24 hours — that should be enough time to get the little bunny settled.
Leon looked around and found the Doctor’s car.
“I’ll use your car — carry it and fly over.”
“No problem.
Bring one more person too — she knows the location better than I do.”
At that, Leon looked toward a spot in the sand dunes — he’d noticed someone hiding there the moment he arrived.
Right now, that person’s heartbeat was speeding up.
“So that’s where you’ve been?”
The Doctor followed his gaze.
Babel had assigned her a bodyguard — she’d figured that out a while ago.
It’s just that this bodyguard seemed to be the quiet type; she’d hinted at her to come out a few times already, with no response.
At the same time, sensing all the attention gathering on her, Ascalon shrank back further into cover.
She’d just been about to make her move, only to pull back once she saw things change.
And now — had she been spotted?
Her eyes flickered with uncertainty.
The Doctor was one thing, but that monster noticing her had cold sweat beading at her temples.
The strongest person she’d ever met before this was her mentor, Theresis.
By Nitzray the Carrion King’s own assessment, her mentor’s talent was so exceptional he’d reached the level where a single sword strike could bring parts of the Royal Court to heel.
And yet, even so, plenty of people only considered her mentor a threat when he actually had a sword in hand.
Not like this monster, less than a hundred meters from her.
Him just standing there was no different from having a blade pressed against your throat!
Recalling the history Theresa had once told her, Ascalon seriously suspected this was some ancient relic from before Terra’s calendar even began, come back from the dead.
Personal strength that defied all reason was especially common back in that era.
Right as she was agonizing over whether to strategically retreat or strategically reveal herself, a voice suddenly came from behind her.
“Hello?”
Shhk!
Pure muscle memory — Ascalon’s sleeve blade snapped out, driving straight for the ribs beneath his arm.
By all rights, without ribs to guard it, that spot should’ve been one of the man’s weakest points.
Instead, a blade that had never failed her before just scraped a spark off his external oblique, wrinkling his shirt a little.
[Sarkaz curse] — why’s he so damn tough?
Sensing something was wrong, she’d just started turning to mist to make her escape when he grabbed her by the hood and hauled her into the air.
“You know what I’m capable of.
And I’m curious myself — if I blew you apart as mist across a kilometer, could you still pull yourself back together?
Want to find out?”
Leon said.
“We’re just heading back to Babel, that’s all.”
At that, Ascalon fell instantly quiet, obediently watching her own feet lift away from the ground.
All she could do now was pray for Her Highness.
Under that same sky, Kal’tsit stood on Babel’s top deck, facing the wind, gazing off into the distance.
That was the direction the Doctor had gone.
Some time later, the Demon King came to stand beside her.
“The Doctor’s been gone for a while now, and you still keep coming out here whenever you’ve got a free moment.
Ascalon will keep her safe.
What’s got you worried?”
“No, it’s just…”
What was there to worry about, really?
That the Doctor would blame herself over the suffering Oripathy caused?
That the state of this land would leave her disappointed in herself?
Or was it her condition she was worried about…
something the Doctor had said before falling into that long sleep had never stopped nagging at Kal’tsit.
Seeing this, Theresa didn’t press the matter — she just tilted her head back and looked up at the clear sky.
After a long while, she asked:
“Come to think of it, the Doctor left in that new car, didn’t she — the one Lucille treasures so much.”
“Theresa, how would you even know that?”
“Because it’s right over our heads.”
Confused, Kal’tsit turned to look at her friend, then followed her line of sight.
There, a figure was carrying a familiar-looking vehicle, slowly descending toward them, and in the next moment, a massive shadow fell over both of them.
The car window rolled down, and the Doctor stuck her head out, waving at them.
And the one holding the car up asked, quite politely,
“Is parking allowed here?”
A dozen-odd hours passed.
Out in the hallway outside the medical room, Leon was chatting with the group.
Hearing some kind of commotion, he typed:
[Viltrum’s Top Student]: Amiya’s woken up.
