Yuto's chilling voice echoed in Furina and Paimon's ears, and they understood that they... were finally saved.
Clang—
Accompanying another crisp metallic clang in their ears, Yuto's silver-white longsword had, at some point, carved a notch into the weathered axe blade!
Furina looked at everything before her with a hint of disbelief, a blank expression appearing on her face that was almost never seen on a normal day.
For her... this was truly a rollercoaster of emotions in her life.
She had originally thought her mission was about to fail.
She had originally thought she was about to betray the responsibility entrusted to her by her reflection in the mirror.
She had originally thought... she would never have another chance to say those three words to Yuto.
But just as she was on the verge of despair, Yuto appeared once again.
He saved her again.
Just like before.
Looking at that tall, sea-blue back, a unique brilliance burst forth from Furina's eyes.
However, this brilliance, born of her sensibility, did not last long before it was replaced by an extreme rationality.
Many people, after hovering between life and death for a while, completely abandon rationality and follow the guidance of their emotions.
Evidently, Furina was not among "many people."
She had performed madness for five hundred years to conceal her cowardice; the consciousness of those performances had long been deeply ingrained in her heart, making this twisted "rationality" almost an instinctive reaction.
Except when she was alone with Yuto, she was basically in this state for the rest of the time.
Because she clearly knew what she was carrying on her shoulders, and she also understood... what it would mean if she showed any weakness.
Thinking of this, Furina stood up from the ground, then quickly retreated, placing Lumine in a spot where she would be unlikely to be affected by the battle, and then assumed the posture of someone watching an Fontaine Opera in the Opera House.
"Furina? Why are you...?"
Paimon looked at Furina, who had a calm expression and even a slight smile at the corner of her mouth, with some surprise, at a loss for words.
Furina, of course, understood what Paimon wanted to ask, but she still had to maintain the demeanor befitting a God.
She first glanced at Yuto, who was forcing the massive stone statue into retreat, then said:
"Hmm? Oh~ because I believe my Assistant Administrator can clear the obstacles before us."
After saying this, Furina began to apologize to Yuto repeatedly in her heart.
Her current actions... did not show enough respect to Yuto, who was fighting, but...
She believed he would understand, because this was part of the plan.
She had just made an action that was not fitting for a God, so she had to mend this rift in the subsequent process.
Although she knew that once many cracks appeared, it would be impossible to make them as good as new, she could at least slow down the rate at which the crack collapsed.
It was like when Yuto heard those unfavorable remarks targeting Furina... his first reaction was to rush out and give those guys a good beating.
But even if Yuto issued a statement and made Steambird Newspaper apologize, the crack still existed, it just slowed down the rate of collapse slightly.
Therefore...
"For Fontaine, for us, I'm sorry... Yuto."
Furina sighed in her heart.
...
Just as Furina was sighing, the outcome of the battle between Yuto and the giant stone statue... was already evident.
At this moment, the armor on the giant stone statue standing before Yuto already showed some cracks, and even the battle axe it wielded was battered and ruined.
In contrast, Yuto's sea-blue formal attire, which was easily soiled, was not stained with a single speck of dust, and the silver-white longsword in his hand, shimmering with lightning, was still wielded with ease.
This was the disparity in strength.
Looking at the stone statue before him, a hint of annoyance flashed in Yuto's eyes, and the lightning on the longsword grew even more intense, then he unhesitatingly brought the sword down on the stone statue's neck.
Boom—
Accompanied by the sound of a massive stone falling to the ground in everyone's ears, the once unstoppable giant stone statue completely lost its combat capability and collapsed to the ground.
Yuto calmly retracted his ceremonial sword into his silver-white cane, then softly said:
"Lady Furina, the danger has been removed."
Hearing this, Furina was startled for a moment, then burst into hearty laughter.
"Hahahahaha, as expected of my Assistant Administrator, whether it's paperwork or combat, you are first-class, hahahahaha!"
Hearing Furina's exaggerated laughter, a smile appeared on Yuto's face, but he quietly sighed in his heart.
There was no other way; she had to continue acting like this, after all, this was not Yuto's office.
Yuto did not directly answer Furina's question, but gently patted the dust off his shoulder, then walked over to Lumine, who was still unconscious.
He bent down slightly and, under Paimon's somewhat nervous gaze, checked her and then let out a slight sigh of relief.
"It's fine, her consciousness is just still in that historical period; she should wake up after a short while."
"Ah? Is that so... Then why did you wake up so quickly, Yuto?"
"Probably because I received less memory, and Lumine received more memory than I did?"
Yuto speculated.
After waiting for about two or three minutes, Lumine slowly opened her eyes in a daze, then looked around at the people near her with a somewhat bewildered expression, murmuring:
"What... happened to me? I feel like I had a very, very long dream..."
"That wasn't a dream, but a... historical playback."
Yuto explained calmly.
Lumine instinctively looked up at the pair of indifferent sea-blue eyes, she seemed to realize something, then asked:
"You saw it too?"
"Yes... Boethius's memory."
"I see..."
Lumine lowered her head slightly, and after a brief moment of recovery, she slowly stood up from the ground with some difficulty.
"Let's go first... This story might be a bit complicated to tell, so how about... we wait until everyone is here?"
Lumine suggested.
Hearing this, Yuto nodded readily, then walked over to Furina, slightly adjusted her askew hat, and then left first.
Seeing this, Furina's face flushed, and she quickly followed.
Lumine and Paimon, after sorting out the situation a bit, then followed out.
What Furina didn't know was... after Paimon described the recent situation to Lumine, a seed of doubt was planted in the heart of this outlander.
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