Chapter 74: Return to Sender

The rain hammering down on Caligo seeped through cracks in the shattered walls. The wet sound of raindrops hitting the blood-stained stone floor echoed through the room.

“This is the supreme artifact! There shouldn't be a greater honor for Caligo than receiving the gift of death from my greatest creation!!”

Orlaith's voice dripped with pure excitement as she gazed at the floating sphere with enamored eyes.

For a while, Nia did not respond. Without Lily to help her understand people's nature, she struggled to grasp the logic behind such actions, even from a rational standpoint.

“You intend to destroy Caligo... just because you don't want the city anymore?”

Her words carried more questions than understanding, her crimson eyes fixed on the smiling demon.

“Let me give you a little lesson. A scientist's creation is like a work of art, but unlike paintings, it only gains real value when tested. You can't just put a project on display in galleries or museums if it's never had any practical use. What the hell would you be thinking if you simply finished a project indifferently and used it randomly? That would be an affront to the test subjects who humbly became mere pieces of flesh for your research!”

Orlaith's smile grew even deeper and more ferocious. She could barely contain the excitement racing through the heart that wasn't hers. Each beat against her ribcage seemed to send waves of dopamine surging through her brain.

With the long-awaited moment drawing near and only a little time left, she wished to continue her conversation with the girl who so powerfully sparked her curiosity. However, when she turned to face Nia, she found the woman standing with her eyes closed as though she had stopped listening altogether.

The purple-haired girl was physically there, but her focus seemed directed elsewhere. Just as Orlaith was about to demand how she could act so indifferent in front of her, she froze. Her gaze shot sharply toward the wall as though contemplating something beyond the castle's confines.

She could hear and feel the impacts of battles raging outside, but not for a single moment had she considered this possibility.

“The leviathan... was killed?” She said the words aloud, but she couldn't believe them herself.

Slowly opening her eyes after dedicating those precious seconds to concentrating on her wife's battle, Nia placed her hands on her hips, looking at the incredulous demon.

“You seem a bit disoriented. Did something happen?” she asked, her lips curling into a subtly provocative smile.

“Do you have any idea how hard it was to tame that thing? None of the Twilights wanted to help because they didn’t want to get wet! It was one of my best pets! This isn’t fair! It’s not fair!” Orlaith complained, gnawing at her nails like a child who had lost a favorite toy. “That should’ve been impossible. The ink mage wouldn’t have enough power to kill it!”

Orlaith murmured, stomping her feet repeatedly in disbelief.

As Nia observed her, she realized the demon wasn't upset about the leviathan's death itself but rather about the work involved in obtaining a new one.

Her time was running out, and she needed to think fast. Nia had to keep the conversation going to confirm the remaining information she needed.

“You plan to blow everything up without even caring for your own safety. That’s not the behavior of someone confident in their ability to defend themselves from the explosion—but of someone who wouldn’t even be affected by it in the first place.”

Orlaith tilted her head at the girl’s words, the anger she had felt over needing to find a new "pet" slowly dissipating.

“Ohhhhhhh!?” Orlaith reacted with an exaggerated expression of surprise. “How marvelously you manage to surprise me, Gardenia!”

Adjusting her posture, the demoness walked to the side of the altar, her face barely able to contain the delight sparked by this unexpected encounter with someone so intriguing.

“You're right; of course I won't be affected when the artifact activates. What kind of incompetent scientist would I be if I let that happen? Hehehhihihihi~” Orlaith hummed a laugh, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the purple-haired girl. “A scholar should never leave their laboratory, after all~”

Nia's eyes narrowed, her expression betraying her rising irritation. She had suspected this might be the case, though she'd hoped it wasn’t true.

The demoness in front of her hadn’t even left Finis from the very beginning.

Except for that in Velmont and the leviathan, all the stigmas present in Caligo, every human and demi-human experiment, had been orchestrated remotely through Velmont's body as an intermediary.

From a position where she was never in any danger, Orlaith had brought about countless tragedies while remaining perfectly safe in her laboratory.

It was repugnant.

That was the only thought running through Nia's mind.

“And what about your most loyal subject? I don’t see how you’ll get him out of here before the explosion,” Nia asked, her gaze fixed on the body Orlaith controlled so flawlessly it seemed as though she were truly present.

“Huh? This one? Hmmmm, what was his name again? Oh, right, Velmont.” Orlaith tapped her index finger against her lips, thinking for only a second before shrugging. “Why would I care where he drops dead?”

Nia was stunned.

“You’re just going to discard him? Like a pawn?”

