"Just drink it and chant Amamiya's name, right?"
Chika confirmed one last time.
"Right."
At the moment of confirmation, Chika made her final decision. She took the potion bottle from her pocket, uncorked it, and drank it down in one go.
In an instant, her vision burst into color, and the entire world around her began to spin.
She didn't even realize a strange sound had escaped her lips, nor did she notice the faint pink scales that had started appearing on her skin.
"…Strange. Why such a big reaction to a low-sequence potion?"
Observing Chika's changes, Ren was genuinely surprised. A potion of the lowest sequence shouldn't cause such a strong reaction.
This wasn't a fully mysterious world, there were no high sequences here.
There shouldn't be any high-sequence whispers either. So why such a violent reaction?
Without hesitation, Ren acted. An invisible fog instantly enveloped Fujiwara, completely suppressing the signs of losing control that had started manifesting.
Once the symptoms subsided, Ren heard a faint prayer.
[Amamiya… Amamiya…]
The voice was soft, but clearly Fujiwara's.
"…Seems like the loss of control was quite serious for a lowest-sequence potion."
Ren muttered, puzzled, then closed his eyes and focused his consciousness into Sefirah Castle.
Beside the ancient stone table sat a pink-haired girl.
Fujiwara had been drawn into Sefirah Castle through her prayer.
"Ah!"
The girl lying on the table looked like a student jolted awake during class. Her face was flushed, her heart raced, and she was panting heavily, as if she had just awoken from a nightmare.
She immediately searched for him and soon spotted the figure standing by the stone table.
"Amamiya!!!"
She leapt at him without hesitation. The moment she did, her emotions burst forth uncontrollably.
"The world… it was twisted… I heard so many strange voices…"
"I felt… I felt…"
The world was collapsing around her.
She was in terrible condition. It felt like she had glimpsed a madman's world firsthand. In that twisted reality, she too felt as if she would be consumed by madness at any moment.
If she hadn't called out Amamiya's name in time, she felt she might never have seen him again.
"It's okay now, it's okay… It's all over."
Seeing Chika on the verge of breaking down, Ren could tell just how severe her loss of control had been. If he hadn't used Sefirah Castle to suppress it, she would have turned into a monster in less than thirty seconds.
Using the Soul Assurer's extraordinary ability, he gently comforted her and stroked her hair to calm her.
Ren also examined her spiritual condition using his spiritual vision.
"…Hmm?"
Had the corruption faded?
The black ink-like corruption on Fujiwara's spirit body was visibly dissipating before his eyes.
Corruption… could it fade this easily?
Even without having seen all the Lords of Mysteries, Ren knew that corruption wasn't something that just vanished on its own.
This was… unusual.
As he watched the corruption vanish entirely from Chika's spirit body, he felt a bit unsettled.
He hadn't used the full power of Sefirah Castle, not even the River of Eternal Darkness.
So how had the corruption faded?
Ren carefully examined Chika's spirit body, ether body, mental body, and astral body again, yet found no remaining contamination.
It really was odd.
A low-sequence potion should not have had such intense side effects. This wasn't the world of Adam.
Even Adam from that world wouldn't trigger something like this.
Not only had she nearly lost control, but she'd also been exposed to corruption… and yet the corruption had vanished on its own.
Ren made a mental note, this was something he'd need to monitor closely moving forward.
He was apparently quite special, as he had never experienced anything like this himself...
He'd never once encountered loss of control, let alone corruption.
It looked like he'd need to personally watch over Chika during her future advancements.
To prevent any future losses of control or corruption, it was now necessary for him to be present.
[Please… I don't want Grandpa to die… I don't want Grandpa to die…]
Suddenly, a prayer echoed in his ears.
A red star slowly descended from the endless fog above.
While soothing Chika, Ren guided the star before him.
The red star shimmered with a projected scene.
A gloomy young man was about to stab an old man in the abdomen. A girl dashed toward the old man, her expression filled with desperation, praying with everything she had.
Looks like the opportunity had arrived.
Then, in response to that prayer, a corresponding power would be granted, to change fate.
A power to temporarily alter the destiny of the one who prayed was granted in the form of a gift.
After completing the gift, he looked down at the still-crying Chika and sighed helplessly. It was going to take a while to calm her down.
But there was no helping it. After all, for an ordinary girl to go through loss of control and encounter spiritual corruption—emotional instability was inevitable.
…By the way, could he pull Hayasaka into Sefirah Castle too?
Just as Ren was thinking that, a red star fell from the foggy ceiling.
Ren peered into the star and saw Hayasaka reading a diary.
So it was possible, then.
But it seemed the diary itself was what allowed her location to be locked.
He gently tapped the star.
"Hayasaka, the net has closed in on the Hatamoto side."
"I've got something going on here and can't leave right now. Go check it out first, I'll join you later."
Hayasaka, visible through the star, was momentarily stunned. But she quickly sprang into action.
Seeing this, Ren didn't continue watching. Instead, he focused his attention on comforting Chika, who was still quietly crying.
(To be continued.)
***
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