Ran through the halls, Amethely scanned the area. She arrived at the chamber where Alum and the rest fought.

 Walls of ice and destroyed metallic statues, she looked around for clues, touched the ice, and sensed a familiar mana.

 Her eyes widened, and she was surprised. After all, he never showed her any of his magic potential, only his progress with the sword.

 She knew he could use destructive magic and had an enormous mana pool, even compared to high-ranked mages.

 But… she didn’t stay for long and continued until she reached a room with no exits, and unlike the others, she didn’t lose consciousness. Instead, she felt something strange.

 It was as if something had tried to infiltrate her memories. And not thinking too much about it, the space around her warped.

 She kept running, and there were some enemies in front of her, and as usual, she finished them off without breaking a sweat.

 Now arriving at the end of that hall, she was greeted by a large gate in a big room.

 She stared at the gate and slowly approached it. She pushed, but it wouldn't budge, so she scanned for mechanisms to hijack.

 To her surprise, the gate wasn’t operated by any mechanisms.

 “In that case…” she muttered.

 She then took one deep breath and gripped The Celestial Construct, and a whitish light radiated from the weapon.

 She cut the gate into pieces with a swift sword swing and entered. And upon entering the large chamber, she found a crater that was obviously man-made.

 And from the mana residue, the spell was recently used.

 Knowing she was getting close, she scanned the chamber more carefully and looked around. The space around her was collapsing.

 (Collapsing space…)

 She then turned and faced the crater.

 (An attack capable of that damage would surely shake the whole ruins, but… to think this ruin isolates the different chambers with space magic….)

 She walked around the area to look for a way out of the chamber, and while she was at it, she kept staring at the collapsed space.

 (Typically, Dungeons and Ruins only used space magic to make themselves larger… but this one is in a pocket dimension…)

 After searching around, she found a sword stuck in a keyhole that was shaped in the form of a blade.

 She touched it, and the space around her warped.

 Now finding herself underwater, she felt a little static shock through her mana armour, and she felt her mana slowly drain.

 But…

 (This is Al’s mana… and—)

 She turned to her right and felt another strong presence of mana. Ripple waves and loud explosions could be heard.

 Amethely strengthened herself and jumped out of the water. She then saw a large barrier not too far away and flew toward it.

 She closed the distance and felt utterly lost for words when she got close enough.

 “Al…?”

 Inside the barrier with people, she saw her parents and her beloved partner wounded and being treated.

 Turning her gaze, she saw an armour that was clad in a dark aura slashing at them and creating ripples.

 Her hand twitched as she gripped her weapon so hard that blood dripped from her palm.

 Unforgivable

 In that instant, the whole chamber was covered in her mana, and the celestial weapon had turned into armour.

 Everyone inside the barrier felt this; shivers were sent down their spines, and what they felt now was even more suffocating than when Alum and Sarie released their spells.

 The armour turned her way and stopped attacking the barrier.

 It looked at the girl with pure white hair and eyes that had a golden glow. She had a sword and wings made out of pure light energy and a controlled expression filled with rage.

 Sensing that she was on a whole different level, it emitted more mana than ever before.

 It raised its longsword and an orb of dark energy and launched it toward her.

 It was so large it covered her whole field of vision, but Amethely didn’t care and sliced it in half with the light blade.

 Behind that attack, the armour had closed the distance and was now in striking distance and tried to strike.

 But Amethely caught its sword, and it received her cold gaze, followed by a kick, which sent it down into the water and created a massive ripple across the chamber.

 Now, a bit further away from the others, she could afford to attack.

 She closed the distance and slashed it with her blade, sending it further away.

 Suddenly, space opened up beside her, and a massive blade made out of dark energy clashed with hers, but it shattered.

 Left with few options, the whole chamber, which was well-lit, became dark, and all the water disappeared.

 Finally realising that Amethely was a threat, it changed form and was not emitting even more mana, and the space around them changed into that of a collapsing world.

 In the blink of an eye, it was right in front of her, and they exchanged sword strikes. Each strike was heavy and sent the surroundings around.

