Chapter: 73. The Astonishing Truth!
“What on earth happened in the past?”
Tian Yu secretly glanced back at Nagi with a questioning look in her eyes.
She thought her brother, as a true Elemental Sovereign, would naturally understand what was being said.
What met Tian Yu’s gaze, however, was Nagi’s serious expression, and her instincts told her that this was not an act.
Nagi seemed genuinely shaken by what Maria had just said.
“What’s going on?” This was the first time Nagi spoke up proactively after her earlier reminder.
“!?” Maria, who had intended to gloss over it, found herself locking eyes with Nagi for the first time as Nagi looked up.
From the depths of Nagi’s dark eyes, she felt a familiar sensation, as if her soul was being penetrated.
This left Maria momentarily stunned.
Until Nagi’s questioning voice snapped her back to reality.
“What does ‘the Elemental Sovereign’s sacrifice to save the world is nothing but a lie’ mean?!”
“Nagi, Nagi-neechan?!” Tian Yu was also startled by Nagi’s persistent demeanor.
At that moment, Nagi seemed to see only Maria as she took a step forward.
It was merely a simple step, yet it exerted tremendous pressure on Maria, who stood above the eaves, making it hard for her to breathe.
“The Elemental Sovereign is… how did they die?!” Nagi spoke while clutching her head.
At this moment, Nagi realized that the cause of her past life’s death had always been a blank.
The only impression she had was a vague and ambiguous notion of “fighting until the last second to save the world and dying.”
And she had thought this was very “normal.”
Until Maria’s words just now broke through that thin film.
【Ah, what bad luck~ now I have no way out~】
Nagi ignored the voice of Nagi’s shadow ringing in her heart and stepped forward once more.
“Even if you know, what can you change—”
“—then tell me first.” Nagi interrupted Maria’s provocation.
“Alright, although I don’t know which side you belong to, since you want to know—”
Just as Maria was about to explain to Nagi.
A gentle breeze blew in.
“(Master, that person has appeared.)”
Kagura’s voice mingled with the wind.
And her voice helped Nagi regain some calm.
“(Wait a moment, there’s something I need to know—)”
“(—but Manaka won’t last long.)” Kagura urged, “(If that box is opened by that person…)”
“(Tsk, I understand. Get Hydra ready.)” Nagi decided to temporarily prioritize the situation on Manaka’s side and withdrew her gaze.
“Tian Yu, I have something to attend to. You can leave this person to yourself. If you find it’s not a match, feel free to escape.” Nagi turned her head to Tian Yu, who was still confused.
Under Nagi’s serious gaze, Tian Yu could only nod obediently.
“Huh? What’s suddenly going on?”
Nagi’s nonchalant attitude irritated the nearby Otori.
Maria instead regarded the girl before her with an unusual gaze.
“Have we… met somewhere before?” The familiar feeling prompted Maria to ask.
However, Nagi did not respond immediately and turned to look in another direction.
From that direction came the magical energy fluctuations from Manaka.
“…No, you’ve mistaken someone.” Nagi said, her feet suddenly gaining force, and a swirling wind began to circle around her feet.
The next second, she leaped into the air like an arrow.
“Do you really think you can leave so easily?!”
With her astonishing reflexes, Maria caught on to Nagi’s trajectory and raised her right hand, and the blood-red crow hovering in the air spread its wings, shooting countless feathers carrying incredible heat toward Nagi.
Facing Maria’s attack, Nagi didn’t even turn her head.
Just as the crimson feathers were about to stab Nagi.
A strong gust of wind blew in from the opposite direction, knocking down all the feathers.
And this gust did not stop there; it picked up the fallen feathers in mid-air and blew them toward the blood crow, which could only shield itself with its wings to withstand the attack.
“Stop—!” Seeing this, Maria quickly reacted and threw the giant axe she was holding toward Nagi’s back.
“Enough.” Along with this word came a downward tornado.
A small, fair arm reached out from the tornado and caught the giant axe, which was completely incongruous with its size.
In that instant, Nagi’s figure completely vanished from Maria’s sight.
“I’ll chase after her—” Otori volunteered, taking to the sky on the Chimera toward the direction Nagi had disappeared.
Maria intended to voice her objections.
But at that moment, she was rendered immobile by the astonishing scene before her.
The other party seemed to have no intention of blocking Otori.
Soon, the Chimera’s figure also vanished from Maria’s sight.
The scene was enveloped in silence.
The first to speak was Kagura.
“You’re still as violent as before, Akai.” A small, childlike white arm waved gently, and the giant axe it held shot toward Maria with amazing momentum.
Maria’s reaction seemed to have undergone countless scenarios like this before; she reflexively extended her arm, perfectly catching the giant axe.
“…Why are you still alive? Could it be that Ko-Hikari also… no, it’s impossible. Why, why are you here…” Maria stared incredulously at the tornado before her.
“Akai, why did you do this?”
As Kagura spoke, the tornado surrounding her dissipated with astonishing force, creating immense wind pressure that lifted Maria’s flame-red long hair.
Tian Yu below was also blown by the strong wind, raising her hands to shield herself, squinting her eyes.
Through the narrow gaps of her squinted eyes, Tian Yu caught sight of the white figure in the storm.
It was a small figure like a child, with long hair completely unaffected by the raging wind, its hair color reminiscent of Kagura’s white feathers. Beneath the long, white bangs was a youthful face fitting its height, with a pair of blood-red eyes adorning this cute face, giving it an unreal, ethereal quality.
“Kag, Kagura… sis…?!” Tian Yu was stunned by the scene before her.
The white-haired, red-eyed loli beauty in a floating white dress struck Tian Yu’s heart with a force comparable to the strong wind.
—Kagura sis is a loli beauty!?
And Maria, who also witnessed the event, did not seem surprised by Kagura’s appearance.
Instead, she quickly calmed down.
“I didn’t expect you to be alive, Kagura… could it be that the contract beast inside that child is you…”
“Stop it, Akai. If it’s now, there’s still a chance to recover—” Kagura reached out to brush aside her white hair hanging by her ear, and instantly, several slender tornadoes formed behind her.
“Ah, ah, so it was like this—!”
Maria seemed to finally realize something, covering her face and bursting into wild laughter: “I was wondering why that child felt so familiar…”
“Akai…”
“That’s why she cared so much about Ko-Hikari’s death… So that’s how it is! Those eyes, they can’t be wrong!” Maria finally understood everything; had she not seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have believed the truth—
Maria slowly raised her head and locked eyes with Kagura:
“That child is actually Ko-Hikari’s illegitimate daughter, right?”
