I emerge from the rubble with dust stuck to my sweaty skin. The smell of sulfur, the heat, and the orange light precede the sight of an alien landscape.

It's all collapsed. Black rocks and a sea of boiling lava. A huge volcano erupts a few miles away. Everything has collapsed, I hear my ears ringing and I'm dizzy.

I avoid some rocks rolling in the magma, I stare at them as they slowly sink. I use the umbrella as support and pull myself up.

Ci-cin.

I missed it.

It destroyed everything and escaped me again. The [Devil] even destroyed a legendary weapon and now I don't know how to track it down and stop it.

I take a walk on that checkerboard rock I'm on. I'm hot, my ears are drooping, and I feel sluggish. I need to rest.

I have to?

I can't yet, not until I secure the [core].

[Dungeon path]

I'm on the edge of the new crater. From this position, I can see the extent of the damage from a different perspective. A minor volcano collapsed in half.

Who knows who built a cathedral in a volcano? It is a question to be associated with those who built the house in the desert.

Maybe someone lived here, a long, long time ago. When [Bakenekro] didn't even exist or whatever.

“Hey! N!”

Ci-cin.

I look for the origin of the voice and a figure waves her arms, illuminated by the light of the crater.

“Sylv!”

“N, I was looking for you! Everything collapsed but luckily the arch where I was,” she points to a row of naves on the back of the mountain, “held up and after that, I started looking for you.”

[Dungeon path]

I appear in front of Sylviette and jump on her. I hug her and hold her tight. She is cold and heartening. I don't know what to say and I just feel the tears coming out of me.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“No not at all. It escaped. It ran away again and it's strong,” I sob and bury her face between her chest and shoulder. “I don't understand how it can be so strong!” I also wrap my tails around Sylviette and close my eyes.

I feel like crap, a failure.

The reality is that I understand, I absolutely understand. But I don't want to accept reality. The reality is unfair. It is unfair and senseless.

I feel a hand stroking my hair and I try to stop crying. I'm not leaving Sylviette, even if I don't know what to say to her. It's not her fault, she just deserves to rest and instead, I took her hunting with me.

How reckless, how stupid! I feel like crying again but I hold back the tears. I pull away a little and look up at her face.

She has a slightly dazed expression and she stops stroking me.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Sorry,” I release her from my grasp and step back, “I must be a pitiful sight.”

“Enough.”

She keeps her gaze on me. I don't know how to answer, maybe I shouldn't. Maybe she's waiting for her to take me back and change the subject. The self-pity of a ‘deity’ of death!

Oh, please!

I wipe my tears with my ash-covered arm. I have to take a bath. I think I understand Gron right now.

There is nothing around us that my eyes can find to focus on.

“Did you manage to find any tracks?”

Sylviette opens her arms and shows me the palms of her hands. She shakes her head. “I looked for you. I'm pretty lost on my own. In any case, I think there are no traces in this disaster.”

I turn my gaze to the lava lake. No substance crystallized this time.

“I guess it buried itself and then burrowed like insects do.” I sniff. “Let's go back, Silv.”

“Agree.”

“Let's go back.”

♦

The notes of the arpeggios fill the air. I promised myself I would show Sylviette that I learned to play the harp, but in the end, now I play the piano.

The orchestra hall is empty and I leave the lights off. Sylviette can see even in the dark and my fingers run freely between the keys.

I went back. We went back.

I put to rest all the deceased who rained down while I was chasing the [Devil], and now I play the piano. I play the piano and try to clear my mind. Meanwhile, time passes.

I let the last chord reverberate in the air.

“Are you playing a fantasy on that theme?” Sylviette's voice comes from my right, inside the stage, but I can't see it.

“What theme?”

“The one about the organ.”

“Yes, it is.” I caress some keys with my fingers, I feel the dust and the smooth ivory. “I can't get it out of my head.”

“Hm.”

“Sylv.”

“Uh?”

“Did you hear it too?” With my legs, I push back the stool which screeches and rubs the boards. I stand up and stare into the darkness in front of me.

“As I got closer, I heard it. Then I saw a rainbow light, finally, it stopped and the earthquake came.”

“I think it was a spell, the Devil was shielded from magical attacks.”

“Nice help. Whoever did it will have remained buried.”

I bite my lower lip and run my tongue across the roof of my mouth. I snap it.

Ci-cin.

“I don't know… what if the God of Wisdom is helping it?”

“N, I don't know what to tell you.”

“It destroyed the Atmosphere-eater without any problems. I don't know how to stop it.”

Tok, tok, tok, tok.

The click of heels on the floor. Sylviette's hand drops to my head and ruffles my hair.

Ci-cin.

“Hey!” I put my hands up and step aside.

“You shouldn't be discouraged. What should I say if I let myself be fooled and create this problem?”

“Umm, don't you feel even a little guilty?”

“Huh? I am a Diplomat. I am used to managing complex situations. Even for small things, great problems can arise among nobles.”

Hmm… I can't see her, but I know Sylviette sees me. Is she kidding me? Or maybe she wants to cheer me up?

Little changes anyway.

“It's not like there are many resources beyond the emergency plan…”

“That is, wait for the alarm and let me be resuscitated? Hoping that everything goes well, of course.”

“If you say it like that it sounds desperate.”

“It is not?”

Sigh. I reach out for Sylviette's hand, intertwining my fingers with hers and matching her palms.

“Who knows what my father would do…”

“You're asking the wrong person.”

“Ngh! Of course, you're not very good at consoling.”

“That's your job.”

Sylviette wriggles her hand from mine and I'm left in the darkness.

«Fsss…»

Tok, Tok.

“Look, I have a better idea.”

“I listen to you.”

“Leave me straight to the core. Go back to your homework. If necessary, I will be ready to act.”

Ah!

Sarcasm, I guess.

I didn't think about this. “Sylv, are you sure?”

“I'm of no use for anything else anyway. I should just rest, right?”

“Um, don't say that! You are not useless. You deserve to rest. I only caused you problems.”

“Well, discussing it doesn't get us anywhere, then?”

I take a couple of steps in the dark. With my foot, I feel the metal rod that delimits the edge of the stage and I stop.

“Other ideas?”

“Shall we resume the useless hunt?”

“Hm… I notice some cynicism.”

“You say?”

I sigh and scratch my ear, then shake my head and straighten my skirt. I went to the river and cleaned myself up before returning to this room. It’s still damp.

“We can wait.”

“N, no.”

“Oh! I had an idea. You can look for clues, right?”

Tok.

“The clues are vague. But let's say yes, do you mean what I did in the coral tunnel?”

“Exactly, we could try looking for the organist.”

“Hm, not bad. But who tells you there was an organist?”

“Let's take it as a bet. It might as well be dead. If it exists and is alive, it will surely want to follow the Devil to help it.”

Tok, tok, tok, tok, tok, tok.

Sylviette reaches out to my shoulder. “Let's try.”