“RosieRosie......”

Julian ran straight forward and struck Aietar’s vital point, knocking him out.

With his self-healing abilities gone, Aietar collapsed almost pathetically. The only reason he hadn’t been killed was because Zahid hadn’t killed him either.

Julian had sensed that there was some reason—something Rosie wanted.

“Come on... snap out of it...”

She was the precious little sister he had cherished since childhood, afraid even a single hair might be harmed.

And now that little sister lay collapsed, blood pouring from her ears, nose, and mouth. It was clearly a serious condition.

But with the Divine Beasts surrounding her, perhaps doing something to help, Julian couldn’t even bring himself to intervene.

“No, RosieRosie...”

Julian knelt, trembling, his body drenched in someone else’s blood.

“No...”

Tears fell silently from his eyes.

Then Julian let out a cry, his voice breaking with anguish.

“I haven’t even properly apologized to you yet... I didn’t get to say how hard it must’ve been for you all that time, or how I’m a pathetic brother who couldn’t even make the whole world kneel at your feet...”

His chest heaved with ragged gasps, as if he could hardly breathe from the pain.

“If you die, I’ll die too, RosieRosie. I’ll kill everyone, and then I’ll die too!”

At last, Julian clutched his chest and sobbed.

“...Whatever’s happening, I think it’s best to let it play out for now.”

Ray spoke calmly, unbothered by Julian’s breakdown.

“For some reason, I feel like everything’s going to be okay.”

“I think so too.”

Linna, who had been casually nudging the unconscious Aietar’s head with her high heel, chimed in quickly.

“It doesn’t feel bad.”

They were all linked to the Divine Beasts—so even though Rosie looked like a wreck, they felt strangely calm.

The same went for Yuta, who had been carried over on Theo’s back.

“Julian, please don’t scream like that. You must still be a little naïve about the world, but... most older brothers don’t actually manage to make the world kneel for their little sisters...”

Yuta coughed slightly, likely still suffering from his earlier injuries. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

“I think I’ve figured out what happened...”

To those still unsure of what was going on, Yuta began to explain slowly.

“Rosie took Aietar’s divine power and poured it into the Sacred Relic of Time.”

“...What?”

Linna widened her eyes and asked.

Yuta shook his head and pointed at the Sacred Relic still in Rosie’s hand.

“How did she even come up with such a dangerous idea...? I mean, it’s rational, sure, but such a huge risk—I never would’ve even considered it.”

“If it’s the Sacred Relic of Time...”

Even while making a pained expression, Julian furrowed his brows.

Yuta shrugged.

“I don’t know the full details either... but it’s possible this entire space-time we’re in will be destroyed, and time will reset °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° based on someone’s standard.”

Everyone’s eyes widened.

“That’s what the Sacred Relic of Time is supposed to do, isn’t it?”

And the fact was—Rosie was still holding it. She was unconscious, but still breathing just fine.

“Then... are you saying we might all disappear just like this?”

Linna asked cautiously.

Yuta solemnly nodded again.

“Strictly speaking, it’s not that we disappear. This timeline disappears, and we all live different lives in another one...”

“That’s the same thing!”

“Well, it’s a regression, so technically we don’t vanish, right? Though we will lose our memories of this life...”

That’s when it happened.

The Sacred Relic of Time in Rosie’s hand began to glow brilliantly.

“Ah, looks like time’s about to rewind!”

Yuta cried out in surprise.

“Well, it probably won’t matter, but if we’re about to vanish, I might as well say what I want to say!”

While everyone else stood frozen in disbelief, Yuta squeezed his eyes shut and shouted:

“Julian Noart has a heart-shaped birthmark on his butt! I saw it when I kidnapped him!”

Theo’s jaw dropped.

“Wait, I mean... okay, say you did kidnap him—but why did you look at his butt?”

“I mean—what?! No, you can’t just accept the kidnapping part! But still, that’s hilarious.”

Linna chimed in excitedly.

“Now, every time I look at Lord Julian, I’m going to think of the heart-shaped mark on his butt and just burst out laughing.”

Which, frankly, wasn’t helping Yuta’s chances of staying alive.

Julian, his eyes blazing, finally couldn’t hold it in and started drawing his sword—just as a blinding light engulfed the world.

“Ha...”

Only Yuta’s unnervingly calm murmur reached everyone’s ears in that moment.

“I really wanted to say that. I’ve been holding it back out of fear of dying...”

At that point, everyone truly believed time was about to rewind.

After all, when it came to relics, Yuta knew the most out of anyone here.

And if even he was making a deathbed confession, there had to be a good reason.

But then...

“Huh?”

When the brilliant light faded, they all found themselves standing in the exact same spot.

“Uhh...?”

Their memories were intact. Nothing had been erased. Nothing looked any younger.

“Uhhh...?”

With a genuinely bewildered expression, Yuta scrambled to hide behind Theo.

“Ruff ruff ruff!”

At the same time, the Divine Beasts that had been surrounding Rosie began to stir.

Liri slipped out of Rosie’s arms and leapt into Yuta’s.

Cashie walked gracefully over to stand beside Linna.

Athena soared into the air and perched on Ray’s arm, wings spread.

“...RosieRosie?”

With a face that looked like he’d aged a hundred years, Julian half-crawled over to Rosie.

She was lying against Fire, with Zahid beside her.

“RosieRosie! Please... please open your eyes...”

Julian shoved Zahid aside with a hard kick and gently shook Rosie’s arm.

“Cough...”

Rosie coughed once—and then blood streamed from her mouth again.

“Kiddo, please...”

Julian looked like he might pass out.

“Brother...”

Rosie slowly opened her eyes.

“RosieRosie!”

She weakly grabbed Julian’s hand and sat up.

At some point, Zahid had also regained consciousness and was blinking as he leaned against Fire.

“RosieRosie! Are you awake? Huh?”

“Yeah...”

“Are you okay? You don’t have amnesia or anything, right? Are you hurt anywhere? Wait, why was there blood coming from your ears...? You’re not deaf or something now, are you?”

Rosie gave a faint smile and wiped the blood from her face with one hand.

Then she calmly answered Julian’s barrage of questions.

“I’m fine... And I heard everything, including the part about your heart-shaped butt mark...”

“......”

* * *

“Oh.”

At a lodge near Arhad, Shulva stood on tiptoe and muttered.

“Looks like it’s all over. Shall we head out?”

A burst of bright light had swept the land, and now everything was silent. No more earthquakes, no more floods—it seemed the chaos had come to an end.

“Ahem, ahem!”

Caliban rolled up his sleeves and nodded with resolve. Then he pulled out a massive axe from the lodge and gave it a few threatening swings.

“I may be old, but I can still take care of any remaining stragglers!”

Abraham said nothing, simply straightening his clothes.

“Well, since we’re going anyway, let’s just ride one carriage. I’ll escort you.”

With that, Shulva led the two old men into the now-settled Arhad.

“Hmm.”

While the two men silently continued their power struggle, Shulva tilted her head and murmured.

“Let’s hope everyone’s safe... Though I do hope Julian’s injuries are just enough to leave him limping for a while.”

In her own way, Shulva too was risking her life by entering Arhad.