Morning of 1.27, Medith noticed something strange: her hair leapt from winter-pale back to spring-green, and strength rose in her limbs like a tide.

Even the black sun branded on her brow faded like night before dawn; everything returned to the girl she first was.

Yet that world-shaking force still hummed inside. Her heart swelled with a hunch, and her fist curled like a seed ready to sprout.

She walked to a plain a kilometer out—an ocean of grass under an empty sky, bare as a new canvas, perfect for a trial.

Medith slipped off the golden pendant, then willed power to move…

…

A deep, doomful wail rolled—wooo, wooo—across the land, and the whole plain groaned like a titan dropping from the heavens. Geese panicked into the wind; beasts fled like a last day, clawing into their burrows.

Even the proud king of beasts bowed, watching that pale mushroom cloud bloom on the far horizon like a cold flower.

Moments later, the cloud set, hanging ten meters high like a frozen scene; a Cyclone swept out, and the plain shivered with a thin chill.

When it cleared, a green-haired Sprite knelt with a silver-red greatsword, cloak flaring like a god come down on a gust.

…

“Medith?” The girls rushed over, finding her half-kneeling on bare earth. Even snakes, ants, and rats shrank back like shadows, not daring a glance.

“What… was that?” Peggy had never seen Medith’s Magic Breaker up close. Her copper-bell eyes widened, fear painting her doll-smooth face.

Melia had seen one test before, but never felt it nearby. Even a kilometer off, the quake and signs of Medith’s Magic Breaker had jolted them awake like thunder underfoot.

Medith stood, calm as rain after storm, drew up her greatsword, and set it at her waist.

“Medith, your hair…” Sais stroked the silk-smooth green strands, dazed like someone touching spring after a long snow.

Medith laughed, bright as a brook. “Ha… slept and woke up like this. Looks like you’ll be the only one ‘dyeing’ from now on.”

“Heehee…” Sais had no sorrow, only tears of joy, like a garden finding sun. The girl in her mind had returned; in the Elf Clan, a shift in hair color—beyond what you’re born with—means passion burning hard or life force draining away.

…

After that, Medith explained her changes. First, the brand was gone, but her Lawbreaking Ability hadn’t vanished—it felt fused to her, like river to riverbed, no more leash.

Next, her talent had broken its bottleneck. She could, in part, stir rivers and rouse trees and flowers, no longer chained by mana like a bird to a perch.

Last, her twin eyes could see white pillars flickering across the continent, like beacons in fog—likely the sites of Divine Stones.

One small beam crossed their path. Medith led the girls to a canyon, deep as a sky-well, with a single tall wooden bridge standing like a spine across it.

For ordinary folk, that span was a dream far out of reach. But the Elf Clan doesn’t fall in that category; even without mana, Medith had many ways to slip along those sheer walls like wind on rock.

She drew her greatsword and skated down the cliff face. The blade bit like frost; Wind Magic had honed its edge, and the green gem in the hilt hardened it with durability and spring—truly a masterwork.

Sliding to the canyon’s middle, Medith saw where the light poured out. It was embedded in the rock, pinning her movement like thorn to flesh, so she called for aid.

Sais dissolved into air and dropped like a drifting leaf. Midfall, she snapped a Cyclone burst blade—rock boomed open—and then she rode a breeze back in style, light as mist.

…

“This thing isn’t what we imagined, huh?” The Lita Sisters studied the pebble. It was just a piece of ordinary black stone, stubborn and mute.

It felt like clutching an ice block; hold it long and pain seeped in like winter. Standing near it was exactly as the Queen said—like stepping into a cellar of frost.

Even Sais didn’t dare cradle it for long. Peggy tapped the Divine Stone, careful as a sparrow at a stream; finding no trick, she started to play with it like a pebble from a riverbed.

Peggy was human—without Magic Breaker, it was just a stone lying quiet as night.

“All right. Small as it is, it’s still our first step.” Medith smiled, like sunlight breaking through cloud. She didn’t know the how, but the road had clearly leapt forward; her own change alone was a harvest.

[Given we’re pressed for time, a little risk is fine. Keep this power. You’ll use it soon.]

Medith recalled the voice from that night’s dream. “So… it wasn’t a dream? You’ve been inside me, haven’t you?

What are you after?

Who are we playing this game against?”

[Our god]

“Hm?” She felt an answer brush her ear like wind, yet wasn’t sure it was there.

With a sigh like a breeze settling, Medith grabbed the Divine Stone, about to tuck it into her pack. Suddenly it flared white, then sank into her palm, swallowing itself like a python taking prey. In a breath, it was gone.

“This…” She flexed her right hand. No sting, no ache—just a shade more strength thrumming like a low drum.

“Well damn… a deity reborn is still a deity…” the girls said in unison, grinning like foxes. They’d watched Medith die and rise; this “little thing” barely ruffled the grass.

Peggy, though, was rattled, heart fluttering like a trapped bird.

…

2.4, they walked and paused, played among mountains and fields, joked by chasms deep as the sky, and dug up two chests like pirates under moonlight. The Mountain Bandits’ map now had only a few marks left in the east.

They were still half a journey from the goal. Passing several small villages, Medith found that the farther they left the eastern reaches, the dimmer her name became, like a lantern seen from miles away. Only those in the east had lived it, and only they bowed with that kind of respect.

2.5, they met a small mercenary group camped on the plain. Their banner showed a full-armored knight glowing gold, spearing forward like a comet.

Learning where the girls were headed, the mercs shared food and water, generous as hosts beneath a big sky.

As a sign of friendship, the girls stayed a day. Their song and dance rolled like wind through wheat, and their strength hit like steel; they won the mercenaries over with both rhythm and might.

2.6, as Medith was leaving, the merc squad leader told her that Gulo and Nikola had safely crossed the Sanctuary of Freedom and likely reached the Northern Frontier’s border.

A stone fell from Medith’s heart like a pebble into a pond. After farewells, she stepped back onto the road, light-footed as dusk air.

2.8, goaded by the girls, Peggy finally pulled off her grand “assault Medith” stunt. Thanks to her, Medith was splashed in mud like a statue after rain. Medith yanked the girls off their horses, and they tumbled into a friendly brawl like kittens in straw.

That night, Peggy edged closer to them, warmth settling like a blanket. She even curled up and hugged the girls to sleep.

2.12, after walking and playing their way along, they finally reached the Sanctuary of Freedom—Shezdan.

Staring at the bustling sprawl ahead, Medith let out a breath like a whistle through pine. “The Sanctuary of Freedom… it’s actually this huge…”

“Dang… but that building feels scarier,” Rita said, pointing with a slim finger. Far off, a tower speared the clouds, and its flag flickered like flame: a golden field with a lion clamping a white rabbit.

It marked the biggest guild power near the northern region, a sigil like a roar etched against the sky.