The massive black shadow began to expand without end. An infinite abyss spread out from that darkness, completely swallowing everything around it.
All the colors that had existed beneath the green sky were washed away in an instant.
Once plunged into blackness, even outlines could no longer be distinguished.
The surrounding monsters vanished along with it, leaving behind a suffocating silence.
Gradually, the crow flew down from the branch and landed on the ground, pushing up its monocle.
"Although, these days I prefer the name 'Vega.'"
The monocle over its single eye flashed with a silvery glow, yet it didn't look out of place at all within the darkness.
Safiroth felt the surroundings grow colder, the feathers on both her wings trembling slightly.
She slowly propped up her body with her legs, instinctively wanting to escape from this place.
But…
Her body was restrained.
As if some kind of force had completely locked her limbs and muscles in place.
"Alright, it seems I shouldn't be chatting about this with you."
"You probably don't have much self-awareness anyway." Vega looked straight at Safiroth, it's eyes showing little emotion.
Even so, Safiroth continued to struggle under the restraints, desperately trying to break free from the strange bindings.
Vega flapped it's wings, flew in front of Safiroth, and landed on her shoulder.
"Mm, don't move."
"Let me take a good look."
Its words seemed to carry a strange kind of power as they entered Safiroth's ears.
Very quickly, Safiroth's white body gradually stopped moving.
Her eyes became hollow and unfocused, her limbs drooping as she was forcibly propped up, suspended in midair.
A blue glow flickered continuously in Vega's eyes. A stream of magic radiated from it's body and slowly merged into the surrounding darkness.
It examined Safiroth's body carefully, as if seeing straight through her.
As It observed, Vega clicked it's tongue in amazement and said, "To think you can even fuse dragon bloodlines. The one who designed you must have been a genius."
"So that's how it is. Mm, mm… I've completely learned it."
Vega nodded as if everything had become perfectly clear to him.
"As a return gift, let me give you something as well."
A trace of slyness rose in it's eyes. Then Vega shook its small body, covered in lush black feathers.
A single feather slowly drifted down onto Safiroth's body. The moment it touched her white skin, the feather turned into a beam of light and merged into her body.
After finishing all this, Vega flapped its wings and flew up, then glanced back at Safiroth.
"I hope you won't disappoint me."
As it's words fell, its small body turned into a black meteor and shot into the patch of blackness in the sky.
The boundless darkness around them began to shrink, retreating back into the tiny shadows in the corners.
When the world finally returned to normal, clarity slowly returned to Safiroth's eyes.
The instant the restraints were lifted, she dropped to her knees, bracing herself on the ground with both hands and gasping for air.
At that moment, monsters began to spawn around her once more.
They poked their heads out from beneath the green earth, struggling as they pulled their entire bodies free and searched for targets.
They were shaped like giant wolves, yet their heads resembled lions. Each finger was sheathed in sharp claws, while their hind legs were thick, beastly hooves.
The instant they saw Safiroth, their pupils shrank completely. Their limbs moved rapidly as they charged straight at her.
They tore open their huge mouths filled with sharp fangs, leapt into the air, and pounced fiercely toward Safiroth.
But Safiroth, who had just regained consciousness, merely lifted her head slightly, not even sparing them a glance.
In an instant, a long blade appeared out of thin air in her hand. A flash of blade light cut through the air, slashing out a circular arc of pitch-black flame.
Those monsters' bodies were split cleanly in two within a single second, falling through the air.
Bang!
The severed halves slammed heavily into the ground, splashing streaks of green blood everywhere.
Cracks opened in the earth once more, again and again, slowly swallowing the halved corpses.
Safiroth collapsed back onto the ground, her snake-like pupils wide with shock.
She stared in disbelief at her slightly trembling hands…
She had become stronger.
In Safiroth's mind, the image of that black crow lingered for a long time, refusing to fade.
———
Erica sat at the table, eating her porridge in small spoonfuls as she recovered her strength.
Although she was happy that she saw Viktor as soon as she woke up, still…
She slowly raised her head and cautiously looked at the situation in front of her.
Aurelian sat on a chair with her head lowered, looking somewhat dazed.
And the Knight Commander Gwen, whom Erica had always known for her calmness, was pacing back and forth in the room, clearly anxious.
The current situation didn't seem very good.
As for the elf who was the instigator behind all of this, Erica had naturally learned who she was.
Former councilor, Cocotte Yard.
Her identity was rather special, because aside from being a former councilor, she was also the queen of the elven race.
