Sarah couldn’t even breathe and looked at Ethan’s face blankly. The corners of Ethan’s lips curled up gracefully. Then he lowered his hand that was gently stroking her lips.

“Ah.”

A sigh of regret leaked through Sarah’s lips. Sarah’s face flushed at the sound that came out unknowingly. She couldn’t even imagine that she was confessing with a distinctive and confident voice until recently. Her face turned red as if it was about to explode. Now Ethan realized that Sarah actually couldn’t afford it either. So she could speak in a ladylike voice.

“So would you please allow it?”

“……I will.”

Sarah rolled her eyes around, not knowing what to do, and finally nodded. Only then was Ethan able to let go of Sarah’s hand, which he was holding tightly with his other hand.

“I’ll wait for you.”

“I’ll be back.”

Sarah’s face became lighter as she bid goodbye to Ethan, who was seeing her off. Ethan believed she would return, and Sarah had no intention of betraying that belief. She felt like the two of them finally clicked.

“……Fuu.”

Sarah sighed loudly to shake off the tension and approached the sphere that sealed Kazer’s power. Kazer de Crombell, once the noblest man in the Empire, now died in a tragic way. All of his vitality had been taken away by his power, and his body, which had a good appearance, remained withered.

“It looks like a mummy without a bandage.”

She clicked her tongue in regret. Had he been content with what he had, he would not have died so miserably.

‘After the death of his mother, the Empress, Kazer’s life changed.’

Both the Emperor and the First Prince had strangely twisted personalities after the death of the Empress. At this point, even Sarah couldn’t help but wonder what kind of woman could she be, so that both the Emperor and her son were so ruined by her death alone.

“I’m getting curious.”

Sarah stretched out her hand, thinking that if she could return to Park Hyeyeon’s body this time, she would find out. Then, she could feel the power wriggling in the palm of her hand as if it was about to explode. She bit her lip for a moment, clenched her fist, and repeatedly opened it.

“Fuu.”

Then, holding her breath, she slowly reaped what she had sealed with her mana. At the same time, the earth shook and the sky wept. From the place where Sarah’s palm touched, Ambrosia’s power began to swirl.

“……Ugh.”

It was too much power to control at once. No matter how much she was, the curse was about to pop out of her mouth.

“Oliven……, did you use all my research magic orbs?”

As she gritted her teeth and muttered, Oliven’s soul stone, which was sleeping somewhere in her arms, trembled and cried. That was the answer.

“Ha.”

Sarah decided to blame herself for keeping the magic orbs containing Ambrosia’s power in the laboratory. What could she do with a foolish guy who had already been sucked into the soulstone? She’d rather blame herself.

“[Come to me.]”

As Sarah memorized the starter words, the magic circle that had shielded her and Ethan from ordinary soldiers and monsters was removed at once. Then, this time, Sarah and the raging power began to be locked together. Watching her gradually disappear into the magic circle, Ethan clenched his teeth.

“……Sarah.”

“See you later.”

Sarah gave Ethan one last smile and then completely shut off the space. Her eyes were filled with bright red blood from the gap between Ethan’s clenched fists. Maybe he was trying his best to put up with it.

“I need to get it done as soon as possible and come back as soon as possible.”

Sarah reaffirmed her resolve and slowly began to work to separate Kazer’s power. Thinking that Ethan couldn’t see this way, the speed of her work increased. Now, without noticing, she was able to wield Ambrosia’s power as much as she could. Azure mana spurted out like a thread from her fingertips. Then she wrapped the power of the rampaging Kazer like a silkworm spewing threads into a cocoon.

‘I need to separate Ambrosia’s power from black magic. Purify only the power of Ambrosia as pure as possible, and black magic……’

She took out the soulstone of Oliven, who was trembling and crying sadly in her arms. Complex magic formulas were repeatedly rising and disappearing, rising and disappearing once again.

“Be quiet. Shouldn’t you be helping me at least once?”

At the gentle voice of Sarah, Oliven’s soulstone finally calmed down.

“Let’s take a look at the virtues of the disciple who has learned black magic.”

Black magic. It was a power against the flow. When it comes to the flow of this world, there are many different things. History and time, life and death, nature and ecosystems. Among them, life and death were typically dealt with in black magic. Coincidentally, black magic was a product of magicians who studied healing magic to the extreme. It was the history of those who wanted to continue the breath of those who had already died. So they turned their attention to ‘time’. She wanted to use it this time.

