The Flame's Disappearance
“……!”
The sudden burst of flames made me stumble backward in surprise. Then, from directly above my head, her laughter rang out.
“Haha! Fooled you!”
I looked up. She was floating near the upper section of the barrier, close to the ceiling. Only then did my scattered thoughts snap back into place. The barrier stretched upward like a tall cylinder. While the horizontal space she was allowed was limited, vertically it was quite expansive.
“Do you know what your face looked like just now? You really thought I was gone, didn’t you?”
She descended slowly. A triumphant, mischievous smile lit her face, though she stopped just short of the floor, hovering slightly as she looked down at me. The floor she stood on was already higher than the rest of the space, and she was taller than me to begin with, so there was no real need for the extra height. Still, she seemed to enjoy it.
“Is that how you usually spend your time when I’m not here?”
“Did you really think I just stand around in this boring place all day?”
To be honest, I had thought exactly that. Over the past few years, I had never once seen her flying around inside.
“So? How did it feel when you thought I was gone?”
“Well……”
It had been pure confusion. My mind had filled with something vague and murky that I could only call confusion, and it had brought the gears in my head to a complete stop.
“What would you have done if I had actually escaped?”
“……”
I couldn’t answer. Even now, as my composure slowly returned, I still didn’t know how I would have reacted if she had truly broken free. Would I have run? Or welcomed her? I couldn’t give a clear answer.
“I don’t know. I really……”
“I do.”
Her voice carried playful certainty. I lifted my head to meet her gaze. She wore that same mischievous smile, radiating the same confidence she had possessed as the Flame Demon Commander, yet there was also a faint trace of loneliness behind it.
“You would have checked whether you were still wearing Janus’s talisman properly, wouldn’t you?”
A bitter laugh escaped me at her half-joking truth. It was somewhat amusing, but not enjoyable.
“Yes. I suppose I would have.”
A few years ago—perhaps even just three or four months ago—I would have done exactly that. The moment she vanished, I would have checked the artifact, examined the barrier, and summoned my creatures. That was how I had always responded to crises. It was the safest choice.
But moments earlier, I hadn’t done any of those things. The emotions I had felt were far from simple.
“Still, it’s a relief you didn’t run away right away. What would you have done if I had?”
She answered with a playful smile.
“Who knows? That could have happened.”
Her words said one thing, but I could tell she didn’t believe them for a second. Strangely, the fact that she had trusted I wouldn’t run made me oddly happy.
“Don’t worry. I promised, remember? I said I’d stay here as long as you wanted.”
Her gentle, slightly lonely words struck me like a blow to the head. My voice caught in my throat, and I felt my face grow hot.
“……”
Silence settled between us. As usual, she was the one who broke it and rescued me from my fluster.
“More importantly, why are you so late? You said you’d be traveling alone for a while. Was it because of that arrogant summoner?”
Ah, right. I had told her about meeting Geil.
“Well, partly, yes.”
The last time I visited, I had mentioned the unnecessary fight caused by Jequirac and the light lesson I had given the younger summoner.
“Even if it was entertaining because of him, don’t tell me you’ve been traveling together? Or did you skip coming here because of that guy?”
Entertaining. I hadn’t phrased it that way. It was true that I had deliberately shocked Geil. I had summoned my creatures as though assigning homework, then called forth Vastles at the very moment he was certain of victory. I couldn’t deny that I had enjoyed the staging, but it hadn’t been purely for amusement.
“Of course not. If that were the only reason, I wouldn’t have stayed away this long.”
“Then?”
“Something complicated happened. Kainaknus was captured by the Dark Priests.”
“Kainaknus? You mean the Dragon’s Ally, the summoner who’s even more famous than you?”
“Yes, that’s him.”
“Captured? Isn’t that guy supposed to be pretty strong?”
“No, the Dark Priests aren’t ordinary……”
Only then did I realize she might know about Urshus.
“Rofena, have you ever heard the name Alsh Unak?”
Contrary to my expectations, she shook her head as though hearing the name for the first time.
“No.”
“Never? They call him Urshus’s First Blood.”
“Not once.”
I wondered what meaning that grandiose title actually held.
“But judging by the way he wields flame magic and shares fire with other Dark Priests, he seems like a demon. You’ve really never heard of him?”
