Right then, the Crimson Flame unfurled like a silk banner; from it stepped the long-lost Valkyrie and Senro.

Lilo cradled Aphelia, limp as a dawn-fallen flower, ready to carry her back.

Their eyes met; the air congealed, an awkward frost between them.

V-Valkyrie, ma’am—

The Valkyrie said nothing, her gaze cold as winter rain falling on Lilo. That lofty pressure reddened Lilo’s cheeks; the famed Demigod shrank like a schoolgirl, abashed.

Alright, alright, don’t tense up~

Watching Lilo on the brink like a bowed bamboo stalk, the Valkyrie let a soft laugh slip; the frost in her eyes melted, warmth returned to her smile.

She patted Lilo’s shoulder and took Aphelia into her arms. The Crimson Flame swept once around Aphelia like a circling comet, then turned into sakura petals and settled on her brow.

Cough, cough… W-what happened to me?

As the petal lay, Aphelia stirred in the Valkyrie’s arms and opened her eyes. This time no pitch-black Arcane Power spilled out to wall them off like a stormfront.

What… was that?

A flicker of bafflement crossed Lilo’s eyes, her whisper barely a breeze. To everyone else, Aphelia’s waking seemed normal, but as the Valkyrie’s attendant deity Lilo saw it sharp as a blade.

The sakura petal on Aphelia’s brow gave off a faint glimmer at the instant of waking, a dew-light that washed over her and pressed down a black radiance straining to break free.

Welcome back, Aphelia.

When her vision cleared and she saw who held her, shock rippled across her face like wind over water.

M-Master?!

Right here. Long time no see~

After a rough explanation, Aphelia finally grasped the situation; looking at them, her feelings rose like tangled smoke.

Her so-called operation had sat inside someone else’s script from start to finish. Without the Valkyrie, that middle-aged man’s scheme would’ve worked, and a True God would’ve seized her body whole.

I see… looks like I was used, Your Highness Nero.

The old Aphelia would’ve settled it with a sword, straight and clean. But seeing Nero wrapped head to toe in bandages like a mummy, she couldn’t even muster the urge to demand payback.

In that state, one more stab and he’d probably keel over like a snapped reed.

I’m sorry. I never thought it would go this far—turning you into a sacrifice. That’s my failure as crown prince…

Nero tried to explain more, but Aphelia cut him off like a blade through silk.

Matters of True Gods—few living truly understand them. Let this one pass like fog at sunrise.

Even as she said it, helplessness weighed on her like wet cloth. She wasn’t small-hearted, but pushing someone into a firepit—no one alive could forgive that.

But if you want to settle accounts, you need equal strength first… you need weights that balance the scale.

At that thought, Aphelia sighed, breath like autumn wind. The urgent problem was power: since waking, the strength in her body refused to answer her call.

Master… it feels like I’ve lost my power.

She stared at Arcane Power that wouldn’t take shape in her palms, frustration pooling like rainwater.

With the Valkyrie here, even if Nero and the others wanted to scheme, they’d weigh their own measure first, like merchants at a scale.

Besides, in this mess, hoping for Nero’s help to claim demon history and return to the human world was a broken reed. Better to set her hope on the Valkyrie—after all, the Valkyrie was her Master.

About that… everyone out for a bit, except Lilo. Especially you, Senro—don’t let curiosity nudge you into prying at things you shouldn’t know~

Faced with a smiling dismissal, they could only shuffle out, a herd in drizzle. She was a True God; a polite borrowing beat getting blasted out by force.

Nero felt especially tangled. In his own house, being told to leave with no right to object—that was a rare taste, a bitter tea to swallow.

You really are an ‘ill guest’…

Senro snorted coldly before leaving, as if the weight of a True God were nothing but wind to him.

The Valkyrie only smiled, waved a hand, and let it go, as if the name fit like a cloak.

Then let’s begin. I won’t dodge the question of your power.

With a crisp snap, Crimson Flame surged out and sheeted over the room like a boundary veil.

This room’s cut loose from this space now. Unless they bring in a True God above me, they can’t eavesdrop on a single word.

Lilo, beside them, grew fidgety at the words; her hands had nowhere to land, like birds with no branch.

Master, what’s wrong with my power? Why won’t it answer, no matter how I call?

Before she finished, the Valkyrie lifted her hands, feather-light. A sensation unlike any swept through Aphelia’s palms; pitch-black Arcane Power flared there like living fire.

But before delight could bloom, the Valkyrie withdrew. The black fire vanished. That whiplash of gain and loss left Aphelia staring, stunned, like a tide receding.

At the instant that black power appeared, Lilo flinched back; searing flame kindled around her like a halo.

That flicker of breath was the same death-scent from before—the Ouroboros, Uroboros—that had dragged them to the brink.

Steady, Lilo. You’re my attendant deity~ Power at this level shouldn’t rattle you.

The Valkyrie stepped between her and the fear. Her gentle words carried a quiet spell; Lilo’s urge to go draconic eased, and the tyrant’s gleam in her slit pupils faded like embers.

W-what… is happening?

That power, beyond her grasp, flashed and was gone. Instinct pushed her to catalyze it again, but every attempt fell to ash.

Her fine features twisted; she argued with her own power like a storm against a cliff, trying to summon that overwhelming force again, and failing each time.

She didn’t intend to stop. When the gentle calls brought no answer, her face darkened; pale fingertips sharpened like blades and slashed toward her own wrist.

Even Lilo could see it now: Aphelia, once the power stirred, wasn’t the wielder anymore—she was the prisoner, chains rattling unseen.

Aphelia, calm down.

The Valkyrie sat before her without hesitation and caught the striking hand. Crimson Flame wrapped Aphelia’s hands, warmth rising from it like spring sun, driving out the madness.

I… I… what just happened to me?

In a single breath, clarity returned—and fear followed like a shadow. She stared at her hands; her body trembled.

In a sense, that is your power.

My power?

Aphelia looked toward Senro in disbelief. Even with demon power before, she’d never felt anything so terrifying, like a black tide at midnight.

If she had to name it, that force felt alive, a black tide with will—overwhelming, irresistible, and tempting her every nerve.

Yes. As a sacrificial vessel, your body held a True God’s power and soul. You’re far beyond the level of a Demigod now.

The Valkyrie’s hand lifted. To make it clear, she teased the path with Crimson Flame, drawing fleeting black threads along Aphelia’s forearms.

That jittery sense of gain and loss ran up her arms, needling every nerve. The Crimson Flame held the surge down, caging it within her forearms.

Of course, your original power became the True God’s fodder. Your Titleholder power remains, but you no longer have Arcane Power to drive it.

After the ordeal, Aphelia was dewy with sweat; a blush crept over her pale cheeks, her gaze turning hazy like mist.

She gulped air; the twin forces teased her edge of reason, pulling her toward the dangerous sweetness of power, honey laced with venom.

So you must reclaim the power that made you a Titleholder. Climb past Demigod, and in the end, reach True God—reach my realm.

The Valkyrie hooked a finger under Aphelia’s chin, clearly intrigued by the sight, like a cat studying moonlight.

B-but… this power…

That’s why you need to adapt fast to its side effects. I’m beside you now and can suppress the craving, but I won’t linger in the Demon World. You have a mission to finish.

She sighed, took Aphelia’s right hand, and pointed at the black ring on her ring finger, dark as a new moon.

Your source of power lies inside this.

It no longer gleamed silver, but the ring—a serpent biting its own tail—was the very one the Valkyrie had placed upon Uroboros earlier.