After landing steadily from the sky, Ellen's eyes were instantly drawn to Eriri, who was even more dazzling than Mio. That unrivaled charm made her momentarily dazed.
However, she quickly snapped out of it. She knew now was not the time to be amazed by Eriri's beauty—there were more important matters to attend to.
She immediately called out softly to the two in front of her: Eriri and Mio.
"Please wait a moment!"
Seeing the serious look on Ellen's face, Eriri couldn't help but show a teasing smile.
"You're pretty bold, showing up in front of us at a time like this, Ellen Mira Mathers. Did you forget the warning I gave you?"
"Hah… so Isaac wasn't mistaken. You really are the Eriri-sama from the chat group, aren't you?!"
Although she had basically confirmed Eriri's identity before coming here, actually hearing it from Eriri herself still left Ellen feeling utterly powerless.
"That's right, it's me." Eriri nodded.
"I know why you're here, but I'll make this clear: it's impossible."
"The moment he decided to target my precious Mio, he lost any chance of surviving."
As she spoke, Eriri reached out with her free right hand and gently stroked Mio's left cheek. The smooth sensation was something she couldn't get enough of.
Mio didn't resist Eriri's touch at all. In fact, she closed her eyes and rubbed her cheek against Eriri's palm like a kitten.
Though curious about Ellen's sudden appearance, it didn't compare to the joy of being close to Eriri.
Eriri's words made Ellen's heart sink to rock bottom.
Seeing Ellen lower her head in silence, Eriri retracted her hand from Mio's cheek, walked up to Ellen, and lightly patted her shoulder.
"Alright. Since you didn't attack and your attitude's decent, I'll let you off this time. Just remember the warning I gave you."
With that, Eriri ignored Ellen and led Mio past her, continuing toward the Himekawa residence.
However, before they had gone more than a few meters, Ellen, having pulled herself together, caught up to them again.
"Please wait, Eriri-sama!"
With the help of her manifestation device, Ellen instantly appeared in front of Eriri and Mio once more.
"Eriri-sama, I was the one who proposed the plan to approach the Spirit of Origin—it had nothing to do with Isaac. If someone must be punished, let it be me. I only ask that you spare Isaac.
I also promise that DEM will never harbor any ill intentions toward the Spirit of Origin again!"
Ellen looked at Eriri pleadingly, nearly dropping to her knees.
Faced with Ellen's continued pestering, Eriri's brows furrowed slightly.
"Ellen, do you really think I won't kill you?" Eriri said with a blank expression.
Ellen shook her head without hesitation. "I never thought that. Before I came to see you, I was already prepared to die."
She paused, took a deep breath, and continued with newfound resolve:
"But I hope you'll spare Isaac for the sake of my past participation in the chat group. I'll do as you once told me—I'll give up on my revenge against humanity."
"Wow… you really think too highly of yourself. What does your revenge against humanity have to do with me?" Eriri replied, her voice flat.
"The reason I said those things to you before was because you were part of the chat group. That's the only reason I gave you a chance to stay."
"But when you rejected my goodwill and got kicked out, you permanently lost any chance of receiving special treatment from me. Got it?"
Although she had long known her request was likely to be rejected, hearing Eriri's cold and emotionless words still made Ellen's heart sink even deeper—so deep it felt impossible to recover.
At that moment, she began to regret the choices she had made in the past.
If only she had not rejected Eriri's kindness back then… if only she had chosen to give up on her revenge against humanity…
Would things have turned out completely differently now?
Ignoring Ellen's deepening gloom, Eriri's indifferent voice rang out again.
"I'm giving you five seconds. If you're still standing in front of us after that, then go keep that other arrogant insect company."
Five seconds was a fleeting moment—barely enough for a breath or two. Ellen had no time to ponder.
But even if she were given more time, it would be meaningless. She knew her purpose for coming here had completely failed.
If she kept pressing the issue, she'd only lose her life. There was no second option.
So, one second after Eriri's words ended, Ellen let out a powerless sigh and, with a dejected expression, stepped aside.
Eriri didn't spare her another glance. She cheerfully resumed walking with Mio, chatting and laughing as if nothing had happened.
Ellen simply stood there in silence, watching Eriri and Mio's backs gradually disappear.
Only after their figures vanished completely from her sight did she quietly turn and activate her manifestation device to return to the DEM branch.
When Isaac, still in the branch's building, saw Ellen return, his heart instantly sank.
His left hand was still steadily disintegrating. That alone told him Ellen had failed.
Which meant… his life had likely reached its end.
...
By the time Eriri and Mio returned to the newly rebuilt Himekawa household, more than ten minutes had passed.
Inside the villa, nothing had changed since Eriri left. Yoshino was still comfortably watching TV in the living room, and Nagisa Himekawa had not yet returned from work.
The moment she saw Eriri appear in the living room, Yoshino immediately abandoned her beloved TV and stood up to run toward her.
But in the next second, she noticed Mio standing beside Eriri. Her forward momentum came to an abrupt halt.
Eriri immediately understood why.