Despite that extremely sleepy appearance of hers, no matter how one looked at it, it was hard to associate her with the image of a queen.
After seeing that Erica had woken up, Professor Viktor had left the room, seemingly to deal with something.
Or perhaps he simply wanted to escape from this somewhat awkward scene.
Erica lowered her head and looked at the empty bowl in front of her, feeling a bit more strength return to her body.
At this moment, she raised her head again and looked around.
By chance, Gwen's gaze met hers.
"…Please forgive my bluntness, Miss Erica."
"Why did you appear here?"
Her voice sounded a little rushed, unlike the calm demeanor Erica had seen before.
Erica herself didn't know why.
She gently shook her pale face and replied in a weak voice, "I don't know."
After all, when she woke up, she was already here.
Gwen stood where she was, staring at Erica.
She could tell that Erica's tone was sincere, and her expression and weak state couldn't be faked.
But…
She had never missed the Heart of Justice so much before.
That ability to see through lies and truth, why had it disappeared?
Being stared at like this by Gwen, Erica felt a lot of pressure as well. She pressed her lips together.
"Miss Gwen, you know…"
"Before this, I was always training in the Northern Territory and never left."
"But…"
Erica then recounted everything from beginning to end, without leaving anything out.
Including the appearance of that massive black dragon in the Northern Territory, above the Pale Mage Council.
General Vladimir had fought desperately, suffering severe injuries and nearly losing his life.
Erica continued, "When that monster appeared over the Northern Territory, I clearly felt that it was staring at me."
"And I think I could hear its voice." She spoke as if recalling the memory.
Erica should have evacuated together with the residents of the Northern Territory, yet it was as if some force compelled her to look up at the overwhelming monster in the sky.
Above, the black dragon's eyes were still fixed on her.
And Erica felt as though she could hear the voice within the black dragon's heart.
"Come with me… leave this place."
"That voice said that to me."
Erica lowered her head and spoke with certainty.
What happened next was all too familiar.
Erica took the initiative to approach the black dragon, calmed its fury, and saved tens of thousands of lives in the Northern Territory.
"So I left with it. When I woke up again, I was here."
Hearing this, even Aurelian raised her head and looked at Erica.
There was clear emotion in Gwen's eyes as well.
If this was true, then the girl in front of them had single-handedly saved tens of thousands of residents in the Northern Territory.
Her sacrifice filled Gwen with respect.
This would be difficult to fake. After all, if things were as Erica said, then tens of thousands of people in the Northern Territory would have witnessed it with their own eyes.
News of such a huge event would definitely spread.
All it would take was sending someone to ask around a little to know whether Erica was telling the truth.
"Mm… do you know that monster's elemental attribute?"
At this moment, Cocotte suddenly spoke up. She sat atop a cloud, her arms crossed.
Monsters all possessed elemental attributes, which determined what kind of elemental abilities they could use.
For example, monsters that lived near volcanoes were mostly fire-element, while wood-element monsters naturally existed in forests.
There were also countering relationships between different elements.
All of this was basic knowledge taught at the academy.
Erica nodded with absolute certainty.
"Wind."
As she spoke, she fell into her memories once more.
"The black dragon emerged from between dark, heavy clouds, with violent storms raging around its body."
"Spinning tornadoes rose from the ground one after another. Even solid ice was torn from beneath the sea's surface and shredded into ice crystals by the storm."
Listening to Erica's description, Cocotte closed her eyes and nodded.
"Mm, mm. Just as I thought."
Aurelian hurriedly lifted her head and looked at Cocotte.
"Councilor Yard, do you… know something?"
"Uh, well…"
Cocotte looked troubled and didn't answer directly. Instead, she looked back at Erica.
"But I'm a bit curious, why did that monster choose you?"
"Oh right, I remember you were seriously ill before. Do you remember your body being covered in bright flowers and plants?"
Erica nodded.
"I remember. That was probably one or two months ago."
She still remembered her previous collapse very clearly.
Cocotte nodded, then looked at Aurelian.
"Little princess, you remember being taken to the Mage Council by Viktor, right?"
Aurelian nodded quickly.
It was precisely because of that time that Aurelian personally experienced just how powerful her teacher was.
Cocotte, however, rested her chin in her hand as if she understood something, her eyes fixed on Erica as she nodded lightly.
"How should I put it… I do understand some things now."
Yet there was a hint of surprise in her gaze.
Because…
Just as the Calamity of Wind had sought out Erica, the revival of the Calamity of Wood had coincided exactly with the period when Erica fell ill.
The timing… matched perfectly.