 But no matter what it did, it couldn’t break her posture; instead, it was being staggered and knocked back with each strike they exchanged.

 And using dirty tricks, its sword would pass through hers and open up a space in a different direction to strike from, only for Amethely to block it.

 Not only did she block the attack, but she managed to break its posture, and as its hands were up in the air, she spun around and kicked the thing while also creating a wall with her celestial weapon. As soon as it crashed into it, she folded that wall, turned it into a cube, and crushed it.

 But of course… that didn’t work as it managed to dodge her attack by a sliver of a strain by warping itself out.

 Realising it had no chance in close combat, it gained wings and tried to distance itself from her. But she wouldn’t allow that as she created a barrier around them.

 Crashing into the barrier and forcing its way through, Amethely was already on its tail and struck it down on a nearby mountain.

 The armour created rift voids, and dark metallic bars tried to stop her as she approached.

 But that was also futile since she easily destroyed them. Her blade was infused with so much mana that it incinerated the whole mountain with a swing.

 But it managed to escape again through one of the rift voids.

 Its ability to avoid her fatal attacks started to agitate Amethely a little. She created feathers out of celestial magic and pierced every void rift she saw, destroying them.

 And accidentally, one of those feathers struck the armour, sending it down to the ground.

 The feather was special since it injected celestial mana into the target as it hijacked their abilities. It didn’t matter what it was, but it stopped the flow of the target's mana while shutting down their systems.

 Unable to properly move and lying on the ground, it reached its arm toward the sky and stared at the colossal rift void all the way into space.

 Standing in front of that armour, Amethely stared at it and raised her sword, and as she struck, nothing was left of it.

 She then shifted her attention, turned around, and stared at the man behind her.

 “And, who are you?” she asked calmly.

 Although she asked him calmly, it was evident by her tone that she was unhappy and furious.

 “To think you’d outclass one of my best spirit armours….” The man lightly said.

 Amethely kept glaring at him, and her guard was tighter than ever. Now, even more mana was leaking out of her.

 “.....”

 “How rude of me. The name is Hilos. There is no family name, just Hilos.”

 As he coldly smiled and glanced at Amethely, he jumped off the rock he’d been sitting on.

 “So what is an angel like you doing in my territory?”

 “...What are you talking about?”

 Hilos’ eyes widened, and he realised she was the same person in his dream.

 “Oh? Amethely?” he asked.

 Suddenly, a burst of celestial light incinerated everything in his direction.

 He dodged it and teleported beside her, but another blast of celestial light came his way.

 “How rude… I remember you being a whole lot sweeter… and you look different now, too,” he playfully said.

 She then sent him an intimidating look.

 “...I don’t have time for you… but how do you know my name?”

 “If I remember correctly… Al, was it? We share scattered memories of our lives with each other.”

 “.....”

 “You see, I’m already dead, just a lingering soul. But I do have a favour to ask of you. Can you take me to her?”

 “...Her?”

 “Or rather… that’s a celestial construct, right?”

 (!!!?)

 “Even without your reaction, I could tell, after all. This specific one was hers, to begin with… what do you say?”

 “...Why would I trust you? How do I know you’re not just trying to escape?”

 “Ahahah, that’s true. After all, in your eyes, I’m an evil spirit,” he said with a cold stare.

 He then looked into the distance and had a look of rage on his face.

 “Or… I could do so by force.”

 “.....”

 “But you wouldn’t want that now, do you? He’s dying since nobody near him has enough mana to cast a high-level healing spell, and you don’t have time to deal with me.”

 “Fine. But...”

 Hilos frowned as he watched her make a celestial contract. And after receiving and reading it. It sure was a hell of a one-sided contract. But he couldn’t turn it down since he probably couldn’t beat her in his current state.

 Besides… this was his only chance to see them again.

 “...So, instead of my powers, you want me to play bodyguard?”

 “And if you fail… your soul will turn into nothing.”

 “...Oh, well. Taking control over either of you will track attention from the above, and I guess this will make do.”

 Hilos resonated his soul with the contract, and Amethely finally lowered her sword.

