The silence that followed the fall of the monster was not the quiet of victory, but emptiness.Neil's body remained lying amid patches of blood and ash, his eyes half-open, and the sparks of lightning around him fading with every heartbeat, each weaker than the last.The toxins had invaded his lungs, his arteries burning slowly, and the cold began creeping into his limbs.
At that moment, without warning…A signal appeared on the crystal tracking device held by a woman walking with measured steps at the edge of the arena.
Carla Brown—the woman rarely seen outside her ancient library or laboratories.Her pale features betrayed no urgency, and her face reflected no emotion, but her eyes remained fixed on the body before her, as if assuring herself she had finally arrived.
She stopped at the edge of the devastation, lifted the hem of her black cloak slightly so it wouldn't catch the monster's blood, then bent to examine him.She placed two fingers on his neck, her eyes moving quickly between the wounds on his chest and the spread of the poison.
"You've exceeded your limits."
Her voice held neither tenderness nor cruelty, only cold fact, like someone explaining the result of a failed experiment.She pulled out a small instrument, similar to a short metallic needle etched with ethereal green lines, and quickly inserted it into his side. A faint light emerged, slowly creeping along his veins toward his heart, slow but steady.
"If I'd been a few minutes later, I'd have found a corpse, not a student."
Her voice remained just as cold, but the tone in her eyes revealed something like silent respect.She watched the life indicator rise gradually, then nodded as if agreeing with the result of an examination.
"No wonder you inherited lightning after Denji fell… but you're still fool enough to face an A-rank alone."It seems this monster was born from the death of many people—negative energy, according to one theory.
She stood upright, wiped the monster's blood from her palm, then turned slightly to make sure no other danger remained.
"At least… your heart is still beating."
She added nothing more.She lifted her wrist where a glowing blue crystal was set, and sent a short signal to an unknown destination, before returning to stand over him, waiting for him to open his eyes—or ready to transport him if he failed to regain consciousness.
Carla did not wait for him to open his eyes.She saw the slow rise of his chest, the fresh blood on his lips, and the faint gleam around the wound in his chest… that glow which would not be enough to keep him alive much longer if he remained here.
She raised her left arm and pressed a black crystalline panel fixed into her glove.In an instant, a wide magic circle took shape around her and across the ground, lined with intricate geometric markings.A pale blue light emerged from the points of the diagram, then rose gradually until it became a solid band encircling Neil's body and lifting him gently from below, as if invisible threads were bearing him up.
"Hang on a little… this transfer isn't gentle."
Her voice stayed soft, but this time there was an implied admission that she respected his stubbornness.She closed her fingers over the crystal, and the light below flared in a single bright flash.
In an instant, Neil vanished from the monster's wreckage and the field of blood.Nothing remained but Carla's footprints and black ash lines marking the magic circle on the earth.
…
When the light returned, they were somewhere entirely different.A high-ceilinged chamber, its walls lined with dozens of shelves of ancient books, the air heavy with the scent of medicinal herbs.In one corner, Carla extended her hand to pull a small metal table closer to a low bed covered in dark leather, then directed the beam of light toward it.She lowered his body slowly onto the mattress, moving her hand to dissolve the light band as if it had never been.
She stepped toward a wooden shelf, picked up a glass vial filled with a green liquid threaded with golden lines, opened it calmly, and let a drop fall into his mouth.Then she placed her palm on his chest, closing her eyes for a moment, feeling the heartbeat that had grown calmer… though still faint.
"If you weren't so arrogant… I wouldn't have had to save you."
She stepped back, looked at him for a long moment, then whispered:
"But… perhaps that arrogance is what makes you different from the others."
She turned then to a high window, studying the shadows outside, making sure no one had followed her here.
And Neil lay there between consciousness and oblivion, his breathing gradually steadying, the poison receding under the effect of the antidote and the rapid transport.At least… he was alive.