“Why are you making such a big deal out of this? He asked for my power to crush his enemies and rise to the top, and I kindly lent it to him. If he thought I’d help his noble ideals about sending people to the sun, that’s his problem, not mine. What I do with his life from the moment he became my pet is simply the price he pays for my adorable help.”

Nia didn’t respond.

Her mind struggled to comprehend the twisted logic behind those words, but it failed.

Since the moment she married Lily—actually, even long before that—Nia had sworn to herself that she would help that one person no matter what.

She knew Lily often believed that their relationship was one where only she benefited, feeling guilty because of it.

But Nia had never sought for Lily to offer anything in return. The love she received from the person she adored was so immense and powerful that the metamorph felt she could never repay it adequately. Lily's love was all Nia needed to have the strength to keep going. It was her pillar, her safe haven. It gave her motivation and a reason to move forward.

And precisely because of that, no matter how much she tried, Nia couldn’t comprehend why the existence before her would abandon, without a second's hesitation, someone she had once aided.

“That’s why I’d recommend you leave Caligo through your portals before it’s too late~ The overload is almost complete; it should only take a minute or two now!” Oblivious to the purple-haired girl's thoughts, Orlaith continued speaking cheerfully. “What do you think about coming to Finis? I’ll gladly welcome you as one of my own! We could research so many things together! There's so much we could discover!”

Nia listened in silence as Orlaith rambled on, her dull eyes fixed on the demoness. The aura exuding from her soul flared so intensely it seemed to consume everything around her.

"Orlaith, you disgust me."

There was only one conclusion Nia could draw from Orlaith’s existence: she was a broken being, far beyond any hope of repair.

“Uh...?” Taken aback by the girl's words, Orlaith raised an eyebrow.

Ignoring the demoness's puzzled expression, Nia walked toward the floating sphere, grasping it between her fingers. Orlaith made no move to stop her, knowing it was already too late to intervene—the detonation sequence had begun.

Though it floated, the sphere's density was overwhelming, unlike anything Nia had ever encountered. Mana swirled visibly, countless spells conjured and delayed, making its surface nearly flame-like from the intense heat.

Nia contemplated her options at unimaginable speed. If she used her portals, she could teleport the sphere to a location she had previously been to. The real problem was what would happen afterward.

“You really won’t give up on this city, huh?” Orlaith's tone turned mocking. “You’re starting to lower my opinion of you, clinging to such a foolish idea. What are you thinking? Teleporting the Chaos Seed? How altruistic of you.”

Orlaith’s grin widened as her voice dripped with sadistic amusement. Her arms wrapped around her stomach, barely able to contain her laughter

“My beloved master always taught me that teleportation spells are the most draining for any user. Just how many calculations would that little head of yours need to pull off a transfer of such a massive energy source? But okay, let’s say it works. Even if you save Caligo from the explosion, that doesn't mean I'll stop destroying the city by manipulating its residents, out of the goodness of my heart."

Orlaith's euphoric laughter echoed through the chamber, making it clear she understood exactly what Nia was considering.

"After exhausting yourself completely, do you think you can still fight off all my remaining pawns? Actually, I could even force their bodies to keep using what little mana they have left until they drop. How many minutes... no, how many seconds would they last?"

The demoness was right.

Nia knew she could remove the orb by teleporting it elsewhere, but doing so would deplete her dark mana reserves completely, leaving her more exhausted than she had ever been. Recovery wouldn't be a matter of hours; it would take days before she was fit to fight again.

Simply destroying the artifact wasn’t a viable option either. She theorized that doing so would only release the accumulated spells instantly, leading to catastrophic results.

Velmont wasn’t the source of the mind-control spell. He merely created the stigmas and was granted permission to use them with Orlaith's mana. Even if Nia killed him, she wouldn't be addressing the true source, and the civilians under Orlaith’s control would continue their bloodthirsty march.

Lily would want to save the city's people, even if it meant setting aside her vengeance. Therefore, Nia had to ensure she fulfilled that desire.

The purple-haired girl stared at the radiant sphere in her hand, still trembling and releasing pulses of mana as more explosion spells neared completion.

Her crimson eyes didn’t waver before the brilliance of what resembled a miniature sun on the verge of detonation.

Her mind finally reached the only possible solution.

“I realize I made a poor choice of words earlier,” she said calmly, her voice steady. “So, as always, I must be polite and apologize for that.”

"What are you talking about?"

Nia released the sphere, which resumed floating in the air. Turning her back, she walked toward Velmont's body, still under Orlaith's control.

