Doctor said, "I'll finish as quickly as possible. Don't worry. I once took a surgery class."
Unlike general medicine, surgery required the use of Schema. The doctor, having basic Schema skills, could cut through bone quickly.
Doctor instructed, "Let's begin. He might convulse, so hold him down tightly."
Tess nodded, sobbing. Watching this, Amy and Arin couldn't say a word.
If they had to choose, they would have run away. But it was Tess, who had decided to take responsibility for Rian's life.
Doctor said, "Huff! Huff! Let's begin!"
Shirone interrupted, "Stop."
The moment the saw touched Rian's shoulder, a voice made the doctor jump and turn around.
Shirone, having regained consciousness, was getting out of bed. The exhausted recovery mages lay on the floor, gasping for breath.
Shirone asked, "Tess, what are you doing? Why are you trying to cut off Rian's arm?"
Tess cried, "Shirone, Shirone..."
Tess burst into tears. Unable to decide what to do, she had left everything to the flow of events. Shirone's recovery was like rain during a drought.
Tess sobbed, "Shirone, what should I do? They're going to amputate Rian's arm. Rian will..."
Shirone said firmly, "No. Cutting off his arm will ruin Rian's life."
Tess argued, "But he'll die! Rian will die!"
Shirone replied, "Even if he dies, we can't do it. I won't allow it."
Shirone's words stabbed Tess's heart like a dagger.
Of course, Shirone was Rian's master. Even if Rian died, he wouldn't blame Shirone.
But who would understand her feelings?
Shirone said, "Tess, change your mind. Rian wouldn't want this."
Tess shouted, "I know! I also want Rian to become the greatest swordsman! But that's important to Rian, not to me! I don't care if he loses an arm!"
Shirone retorted, "How can you say something so cruel! Can you say the same thing in front of Rian?"
Tess yelled, "That's why I'm doing it! He's unconscious, so I'll decide for him! Rian will give up the sword. So you give up too! Doctor, please start quickly!"
Shirone pointed out, "He's still holding his sword!"
Tess's face turned pale as she looked at Rian.
Shirone said, "Look at Rian! He's still holding his sword! Even with only bone left, he's still fighting! And you want to amputate? No one can tell Rian to give up until he does!"
Tess looked at Rian's arm.
Why wouldn't he let go of the sword? Did he intend to remain Shirone's sword until his dying breath? If so, she would never have him all to herself.
But it didn't matter. That was Rian. Because he was Rian...
Tess whispered, "I love you so much."
Tess buried her face in Rian's chest.
She wouldn't treat him. If he held onto his sword until the end, he would die a swordsman.
A faint voice escaped Rian's lips.
Rian murmured, "Te...ss..."
Tess's head shot up.
Tess cried, "Rian! I'm here! Are you awake? Does it hurt?"
Rian whispered, "Shirone, Shirone..."
Tess reassured him, "He's fine! He's back safely! We're at Jis's house! You're the most injured!"
Rian stirred and sat up. When he looked at his right arm, now just bone, his friends' hearts sank.
Rian asked, "What's this?"
Contrary to expectations, Rian didn't flinch. Remaining calm while looking at his ruined arm was superhuman composure.
Tess realized Shirone had been right. He had known all along. From the day Rian took his knight's oath, he had engraved his resolve into his sword.
Rian asked again, "What happened to my arm? How did it get like this?"
Rian was merely annoyed. The nerves were gone, so there was no pain. The hand holding the sword didn't feel like his own.
Tess stammered, "Rian, that's..."
At that moment, the greatsword clattered to the ground. The five bony fingers spread open, and blood gushed from his shoulder.
Tess screamed, "Rian! Rian!"
The doctor pressed down on Rian's shoulder and shouted.
Doctor yelled, "The bleeding's started! Bring the hemostatic and bandages, quickly!"
No one moved.
As the doctor glared at them with a fierce look, a strange sound came from Rian's arm.
Squelch. Squelch.
It was the sound of a viscous liquid splashing.
The doctor turned and, like everyone else, stared blankly at Rian's arm.
The blood flowing from his shoulder was taking shape.
This was impossible. Even a grandmaster of recovery magic couldn't alter the form of blood.
Doctor stammered, "Y-you, what are you..."
Rian calmly watched as his arm regenerated. As the nerves recovered, he began to feel it was his arm again. Carefully examining each strand of muscle fiber, he asked his friends.
Rian asked, "What's going on? Can someone explain?"
Tess: "You ate the giant's arm. You cut off the giant's arm, and the giant made you eat it. It turned into a liquid-like substance used in the Art of One Flower and went down your throat."
Rian: "I cut off an arm? A giant's arm?"
Though it was nothing more than a fragmented image, barely even a memory, the scene of cutting off Ymir's arm vaguely surfaced in his mind.