“I need to know what I did with Park Hyeyeon’s body in a timeline I don’t know.”

There was nothing rough about Sarah who had set her goals. The black magic separated from Ambrosia’s power flowed to Oliven’s soulstone, and the rest was taken into her body. A power that had lost control flowed into her body, causing her familiar pain.

“……Uh ugh!”

Kuh heok, said Sarah, crying and vomiting dark red blood. Things she couldn’t swallow flowed down her lips little by little. She clenched her teeth a little more.

“Not yet. Not yet.”

Suddenly, her blood-red eyes stared at the power of Ambrosia, which she had not been able to absorb. Until she put them all together and purify them, she couldn’t fall down yet.

* * *

The sky wept and the earth shook. Birds got up in groups from the monster forest and started flying somewhere. The sky was darkened by flocks of birds.

“Kkieeek!”

The monsters who were facing the swords of the soldiers and knights all looked up at the sky and screamed. Then they all turned around and started running away.

“……Huh, huh?”

“What’s wrong with them all of a sudden?”

The humans who were dealing with the monsters looked around with a bewildered voice. A war that seemed like it would never end came to an abrupt end. Even the nobles who were in charge of the soldiers couldn’t figure out what had happened, so they just stared blankly at the backs of the monsters.

“Hey, the magic circle is gone!”

Someone sensed a change and shouted. Then everyone looked at the place where the magician had blocked their sight using a magic circle a little while ago. It was the place where the First Prince went wild, exploding his evil powers. It was also the place where Duke Ethan Ambrosia and the magician, who tried to stop him, were locked together with the First Prince in the magic circle. The Ambrosia Knights tried constantly to penetrate the magic circle, but it didn’t budge like an iron wall, and it was gone at this moment.

“……Duke Ambrosia is alive!”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Ethan Ambrosia, who stood tall alone. He was standing alone on the charred ground around him, holding someone in his arms.

“My Lord!”

The Knights of Ambrosia, who were closer to the magic circle than anyone else, ran with contemplation. The energy of the earth, which had been vibrating from before, was spreading uneasily. Everyone knew that something unusual was going on inside that magic circle.

“Are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere?!”

Jade was the first to run and check Ethan’s condition. Then, over his shoulder, he looked at Kazer, who died in a miserable state. A sigh of relief escaped Jade’s lips. With Ethan and Sarah together, he knew it would work out somehow. However, he was worried that the two of them would fall victim to the First Prince, who showed power beyond common sense. He was fortunate enough to see his Lord standing safely, and he was barely reassured. Of course, seeing the First Prince who died like that gave him a headache because of the situation in the Crombell Empire that would soon turn into a battlefield.

“……”

Ethan looked at Jade with an empty gaze without saying a word. His face was as expressionless as ever, but something seemed to be twisted. After seeing his Lord’s face like that for a long time, Jade’s expression was distorted.

“My Lord?”

Only then did he see the person his Lord was holding in his arms. The person was wrapped in Ethan’s outer garment, and the hem of the robe, which was visible through the outer garment, was familiar to him. Jade raised his hand, rubbed his eyes, and looked again. It was the magician’s robe.

“Don’t tell me that’s Countess Millen?”

Jade’s voice trembled like an aspen when he asked Ethan. The person in his arms did not feel the vitality of a living being at all. At that moment, one arm drooped down. With fair skin, long, slender fingers, no blood…… It was Sarah’s arm.

“How, how like this!”

Ethan fixed Sarah in his arms and put her droopy arm back in place. So perfectly locked her back in his arms. Then he brushed past Jade, who was muttering in disbelief. Ethan ordered Jade in a cold voice, who had frozen and did not follow him.

“Return to Ambrosia.”

Ethan passed by the Knights of Ambrosia and walked forward. With every step he took, he could feel the terrible anger he was suppressing. Jade looked at Ethan’s back with eyes trembling in disbelief. Then, as soon as he saw the traces Ethan had left behind, he trembled.

“Blood……”

Dark red blood dripped down where Ethan had passed. And it wasn’t Ethan’s.

“Countess Millen……”

Sarah. It was Sarah Millen’s blood.