A lost child’s cry.

Elen stared, stunned, at the tiny hand reaching out toward her.

Amiel’s soul, shrunk down to the size of an infant, had lost even its original form.

Amiel’s hand was completely white, like a porcelain doll’s—fractured at the edges, crumbling into fragments, cracked all over with deep fissures.

Had the cursed part finally been freed, or had Amiel’s soul itself been chipped away?

It resembled the skeletal remains of Amiel’s cursed kin she’d once seen—but the whiteness made the terror fade.

Amiel’s hollow eyes spilled tears, reaching desperately toward Elen.

‘O-ga… a… za… ma…’

‘…I’m not your mother.’

‘O-a… za… ma…? Chi… ga… u…?’

‘No. No, it’s not like that…’

The moment she heard “no,” Amiel’s eyes welled up again.

‘O-a… za… ma… do-go… za-bi… ji… ii…’

‘…’

‘Gi-e… ru… gi-e… go-wa-i…’

Amiel’s voice fading. Shrinking. Dwindling.

Disappearing like light, merging with her tears.

A voice echoing directly in my mind. The cry of a small child, terrified, weeping.

Amiel’s body, hit head-on by the swirling miasma of magic, had already dissolved into nothingness.

Only the pure white thought—the essence of Amiel’s soul—remains here.

The desperate, fragmented call of the soul’s last fragment, pleading for her mother, struck Elen straight in the chest.

Where, exactly, did Amiel’s mistake differ from Raffilia’s, who finally realized the truth halfway through?

Raffilia now smiles alongside Sauvel, a beloved member of their newly formed family.

But if she’d stayed blind like that, she might’ve ended up just like Amiel.

"Why… why only this child…?"

I’d truly lashed out at Gadiel, my anger so fierce it felt like it could burn everything around me.

I’d been furious at Amiel for trying to take Lovell away.

But now that I’ve heard Amiel’s true feelings… that anger has turned into sorrow.

Sure, every family has its own struggles—but after hearing Amiel’s pure, innocent longing, Elen’s heart wavers.

‘Zabi… jii… zabi… o… a… za…’

Just that, over and over, a small child’s voice screaming in grief.

Can I, as a goddess, simply erase this sorrow… and nothing more?

What’s the difference between a lost child’s wailing and this…?

Elen reached out her hand toward Amiel’s extended one.

***

The darkness swirling around them was being cleansed by Elen’s power, glowing with light.

Arc, usually relaxed, was now staring intently, watching for any sign of strain from Elen’s magic.

Elen didn’t know it, but above the forest, several great spirits—led by Richte, including the Spiritfang unit—were waiting in readiness to assist her.

Even from above, they could sense Elen using her divine power. Richte and the others silently watched the light spilling from the forest’s heart.

Though great spirits had gathered here, only Arc could counter the amplified curse of the Tembarl royal bloodline.

But for some reason, the Dual Goddesses had ordered us to wait nearby.

Richt and the others just stood in silence, watching their comrades' souls being purified and rising heavenward from above.

"Feels kinda complicated, huh."

Austor, the Grandmaster of the Spirit Fangs, murmured beside Richt. Those who remembered the past had no intention of forgiving the Tembarl royal family, the ones who had slaughtered the spirits.

Yet it was also true they hadn’t expected their comrades’ souls to become so twisted.

And to think someone would use the curse’s power to disable and kidnap Lovell—the queen’s husband—was truly beneath human dignity.

"The Dual Goddesses must’ve seen this coming. What our actions would birth… and what trials they’d set for us…"

Richt muttered bitterly. Austor, beside him, furrowed his brow.

...if all of it—the capture of Arc brother, the slaughter of the spirits, the way our kin’s souls turned to curses—was just Mother creating a new goddess, awakening her power through the fatherly constraint...

The Dual Goddesses see everything. They must’ve known this future was coming.

Even the ancient spirits once demanded answers from Origin, furious that the slaughter could’ve been avoided if the Dual Goddesses had warned them beforehand.

Origin knew nothing. That meant the Dual Goddesses *knew*—but couldn’t tell.

Even goddesses have their limits. If they couldn’t act, then there was nothing we could do. The great spirits could only carry the grief of their fallen kin in silence.

“So… all of this was necessary, huh?”

"Otherwise, Lovell wouldn’t have nearly died from the Monster Tempest, and he never would’ve come to the Spirit World. If that happened, Elen wouldn’t have been born, would she?"

Still floating midair, Richtig and the Grandmaster of the Spirit Fang wore grim expressions.

Only because of their kin’s sacrifice had everything been connected.

And only because of that had Elen been born, awakening as a goddess.

Thinking about it, it’s hard not to feel a pang—were their kin’s deaths just a necessary cost? But then again, from the perspective of a spirit’s duty, it felt like a great honor.

Austor felt the same, gazing up at the light ascending to the heavens. "So their screams weren’t in vain, huh?"

"Elen, after learning the truth of the curse, reportedly told her mother something like, ‘I want to listen to the pleas of our imprisoned kin more than I want to live in the present, more than humans do.’..."

"...Typical of a princess."

If Elen finds out about this truth, she’ll probably cry her eyes out.

“Can’t tell Elen, okay?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. But that princess… she’s gonna figure it out on her own, I think.”

“Yeah… she really is that kind of girl.”

A delicate little goddess, impossible to keep an eye on—too kind-hearted for her own good.

She’ll storm off and cause a massive mess when angry, but always remembers mercy in the end.

“Hope there’s nothing to it….”

The words slipped out before he even realized, and Rihit gave a dry chuckle at his own honesty.

Austor seemed to feel the same, bursting into laughter with “Ahahaha!”

“Princess always ends up doing something drastic, you know?”

“…Huh?”

That’s probably why the Dual Goddesses told them to wait.

The thought crossed both their minds at once, and suddenly they were both worried about Elen.

“Think she’ll be okay…?”

“Meh, well… it’ll just have to work itself out, won’t it?”

The two who’d been wracked with worry suddenly had the rest of the Fang members gaping in shock too.

Whether the gut feeling had been right or not—two massive presences had abruptly appeared beside Richt.

“W-what?!”

No one could blame them for being stunned. Val and Vore had just teleported in, flustered and frantic.

The Dual Goddesses darted straight toward Elen, their urgency unmistakable. Richt and the others, caught off guard, followed close behind.

“Elen-chan, no! That soul must be purified!”

“You can’t choose a broken soul!”

The Dual Goddesses shouted at Elen.

But it was already too late.