'At least I got one good hit in.'
When he flexed his arm, he felt an immense surge of power. Was this also one of the secrets tied to the Art of One Flower?
At that moment, the room fell silent. Rian looked around and saw everyone's jaws hanging open.
Rian: "What's wrong? You're acting like you've never seen muscles before."
Amy: "Are you really okay? It looks like your skin is regenerating right now."
Rian: "I guess so. I'm fine."
Shirone: "That's not what I mean, you idiot! I'm asking how this is even possible!"
Rian: "I don't know. It just happened, so I guess it's possible."
No matter how bold he was, shouldn't he at least be suspicious of his own body? Or maybe he wasn't bold—just plain stupid.
Mage: "It's done! He's awake!"
The mages attending to Canis shouted.
Canis sat up, his eyelids half-closed as he looked around. He frowned and spoke.
Canis: "It's noisy. Don't wake me up when I'm about to die from exhaustion."
Then he lay back down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
It was a natural reaction after being tormented by the Sleep Demon's object, but given the situation, his friends felt a sense of emptiness first.
Arin: "Sleep well, Canis."
After returning from heaven, Shirone and his group were treated like royalty by Jis and Yuna for three days.
They slept an average of 16 hours a day, and their daily routine consisted of sleeping, eating, and sleeping again.
When they gathered in the living room for dinner in the early evening, Shirone would tell them about what had happened in heaven.
But he kept quiet about the Final War.
Rian often broke things with his right arm. His strength had become uncontrollably immense. Tess told him it would take time to develop the fine motor skills needed to control his strength.
Tess: "It'll take time to develop the fine motor skills to control your strength."
Tess spent her free time cleaning and maintaining her drone. She never let it out of her sight, and even in her sleep, she would make ghostly noises while stroking it, which terrified Amy and Arin every night.
Canis and Arin spent a lot of time talking alone. It seemed they had gotten what they wanted in heaven, but they didn't tell anyone what it was. However, they did admit that they were the ones who had shortened Kadum's lifespan.
Canis: "We were the ones who shortened Kadum's lifespan."
Amy wandered around with the ancient spirit Jack O' Lantern lit. When she pointed at the bouncing flame and called it cute, Rian told her she was even cuter.
Amy: "It's so cute!"
Rian: "You're even cuter, Amy."
When the boys and girls hung out separately, Amy would stare at Shirone for a long time. But true to her meticulous nature, she never let her friends catch her.
Shirone often sat on the sofa, lost in thought. When he did, the face of the Archangel Ikael was the first thing that came to mind.
The insight of Ataraxia was still engraved in his mind, warm and vivid.
Everyone who had gone to heaven had achieved their goals, but no one had received a gift as grand as Shirone's.
Canis: "This is unfair! Tell me the secret!"
Canis threw a tantrum, calling it unfair, and demanded to know the secret, but Shirone genuinely didn't know.
Shirone: "I don't know. It just happened."
'Ikael… are you doing well?'
The Metagate had to be left in heaven due to its nature. The coordinates had been reset, but with heaven's technology, they might find a way to bypass the labyrinth of space and time with just that.
But in the end, Kariel hadn't been able to defy Ikael's advice. As long as she sided with humanity, the Final War wouldn't happen.
On the other hand, he wanted to see her again. Remembering Peope, who grumbled but had a soft heart, made him miss her even more.
Amy: "Shirone, let's stop sleeping. It's best to rest well until today."
Amy stood there in her pajamas. She looked beautiful under the moonlight.
Both of them had been feeling the pressure to talk about something for the past few days. But in the end, they just smiled at each other and let it go.
Shirone: "Yeah, let's sleep."
Shirone went into the room where the boys were sleeping. The small, attic-like space echoed with Rian's snoring. Next to him, Canis was asleep with a pillow covering his ears.
Shirone sat in the corner and stared into the darkness. The thought that everything he had been through was real sent shivers down his spine. A tense smile formed on his face, and starlight reflected in his eyes.
That night.
Jis, who had finished work at the harbor, burst through the front door. He looked around, panting, and then rushed straight to the room where the boys were sleeping.
Jis: "It's an emergency! Wake up! Hurry!"
When he opened the door and shouted, Canis's pillow flew and hit him in the face. No one woke up. After everything they'd been through in heaven, it seemed like nothing could be a big deal anymore.
Jis: "I said wake up! Don't get mad later!"
Shirone rubbed his eyes and woke up.
Shirone: "What's wrong? What's going on?"
Jis: "Hurry and wake the others! We need to go now!"
Jis didn't have time to explain and turned around to go downstairs. This time, he barged into the girls' room.
Jis: "Guys! Wake up! Yuna, you too, hurry!"
Amy: "Ugh, what…."
