The Witch and the Doll Swear

If you want to describe it, it is steel.

heavy.

tough.

thick.

But that's not steel, but if you have to describe it, it can only be steel.

That gigantic, majestic presence that steps indifferently in the brilliant light of the crystal chandelier fits all people's impressions of steel and all the miracles created by that heavy metal.

"……stunned?"

"Eh, ah, um..."

"...That is of course."

The witch sat on the beam of the temple, looking down at the shaking hall.

In the magical structure of the entire temple, the stone pillars used as pipelines roared and cracked, and thick giant arms and heavy iron feet protruded from the inside. The cast pattern has faded, the solemn head is soaked in the color of magic power, and the black body Squeezing open the cracked gaps on the stone pillars, the roar of falling rocks was almost indistinguishable from the harsh sirens.

That's certainly not steel.

But that, again, can only be steel, giant-like metal, steel——

—Colossus.

"so big……"

Maybe it's ten meters high, a little shorter than the dome of the temple, and the head is almost on the same plane as the hanging chandelier.

With that huge iron fist, it only takes a light pinch to turn the crystal chandelier, which is even bigger than Tingna herself, into a gold nugget eroded in the palm of her hand.

Tina is no stranger to alchemical creations like golems. Whether it is the statues used for guarding in the corridors of the Magicians Association, or the Graham who often sees carrying goods on the commercial street, even cute and petite dolls like Alice are also in the category of Alchemy. A class of golems.

But it was the first time for her to see such a huge colossus depicted in the book with her own eyes. Even though her perspective was still above these giants, her teeth were chattering.

"Are you scared? Miss Tina."

"Hey, I'm a little embarrassed... It's not so much that I was scared. It's better to say that I was completely shocked. Such a huge golem was actually hidden in the pillar... Where was Miss Liliana at that time?"

"...At that time, Alice and I had the same expressions as Miss Tina now."

Confessing without hesitation, the witch on the beam looked down at herself who fell from the long table for the second time.

A nostalgic flustered expression.

The emotional turmoil in my heart at that moment was as clear as this scene.

There is nothing to be ashamed of. When human beings face something far larger than themselves, they can't help but feel small and panic.

Although, almost all the metal giants that broke through the stone pillars and walked out were stuck in the gaps that were not big enough.

Although, those outstretched limbs made countless noises and more harsher alarms after waving as if dying.

However, whether it is Tingna now or herself at that time, those limbs that can easily tear apart houses and bridges, and crush solid ground, after bursting out bursts of magic fire, hang down weakly and heavily, and the tall body is twisting. After moving, they don't like to act, and they are not as well-informed as they are now, so they will still panic and panic as a matter of course.

not to mention.

- Squeak -

——Boom——

Not all colossi were trapped in stone pillars and decayed by time.

"...Actually, is there really?"

"Guessing this kind of thing, I'm not happy at all!"

Alarms and alarms, those heavy stone bricks being pushed down like building blocks and falling on the floor of the same texture, and the noise on the black metal that is completely indescribable except for the word noise, kicked up dust. thick curtain.

- clang -! ! !

With one step, the marble floor shattered and screamed, dust flew, and the lighting in the temple was also affected by the damage to the magical structure. After struggling to flicker twice, it lost its light.

The alarm stopped abruptly.

The crack that was peeled off by magic on the surface of the stone pillar, the paper that should have been separated like a sharp blade, but now it was pushed away by the giant with its hands and feet, as if the last half-brick on the torn crack bent the wall side light stand.

All sounds are gone.

This temple seems to have recovered the silence before Liliana and the puppet arrived, but it was covered by the darkness that fell in an instant.

There was only flying dust illuminated by the lava glow on the temple walls through the doorways.

Only the girl lying on the carpet, holding the doll.

There is only a pair of huge and cold, fiery red lights.

silence. In this silence, Liliana heard the voice of the puppet directly in her mind.

- That's the Colossus of Farmer! Simply put, it is a large piece of metal that can move flexibly, and it is the highest achievement of the alchemist Flamel in the field of golems!

"... Specifically, what does this highest achievement refer to?"

"Miss Liliana?!"

"...Ah, even if you know, you can't solve the current situation... you should run away, right?"

"Of course!"

