Melissa bit her lip slightly with tension.

She had definitely heard it.

The sound of the barrier breaking.

“H-how did this……”

She could see the faces of the mages around her turning pale. She briefly hoped she had misheard, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

Quickly scanning the surroundings, Melissa soon found the cracked area. It wasn’t far from where the wall was being built.

‘What exactly caused it to break?’

Melissa racked her brain trying to identify the cause.

Meanwhile, the crack in the barrier kept growing larger.

The tension intensified accordingly.

‘This situation feels familiar, like I’ve experienced it before.’

Melissa recalled what had happened previously in the north.

Right. She had experienced the exact same thing in this very place before. And the cause of the incident then was clearly…….

Keeee—

A sound like metal being scraped came from somewhere.

Turning her head toward that eerie noise, she saw a familiar form not far away. Something she could never forget, even after all this time.

“……Metus.”

Its bloodshot yellow eyes stared intently at Melissa.

The moment their eyes met, she knew.

Metus wasn’t targeting Edgar—it was targeting her.

‘It thinks I interfered with it eating Edgar.’

Metus had clearly realized that its disappearance from this world would be the ultimate revenge against Edgar.

It made sense.

That monster had entered Edgar’s unconscious directly and seen everything about him.

‘……So it made Edgar leave my side.’

What chilling intelligence.

Melissa let out a long sigh.

Kuung.

Thud.

She heard Metus walking toward her.

Its already large body seemed to grow even larger. Its thick arms swung back and forth as if ready to sweep away everything around it.

People screamed and fled.

Feeding on that fear and growing even larger, Metus approached Melissa directly, not looking anywhere else.

Its pace gradually quickened.

“My lady!”

Lloyd’s voice shouted from a short distance away, as if his throat might tear. Though it wasn’t the time for such thoughts, she found it strange for a moment.

That even Lloyd being beside her was exactly the same as before.

Perhaps she felt detached from reality.

Melissa quickly threw herself backward.

Knowing that Metus was targeting only her, she needed to get as far away from others as possible. To prevent them from getting hurt.

‘And somehow I need to hold on.’

Though she didn’t want to imagine it, if Edgar returned from the Magic Tower after receiving the ring’s signal and found her dead….

If he blamed himself for leaving, regretted not letting her use precognition, and despaired at failing again….

‘I can’t let that happen.’

Melissa ran with all her might.

She could feel the massive black form rapidly approaching without even looking, but she continued without stopping or resting.

She considered teleporting but couldn’t—she couldn’t go very far anyway, and she needed to conserve her magical power for unforeseen situations.

“Ah.”

Melissa let out a small groan as she fell to the ground.

She must have caught her foot on a tree root.

Looking back, she saw sharp claws almost right in front of her face.

‘Quickly, a spell……’

Melissa extended her hand, recalling any formula that came to mind. Pink magical power shot from her hand toward Metus in an instant.

But Metus swatted it away with a light movement of its foot.

As if brushing away an insect.

‘Ha, I hope it doesn’t hurt too much.’

Melissa instinctively squeezed her eyes shut.

She had already given up on the idea of avoiding Metus’s attack. Instead, she would escape from her unconscious state as quickly as possible.

So Edgar wouldn’t be sad.

That was all that mattered, wasn’t it? She had nothing to fear as long as she could meet Edgar again.

Shunk.

The chilling sound of claws tearing flesh echoed.

Simultaneously, the smell of blood reached her nostrils.

‘What?’

Something was strange.

She should have felt tremendous pain, but oddly, she felt no pain at all.

Melissa slowly opened her eyes.

She flinched at the sight before her.

“……Why?”

She saw a small figure collapsed in front of her.

And the clothes that completely covered that person’s body.

It was Ferdina Preston.

“Your Excellency?”

Melissa carefully called out to Ferdina.

But she didn’t move at all.

There was a large, long wound on Ferdina’s back. Blood from it had soaked the ground.

“Please wake up, Your Excellency!”

“My lady!”

Lloyd came running from a distance.

He immediately stood in front of Melissa and Ferdina.

Metus seemed confused about attacking an unexpected target. Its golden eyes trembled and then narrowed.

Metus raised its arm again. Its sharp, long claws extended as if ready to slash everyone in front of it.

But those claws never reached Melissa.

Nor did they reach Lloyd, who stood in front of her.

Crash.

Something suddenly flew in from the side and charged at Metus. The impact sent it flying into a tree not far away.

The collision was so powerful that the tree shattered miserably.

Melissa turned her head to look in the direction from which that “something” had come. She knew for certain that someone familiar would be there.