Her parents’ condition isn’t great, though.
She’s talking with them right now.
Amid the group’s collective sighs of sympathy, the two adults each sent him a private message.
[Kansas Farm Boy]: Nice work, friend.
You gave it everything you had.
Don’t beat yourself up over it.
[Not-a-God Yellow Weasel]: Listen.
You can’t make everything turn out perfect.
A little DC sunshine, and an Emperor trying his hand at pep talks — perfectly in character for both of them.
Leon sent a follow-up right after.
[Viltrum’s Top Student]: Let me finish, guys.
The couple’s vitals can hold steady for a good while yet.
We’ve still got a shot.
Once Amiya’s back, let’s all put our heads together.
[The Tiger of West Junior High]: Could’ve said that earlier!
[Orange-Haired, Gold-Eyed Menace to Humanity]: Bad sentence breaks are an uncivilized habit.
Ignoring the group’s complaints, Leon logged off.
Though, to his mind, even if things ended right here, it’d count as a decent enough outcome.
He wouldn’t feel much regret over it, and it wouldn’t move him too deeply either.
After all, his whole concept of family had already been thoroughly wrecked by his Viltrumite upbringing.
These days, feeling anything about life, death, and partings was like experiencing it through a sheet of steel.
Still, having hope was always a good thing.
She’d just come from the rescue effort, dark circles under her eyes, strands of hair stuck to her face with dried sweat.
She sat down next to Leon, though the bloody scene from earlier had her unconsciously leaving a gap of space between them.
“Um, so, uh—”
She’d suddenly realized she still didn’t know his name.
“Leon.
Just call me Leon.”
“My name’s Felicia.
Thank you for stepping in to help.”
They talked a little more after that, before the atmosphere between them settled back into silence.
Leon sat there like a statue, while Felicia sat as if on pins and needles, the tip of her high heel scraping restlessly against the floor.
Every so often she’d sneak a glance at the man beside her, her eyes brimming with far too much curiosity.
Just what in the world was this guy?
There’s no way he’s some product of Originium catalysis, right?
I’m supposedly one of the Creators, and I’m still stuck touring around in a frail little body — is that fair?
That doesn’t add up.
Felicia knew perfectly well that the information locked inside Originium could push Terran life toward becoming more human, developing human-like cognition, even harnessing Originium itself to become a rare kind of powerhouse.
But turning into something like this?
Give me a break.
Even the Predecessors, for all they could move planets and meddle with spacetime, couldn’t manage an on-the-spot resurrection — and this was an entirely different path from that anyway.
So similar to a human, and yet worlds apart in strength — what a perfect little biological miracle!
If he wasn’t a one-off, and could actually reproduce…
A moment later, the soft patter of footsteps sounded, and Amiya came into the hallway.
Her eyes were red-rimmed, tears nearly cried dry, but the moment she saw that battle-suited figure, they welled up all over again.
“Mr.
Leon, Miss Felicia…”
She approached tentatively, and once she saw neither of them pulled away, she wedged herself into the gap between them and leaned her head against Leon’s side.
He smelled faintly of rust.
Leon’s hand hovered over Amiya’s head.
A few unpleasant memories surfaced, but he let it rest there anyway.
He said:
“Little Amiya, you saw what they said, right?
There’s still room left to try.”
No comfort, no softening the blow — just the plain fact of it.
But somehow, that was exactly what put her at ease.
Lulled by that stiff, awkward patting, Cartus drifted off into a deep sleep.
With that, it was about time for Leon to head out too.
Felicia was still lost in thought when she noticed Amiya’s head had tipped over toward her at some point.
When she looked back the other way, there was no one there at all — just a single sentence drifting through the hallway.
“We’ll meet again.”
She let out a sigh:
“What a strange guy.
I guess he counts as a good one, more or less?”
Letting Cartus rest her head on her lap, she leaned back against her chair, ready to drift off herself.
“I’ll look forward to next time.”
To be continued…