Yoshino wasn't reacting this way because of any hostility toward Mio—she was simply shy around strangers.
Without giving it much thought, Eriri led Mio over to Yoshino and spread her arms, pulling her into a warm embrace.
"I'm back, Yoshino-chan."
Feeling Eriri's warm hug, most of Yoshino's shyness melted away.
"Mm! Welcome back, Eriri-nee!" Yoshino said happily, snuggling closer into her arms.
She then looked up from Eriri's embrace and turned her gaze toward Mio, who was watching her with curiosity. A curious expression formed on Yoshino's face.
She had a general guess as to Mio's identity.
After all, she knew Eriri had gone out earlier to find the Spirit of Origin. So the unfamiliar girl Eriri brought back was most likely the one she had found.
Noticing Yoshino's gaze, Mio smiled warmly at her.
"Hello, Yoshino-chan. My name is Mio Sawamura. You can just call me Mio—or Mio-oneechan, if you'd prefer," Mio said with a grin.
Though she had been born less than half a month ago, Eriri's afternoon of education had taught her everything a human should know. She was far more well-adjusted than her original counterpart.
So even though her real age was zero, her mental maturity far surpassed that of an average high school student.
Hearing Mio's words, Yoshino quickly responded with a soft, "Hello, Mio-oneechan!"
She didn't think too deeply about it. Based solely on Mio's apparent age—around sixteen—calling her "oneechan" felt natural.
"Good girl!"
Hearing Yoshino call her "oneechan," Mio broke into a delighted smile and couldn't help but gently pat Yoshino's head.
Feeling Mio's gentle touch, the rest of Yoshino's shyness instantly vanished.
By the time evening arrived, around six o'clock, Nagisa Himekawa finally returned home from work.
Upon meeting Mio, there was naturally a round of introductions.
Although only four people lived in this spacious villa, it never felt empty. The lively atmosphere remained completely intact.
...
In stark contrast to the cheerful scene at the Himekawa home, the atmosphere in one of the DEM Corporation's Tengu City branch operating rooms was oppressively heavy.
Ellen sat solemnly in a chair, while Isaac—now missing both arms and one leg—lay listlessly on the hospital bed, eyes vacant.
His only remaining limb, his left leg, was now half gone. Everything below the knee had already vanished, and the area above the knee was slowly turning into particles.
At this rate, Isaac's final leg would completely vanish in just over an hour.
During this time, Isaac's emotions went through many changes.
Upon realizing he couldn't be saved, he had given up on amputating his left arm, fearing the disintegration might spread to other parts of his body.
At first, he remained relatively calm.
Though he was reluctant to die, he did not despair or go mad—he merely waited quietly for the end to come once his left arm had fully vanished.
But to his surprise, once his left arm had fully dissipated, the particle effect didn't stop or spread to his torso—it shifted to his right leg.
This meant that amputating his right arm earlier had been entirely pointless. That realization shattered the calm he had maintained.
If the process had ended quickly, even losing all four limbs might not have shaken him.
But after more than an hour of thinking the end was near, he realized he wasn't even halfway there.
Though the disintegration itself wasn't painful, the psychological pressure far exceeded any physical pain—and it slowly pushed him into despair.
And after despair came madness.
Because leg disintegration took roughly twice as long as an arm, his right leg took nearly three hours to vanish.
Unsurprisingly, once it disappeared, the next area to go was his left leg.
By then, it was past 8 p.m.
Four long hours of watching death slowly approach had finally driven Isaac to the brink of insanity.
He wanted to mobilize all DEM's artificial magicians and launch indiscriminate terror attacks across the globe.
But no matter how mad he became, it was pointless. His body was already a wreck, and with Ellen holding him back, all he could do was lie in the hospital bed and wait for death.
After his left leg was half gone, Isaac's spirit completely collapsed.
Ironically, he could have ended the suffering easily by committing suicide when the disintegration began on his right leg.
Yet from start to finish—even during his madness—he never once considered taking his own life. Nor did he ever again consider amputating to shorten the process.
This was because Eriri had implanted a subtle suggestion in him: forbidding him from escaping despair by any means.
As for Ellen, despite her past hatred for humanity, she stopped Isaac's mad idea for two main reasons.
First, she didn't want Elliot and Karen to be affected by this incident.
Second, after today's events, she had decided to give up on revenge.
With Eriri around, they would never obtain the Spirit of Origin's power.
And without that power, exacting revenge on all of humanity was virtually impossible.
More importantly, she deeply regretted not accepting Eriri's offer to abandon her vengeance when she had the chance.
Once that regret took hold, it became impossible to shake.
And without a goal of revenge or capturing Spirits, Elliot would also have no reason to leave DEM.
After Isaac's left leg fully disappeared, his torso finally began disintegrating.
It took nearly five hours for his entire body to vanish, leaving behind only a lone head.
Yet his brain activity didn't cease with his heart's disappearance—if anything, it became dozens of times more active.
Finally, at around 4 a.m. the next morning, Isaac's life came to an end.
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