Amy, who had been in a deep sleep, lay face down like a beast. But as soon as her mind cleared, she immediately understood the situation and turned her head with a fierce glare.
Amy: "Hey! What do you think you're doing, barging into a room where girls are sleeping? You wanna die?"
Jis: "Yikes! Sorry! It's an emergency!"
Only then did Jis realize his mistake upon seeing the girls in their pajamas. Tess, sleeping with her belly exposed, looked like an adult no matter how many times he saw her. But there really was no time to waste, so he grabbed Amy's hand and pulled her up.
Jis: "Don't regret it later, just wake up!"
Amy: "Okay, okay. Guys, wake up. Jis has something to say."
Tess: "Ugh, I'm so tired. What's going on?"
Meanwhile, the boys came down the stairs, rubbing their sleepy eyes. Shirone, feeling guilty for wasting sleep time by trying to look cool in the middle of the night, peeked into the girls' room.
Arin and Tess were tidying up the blankets, and Amy, still half-asleep, was being dragged out by Jis.
Amy: "If this isn't a big deal, I'm really going to be mad. I'll hit you twice as hard for barging in."
Jis: "Go ahead! Just hear me out, and you'll change your mind!"
After much commotion, everyone gathered in the living room.
Jis hesitated, wondering if there was a right time to speak without giving his friends a heart attack, and then opened his mouth.
Jis: "Do you know what day it is today?"
Shirone: "No. Is it your birthday?"
Jis: "No! It's the day that comes once every ten years…!"
At that moment, Yuna, who had just woken up, rushed out of the girls' room and shouted.
Yuna: "Brother! Chaos! Chaos!"
Shirone tilted his head and asked.
Shirone: "What's Chaos?"
Not to be outdone, Jis shouted even louder.
Jis: "The sea dragon! The sea dragon Chaos is coming here!"
Carriage Driver: "Sir, can you go a little faster?"
The carriage carrying Shirone and his group raced toward the harbor.
Amy bit her lip anxiously. There had been no time to prepare, so she was still in her pajamas.
Amy: "Isn't it already too late? I heard it only stays for about 10 minutes."
Jis: "That's why I said we had to wake up early. I was so busy taking care of you guys that I forgot. I only realized because the tourists weren't thinning out even at night."
Amy: "Oh, please."
The sea dragon Chaos was said to traverse the three great oceans that cut across the equator over a span of ten years.
It stayed near Galliant Island for about ten minutes, and the number of tourists who came to see the dragon reached a staggering two thousand.
When they arrived at the harbor, it was so crowded that there was no room to squeeze through. Walking to the dock seemed impossible.
Tourist: "Ten minutes left!"
Canis, who had been gauging the proportion of darkness in the surrounding space, grabbed Arin's hand.
Canis: "Well, we'll excuse ourselves."
The two of them vanished into the shadows. Using Dark Port, they could reach their destination without being noticed.
Shirone and the others were stunned. Especially Amy, who trembled with anger and cursed Canis's appearance. The names and body parts of the animals she used in her description showed just how furious she was.
Amy: "What do we do? Is there no way to get inside?"
Jis: "I'll talk to the people at the harbor. Wait here."
As Jis ran off to the management office, Amy grabbed him.
Amy: "It's already too late. Can't we just watch from here?"
Tourist: "Five minutes left!"
At that moment, flashes of light erupted from the edge of the crowd and began to paint the night sky. They were the mages from the continent who had come to see Chaos.
Shirone and Amy looked at each other and grinned.
Shirone: "Great! Let's go!"
Using teleportation, Shirone and his group flew up and naturally blended into the flashes of light. In this situation, who could tell who was a student and who was a mage?
Contrary to the expectation that the breakwater would be the most crowded, most people had gathered outside the dock.
Though Chaos had never harmed anyone on Galliant Island, dragons were still terrifying.
On the other hand, mages and swordsmen accustomed to battles gathered inside the dock.
The density of trained individuals, usually only seen in the capital's mercenary market, showed just how popular the dragon was.
Canis: "Hey, I saved us a spot."
Canis, who had arrived first, greeted his friends without changing his expression. Amy rolled up her sleeves and approached him.
Amy: "You traitor! You ran away to save yourself?"
Canis: "Do we really need to risk our lives? We're here now, so we can just watch."
At that moment, the crowd erupted in cheers.
Without even seeing what was happening, Shirone and his group immediately turned and ran to the end of the dock.
A massive wall of water was rushing in from the open sea. Its size and speed were enough to submerge the entire harbor.
Shirone: "Huh? Huh?"
Shirone and his group were stunned. As the tidal wave approached within 200 meters, they held their breath.
Just as they thought they would be swept away, a massive object rose vertically from the water.