Slowly, her slender fingers tightened around the man's marked hand. A reddish-purple glow spread from her palm as more and more of her dark mana poured into the spiral mark.

"When I came here, I said I was after this man's head, but that was wrong."

"I already told you, fool! Velmont is just a pawn bearing one of my spell's marks. Killing him won't change anything, and you know it!"

The pressure Nia applied to Velmont’s hand was enough to crush all his fingers. But as if she felt no pain through him, Orlaith kept speaking, amusement flickering in her eyes.

"What I meant to say, correcting my statement, Orlaith, is that I'm here for your head."

It didn't matter that Nia couldn't disrupt the spell through Velmont. Even if their purposes were different, all the marks operated in the same way. If this man had been receiving Orlaith's mana for over a decade, then the "path" between them must be stronger than with any of the other puppets.

She couldn't do this with the others. The paths were too weak and unstable, impossible to trace even with intense concentration. But Velmont was different.

Her mind followed that connection, as clear and structured as a straight road.

The long thread stretched across the world. In a single second, Nia's consciousness wandered through mist, traversed a vast forest, crossed dozens of canyons, and finally reached a vast white desert.

At the farthest edge of that desert, within a colossal steel structure, she found what she was seeking.

"Found you~"

A shiver ran down Orlaith's spine as a pair of crimson eyes locked onto hers. The moment the demon realized what had happened, it was already too late.

"You can't be serious! I'm on the other side of the planet! It doesn't matter if you're using mana or dark mana—this is completely impossible!"

"Teleportation spells don't depend on distance. Didn't your beloved teacher ever tell you that?"

Desperate, Orlaith tried to advance, but the few puppets in the throne room, and even Velmont's body, had already been immobilized by dark tentacles and dark crystals. There was no way to stop what was about to happen.

"Orlaith, did you know that names are important? They're your identity, your form, and your existence. A name shows that you're special, unique, and that your existence has a purpose. When given by those you love, names become even more priceless."

"W-What are you getting at?!"

A smile formed on Nia's lips.

"My beloved wife understands how important names are. That's why it was only when she was on the brink of death, fighting for what she believed in, that she named a spell for the first time."

Dark mana condensed around Nia, vibrating and reverberating through the air.

"When I finally decided to follow my own path, it was that spell that saved my life. So now, I believe it's an appropriate time to name it."

"Wait, you can't do that!" Orlaith's voice, coming through Velmont, couldn't conceal the growing panic within her.

Standing just a few steps from the sphere, Nia watched it with a piercing gaze.

Whether people or objects, she could transport anything through her portals. However, when it came to transporting spells, it was different. Because they consisted of large masses of mana, spells always lost power during the transfer.

The amount of mana in the artifact already classified it as a spell; it was impossible to move it without diminishing its power.

And that wasn't the only problem. There were specific locations where Nia could conjure her portals and others where she couldn't. She could create them in the air or water but never inside monsters or living beings. Although she tried to devise a logical explanation, she assumed this was a restriction built into the spell's structure to maintain the world's natural order.

She could make things pass through the portal — but not the opposite.

One day, a fleeting thought crossed the metamorph's mind.

What if there was a way to make this happen?

If it were accomplished, what would follow?

These questions lingered in the girl’s mind, returning over and over until she finally found the answer.

It would defy the very fabric of the world itself.

A solitary stardust blade was unsheathed from Nia's waist. Tendrils resembling reddish and purple lightning coiled along the blade with every pulse of dark mana reverberating through the hall. As her most crucial spell was channeled through the weapon, the blade transformed, now resembling nothing less than an expansive purple sky studded with stars.

"This will have to be done unconventionally—but I think that's what makes it beautiful."

"Gardeniaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"

The sword cut through the air with a simple swing and struck the Chaos Seed.

In the very next instant, for any observer, it was as if the very fabric holding the world together had been split in two. The fissures formed ethereal cracks that widened until they converged at a single point, erupting alongside the words that, on that day, made the entire planet tremble.

"[Cosmos Rupture]"

The fissures vanished, along with the sphere that had been cleaved in half. The massive energy that had once been on the verge of detonating in Caligo was now hurled to a place so distant that not even the echoes of its explosion could be heard.

The bodies of all the puppets surrounding Nia went limp, ceasing their movements. All the "paths" that had compelled them were destroyed as their other end lost contact.

With a mischievous smile on her face, the purple-haired girl began to walk away from the scene.

"I hope she didn’t mind that I returned the gift to the sender."