The screams of people fighting still echoed. Yua’s body shook uncontrobly, but Kimi still transferred magical energy into the kunoichi’s body.


    “I think I should stop now, Lord Raymund.” Kimi had to force herself to keep ying her lute. “This is already beyond Yua’s limits.”


    Raymund didn’t answer. He made sure that Elise was within a safe distance from the people who were ‘fighting’ on the streets.


    “Lord Raymund!” The petite elf raised her voice.


    “Okay, let her go.” Finally, Raymund gave the order.


    As soon as Kimi stopped ying her lute, Yua copsed with a heavy breath. Kimi immediately checked the kunoichi and found that her partner’s nose was already bleeding a lot, covering a third of her face.


    Kimi pulled the kunoichi’s body into the middle of the roof so that no one on the street could see them. The shouts of the people had vanished, reced by the grumble of questions. The ‘nudist army’ they had fought earlier had disappeared without a trace.


    “Yua….” Kimi checked the kunoichi’s pulse, which felt weak. “Hold on, please.”_.


    Yua didn’t respond and just looked at the elf with her eyes almost closed.


    “Rx. I’ll bring her here, and she’ll be back to normal.” Raymund spoke as a cloud of mist appeared above his two servants. Then, a bottle filled with a blue liquid fell from the mist, and Kimi caught it.


    “That’s a mana potion. Drink up. Let Yua be my business.” Raymund continued. “You will be picked up to catch up with Elise. You two are going after Mattias.”


    Kimi, who had opened the bottle, froze. “Picked up? Is that what you meantst night? Do they really exist?”


    ***


    Elise continued to run, and Mona was already beside her. Mattias, who was a few feet ahead of them, nced back in frustration. He did something with his shoes, so he could run faster.


    “At this rate, we won’t be able to catch him, sir.” The female warrior spoke with ragged breaths. They had been running for quite some time between the town buildings. “He doesn’t seem to have lost any stamina at all.”


    “I can already see them approaching you,” Raymund responded.


    “Aah, I can already feel it too.” The female warrior looked back and found a beast with the head of an eagle, a lion’s body, and giant white wings flying toward her.


    Mattias also looked back and gasped when he saw the beast. “A griffin? Impossible! They should only exist in legends!”


    The griffin let out a loud shriek and began to fly low into the street. Elise and Mona jumped, clung to the beast’s fur, and climbed onto its back. Kimi, already on the beast’s back, pulled Elise up.


    Raymund did ask the goddess of nature to send that beast. After hearing from Kimi that Mattias could blow up the town, the god made that decision. At first, he intended to use the griffin as an escape method for his servants.


    Mattias Hastily fired various magic elements at the griffin, which was starting to fly upwards again. However, the beast managed to dodge all of it.


    “Sorry, I can’t use my magic t yet.” Kimi looked at her reddened fingers from ying the lute for too long. “But, I will recover in a bit.”


    “Soon, you’ll be on a narrower street,” Raymund spoke again. “Now is the time to do that, Elise.”


    The female warrior rubbed the griffin’s back, then shouted while pointing at Mattias. “Catch him!”


    The griffin shrieked again, took a fast dive, caught Mattias’ shirt with its beak, then started flying high.


    Raymund gave the order again. “Take him and the dress as far from town as possible, Elise.”


    “Let me go!” Mattias continued to move wildly in fear.


    “Don’t move or use any magic to break free!” Kimi snapped, though still wearing her expressionless face. “We are so high up!”


    ?[0)??? Mattias got goosebumps and stopped moving, looking like he was holding back tears. “Please, put me down….”


    “Lord Raymund.” Kimi looked up. “You can let my dad go, and it’s all over, but I want to talk to him first.”


    “No problem.” Raymund answered.


    Kimi took a deep breath. “I just want to give you peace, dad.”


    Mattias’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”


    “That Land of Elven you know is gone. It was wiped out thousands of years ago.” Kimi spoke with her head lowered. “And it’s all because of me.”


    “What?”


    The petite elf tells most of what happens on thend, from her adventures in searching for the seven elemental objects, the rituals that make thend’s inhabitants die, to the resurrection of the dead and their lives in cycles.


    “Ah… I see….” Mattias sighed, his face barely showing any signs of surprise. “So that’s what happened, huh? No wonder the civilization of this human world is different from thest I remember.”


    “I don’t know what the Scarlet wizard did to you to keep you alive like this.” Kimi wiped a tear from her eye. “But, it’s against nature, dad. Your soul needs rest.”


    “She came to me and took me to the human world to help her…. But before that, she released a red glow from her hands. I was amazed when she did that without any magic tools or magic circles. And I was even more surprised when the light entered my body. I don’t really know what it is.” Mattias muttered. “Maybe it’s a spell that keeps my soul in this body…. Ah, maybe your words are right, daughter. It’s time for me to rest for good.”


    “I think you guys are quite far from the city. The effect of the dress on the town is gone. Even if the effect is still there, the people in town won’t be able to catch up with you.” Raymund exined. “You’d better justnd.”


    After searching for a suitable ce, Elise ordered the griffin to descend, thennded in a vast meadow with tall weeds.


    “May I speak to my daughter?” Mattias asked after being brought down by the griffin. “I promise not to mess around.”


    “It’s okay,” Kimi spoke to Elise while wiping her tears again. Then, she and her dad walked away.


    “Stay alert, Elise.” Raymund gave instructions. “Just in case.”