Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

She looked up at Bell with eyes that seemed ready to vanish at any moment.

"Winnie...!"

"...Belle...I'm sorry, oh?"

Winnie stared at Bell's bloodied face and apologized to him in a hoarse voice.

Hearing the approaching sound of ash turning into dust, Bell shook his head repeatedly.

He put on a smile that was hardly a smile, a smile mixed with tears.

"It's okay, it's okay, so...! I'm okay...! So, Winnie—"

—Don't disappear.

Bell hugged her shoulders tighter and pleaded desperately.

Winnie swayed, pressed her forehead against the boy's chest, and smiled faintly as if she were in a blissful embrace, her amber eyes welling up with tears.

With a "crackling" sound, the dragon's body finally collapsed completely from its flat chest.

"...I had a dream."

“Eh…?”

With only her upper body remaining, Winnie looked up at Bell's wide-eyed face.

"No one is willing to save me... What a terrible dream."

Dust, like grains of sand, was scattered about.

As she lost her life, Winnie raised her trembling hand.

"But what about it?"

The right hand, which was gently placed on Bell's cheek, collapsed the moment it touched her face.

Winnie spoke in a voice that was almost swallowed by sobs.

"This time... someone came to save me?"

Bell's eyes were wide open as far as they could possibly be.

"I'm so happy..."

She closed her eyes, and clear teardrops slid down her cheeks.

Winnie's lips curved into a smile, letting her only "dream," her small aspiration, embrace her tightly.

The alien girl was indeed completely satisfied at that moment.

Dust was crushed and scattered.

The girl gradually lost her physical form.

Before the bewildered Belle, she said "thank you".

Winnie cried while smiling like a flower.

then.

"Bell... I love you the most."

Disappeared.

Reduced to ashes.

A large amount of dust made a soft sound as it flowed out from between Bell's fingers.

The girl's body temperature disappeared.

"————"

Bell's time had long since stopped, and her inexhaustible tears silently slid down her cheeks.

Dust and powder filled the air.

Memories of the girl surfaced and reflected in the brilliance of the dust, sparkling before gradually fading away.

An encounter.

timid.

sad.

Puzzled.

Spiritual communication.

thank.

first name.

joy.

A smile.

embrace.

Tears.

Amidst the dust that shattered and scattered from her chest, only the beautiful crimson gemstone remained intact.

"Ah, ahh—"

Emotional breakdown.

A huge hole has opened up in my heart.

Just as his throat trembled, about to burst into a wail—

"[Uncharted territory, forbidden wall, on this day, I will defy the laws of heaven—]"

The chant resounded throughout the space.

"!"

Bell turned around with tears streaming down his face and saw the magician in black standing right behind him.

"【The serpent staff of Pius, the cup of Salus. O voice that you cannot convey even with your healing powers—please wait】."

A white magic circle unfolded, emitting a "magical" radiance that surpassed human comprehension.

Bell's eyes widened as he watched Fels loudly weave incantations before him.

"[The King's Judgment, the Thunder (Light) of Condemnation. Those who disobey God's (Lord's) Mandate will be consumed by fire—]"

The pure white magical light that filled the underground passage passed over the cave above and transformed into a beam of light that rose into the sky.

Everyone in Orario witnessed the pillar of light that rose into the twilight sky.

"That light is—Fels!?"

"...!?"

The intense light emanating from beneath their feet caused Rey, Gross, and Reid, who had been forced to retreat from the plaza, to widen their eyes.

"The goddess Hestia!"

"Sent back by the gods...? No, that's not right!"

Hestia, who was originally concerned about the health of her family members, also saw the pillar of light that Welf had pointed out.

"Finn..."

"Over there in the red-light district... Bell Craney... no, is it the Dragon Girl (Vivel)?"

The adventurers of the Loki Familia also looked up at the sky.

"Are we going to use it, Fels...?"

The old man closed his eyes.

"I've seen that light several times."

The silver-haired goddess smiles atop the giant tower.

"I wonder how things will turn out—"

A goddess with crimson hair sat cross-legged on the rooftop.

"This is a miracle."

The handsome man wearing a travel hat squinted his eyes.

"I am willing to personally go to the underworld."

The chanting speeds up.

The magic circle shone even brighter, turning Bell's face and his black clothes white.

"【Open the gates of Baron (Charon), cross the river of the underworld (time). Hades, hear my plea, listen to the frantic yearning of this heart (melody)】."

A solemn melody began. A sacred tune.

That is the evil karma of reversing the laws of the lower realm.

"[Tears streaming down my face, sobs erupt (as I sing). I have paid the price.]"

A forbidden "magic" activated by an extremely long chant.

A secret technique to overturn predetermined fate and defy the irreversible.

"[On the path of light, may you offer your destined past as a sacrifice to illuminate the desires of foolish hearts.]"

This is a "resurrection magic" that only ancient "sages" can use.

"Ah, I will never turn back—"

Once the chanting is complete, the "magic" reaches its critical point.

This prayer is offered at the cost of all of Fels' spiritual power.

"—[Dia Orpheus]."

The beam of light shattered and scattered.

Instead, the underground space was enveloped in countless white lights.

Snow-white orbs of light gathered before the stunned Bell, forming a spiral that converged in one place, accompanied by a clear, melodious sound.

Finally, a white-tinged blue light emerged from beneath the magic circle and converged on Bell's chest.

The next instant, a sound like shattering glass followed by a burst of flashes of light erupted.

A dazzling light bathed the world in bright white, and Bell reflexively closed his eyes—feeling a weight and warmth return to his embrace, he couldn't help but tremble.

He timidly and pleadingly opened his eyes... only to see the dragon girl with her eyes lightly closed, nestled against his chest.

"ah--"

Bell let out a hoarse gasp, his vision blurring as he gently placed a hand on the girl's cheek.

So cold. But also so warm. I heard a heartbeat. It was the sound of life.

Slender humanoid limbs. The dragon's wings disappeared, and the dust on the ground lessened.

The crimson jewel set on her forehead shone brightly, illuminating Belle's eyes.

"...First time successfully."

It made a heavy, thud.

Behind Bell, the magician in black appeared exhausted and collapsed to the ground.

"Eight hundred years... Really, I initially thought it was just a useless hope (magic) taking up space, and even harbored some resentment..."

Fels met Bell's eyes as Bell turned around, a hint of a smile emanating from beneath his hoodie.

He looked up at the void.

"Ah...so they all had meaning..."

Seeing Fels choking up, tears streamed down Bell's face.

He turned his gaze back to the dragon girl, touching her cheek once more to feel her warmth—and then pulled her tightly, very tightly, into his arms.

Clear tears welled up in the girl's closed eyelids.