“…It’s late.”
Someone mutters.
In the space dyed black, the voice that echoes fades away with the traveling party, and the party silently revealed their individual anxieties in agreement with the words.
Lumel bit his thumbnail again, Phey stroked the hilt of a sword, and Richard clenched his fists with a stern expression.
Among them, only Tiamat, Ereta, and Angie seemed to react less, but even their reactions weren’t entirely calm.
Ereta gripped the symbol of her mother hanging from her neck and tightly shut her lips, while Tiamat tapped the bowstock and gently pressed her tail down against the floor.
Angie showed no remarkable reaction.
Instead, she was deep in thought.
She recalled the first time she and Aslan had fallen into another timeline, right before using a technique that safely extracted the party.
A technique that shattered part of the world.
The woman wondered if she should use it now.
Precisely, she pondered whether she should use it to find Aslan.
Of course, Aslan had asked her to wait, but Angie wasn’t the patient type to sit idly by.
She even considered the possibility that Aslan’s words and actions might not entirely reflect his own will.
Maybe he fell victim to an illusion, much like she had in the old palace long ago.
Or perhaps he was cornered.
With such thoughts in mind, staying obediently put didn’t feel very productive at this moment.
“Seems like it won’t work after all.”
“…Angie?”
So the woman stood up with her clenched fist, gathering divine power. Around the same time, Ereta, who was nearby, startled at the divine energy and turned around.
Crack!
Suddenly, a crack appeared in the air, then shattered to reveal someone.
It was Aslan.
The fragments of the abyss crushed under his stepping foot scattered with a sound like breaking glass, and the man standing above adjusted his twisted body as if cradling something.
A familiar face. A face somewhere satisfying, which was exactly what the party had been waiting for.
Naturally, they were about to approach him, ready to ask if he had finally arrived and if everything was done, when they unexpectedly froze.
They saw someone in his arms.
It was Lewena in his embrace.
An eerie silence flowed, and the party directed uneasy glances toward Lewena and Aslan, deliberately maintaining silence as a form of protest.
Aslan, however, remained unfazed and smiled awkwardly.
“I know what you’re thinking. I also know how you feel. But… can’t you understand? Please, I’m asking.”
Ordinarily, such words would be ignored.
But because the speaker was Aslan, a person who usually refrained from forcing anything, they listened.
The party exchanged glances, and watching these exchanges, Aslan added:
“If there’s any problem, I’ll take care of it.”
Thus, there was nothing left to complain about.
Though anxious and dissatisfied, few had the energy to vent immediately.
At least, if they wanted to discuss this matter, it would have to wait until after they returned.
“What are we going to do now?”
Thoughts naturally turned toward ‘after,’ and Tiamat spoke as if representing everyone.
Only then did Aslan glance at his waist.
There was the Abyssal Sword.
Now the key, core, and essence of the abyss, this object was also the gateway to the abyss.
With this, a door leading outside could be opened anytime, anywhere.
After explaining all this, the party gave ambiguous looks, as if they understood yet didn’t fully grasp it.
“We should go back now.”
“Yes, our strength will still be needed at the fortress. The battle is probably still raging, right? Maybe…”
Tiamat’s words trailed off as Aslan lightly shook his head.
“The battle is over.”
Indeed, it was.
“The battle… is over?”
“Yes, the abyss is no longer the abyss. All the abysses outside must have either returned or disappeared. All that remains is to go back.”
Aslan’s confident tone, as if he knew everything happening outside, made Tiamat scratch his chin with a subtle expression.
Just then, Angie nodded her chin, drawing everyone’s attention.
Where her chin pointed was Lewena.
“Is she coming too?”
“Her.” Perhaps knowing her name but unwilling to say it, Angie likely felt this way.
Aslan looked at Lewena, whom Angie indicated, and nodded with a subtle smile.
“Yes, but no.”
“Huh?”
The ambiguous answer caused Angie to furrow her brows, but Aslan remained unshaken.
Rather, he confidently said,
“She will come with us for now, but she won’t wake up. Her consciousness isn’t complete yet. Though it’s hard to explain in detail, I’ll skip it—she won’t wake up for a while even if she comes with us.”
Lewena’s consciousness wasn’t complete.
Although they briefly conversed using gathered abyssal energy as a temporary measure, afterward, the woman fell into a deep sleep without uttering a word.
It would take some time for her consciousness to fully develop and recover.
And there was no guarantee that this completed consciousness would seamlessly merge with her physical body.
After all, Lewena’s true form was not this body but the sword.
Though it was an intriguing explanation, Angie didn’t press further due to Aslan’s difficulty in explaining and merely stared at him silently.
“Why are you bringing her?”
The question came with crossed arms.
Aslan paused briefly at the inquiry.
The reason wasn’t simple.
Aslan still loved Lewena and couldn’t let go of the woman who loved him, leaving her to die.
Additionally, there was an intention to resist fate, and a desire to save her.
Compacting such complex reasons into a single explanation resulted in a crude answer.