 …

  …..

 …

 Inside the barrier, Lyn, Nuli, and Rika try to keep Alum alive as they wait for Amethely to arrive. His wound had a space ripple that lingered and couldn’t be healed, so the best they could do was to keep him alive.

 Upon arriving at the scene, Amethely saw the grim looks on their faces and realised it was worse than she thought.

 “Al…”

 Hilos, beside her, looked at Alum and removed the lingering spell. However, Amethely could remove it herself. Hilos had already signed the contract and had to do something.

 She gave him a quick glance, and seeing how he was upholding his part of the deal, she felt relieved.

 Everyone moved to the side; her crying mother stared at her, and her father had a distressed expression.

 She never told them about Alum since she hadn't had the time, but… they probably already know, judging by their reaction.

 Alum was breathing raggedly but still alive, and she healed him back to normal health.

 As he slowly opened his eyes, Amethely was relieved that he was okay. Tears started to stream down her eyes.

 Although he wasn’t sure what was going on, he reached out his hand and started to wipe away her tears.

 “...Don’t cry….” he softly said.

 And the people around them would also have a relieved look with teary eyes. He then saw a person he hadn’t seen before. But… then realised who he was.

 He sent Hilos a sharp stare as Amethely was crying in his chest.

 “Don’t mind me,” Hilos said.

 “...How could I not?” Alum asked.

 A smile crept up his face as he stared at Alum’s sword.

 “That sword, do you mind if I possess it?”

 “What?”

 And Amethely, who had been quiet all this time, muttered something.

 “I made a contract that allowed him to leave this ruin by possessing something…”

 “Ame…”

 “Heh, no worries, kiddo; that contract was very one-sided, but it does allow me to leave.”

 “Why?”

 “Because I wish to meet someone again.”

 “And if you don’t meet them?”

 “Well… I at least get to go out again. Besides, there is no harm, and if you die. I would as well.”

 “.....”

 “Anyways, I’ll be resting in that blade then.”

 Hilos touched Depth Cutter and disappeared, and the fallen world's scenery turned into a ruin. And to be precise, they were at the entrance.

 Everyone collapsed and felt relieved that they were out of the ruins. And was now heading back to the camp.

 At the camp, Alum rested in a tent as Amethely tended him. And as Alum rested in his tent, Amethely talked with her parents.

 “Mama, Papa…. Wasn’t there a better way to spend a vacation?”

 They both felt guilty and glanced to the side.

 ““Sorry…””

 Amethely sighed as she could understand that they were curious… and, of course. This wasn’t the first time; however, this was the first time they went missing.

 She hugged them both, and as they shed tears, she did, too.

 After that, she went to Alum’s tent, only to be greeted by two girls…. And it was Lyn and Sarie.

 “.....”

 “Oh? Saint Amethely… we just wanted to see how he was doing….” Lyn awkwardly said.

 Although feeling slightly uneasy, she knew he wouldn’t cheat. Nor does she think he dared….

 She shook her head and then looked at Sarie.

 “...He saved my siblings, and now my life as well…. So I wanted to thank him.”

 Sarie, on the other hand, blushed a little as she said that.

 “...I see,” Amethely suspiciously said as she narrowed her eyes.

 As she entered, she saw Alum awake and chatting with Hilos in blade form.

 “So you’re telling me that I can now use void magic?” Alum asked.

 “Well… apparently so?” Hilos said nonchalantly.

 Although void magic was powerful, it did have one major weakness. It used a tremendous amount of mana and was unstable with other mana's interference. And that's why the armour couldn't completely escape his attack.

 “Al, store him away. I want to be alone with you…”

 “Oh, Ame?”

 “...You heard her,” Hilos playfully commented.

 And after storing away the Depth Cutter? Or what should he even call this now? Just Hilos? Anyways, as he put it away, Amethely then lies down beside him.

 She was resting her head on his arm and snuggled closer to him.

 “Please just let me stay like this for a while,” she meekly said.

 Alum turned and hugged her.

 “...Sure.”

 And so… the two fell asleep.