The expression of astonishment has not faded away, Liliana looked at the huge golem that could crush herself like a bug with a wave of her hand, but found that she did not have the anxiety she imagined.

Is it because you were confused by memories and mixed emotions that didn't belong to you before? Or have you become numb to the endless surprises?

But the numbness felt here is one thing.

Unstoppable panic is another matter.

The blue light, accompanied by the creaking sound, turned to this side.

"...Where are you going?!"

"Out, let's go outside! It's hard to say whether this colossus is malfunctioning or not. If it collapses the temple, it will be over!"

"...but the outside platform doesn't have enough area for us to dodge! Yes, yes! Lead it into the magma!"

Even if some weird defense mechanism popped up now, Liliana, who was running down the stairs with the doll in her arms, would not be surprised or surprised, but this does not mean that the girl would not be surprised when facing this colossus. panic.

The lamppost shot out from the giant statue's two fiery eyeballs locked on her figure for a moment. Only halfway down the stairs, the giant statue's footsteps were already resounding again.

"But from the color point of view, the material of this colossus seems to be the same as those totem poles. Even if it falls into the bottom of the lava lake, it may be able to walk up!"

"...Why did you come up?!"

"Miss Liliana, have you noticed the section drawing of the building hanging on the wall? This temple is not floating in the middle of the lava lake. Under the building is natural volcanic rock with high density and melting point. This is an island, although it is not Know how deep the lava lake is...but it's possible to walk up the bottom of the lava lake!"

Several tons—perhaps tens of tons of heavy metals set off another wave of dust.

This time, the ones who suffered were the cloudy crystals and objects with crystals that were lined up around the gold and emerald thrones as tributes. Under the stampede of this wrath-like hammer, even the hard crystals were as fragile as large pieces of glass, and the flying debris hit the side of another staircase closer to the giant statue and the fence, crackling and whistling. The sound of the wind was frightening.

When there were more than a dozen steps from the ground, Liliana gritted her teeth and jumped over the railing, and ran to the nearest door without looking back as soon as she landed.

But halfway through, she stopped again.

"Miss Liliana? It's very dangerous to stay here!"

"...But if we go out, this colossus will chase us, will it protect the structure of the temple from being destroyed?"

"—that would be bad!"

The puppet understood immediately.

Liliana smiled bitterly and turned her head.

Two overlapping lampposts fixed on her figure, the second... no, the third time, the giant statue took a step.

Another piece of crystal placed as a tribute—or as a shackle, shattered into flying pieces. No matter how you look at it, this huge Famo Colossus has no consciousness of protecting this place.

Maybe it wasn't there, maybe it was, but it was malfunctioning like the other colossi that couldn't even get out of the pillar.

In short, this nearly ten-meter-high monster gave the girl the feeling that even if she ran outside, she would break through the wall and smash the stone pillar—just like it smashed through the gap that prevented her from leaving.

If it makes the temple collapse, it will be over. Liliana does not have any magic to clean up tons of debris. Even if the Holy Light blesses them to defeat the colossus and survive the collapse of the temple, they will not be able to get people. My body, the purpose of finally crossing this lava lake will come to naught.

So never run outside.

"Miss Liliana wants to fight?"

Ting Na nervously watched the giant statue walking towards the girl step by step.

This is what has happened in the past.

Even if she knew this clearly, and saw the huge golem break free from the thicker stone pillar, and the girls and dolls with the same appearance as now looked like ants in front of it, Tina still couldn't help it. worried.

It's like reading an excellent novel. Even if you have read it over and over again, you still know the ending, and your emotions will be mobilized. When the tension and suspense are so real in front of the girl's eyes, even if she knows that the witch and the puppet are safe and sound by her side, the tension can't go away.

The Colossus of Farmer, this is really an exaggerated creation.

Although it can't compare to the lava dragon beast bred from the keel in the Red Salt Volcano, nor can it compare to the mythical ancestor of the blood race, but such an intuitive hugeness and firmness make Tingna understand it, and feel danger and trembling.

More importantly, Liliana and Alice, who were stopping suddenly in the temple and looking around trying to find a suitable area to deal with the giant statue, were not as powerful as the current Witch and Doll.

"...No, my magic can't deal with this kind of thing."

