A feast inside my soul.
At first, I couldn't quite process it.
Well, obviously. A feast inside my soul... right... those guys.
"If it's something like a card game, I think I know what you mean."
"Huh, you do?"
"For the record, is the group a white man, a blue woman, and four octopus tentacles?"
"Plus a black woman and some weird creature."
"A black woman? A weird creature..."
Huh, I don't know anything about that.
"The woman is like a shadow."
"Wait, no way."
No way. No way. Widow Sward?
"Huh, you know who it is?"
"The woman. Does she seem like a widow?"
"...Now that you mention it, maybe."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah."
Why is she here!?
Also, the weird creature. That's a dagaa, right?
Seriously though, what the heck are those things doing inside a person's soul?
"I've never seen multiple entities coexisting within a single soul before."
"O-oh, is that so?"
"Wof. Are you really human?"
Master looked at me with eyes full of doubt and a hint of fear.
Her hand was on my chest, so her face was right in front of me.
At this distance, even with the hood up, I could see her face.
Fair skin. Silver-white hair.
From what I could see, she didn't look like a Dolmascina.
I sighed and answered.
"---I'd very much like to think so."
Lately, my confidence had been slipping.
Well, putting that aside.
Widow's Hardwood, of all things.
I'd ask the witch about what was going on when we got back.
Master quickly pulled away from me.
"So, how about the Relic?"
"It's good. I can feel a power in Banish that wasn't there before."
Something had definitely changed at its core.
It wasn't just a ring anymore. But I still didn't know what it actually was.
"You should be able to tell once you try using it."
"Y-yes. I'll give it a try."
I manifested Banish.
A sphere appeared in my palm.
"That's it?"
"It seems so, but..."
A sphere... yeah. No different from usual.
Wait—the essence was a vortex.
A vortex? This?
"The center is swirling."
"It does seem that way... the essence has become a vortex."
Looking more closely, the center of the sphere was continuously swirling.
But was a vortex supposed to be a sphere? I dispelled it.
The Master asked, looking puzzled.
"You're not going to test it?"
"I'll try it somewhere else."
Testing it on the top floor of the tower wouldn't be wise.
It might collapse. That was also why I hadn't moved Etrange.
"I see."
"Um, about the Relic. Thank you for that."
"Nothing to thank me for. I caused you plenty of trouble too. And, ahem, putting my pride aside… there's something I'd like your help with."
"What is it?"
"I'd like you to come with me."
With that, MASTER started walking.
Would it become clear once I followed?
The elevator came to a stop.
When the doors opened, cold air rushed in.
"This… this is…"
A vast space lit by blue light, with enormous pipes and wiring stretching off in every direction.
"This way."
"…………"
I followed along as instructed, and an even more expansive space opened up before us.
It was dome-shaped, with cross-shaped corridors converging at the center. Was someone there?
"Pakira?"
"So you came after all."
"Pakira?"
Why was she in a place like this?
"Wof. Look at your feet."
"Look at my feet? This… this isn't a person… Dolsmakina…?"
Dolsmakina, encased in translucent capsules, were laid out across the entire floor of this space.
"Right."
"Cold sleep?"
"You know your stuff."
I didn't say anything about it being a sci-fi staple.
"They've been sleeping this whole time?"
"That's right. They've been preserved here for a very long time."
"What happened?"
"...A plague."
"Machines?"
"Something close to that spread and shut them all down. Only a handful of us survived. Now it's just the Three Guardian Stars and me."
"What about Herode?"
"That is the will of the dungeon."
Of all things.
"There's got to be some way, though."
"Our only option is to ask the Main God."
"Does the Main God know how to wake them up?"
"No. We borrow the Main God's power to find something."
"Something?"
"They call it the Sacred Egg of Elixir."
"Wait — does elixir even work on machines?"
This caught me off guard and threw me for a loop.
"No. What powers the Dolusmachina is an energy called spacetime fluid. With it, you can awaken the people."
Spacetime fluid... that sounded familiar somehow.
Pretty sure it was some kind of liquid in the lab.
I vaguely remembered hearing from Hi-yarn that they'd used it when building the Minosdoll.
Ah, right.
"So you only need the Sacred Egg of Elixir?"
"Originally, spacetime fluid requires three eggs."
"The Sacred Egg of Elixir. The Eternal Egg of Talisman. The Revival Egg of Phoenix — that was it, wasn't it?"
"That's right. I have the necessary quantities of Talisman and Phoenix — I stole them during the chaos of the Great War. But no matter what I do, Elixir is the one I'm short on..."
MASTER's voice trembled with anguish.
Only Elixir.
"Then why are you asking the Chief God for help?"
"If it's the Chief God, they would know where in the world the Sacred Egg of Elixir is. That sort of"
authority—
"they possess it."
It was almost like my Circle of Fortune.
No — was it even more powerful than that?
"So that's what it means to be the Chief God."
"Wishing alone won't be enough, I imagine. I am a sinner. If my life must serve as the price, then so be it. If the Sacred Egg of Elixir can be found through it, I will die content. That is why I ask you to petition Yomid for her aid. I'm counting on you, Wof, and Pakira — the two of you who are closest to her."
"Hmm."
"So I understand the reason... All you need is the Sacred Egg of Elixir, correct?"
"That's right. As long as I have that."
I took the Sacred Egg of Elixir out of my pouch.
MASTER looked at the egg. Froze.
"............"
"It's the Sacred Egg of Elixir."
"You..."
"...No, surely not, but, how could... Is that... the real thing?"
"Yes."
When I handed it over, MASTER received it gently and carefully with both hands, cradling it like a treasure.
Studying it up close.
"—Ah, yes. There's no mistake... no mistake... none at all..."
Suddenly, MASTER sank to her knees right there, clutching the egg to her chest.
Then I heard quiet sobs, and Pakira and I left her alone.
Night.
The glass dungeon city glowed under a sky full of stars.