A second felt like a minute or an hour. Anthem, who had been watching over his unconscious comrade on the bed, nodded.
"Mm... She's weakened, but there's nothing wrong with her. She simply fainted—she should wake up soon."
"Th... thank goodness."
"Big Brother Anthem is... talking."
The room where they had brought the comrade was a magic research lab adjacent to the workshop where Citry manufactured devices.
It was one of the safest places in Yggdrasil, and it also served as a hospital. The building had been carved out of a great tree's trunk—the structure itself was a single magic enchantment that dramatically enhanced the healing power of the Spiritfolk.
Hearing those words, Selen felt the tension drain out of her and sat down on the spot. She had run out of mana—sometime along the way, the euphoria that had filled her entire body moments ago had faded away.
But she wasn't in the mood to charge her Treasure Weapons anymore. These were dangerous weapons. In that moment, something precious had been traded away for comfort.
The comrade who had emerged from within the Phantom was a face she had never forgotten for a single moment since they went missing.
One of the greatest Mages in all of Yggdrasil. One of the pillars of the Guardian Spirits, who had challenged the Origin Temple alongside Finis to save Yggdrasil.
The first signs of the World Tree's rampage had appeared roughly three hundred years ago. It had only worsened recently, but over the years, many had challenged the Treasure Hall.
The brilliant ones, the brave ones—they all vanished. Now asleep in the bed was one of the heroes of Yggdrasil who had challenged it during those earliest days of the anomaly's first signs.
She was a comrade of noble blood, if not quite on Selen's level.
"No way... she's alive? The Sage—Luin Saintos Frestel."
Luin kept her eyes closed, sunk in sleep, and did not answer. But her heart was certainly beating.
Those who had challenged the Treasure Hall were all powerful. They had all gone in ready to die. One could take pride in that resolve, but there was no room to grieve their failure to return—doing so would be tantamount to insulting the path they had chosen.
And so, Selen had never once shed tears over a fallen comrade.
But gazing upon that familiar face, her chest tightened and her breath caught. Only a few hours ago, she hadn't even dared to hope for such a miracle.
Citry, watching Selen with a serious expression, clapped her hands together with a bright smile.
"...Then, might I ask you to explain what happened? I'd like to understand the situation."
What had happened—even Selen wanted someone to explain it to her. All she had done was step onto the battlefield and let out a small cry.
She hadn't used any magic, nor had she mustered any courage. She certainly hadn't expected Luin to emerge from within that Phantom.
"I don't know anything. But Luin is one of the heroes of Yggdrasil who once challenged the Treasure Hall. She appeared after I defeated the Phantom that had invaded. Now that I think about it, the reason Yggdrasil's barrier didn't activate must be because the Phantom wasn't merely a phantom."
Looking back, there had been clues. Yggdrasil's barrier wouldn't allow even a Level 10 Treasure Hall Phantom to pass through so easily.
When she learned of Finis's intrusion, Selen had guessed why the barrier hadn't triggered. But if the Phantom had been nothing more than an enemy, the barrier would never have let it pass unchallenged.
"She couldn't have been alive. Luin has been missing for two hundred years. Spiritfolk and Spirits have different lifespans. A Spiritfolk cannot survive without eating or drinking."
"...We were also watching through the Human Mirror when Lucia's arrow pierced through. To think that a living creature would emerge from a defeated Phantom... As expected of a Level 10 Treasure Hall—this is truly without precedent."
Indeed, without precedent. Even the previous records of destruction preserved in Yggdrasil contained nothing of the sort. Of course, the Treasure Halls that spawned within the World Tree supposedly changed type each time— It was fortunate that their comrade had returned. She hadn't opened her eyes yet, but Luin was a practitioner who surpassed even Selen in certain fields. She would prove a powerful ally.
At that point, Elisa, who had been silent until now, spoke in a calm voice.
"The conditions have changed. What matters now is... there might still be more. Spiritfolk Mages from Yggdrasil who took the form of Phantoms—"
"!!"
The implication hit Selen like a slap. She looked up.
Why hadn't she thought of it? It was obvious. Luin wasn't the only warrior of Yggdrasil who had challenged the Treasure Hall and never returned.
No bodies had ever been recovered from those who had challenged the Hall. That meant there was a possibility that their comrades were still trapped inside.
She understood that resolving the World Tree's rampage took priority.
