh? Well, then I guess that’s that.”
I guess Kayla did possess a sense we lacked.
Papa’s going to give up thinking—ah ha ha! Ah, never mind.
“But you know, Kayla is happy.”
“Really?”
“Soon, Papa and Mama will meet.”
Soon…? Wait, we’ll meet? I can see Mia again?
“You mean, after we defeat the Demon Lord…?”
“I’ll defeat the Demon Lord. Papa, when you go back, you’ll meet Mama.”
Could it be that Mia is outside this world right now, in some kind of external realm?
I sighed, sat cross-legged on the floor, and beckoned Kayla to sit between my legs. My beloved daughter looked up at me with a shy smile.
“Kayla, can you tell me more about yourself?”
“About me? Like what?”
“Anything. What you like, what you don’t like. Fun things, things you want to do… anything.”
Kayla rattled off disjointed stories in reply, jumping from one topic to another, and sometimes I wasn’t even sure what she was talking about.
One thing became clear: the “Mama” she spoke of didn’t have a consistent form or shape. Sometimes she was a great tree, other times something mechanical, and at times she took a human form.
Sometimes large, sometimes small. Sometimes she spoke, other times she remained silent.
Mia, how far have you drifted from being human?
Perhaps sensing my unease, Kayla looked up at me and smiled. “It’s okay,” she said. “Mama loves Papa very much.”
“Does she?… Yeah, that’s good to hear.”
“Yeah. So, it’s okay.”
As my daughter sat there comforting me, I could only offer a pained smile and shake my head. “Okay, I’ll relax then.”
“Please do.”
“Kayla, you’ll come with me, right?”
She smiled and nodded. Yet, for some reason, her smile filled me with an indescribable sense of unease…
No, that couldn’t be. I shook my head, dismissing the budding worry in my heart.
Standing up, I headed toward the PC to leave the White Room.
✦ ✦ ✦
Back on Earth, Kayla stretched up, smiled, and gently kissed my cheek.
“This is special, just for me,” she said.
I was too astonished to move. Kayla took the opportunity to step back.
“Okay, Papa. Bye-bye.”
With a genuinely pleasant smile, my daughter jumped into the fissure from which the Baby Devils had emerged.
“Kayla!”
I rushed toward the edge of the hole. As she floated down, she looked up at me.
“This is my job now. I’ll be okay.”
“Wait, I’ll come with—”
“No!” Kayla called firmly, then in a softer tone, she added, “Goodbye, Papa.”
The abyss that had swallowed Kayla began to close automatically. Within seconds there was no trace of the fissure along the white floor.
I might have been able to follow Kayla if I had jumped in right away, but my body didn’t move. Was it because I was a coward, or did my instincts hold me back? I knelt on the floor, stunned.
✦ ✦ ✦
I lost track of time. The entire space, with its endlessly extending columns, began to shake.
“Did Kayla win?” I muttered to myself.
Somehow, I understood. Not through logic, but through a kind of sixth sense. My beloved daughter had accomplished what she needed to do.
“WHY?! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?! KAYLA, YOU SAID THERE WAS NO DANGER TO YOUR LIFE! DID YOU LIE? TO ME?! TO YOUR FATHER?!”
My daughter had scattered herself as the price for defeating the Demon Lord.