At dawn, Ankh woke up with a splitting headache reminiscent of a bad hangover. He couldn't help rubbing his temples.
Last night, he remembered... he should have been performing the resurrection ritual.
But at the final moment, he vaguely remembered seeing Ur revert to human form right before he passed out...
Wait!
Ankh's consciousness snapped awake. He bolted upright from the sofa and quickly scanned the study.
Hmm... nothing had changed, except for the massive pile of Magic Crystals that had been drained and reduced to magical waste.
Ankh rose from the sofa, destroyed the remnants of the magic circle on the floor, and pondered Ur's whereabouts.
The resurrection must have succeeded—Ur had clearly moved him to the sofa—so where had she gone?
Had she left out of heightened vigilance?
Ankh sighed. He should have written a letter beforehand to persuade her to stay.
Knock, knock, knock. A slow knocking sound echoed through Ankh Manor as Head Maid Soteni spoke softly through the door:
"Sir, the lady who stayed overnight has prepared breakfast for you."
Hmm? She hasn't left?
Ankh was momentarily stunned before immediately opening the door. "Let's go, I'll go see her."
Soteni led Ankh to the kitchen. Upon entering the room, he saw a spirited, short-haired beauty sitting at the dining table enjoying her meal.
"Well, look who's here, little brother."
Ankh pulled out a chair and sat opposite Ur. "As Gray's master, you should be considered my senior."
Ur spread her hands, gazing at Ankh with deep emotion. "I'm quite surprised too—to wake up and find ten whole years have passed. Gray and Lyon... they must be adults by now. I've missed so much..."
"But let's skip the 'senior' part. After sleeping through an entire era and becoming younger myself, just call me by my name. After all, you are Gray's senior too."
From the photographs in his study, Ur had concluded that Gray and that fire-breathing boy were clearly gathered around the young man before her—the senior-junior relationship was obvious at a glance.
"Very well, Lady Ur. My name is Ankh," he responded with a polite smile.
Ur's physical age should normally have been around thirty-seven or thirty-eight after the resurrection. But whether due to an insufficient Divine Power supply during the ritual, or simply because the Divine Power was too nourishing, Ur now appeared considerably younger.
Though she still looked about thirty...
Ankh naturally didn't bother asking about such a potentially sensitive age matter. Ur then became serious, asking earnestly:
"Ankh, I haven't thanked you yet. I saw photos of Gray joining your guild—it must have been you who saved me, right? If not for you, I'd probably be dead."
Ankh met Ur's gaze as he replied:
"To be precise, Lady Ur, you have indeed died once already."
Ur froze momentarily, pointing at herself and murmuring, "I thought it was just a problem with Iced Shell..."
"So that means..."
Ur looked at Ankh in absolute disbelief, exclaiming in shock, "You resurrected me?!"
Ankh nodded. Ur drew a sharp breath and slumped back in her chair.
"Hiss—Magic ten years later is truly not to be underestimated..."
"Then... what about you, Ankh? That kind of Magic definitely can't be cast without a massive cost. Is there something you need from me? Or... has something happened to Gray and the others?!"
As she spoke, Ur's tone grew urgent, and she stood up agitatedly.
She could tell Ankh shared a close bond with Gray—those private photos in the study were placed where they could be easily seen, something that couldn't be faked.
Being resurrected for no apparent reason, Ur believed her only connection to Ankh was through Gray. Therefore, something terrible must have happened to him.
"No, Gray is doing well. Lyon has also joined another powerful guild. The one who asked me to do this was someone else entirely."
As he spoke, Ankh took out an unopened letter from his pocket and handed it to Ur. "Resurrecting you was something Ultear asked me to do."
"Ul...tear..."
Hearing that name, Ur froze in place as if literally turned to ice.
My child... Didn't she pass away from an incurable disease?
After a long moment, Ur aggressively suppressed her welling tears. With trembling hands, she tore open the envelope to retrieve the letter written in Ultear's own hand.
This was the message Ultear had written before her departure—words she wished to say to her mother, composed at Ankh's request to help him gain Ur's trust.
Ultear had hesitated for a long time before writing this letter, and dried tear stains still marked the paper from when she had penned it.
Ankh didn't know exactly what Ultear had written in the letter, but he guessed... it was probably about the horrific abuse she suffered after being sent to the Magic Development Bureau, along with her deep, lingering longing for her mother, Ur.
Otherwise, Ur wouldn't be kneeling on the ground, clutching the letter while weeping bitterly. Her emotions were a chaotic mix of not just joy, but also countless regrets and burning hatred.
So... the Magic Development Bureau truly deserved to die...
Ankh sighed in relief that he hadn't spared their Guild Master's life back then.
...
Far away, on Tenrou Island a thousand miles distant, the dusky sunlight illuminated the lush vegetation and vibrant flowers that layered across the entire island.
In a shady corner of the forest, a young man with black hair and black eyes lay supine on the grass, dressed in ancient black-and-white garments. He slowly opened his eyes.
The young man gradually sat up, his gaze soft yet profoundly sorrowful as he tenderly watched a fawn leaping about nearby.
"Ugh..." As he watched, the young man suddenly felt an unbearable headache. The dark, terrifying power within him began leaking out, wildly spreading in all directions.
"No, don't..."
In the young man's sorrowful cry of helplessness, a true miracle seemed to occur.
The death-tainted power that had been rapidly expanding outward suddenly changed direction, surging toward a specific, concentrated location.
The deathly energy seemed to flow into a localized black hole, vanishing completely in an instant.
Coming to his senses, the young man's gaze sharpened slightly as he turned to stare at the shadowy figure that had mysteriously appeared before him.
"The God Ankhseram is coming," a voice so oppressive it physically weighed on the heart suddenly spoke.
The young man shuddered, his eyes revealing extremely complex emotions as he murmured:
"Lord Ankhseram..."
"Hmph." The shadow swayed eerily twice, its deep voice carrying slight mockery. "He turned you into this cursed, neither-human-nor-ghost state, and you still honor him as 'Lord'?"
The young man remained silent.
Unconcerned by his lack of response, the shadow continued in its hoarse voice:
"Don't forget what you promised me. After luring Him here, immediately leave Tenrou Island and seal this place."
The voice grew strangely distant. The young man's brow furrowed deeper as he felt the shadow about to depart, speaking up again:
"That is a God. What exactly do you intend to do?"
The shadow's dark voice didn't sound in the air again, but the young man seemed to faintly hear its hazy reply ringing directly in his ears: "Slay gods, devour gods, and..."
The shadowy voice grew increasingly faint. Though the black-haired youth didn't clearly hear its final words...
He probably understood the intent.
"Ah... war is about to begin again."
The black-haired youth's tragic lament dissipated like a gentle breeze through the forest, with no one around to hear it.
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