Reclaiming the Light
The pure white light pouring from the White Purification as it reclaimed its glow within the gems swallowed the crimson core whole, spreading outward in every direction. The foul stench of blood that had tormented me from start to finish, along with the gems encroaching under the Blood Creation Lord's power, all vanished without a trace amid that blinding radiance. Finally, as the blood veins upholding the inner world crumbled entirely into white ash and scattered on the wind, I sheathed my sword.
"Grown... have I?"
The White Purification's power, felt as I cleaved through the Blood Creation mass in that final instant, was unmistakably different from before. It was like shoving past some enormous wall by sheer force—unfamiliar, yet not unwelcome.
Lost in thought as I stared down at my palm for a moment, I shifted my gaze and caught a faint glimpse of the young Adelin who had guided me, standing in the distance.
"You couldn't see it, but the very concept of the inner realm let me witness the light. The one true light that might actually let me earn your forgiveness."
She mouthed something indistinct, then flashed a satisfied smile before dissolving into shards of light and fading away.
With that, my consciousness began to be drawn out of Adelin's inner world, as if tugged by an invisible force.
"Hah... hah... fuuh."
I jolted awake, expelling the pent-up breath from my lungs in one go, and shot up from my spot. The moment I raised my torso, a crushing exhaustion slammed into my entire body.
"...Kuh!"
My vision wouldn't focus easily. But forcing strength into my eyes, I regained my senses—and the first thing that entered my sight was the gruesome scene of the bloodstained underground lab.
Unknown men's corpses littered the floor, and the air reeked of gunpowder mingled with blood.
"No way... all this in that short time..."
As I tried to stand and assess the situation properly, Adelin's hands, which had been gripping mine tightly, fell limply away. At the same instant, someone from the side yanked me into a fierce embrace.
"Big brother...!"
It was Raysilla. Her body trembled like when her trauma flared up again, and fresh blood seeped through the crudely wrapped bandages on her arms.
"It's okay... everything's gonna be okay."
"Hic... snff..."
I reached out with shaking hands and gently patted her shoulder. Glancing around, I saw Selina slumped against the wall, battered and heaving ragged breaths. It looked like she'd taken down all those attackers single-handedly while I was purifying.
'Why go this far...'
A swell of indescribable emotion rose in me. I bit my lip for a moment before speaking.
"Selina... no, everyone okay?"
"Kail..."
Only then did Selina seem to relax, dropping the dagger she'd clutched and letting out a hollow laugh.
"Worry about yourself. You and Adelin wouldn't wake up... I really thought it was over."
"Right, gotta check Adelin too."
I peeled Raysilla off me—she was clinging like glue—and examined Adelin lying on the bed. Traces of her vomiting up nearly lethal amounts of blood were clear, but thankfully, her breathing was far more stable now. Most astonishing was her complexion. The grotesque gem crystals that had covered half her face were gone, as if they'd never existed, and the translucent veins had returned to normal.
It seemed that with the White Purification obliterating the Blood Creation Lord's origin—the one lurking in her body, building its power—Adelin had instinctively regenerated her skin and organs using the Lord's lingering authority the moment it vanished from her soul.
"She's alive..."
Raysilla murmured as she checked Adelin's pulse.
"The Blood Creation power... it's almost all purified. Big brother did it."
"......Good."
I gazed at the utterly serene, peaceful expression on Adelin's face before standing. My knees buckled for a second, but Raysilla steadied me firmly from the side.
"Once Adelin wakes, we sort this out fast. Einiss's heir has her power back—we gotta put it to use right away. Right?"
Selina nodded, hauling herself up. She kicked at the assassins' corpses on the floor, her eyes ice-cold.
"Already confirmed they're the queen's men. One thing nagging me... if word of this doesn't reach the royals soon, they'll all bolt."
"Yeah."
As I replied, I shifted my gaze beyond the door. Waves of high-level mana pulsed from outside. The mages must have sensed my White Purification aura spilling out during Adelin's cleansing and were converging on the lab.
...What now.
Even as I rapidly weighed options in my head, the mana signatures outside closed in relentlessly. Deciding talk beat brute force, I reached for the doorknob.
Creeeak—
But before I could, someone outside used a master key or the like and swung the underground lab door open first. An elderly mage strode in casually, glanced at my half-panicked, tense face, then swept his eyes over the sprawled assassins and bloodstains on the floor.
His gaze halted when it reached Adelin Aynis, collapsed on the bed. The princess, her hideous gem shell shed, her smooth original skin restored.
"Impossible."
He stared blankly at Adelin's face for a moment before hastily pulling a communication orb from his robes and contacting someone.
"It's true... the hero succeeded in the treatment."
As the mage reported in a quavering voice, a familiar tone flowed from the orb, as if he'd been waiting.
"Bring them all to the audience chamber."
"Understood."
Their brief exchange, the lack of hostility, the order to the audience chamber—I pegged them as mages directly dispatched by the king. No need for more pointless bloodshed, so I released the sword hilt and followed without resistance. Raysilla and Selina, hanging back, read my cue and moved quietly alongside.
We safely exited the lab and ascended the palace's spiral stairs. Adelin, limp on a female mage's back, suddenly drew a deep breath and regained consciousness. She laboriously lifted her eyelids, scanning her surroundings with a dazed gaze until her eyes met mine, trailing behind.
"......"
"......"
For a brief moment, Adelin and I simply stared into each other's eyes in silence. At last, her lips parted ever so slightly.
"What happened in the inner realm... I regret it."
Her voice was hoarse from exhaustion, fully rested yet laced with an odd relief.
"To think the me from the past would say such things... It was entirely my fault."
She finished awkwardly, averting her gaze. I bit my lip, struggling to suppress the turmoil swelling inside as the guardian's raw pleas for atonement from the depths of her inner world echoed in my ears, scraping my throat raw.
I let out a short sigh and dropped my eyes to the floor.
"...Whatever. Hurry up and normalize the kingdom. That's the only way we can talk more."
My words came out blunter than usual, less sharp. Adelin's body twitched slightly on the mage's back. Slowly, she lifted her head to meet my eyes again. Caught in her direct stare, I looked up—and her iridescent, prismatic eyes curved into a gentle smile.
A expression I'd never seen, not from our first meeting in the party, nor on the day she betrayed me for her own gain and cast me into ruin.
More beautiful than any gem, dazzlingly clear and bright, overlaid with the pure smile of the young Adelin from her inner world.
"Yes. So I shall."
With that characteristically arrogant yet composed reply brimming with conviction, the mages quickened their pace, and Adelin's figure gradually receded down the corridor.
I watched her unfamiliar, radiant back in silence. An inexplicable emotion weighed on my chest, stifling my heartbeat. So heavy, so solid, no matter how hard my heart tried to pound, it felt futile.
Even breathing grew stifling somehow. In the end, I tore my gaze away and hung my head toward the floor.
"Damn it... what the hell is this..."