Erasing the thoughts that came to mind, Aslan replied honestly and briefly.
“I need Lewena.”
Upon hearing this, some members of the group looked surprised, frowned, or shivered, while Angie, with a bored expression, crossed her arms and shot a glare at Lewena.
Even without any response or gaze returned, Angie soon tilted her eyes downward toward the ground.
“I see.”
A faint sense of disappointment. Before Aslan could notice it, the words continued.
“Then, let’s do that.”
Just as he barely noticed, the woman had already wiped her expression clean, becoming emotionless.
An icy, almost frigid neutrality. Watching this expression, Aslan struggled to speak.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, I just… want you to be happy.”
This chill halted any words from the other members, and Angie forced a smile, observing the atmosphere.
“If she plots something, it doesn’t matter now since you’re not alone anymore. Nothing serious will happen. Just don’t worry about it.”
The only thing Aslan could say in response was “thank you.”
Though the tone carried ambiguous feelings, Aslan lacked the leisure to dwell on it.
Mental fatigue had robbed Aslan of his imagination, and he stood at the center of the group, passing Angie.
Now, Aslan drew the Abyssal Sword and carved the air, creating an exit while saying it was time to return.
As the fortress scenery they entered through earlier reappeared through the torn void…
Angie remained silent behind Aslan.
Unconsciously, she reached out to place her hand on Aslan’s shoulder as usual but quickly withdrew it, recalling something.
A phrase she’d heard from Ereta during the intense battle against Rebecca.
As that phrase lingered in her mind, Angie found it difficult to look at Aslan’s face.
“Angie likes Aslan. Just like me.”
Amidst the hail of bullets and the potential for death, Angie realized the truth in those words.
Specifically, she realized it when she saw Aslan holding Lewena.
While listening to his declaration to bring her along, Angie felt excruciating pain.
Even a sense of crisis.
In the mere three months Aslan was gone…
During that time, Angie suffered immensely and deeply felt his absence.
In the midst of that loss, the woman understood.
From now on, she had to act more assertively.
Clenching her teeth, Angie decided to pursue a more aggressive approach moving forward.
Regardless of her thoughts, the group returned to the fortress.
What greeted them upon their return was not far from what they expected.
The battle had ended.
The sudden disappearance of the enemy left the allies bewildered, yet they maintained their guard.
Key figures, including Budonggong, were intact.
The Watcher and Guardian joined the front lines shortly after the hole the group entered through closed, drastically reducing soldier casualties.
Thus, the army’s losses were minimal.
If this were a war, one could call it a decisive victory.
The underlying reason was obvious.
Engaging with Aslan’s group and Lewena’s plan thoroughly exhausted the abyss, leaving it incapable of attacking the fortress outside.
By the end, it might not have been able to attack at all.
Aslan speculated this point occurred while using the Abyssal Sword and relayed a brief update to his adoptive father and commanding officers.
The abyss was dead, and Aslan had obtained the Abyssal Sword, making him its new master.
Detailed information transmission was postponed, and Aslan and the group returned to the inn.
The inn, emptied after the abyss’ appearance, where the group practically rented the whole place and stayed in quiet accommodation.
Nothing unusual happened until then.
Not even after laying Lewena down in an inn room and watching Lumel bustle about preparing the missed meal, sitting together with the group in the inn’s first-floor dining area.
The unexpected event occurred right after.
“Aslan.”
Sitting and waiting for the meal, Aslan looked up as a woman approached him.
Draping her crimson hair and with a hint of hesitation in her golden eyes, it was Angie.
Responding to the name he was more accustomed to than his real one, Aslan glanced up as Angie casually asked,
“Can I sit?”
There were plenty of seats.
Yet, ignoring Tiamat’s comment about available spaces elsewhere, Angie remained unfazed.
Thus, Aslan, giving Tiamat a curious look, nodded.
“Yeah, sure. There’s plenty of room here…”
“Thanks.”
Before his sentence finished, Angie expressed her gratitude and sat on Aslan’s lap.
Her firm bottom pressed against Aslan, and due to their roughly 20cm height difference, a fresh, slightly flirtatious scent wafted towards him.
Startled, Aslan twitched, and most of the group watched in bewilderment.
Angie, amidst the ensuing silence, broke it by pulling Aslan’s arm around her waist.
The warm body heat radiating from Angie was noticeable but not overwhelming like Ereta’s warmth, offering instead a gentle comfort.
Coupled with the unique, sweet scent of a female body teasing his nostrils, Aslan blankly muttered,
“Angie, Angie? Why…”
Aslan couldn’t understand why Angie was acting this way.
And Angie, for now, had no intention of explaining.
So, she simply said,
“I just felt like hugging you.”
Through countless adventures and battles, Angie learned that offense is the best defense.
“Why, don’t you like it?”
Angie’s smirk was defiant and provocative.
Realizing the same principle applied to love, Angie acted accordingly.
While Aslan, faced with her provocative expression, blinked and contemplated his response…
Beside them, Ereta scowled, upset with the situation she herself had created.
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