Carla stood silently beside the bed, watching Neil's chest rise and fall in a regular rhythm.She extended her hand again, passing it lightly over his forehead, feeling the heat the antidote was slowly easing.She turned her wrist slightly, and the magic seal on her glove glowed, revealing a delicate engraving like a geometric clock whose hands turned counter to time.
She sighed softly, as if she had already known the answer.
"Three weeks… at least."
She murmured it to herself.Three weeks of absence, three weeks his body would spend repairing its cells from the poison and the impossible exhaustion he'd inflicted upon himself.
She closed the magic seal and set her hand back on his chest, feeling the steady heartbeat.She said nothing this time, as if granting him a moment of silence reserved only for those who fought to the final breath.
…Then she raised her eyes to a wooden shelf where a white scarf embroidered with silver threads was hanging.A scarf untouched by dust despite the passing years.
Slowly, she brushed its edge with trembling fingers, her voice emerging as a quiet confession:
"That night… the night she died… I was traveling."
A heavy silence hung for a moment, then she added, her tone a mix of sorrow and bitterness:
"If I had stayed… maybe I could have saved her. Mary…"
She closed her eyes, recalling the image of the little girl she had treated the first time, playing with her metallic hair and laughing despite the pain.
"I watched you grow… you were stronger than anyone, even when life broke you… you always fixed yourself from the inside."
She stepped back, swallowing something like a lump in her throat:
"I'm sorry… that I wasn't here in the end."
She left the scarf hanging as it was and turned back to the sleeping Neil.She stared long at his exhausted features, then spoke in a soft voice, but one firmer than before:
"Maybe I can't save the dead… but I will protect the living."
She drew a light cover over his body, as if afraid he might feel a cold he could not sense.
And she left the room slowly, leaving behind a warm silence like hidden prayers no one would ever hear.
The Royal Capital — The Old Queens Palace
The velvet curtains swayed slowly in the evening breeze, spreading through the room the scent of aged lavender.On a wide wooden chair sat Mila Queens, Mary's mother, holding in her hands a small silver pendant her daughter had given her many years ago.Her blue eyes, which had always stitched trust into her children's hearts, now looked like broken mirrors reflecting the cracks in her own.
The attendant knocked lightly at the door, then advanced slowly until he stood at the edge of the royal carpet.His voice came out hesitant, as if afraid to wound her:
"My lady… we have received a confirmed message from Etrajan City… Mary… she… she has passed."
She did not reply.She continued staring at the pendant, running her thumb along its edges as if reading a hidden inscription only she could see.
"My lady… shall… shall I bring your grandson…?"
For a moment, nothing moved in her face; even her breath seemed suspended.Then she slowly raised her gaze and said in a low, firm voice:
"No."
The attendant lowered his head in embarrassment, but his curiosity overcame him:
"W-wouldn't you wish to see him? He is alone now… perhaps… perhaps it would ease your grief."
She closed her eyes.In an instant, her memory returned to that last visit:
Mary had entered through that very door, in dusty battle garments, carrying her small child in her arms.She recalled how pale the child looked, sleeping deeply as if fleeing the world, while Mary lifted her head with the defiance that suited her:
"Mother… if I never return… remember that I chose this path."
That day, Mila had tried to embrace her, but Mary had stepped back, then wrapped Adam in her arms as if to shield him even from her mother's touch.She said nothing more, leaving without looking back.
Mila drew a slow breath, as if the air itself pained her chest.Then she whispered without looking at her attendant:
"The last time I saw her… she was holding her son as if carrying her heart in her hands… If you bring him to me now, I will see her eyes in his… I don't wish to weaken further."
A single tear fell onto her hand, clenched around the pendant.Then she added, in a voice worn by the years:
"Leave him… leave him where he is. Bearing the pain alone now may be kinder than seeing it in my face."
The attendant did not dare reply.He only bowed slowly, then withdrew in silence.
In the room left empty but for her, Mila Queens remained silent.Her eyes closed, as if trying to see her daughter one last time… in a dream that would never come true.