But every warrior of Yggdrasil was a first-rate Mage. The more fighters they had, the more people Citry could mobilize for her strategy.
Riz slammed her fist into her palm and flashed a wild grin.
"Hell yeah, now it's getting interesting! What—you just beat up a Phantom and they come back? We let Lucia have all the fun last time, and this sounds like some kind of game! Sounds awesome!"
"S-Sister... you can't—fighting Phantoms of that class like it's a game—no, never mind..."
Classic Hunter talk, unafraid of even gods. Apparently, the strength of the opponent didn't faze her in the slightest.
Based on the previous fight, Selen wasn't sure it would be that simple—but she was torn between calling it encouraging or reckless, when Uno, who had been wearing a grave expression, shuddered once and spoke.
"...I don't think simply defeating them will be enough. To strip a Phantom of its power—I saw it. When the black arrow reflected by Boundless Liberty absorbed the Mana Material that constituted the Phantom, its very existence transformed. This is speculation, but I believe the Phantom and its occupant are partially fused."
The essence of the Desiccation authority was absorption. It withered the life from plants and trees. By absorbing mana, it nullified magic. By absorbing Mana Material, it could kill Phantoms as well.
Those words carried weight. Finis's magic could certainly do such a thing.
If that was the case, the problem was that Desiccation was a technique unique to Finis alone. It had also been considered a form of taboo, so Yggdrasil had no similar arts.
Lucia, who had fought Finis's power up close and managed to deflect it, scowled.
"That technique... even I had neither seen nor heard of it before. Reproducing it would take some time, I think."
"And when we searched the surroundings, the Phantom was nowhere to be found. It might be hiding inside the Treasure Hall... There are too many unknowns as things stand."
Elisa placed a hand on Tino's head and let out a small sigh.
The Treasure Hall was currently protected by a barrier. Infiltration was impossible, and she didn't think they could challenge the Origin Temple head-on and win. The Phantom army they had thrown against Thousand Demons' Night Parade was only a fraction of the Hall's true strength.
Would they lure it out or break in? What should they prioritize first?
The situation had undeniably improved, but the possibility that what they had lost might be recovered brought more tension than joy.
The hope they had finally glimpsed could still vanish depending on what Selen and the others did next.
Her heart was pounding. If she charged her Treasure Weapons, would she feel better and come up with good ideas again?
"Citry, I'll start manufacturing devices right away. I've figured out the trick to simultaneous magic casting... You need numbers, right?"
"Yup. And we need to break Luke's curse as soon as possible too..."
"Then shall we go investigate? We know the 'method' now, so while we're searching for Ley Lines, if we spot a suspicious Phantom, we just drag it back, right? The one who brought back the fewest gets the penalty game."
The members of the Mourning Specter began moving with brisk efficiency. It was a string of surprises for Selen. Even this event apparently wasn't worth stopping for the Mourning Specter's members.
If it had been just Selen alone, she would have ground to a halt. She hadn't realized how precious it was to have comrades who could fight.
She had spent so long protecting others. She was worried about Luin's condition, but she couldn't just stand here.
"Then I'll look into reproducing Finis's authority. The one who knows the most about the Guardian Spirits... would be a resident of Yggdrasil."
It was said that some forms of magic had originally been modeled on the workings of Spirits. No one had ever attempted it before, but it was surely worth trying.
Perhaps if she could reproduce the Desiccation magic, the barrier protecting the Treasure Hall could be dispelled as well.
She felt the dots connecting. Now it was a race against time.
If they gave the Treasure Hall time, it would continue to strengthening—and they would lose the chance to rescue their comrades.
Steeling herself and standing up—just then, a young man drifted in, one whose name no one had mentioned until now.
Klye Andrich. Thousand Transformations. Without question, the human being at the origin of the situation they now found themselves in.
Elisa had said there were too many unknowns, but there were also things they did know.
Sending the Dog Chain on an investigation, ordering Selen to equip a Treasure Weapon and stop Finis—all of it had been decided by that human.
At the time, those orders had made absolutely no sense. But looking back now, every instruction had led to this outcome.
Why Selen had to be equipped with a comfortable vacation, and other such things she still didn't understand—perhaps those had meaning too.
Perhaps the reason no one, Selen included, had mentioned his name was simply because his methods were far too far beyond the pale.
Klye looked around at Selen and the others, and said in a tired voice: "...Good work, everyone. Looks like everything worked out. Glad, glad."