“……It was smarter than I thought. I knew it was intelligent, but I didn’t expect this level.”

Blue eyes glowed dimly through the rising dust. It was Edgar Shortiras.

He spoke in a cold voice as he slowly walked forward.

“Too bad for you. You went to the trouble of inciting other monsters, but your plan has failed.”

Metus growled as it got to its feet.

Its golden pupils moved quickly back and forth, as if thinking about something.

It didn’t take long for Metus to turn and run away. It had judged that it had no chance of winning against Edgar in his current state.

“I’ll chase after it. So……”

Edgar, who had hesitated briefly while looking at Melissa, turned to Lloyd and said:

“Please take care of Melissa.”

“I will.”

After hearing Lloyd’s answer, Edgar immediately took off.

Melissa glanced at his retreating figure before looking down at Ferdina again. She was groaning with a pained expression.

“We should move Her Excellence somewhere else first.”

“Yes, can you help me carry her on my back?”

Melissa nodded and carefully lifted Ferdina. It was difficult to do alone, but since Metus had only fled and other monsters were still pouring in, she couldn’t ask for help from anyone else.

‘There.’

As she applied pressure to stop the bleeding and placed Ferdina on Lloyd’s back, she noticed something on the exposed part of Ferdina’s skin.

A familiar pattern that Melissa had seen before.

“Why is this……”

“My lady, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Lloyd asked as he adjusted Ferdina on his back.

Melissa startled and shook her head.

“It’s nothing! The wound is just worse than I thought.”

“That’s unavoidable since she was attacked by Metus. We should hurry and gather the priests.”

Melissa, who had been quickly pulling down Ferdina’s clothes to cover the pattern, paused at Lloyd’s words.

After thinking for a moment, she said:

“……No, Your Highness. Please don’t call the priests.”

“But to treat the high priest’s wounds……”

“You know as well as I do that the reason Her Excellence can’t get up isn’t because of her wounds. I’ll do it.”

Melissa said with a determined expression.

“No, I must do it.”

* * *

Lloyd moved Ferdina to Melissa’s tent.

When news spread that Melissa would treat the high priest without the help of priests, there was initial resistance from them. However, when it became known that Melissa was the only person among them who had entered an unconscious state created by Metus, they quieted down.

Someone’s argument that the Lucid clan, blessed by the main deity, would be compatible with Ferdina also helped.

‘Compatible, huh.’

That would certainly be true.

Melissa looked at Ferdina with mixed feelings.

She should enter Ferdina’s unconscious immediately, but the reason she was waiting after completing all preparations was because of Edgar.

More precisely, because she needed Edgar.

“Melissa.”

As if knowing she was thinking about him, Edgar appeared right on cue, lifting the tent flap and entering.

“I heard from people on my way here. They said you’re going to enter Her Excellence’s unconscious.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Is there a reason you need to go that far? You know better than anyone that entering someone’s unconscious isn’t a simple matter.”

Edgar looked at Ferdina, who lay unconscious.

He let out a long sigh.

“I’m sorry to Her Excellence, but you’re most precious to me. I’m afraid something might happen to you.”

“That won’t happen. I promise.”

Melissa answered immediately.

She met Edgar’s eyes and continued:

“Edgar, I found her. I found Lucid.”

There was no time to explain in detail.

Edgar would probably understand just from these words.

Sure enough, Edgar’s eyes, which had been tilted in confusion, widened. His gaze, which had been on Melissa, shifted back to Ferdina.

“Could it be……”

“Yes. That’s why I have to do this. I want you to help me.”

“What do you need me to do?”

Edgar didn’t say it couldn’t be done anymore.

Knowing that this was his way of respecting her, Melissa smiled slightly with gratitude.

“Keep people from entering the tent until I return. If that’s difficult, just make sure no one touches Her Excellence’s body.”

“I understand. Travel safely, Melissa.”

I’ll wait.

Those were the last words she heard before losing consciousness.

Melissa slowly closed her eyes.

* * *

Once upon a time, there was a girl.

The girl loved the mountain village where she lived.

The high sky, wide green fields, fresh trees.

There was nothing that didn’t please her. Everything that entered this space was lovable enough to make her heart swell.

Perhaps that was why.

Why she saved an eagle that was shivering on the ground with severe injuries.

“Eat well and get better soon.”

The girl treated the eagle with great care.

She discovered that the bird was actually a manifestation of a very high deity only after the eagle had fully recovered.

「Thank you.」

The deity was genuinely moved by the girl’s kindness.

The girl received two gifts as a reward for her treatment.

Vast divine power and the ability to see the future.