“Never. And I’ve definitely never heard that ridiculous title, Urshus’s First Blood.”
“Ridiculous title?”
It had sounded rather grand to me. What part of it was ridiculous?
“In the demon realm, calling someone the ‘first blood’ usually means they were offered as a sacrifice. In other words, a sacrifice offered to Urshus. And not one they volunteered for themselves, but one given by someone else. No demon would ever use that expression.”
A sacrifice? Her words only deepened my confusion. So that was what the title meant. Did it reflect reality, or was it just a clumsy label invented by those ignorant of the demon realm?
Either way, the confusion remained.
“So, what kind of guy is this Alsh Unak?”
“It seems he’s the one who captured Kainaknus.”
I gave her a brief summary of the situation: how Kainaknus had been taken, how Elena, Geil, and I had followed the trail, and how we were now infiltrating with Granbipra’s help. I also mentioned the temple of Urshus.
“Really? That snake is helping you?”
She had looked slightly worried when I mentioned the infiltration, but her expression softened at the mention of Granbipra’s cooperation. As expected, she acknowledged Granbipra’s power.
“He said earlier that he wanted to show you his hatched form.”
“It’s still just a snake.”
He was currently in human form, but it didn’t seem important enough to mention.
“So, what are you planning to do now?”
“I have to rescue Kainaknus. In a few days, Alsh Unak is supposed to come near here. When that happens, I’ll either capture him together with Granbipra or jump through the portal when it opens.”
“Jump through the portal? That’s a pretty bold decision for you. You trust that snake that much?”
Yes. It was something I would never have done before.
“Honestly, I suppose I do. I don’t know exactly how strong Granbipra is, but at least when we’re on the same side, I don’t feel like there’s anything to worry about.”
“Well, that makes sense. If Granbipra has fully recovered his power, he should be at least on the level of a Demon Commander.”
Hearing it stated so plainly was still surprising. After all, he was someone the Demon King had personally dealt with. The influence of being the true ruler of the Ancient Forest was one thing, but without that level of power, the Demon King wouldn’t have moved himself.
“Do you think he’s stronger than you, Rofena?”
A bit of mischief stirred in me. I was also genuinely curious.
“You think I’d lose to that snake?”
Unlike my half-joking question, she responded with a serious expression. My question seemed to have touched her pride. I thought about changing the subject lightly, but she was persistent.
“Well? Tell me. What do you think?”
Normally I would have said she was stronger. That would have been the wise choice. But remembering how she had teased me earlier—or perhaps because I was feeling strangely lighthearted—I answered differently.
“But the Demon King Thanatos came to the surface and handled it personally instead of leaving it to the other Demon Commanders. Doesn’t that mean the Demon King believed that neither you nor the other commanders could deal with Granbipra?”
She stared at me in silence. The stillness and quiet were enough to heighten the tension, and the emotion hidden behind her faint smile was enough to make me uneasy.
“……Maybe the Demon King thought that. But I’m asking you, Anak.”
Aegina had done the same. I couldn’t understand why women always called me by name in situations like this. It left no room to escape.
“What do you think? Do you think I can’t beat that snake, Anak? Do you think he’s more reliable than me?”
Before I knew it, she had descended to the floor and was looking straight into my eyes. Her voice was soft yet somewhat overbearing. I had no choice but to lower my head slightly.
“……Of course not.”
Only then did she smile in satisfaction.
“Good.”
When we had been enemies, most verbal or psychological battles with her had been my responsibility, and I had rarely lost. Back then she had been somewhat weak in logic; if I provoked her emotions, she would fall for it. But now, how was I supposed to win against her when she acted like this?
“Since things have come to this, how about I help you?”
And she even ended it that way.
“Please spare me that.”
“Well, can’t be helped.”
Her smile eased my mind, making everything else feel unimportant. For a brief moment, the image of Rowell and Aegina after one of their arguments overlapped with us. Yes. Their expressions had looked exactly like this.
“……!”
“What’s wrong?”
Through the spirit I had summoned, something was transmitted. It was the sound of knocking on the basement door.
“I should go now. It seems they’re looking for me over there.”
“Will you come at night?”
“I’m not sure. It might be difficult……”
Oh, please. Don’t make that face.
“……Understood. I’ll try.”
“Then see you later!”
That smile of hers was truly unfair.