The shape of the water collapsed, and a colossal column of water, weighing thousands of tons, surged upward, drawn by Chaos.
Shirone and Group: "Ahhh! Ahhh!"
Shirone and his group screamed as if electrocuted. The dragon had lifted the entire sea. It was an unimaginable display of magical power.
The rising column of water spread like a fountain at 300 meters above, creating dozens of arches.
Chaos, encased within an arch spanning over a kilometer, displayed its overwhelming majesty.
Chaos: "Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"
A sorrowful yet beautiful cry echoed across the sea.
At that moment, light burst out behind Shirone. People were aiming cylindrical devices at the sea dragon and shooting light at it.
Shirone: "Why are they doing that? Are they attacking it?"
Shirone's naive question made Jis laugh.
Jis: "No, those are optical cameras. They say it's a device that can capture light as it is. They're incredibly expensive, but they sell like hotcakes on days like this. There are even professional photographers who travel the world just to take pictures of Chaos."
As Chaos began to glide gracefully through the water, large fireworks prepared by the Galliant autonomous government filled the sky.
According to Jis, the tourism revenue was so high that they didn't spare any expenses.
The fireworks seeped into the arches made of water columns, and the sight of the dragon swimming through them was the sweetest treat for the eyes.
Amy: "Jis, thank you. This alone makes coming to the island worth it."
Jis: "Hehe, I promised. I'd show you a proper tour."
Tess, inspired by the sight of Canis and Arin holding hands affectionately, thought this was a good opportunity not to miss. She quietly slipped her arm around Rian's.
Tess: "What, what are you doing? What's with the sudden move?"
When Rian recoiled as if a bug had landed on him, Tess's eyes widened in disbelief.
Tess: "Hey, isn't that a bit much? No matter how monstrous I look, I'm still better than your arm, right?"
Rian: "Ah, no, it's not like that. I was just really surprised."
Normally, she would have been upset by the disappointment, but the spectacle on the sea was so dazzling and beautiful that it made her forget those feelings.
The sea dragon turned to the audience as if to bid farewell. The arches spread rapidly toward the open sea, and 12 fireworks burst in the silver plate-like moon.
Tess: "Sniff, I don't know…."
Her friends looked at her in surprise. Especially Rian, who felt guilty, couldn't hide his confusion.
Rian: "Why, why are you crying? It's not that I really dislike you. It was just so sudden…."
Tess: "Shut up, you idiot. I've grown attached, that's what. What am I going to do now?"
Her friends felt the same way.
Tess: "We have to go back tomorrow. I don't want to say goodbye. Maybe I should switch to being a mage? Then we could always see each other at school."
Shirone: "What are you talking about? Of course, you should be a swordsman. We can meet anytime after graduation."
Shirone's words comforted Tess, and she nodded repeatedly. Then she called Amy and Arin over and held their hands.
Tess: "Let's keep in touch, just us. Okay? We'll stay in touch."
Arin: "Me too?"
Tess: "Of course! You're a member of Team Heaven! Where else would you find a friendship as strong as this?"
Amy remembered the day she first met Tess.
There had been awkward moments, but now she loved doing things with her. No one in the world could dislike Tess, with her just and warm heart.
Amy: "Yeah. We'll definitely meet again. Just us girls next time."
Tess: "Great! This is the official formation of Team Heaven!"
Shirone and his group turned their steps home.
Since it was a special day, the shops were open 24 hours, but they wanted to spend the last moments of their vacation quietly with their friends.
When they arrived home, Jis found a letter in the mailbox.
Jis: "Huh? A letter from the Captain? It's addressed to you."
Shirone: "From Marsha noona?"
On the day they arrived in heaven, his condition hadn't been normal, so she hadn't even been able to say a proper goodbye. By the time he woke up from his deep sleep, the Parrot Mercenaries had already left the island.
Shirone unfolded the letter and read it for a long time.
Shirone: "Haha! That's so like Marsha noona!"
Amy's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
Amy: "What? What does it say that's so funny?"
Shirone: "Huh? Oh, it's nothing."
Amy: "What is it? Is it a love letter or something?"
When Amy lunged to snatch it, Shirone obediently handed the letter to her
Amy: "W-what? What if it's something important? I don't have to read it if it's confidential…"
Shirone: "No. It's fine. Probably."
If it's fine, then it's fine. What does "probably" mean? Grumbling, Amy read the letter and tilted her head in confusion.
The paper was completely blank.
Amy: "What's this? It's just a blank sheet."
Shirone: "Right. But she still left a letter."
Shirone smiled as if he understood.
Shirone: "I see. He left a letter."
Shirone looked up at the distant sky. The blank sheet contained everything Marsha wanted to say.
This was Marsha. Someday, they would meet again.
'I should write her letter when I get back.'
He wished Marsha the best of luck in her future.