The reactions to their suddenly-appearing leader varied.
Riz and Citry smiled, Tino flinched, and Lucia frowned.
"Brother... isn't that a bit much? With a little more time, I could have figured it out on my own without that method..."
"You useless human, where have you been this whole time?! Things were crazy over here, you know?!"
"Sorry, sorry—had some errands to run."
Errands? What errands? Selen remembered that after sending her out, Klye had been sending words of encouragement for a while—but then Luin had emerged from the Phantom and everything went haywire, and she had completely forgotten about him.
Klye's gaze fell on Luin, lying on the bed.
Luin had gone missing before Klye was even born. This should have been their first meeting, yet there was no surprise in his expression. She couldn't tell from his face just how much of this had been calculated.
To think there existed a human being like this— She stared at his face, trying to read even a hint of his true intentions, but Klye said in a flustered tone: "...Oh, right—where did Finis go?"
"...Huh?"
The question, delivered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, made her eyes go wide.
Finis had vanished after being hit by the arrow reflected back by Lucia. The arrow, constituted by the power of Desiccation, must have been fatal to Finis herself.
Spirits were not living beings. Death was something infinitely distant from them, but the power of Desiccation was its natural enemy.
"Finis... received her own power and was annihilated—!?"
A Spiritfolk's eyes could perceive the flow of powerful energy. A stain that had surfaced in the air spread rapidly, shrinking into the shape of a tiny person, small enough to fit in the palm of a hand.
Its color was the charred brown of a dead branch. It had no eyes, nose, or mouth—like nothing more than a shadow. Its total power was less than what she remembered, but it was unmistakably Finis, the Ender.
Moreover, like Mires before her, she had returned to her senses. Perhaps because the Desiccation arrow had been reflected back, significantly sapping her power?
Could it be... she had been nearby the entire time? Selen hadn't noticed at all. Even for a Spiritfolk, finding a Spirit that was genuinely trying to hide was impossible.
How on earth had a mere human noticed that Finis was nearby?
A small mouth sprouted on Finis's head. But before she could speak, Klye rattled off in rapid succession: "You've become quite adorable, haven't you? No need for thanks—I didn't do anything. It was all Selen's hard work."
"!? I didn't do anyth—"
"Oh, by the way!! Is that person over there... okay?"
"Mm."
There were many things she wanted to confirm. They should at least discuss their plans going forward.
But the human rattled off his questions in a loud voice as if trying to prevent anyone from interrupting, then: "I'm glad everyone's safe... Well, I've got to run—busy, busy. Oh, right, Selen—you don't need that comfortable vacation anymore, do you? I'll come collect it later. Thanks!"
He fired off everything he wanted to say in a rush and swept out of the room.
He had always maintained an air of composure before, but now he left like a storm.
No one had time to say a word. Riz, Citry, Lucia, Anthem, and even the members of Star's Holy Thunder all stared wide-eyed at the spot where Thousand Transformations had vanished.
"...Even that useless human can move when he wants to... I have no idea what he's doing, though."
"...He's fine. The Master will save us one step before the worst... probably. The Master is just trying to make us stronger. Which means the Master is God."
"Hmph... making us stronger, huh. Trusting your comrades is one of a leader's qualities too, I suppose."
Lapis snorted in an ill-tempered huff.
That was... supposed to be reassuring? In a situation where the destruction of the world was imminent, trying to train someone seemed far from sane.
But there was no room for complaints. There were plenty of questions, but one thing was certain—they must not interfere with that human's plans.
His legendary scheming was real. Even this situation might have been inevitable for Thousand Transformations, but to Selen's eyes, it looked like nothing but one coincidence stacked on top of another.
If they interfered and disrupted his plan, there would be no going back.
"There are still many things I want to confirm with that human... but for now, let's trust him."
She glanced toward Luin. Just then, Luin's closed eyelids slowly began to open.
Fair skin, barely touched by sunlight. Long lashes. Eyes the beautiful crimson rare among Spiritfolk blinked several times and settled on Selen.
Her heart lurched. It felt as though time had stopped. A reunion with a friend she had thought dead. Words she wanted to say swirled through her mind like a torrent.
In the silence, the gaze fixed on Selen slowly drifted downward. Then, after several seconds of taking in Selen's flamboyant outfit, Luin spoke in a trembling, hoarse voice: "S-Selen... what... is that outfit...?"