Nice,

“You can’t do this to me...”

Just as Cyclone was about to ask what they should do next, Onigashima shouted in displeasure.

After several battles, everyone was exhausted.

But when Onigashima drew his greatsword once again, it looked like another battle was about to begin.

Then Onigashima spoke.

“Twilight Power... No wonder he’s the king’s son.”

A shadow appeared at the church’s main entrance.

Unlike the Night Wraiths from before, this newly arrived monster was nothing but a shadow.

It stepped through the shattered doorway and walked into the church like a person.

“What is that thing?”

Yuna asked, annoyed.

“It’s the most troublesome kind of monster. It usually wouldn’t appear just for the ghost of a baby.”

“Then tell me, why is something that looks like a shadow here?!”

Yuna was clearly unsatisfied with Onigashima’s explanation.

As she spoke, she tossed a knife straight at the shadow.

She was testing a hunch with that attack, and the result was exactly what she’d expected.

The knife passed through the shadow and stuck in the door.

“Power. This is a spirit of death, a vengeful spirit born for power and dying for power.”

“Tell me, what kind of power could a dead baby possibly have?”

“Twilight Power...”

The same term had come up once again.

This time, it wasn’t Onigashima who said it, but Elyse.

Elyse clasped her hands together and closed her eyes.

In that instant, the whole church lit up with twilight-colored specks of light.

Each speck drifted up toward the sky. They filled the space around Elyse, who stood at their center.

“My magic... it’s slowly coming back...”

Eileen murmured as she looked at her hands.

The sight felt familiar. Thinking back, Elyse had once shone with light just as beautiful while singing atop a cliff during the demon extermination war.

You guys really...”

Onigashima rolled his eyes, looking exasperated.

How could there be a mage who didn’t know what Twilight Power was? It was one of the six great natural magics.

It was passed down through bloodlines, and its effects even defied the natural order.

Of course, the details of how it worked would have to be analyzed by scholars specializing in magic.

Onigashima knew that Twilight Power could speed up the recovery of magic. It was the most powerful of the light-attribute magics.

There was no time for explanations. They had to deal with the spirit of death first.

Onigashima held out his palm toward Cyclone, once again using the rune in it on Feng'er.

“We don’t have much time. We have to complete the spirit’s reincarnation before sunrise!”

“You’re only telling us now?!”

Little Dragon moved to the front and took a fighting stance.

“We can complain later. Right now, I just want to ask one thing!”

With her magic restored, Yuna spoke as she gathered it in her hand.

“How do we deal with this shadow?”

“I think you’ve already figured it out, haven’t you?”

Onigashima answered Yuna’s question with another question.

Following her hunch, Yuna shaped her magic into a sphere and fired it at the shadow.

As the magic orb shot across the church, every pew froze solid.

The moment it hit, the shadow was affected by the magic too, giving off a chill.

“Let me try!”

Little Dragon leapt forward, focusing all their strength into a fist.

“Take this!”

Little Dragon struck the frost-emitting shadow with all their strength, forcing it to raise both hands to defend itself.

It had blocked the attack, but that proved one thing.

The moment it gave off that chill, Little Dragon’s fist could hit it.

Unlike the knife that had gone through it, attacks infused with enough magic might stand a chance.

“Now that everyone understands the rules...”

Onigashima raised his greatsword, then pointed it straight ahead.

“Let’s take it on together!!”

Unlike Onigashima, who could fight, Cyclone stood behind the others and looked at Feng'er.

“...”

He touched Feng’er’s forehead. Though his son had turned into a monster, he was still his son.

Onigashima was busy fighting, and Cyclone didn’t know what to do next.

But thinking back, Onigashima seemed to have said something about being sorry.

Cyclone closed his eyes, ignoring the battle beside him.

He recalled the scene from that day, and sank to his knees.

He knelt in the very spot where Elyse had undergone surgery that day.