"The language skills that Alice could use at the time couldn't help it."

Liliana and Alice, who were sitting side by side on the beam, nodded and admitted this.

"...When I realized that I couldn't escape, I was thinking about fighting, thinking about the possibility of using our power to knock down the highest achievement of this ancient magic empire in the field of alchemy golems."

"But immediately Lily and Alice gave up, because this enemy is completely beyond our ability to deal with."

This is a complete fantasy.

The most powerful magic mastered by Liliana, who is only a magic apprentice, is [Siva's Frost Scepter].

It is a scepter that allows the caster to hold the ice in their hands, and can freely control the ice within a certain range and time, and complete the big magic equivalent to dozens of sharp ice spears in a few seconds. The complexity and The power is very high, even Liliana, who had no combat experience back then, can easily obliterate a group of heavily armed city guards after using it.

But here... No matter how many water elements can be used here for this frost system magic relying on water elements, the ice gun array that can sieve people and some monsters whose skins are not strong enough can't shake the colossus at all. Inflicting direct damage is next to impossible.

Conversely, if you don’t consider directly causing damage but restricting the movement of the colossus, it is also a way of thinking to use [Black Widow’s silk webbing technique] to bind the colossus to restrict its movement, or just let it fall down and never stand up again.

Yet no web can bind a magic-powered colossus.

The combination of the greasy technique and the atmospheric hammer seems feasible, but a colossus can leave shatter marks on the marble slab with one kick. Obviously, the oily ground is meaningless if the area is not large enough. As for the atmospheric hammer... the girl just uses it Even with his magic power alone, he couldn't move tens of tons of metal.

But the colossus, even its waving arms and heavy steps, can set off a dust curtain and fierce airflow in the temple.

A giant cast for war, a tool created for killing, even if there is only one body, in front of this one body, Liliana and the puppet are really just ants that can be crushed to death.

"At that time, besides [Death Law], the only word spirit Alice could use was [Innate Kingship], but the colossus had no life, and it didn't have any thinking ability, whether it was a word spirit that declared death or ordered submission. significance."

The fiery red lamppost did not lose sight of the target because Liliana and the puppet suddenly changed directions. In the afterglow scattered by the lamppost, the majestic male head, which could barely be seen clearly, was always firmly locked on to the two faces towards the other side. Running in one direction, too petite intruder.

After taking two steps in succession, the huge body of the Colossus of Famo stood upright temporarily.

— stopped?

——You only took two steps? "

With rusted metal and scorching air waves, the steeple-like crown cast together by the majestic and calm face is just below the beam, and Tina dare not even breathe out, as if her breath would make this The colossus raised its head, and saw their whereabouts with those fiery eyes.

But she was also curious about the sudden stop of the colossus, so the girl looked at the two who were calmly overlooking her past with puzzled eyes, and then realized that she was only connected with the witch's memory by five senses, and there was no such thing as a witch. Entities like Liliana and Alice.

"...It's just the footsteps that stop."

The black-skinned witch turned her head away from her fiery red light chasing the past. She stretched out her arm to Ting Na, and in the only peripheral vision, a drop of crystal liquid slipped from her elbow.

Even though she didn't even have an expression or movement here, the witch who pierced people's hearts could still be keenly aware of what she wanted to ask and what she wanted to say.

"Alice thinks Miss Tina should have felt it too, it's getting hot now."

Of course, so does Alice.

——This can no longer be explained by vicious eyes or keen perception.

Ting Na stared blankly at the drop of water slipping from the witch's alluring skin.

Only at this time did she realize... No, she had felt it from just now, but now after Liliana and Alice reminded her, the girl finally realized the changes that occurred after the giant statue stopped.

The attack of the Colossus has arrived.

"...Hoo...Hoo..."

Feeling the scorching heat of Liliana as if she was in a furnace, the girl's whole body was already drenched with sweat, every gasp was spitting out the only coolness in her body, and that vacancy was filled by heat in an instant.

About 40... or is it closer to 50+ degrees?

The lamp post, which was originally only used for locking, now casts a terrible heat wave, which Liliana and the puppet never thought of.

She didn't use the [Ability to Investigate the Truth] to observe the giant statue immediately, and even if she did, she was helpless.

