"Celeste!” I cried out, erecting a Holy circle and then running over to her. “How did…”

I was going to ask how she made it down, but the answer was obvious. Once she had recovered from her injuries thanks to the potions, she had used the kiosk to return to the 29th floor and then flew down here. Lydia and Miki were left behind,

I immediately used every spell at my disposal. I removed curse, healed, and even give life force. However, it was hopeless. An entire wing was gone, as was half her body. I would have assumed she was dead if she didn’t suddenly cough, her eyes sputtering open.

“Celeste… oh no… why did… you… why?”

“M-master?” Her eyes suddenly saw me, and I could see the recognition in them.

Tears began to fall. “Celeste… please… why did you… she…”

I glanced up to see the dark fairy queen watching the scene play out.

“You… killed her…” I said darkly.

“I killed her… a long time ago.” The queen said sadly. “When she was born… I couldn’t stand it. She reminded me too much of him. I tried to just enslave her… that’s what I had done to the rest of those in the mansion. I put collars on them. However, humans wouldn’t… accept their place as slaves. They kept resisting me. In the end, I decided it was best to turn them all into ghosts instead. At least ghosts obey. I assumed she had died. I never imagined half of her would live.”

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“Half? She was half-human?” I gritted my teeth, anger flooding through me. “She’s… she’s your daughter, isn’t she! She’s the daughter you had with Karr. And you… enslaved her? Turned her human half into a ghost?”

“She’s what was left… what I couldn’t destroy.” The Queen sighed. “It’s better this way. She was too much like me. Giving her life for a human. How pathetic. Also like with me, that sacrifice will amount to nothing. I suppose, like mother, like daughter.”

She raised her hand again. Before, when she had been fighting me, I had managed to just hold on. I only realized now that she had been teasing me. Now that I thought about it, even the Necromancer had just been throwing out skeletons from boredom. If they were serious, they’d wipe me out in an instant. I now realized that was what the fairy queen decided to do.

She raised her hand, and darkness began to coalesce in her fingers. It was a beam just like the one she had tried to send through my back. This time, it was growing much bigger. I could feel the mana being used, and it made the hair stand on my arms. There was absolutely no way I could defeat her. I was certain of that.

I lifted Ghost Bane and sighed. It looked like I reached the end of the road. I still didn’t understand everything, and I didn’t even have time to reason it out. The least I could do was to go out fighting. It was funny. A few short months ago, I would have been pissing my pants and running for cover. Now, my only regret was that I couldn’t save anyone. Hmm… maybe I did have the makings of a hero after all.

Just when it looked like she was going to fling a pillar of darkness at me, she gasped and backed up. A massive beam of white light shot over my shoulder and struck her in the wing. The light was small, but it still burned a hole right through. She screeched, landing on the ground. As for me, I spun around to see a bright light shining, and at the center was a person with golden wings.

“You won’t touch my Master!” A rich voice spoke clearly, “He’s mine, Mother!”

It was at that point that text shined in my vision.

{Celeste has evolved into a Fairy Queen.}