"It's [Osphus Blazing Light], this Colossus of Famo is in the shape of a battlefield of flames, and its eyes are engraved with this magic enchantment. This is a magic that uses heat instead of flames to turn enemies into ashes. Miss Liliana, hurry up and find cover! "

Even the supposed pauses in the puppet's speech were covered by syllables that popped out quickly, and the lamppost from the pupils of the giant image couldn't get rid of at all. She could only anxiously urge Liliana to find a bunker faster and faster.

Although I don't know if it is because the magic structure is weak due to no maintenance for two hundred years, and the projected temperature is only a little bit, but fortunately, it is so, otherwise, according to the power of the magic in the database, it is enough to soften steel in an instant. If the temperature shines on the girl's body, she will immediately turn into a cluster of burning fleshy torches!

"...Even if...you say that..."

Liliana ran dizzily, she was already running towards the stairs, but under the fiery red light, the girl's steps were so difficult.

She had no choice but to stop and open an element door with a hasty chant, but the wet footprints evaporated in a moment, and the heat hit the girl's skin again, and the dress that had absorbed the cold water quickly became pale. As warm as a cotton jacket.

Liliana, who didn't have much experience in exercising in high temperatures, felt that her running feet were as heavy as lead. There is still about ten meters away from the stairs, not even a minute, but Liliana has already shown signs of heat stroke, even though she is sweating profusely, the rising body temperature cannot be suppressed, and her exercise ability is being deprived.

"Because of a malfunction, this is only a temperature that ordinary people can bear! If the operation of this magic suddenly improves, it will be a terrifying temperature that will soften even steel—"

The little puppet yelled anxiously, but the voice was buzzing in the girl's ears. If it wasn't for the puppet's hair wrapped around her hands, she would have been unable to hold the puppet's little head. If she didn't stop and use With her hands on her knees, she couldn't stabilize her center of gravity.

Is it really worthy of being the relic of the ancient magic empire?

It is impossible for the golems made by the current alchemists to use the Magnus seven-wing magic system to have such precision. They can lock on to a moving target without any lag. Every alchemy textbook says Even the most talented alchemists in the past 200 years have not solved the problem that other magic enchanted on the golem and the magic that drives the golem itself interfere and conflict with each other.

The Church of the Holy Church is eager to dismiss the civilization that once reached the peak of mankind as the legacy of demons, and spare no effort to erase its traces from people's vision.

Just like an era ago, they overthrew the royal court of Eternal Night and burned almost all the history of friendly coexistence between humans and non-humans.

But the bitter fruit has to be swallowed by oneself.

After exhaling a mouthful of cool air, Liliana reluctantly turned her head to look in the direction of the giant statue, this gigantic giant statue, this powerful killing machine...

Before more thoughts came to mind, which seemed to be boiling, suddenly.

The two flaming lampposts locked on the girl suddenly went on and off for a split second.

"...?"

This change made the girl, who was struggling to maintain her sobriety, stunned for a long time. And during this time, those two huge fiery red eyes, like magic lamps with poor supply of magic power, kept flickering, although the temperature seemed to be still rising, but soon.

--Snapped! !

Amidst the two crisp cracking sounds, one in front and one in the back, the angry eyes of the colossus completely lost their light.

"... Huh, Huh...Suddenly, it broke?"

"In this small world where Sith lives, the level of elemental activity and [laws and principles] are different from those on the mainland. Enchanted items that are not maintained diligently are prone to malfunction..."

Without the red light, the fiery feeling disappeared in an instant.

The temperature dropped rapidly, and the penetrating coolness licked the skin again. After losing the heat source, the body quickly returned to normal after Liliana unscrewed a few bottles of drinking water and poured it on top of her head.

Hearing the puppet talk about the problems mentioned before, the girl drank the remaining water in the bottle and smiled self-deprecatingly.

"... Is it expected that this colossus will malfunction and self-destruct as it walks..."

"Although it is not impossible, the puppet thinks it is better not to expect it. Except for the external enchanted parts, the entire alchemy structure of the Colossus of Farmer is a magic array composed of pure magic power, which is deeply protected at the core of the colossus. Among them, there is a very complete magic protection."

The failure of the eyes was obviously not expected by the colossus. It just stood so funny, motionless, only the head moved with Liliana's movement, as if it hadn't realized that it was used to burn the intruders. The two fiery lamps in the house were out of function.

But it didn't just stand around like that all the time.

Therefore, the first sentence of the puppet after introducing the colossus to Liliana, except for the breastplate which was welded on later, was still "find a way to escape".

It just lost the eyes used to irradiate and burn, and the perception ability of the colossus is not affected, nor is the movement ability, and as long as the colossus has these two abilities, for Liliana and the puppet, it is out-and-out weapons of destruction.

"...The area of ​​the temple is barely enough to move around, but if I can't run, I will still be finished."

"If it collapses the temple, the puppet's body will most likely not be retrieved, and it cannot be expected to be harmed by the collapse of the temple."

"...Is there no possibility of defeating it at all?"

The marble floor screamed as it shattered, and the temple shook again and again.

However, those stone pillars that were not opened by the giant statue and the thick walls of huge stone blocks stood firm while trembling, guarding the dome of the temple, and also blocked the red light of lava from the lake outside the temple. .

Only the continuous doors at the bottom of the wall leaked the fiery light, illuminating Liliana's increasingly immobile figure.

Taking the giant statue around in an irregular circle in the temple, Liliana already felt the pain in her chest and legs, and even the aftereffects of the clear potion faded away, submerged in the burning pain in her throat after the severe panting.

...it can't go on like this.

...but there is no other way.

My own magic can't do any harm to that colossus at all. Even if I open the elemental door to attract relatively high-destructive and powerful magic from the elemental plane, the best result so far is just a vacuum fragment in an extremely frenzied airflow. It left several shallow grooves on its breastplate.

This broke the rune of mighty arcane shield engraved on its chest, but did no actual damage itself.

And Liliana didn't have a few spell slots anymore, maybe one, maybe two, in short, even the insignificant resistance power was about to be lost.

"The data in the minds of people and dolls show that if Miss Liliana does not have more powerful magic, such as [Ernst's Violent Thunder], [Sky Penetrating Curse Spear], [Primula's Pure White Mourning], etc. The high-destructive or high-penetrating magic cannot penetrate the body of the Famo Colossus, they are the specifications of the war machine, the core is hidden too deep, and if the core is not destroyed!"

"...If you don't destroy the core?"

"Its limbs would have to be completely destroyed! But the Colossus of Famer is solid metal except for the magical core deep in its chest, and it doesn't—"

The sound of the puppet held by Liliana, who was already out of breath, suddenly stopped. Liliana glanced at her, and then recalculated the distance between herself and the colossus.

This huge metal block has no brains at all, it will only faithfully follow its own movement path to chase, and it does not always shorten the distance. The ruins of Si - which is also the name of this small world - cannot be well preserved for a long time.

But even so, this circle of circles was full of dangers. When the giant statue grabbed a crystal larger than Liliana's whole body and threw it over, if it wasn't for the puppet that made the girl turn around and lie down immediately, she would be a blur now of flesh and blood.

The first lap barely survived, and then...

"...Miss Liliana, maybe the puppet has a solution."

"……for example?"

There was no special surprise, according to her plain... or numb tone, Liliana stared at the colossus, wondering if she would throw something over.

"Farmer Colossi are very stupid colossi, they have no self-consciousness, and their actions depend on the setting of the driver. The puppet... found that setting, and was written by the sage Flamel in the warning regulations of a laboratory code inside."

"... what is it?"

"Once the Famo Colossi are activated, they will carry out the policy of destroying the enemy, give priority to the enemies in the temple, use [Osphus Blazing Light], use the power of hands and feet, if the violator or intruder is solid or strong enough... then Use the hearth to melt."

"..."

Liliana moved sideways and listened carefully to what the puppet said. She could no longer run, but the colossus was still approaching.

The puppet's speech speed became fast again.

"That is the code name for the action of removing the outer armor and directly releasing the huge magic [Osphus's Burning Dragon's Breath] by exposing the magic core. Once used, the Colossus of Farmer will lose its ability to move within half a day. Liliana Miss."

"……I am listening."

"The puppet has a plan."

With the palm of one hand, Liliana held the doll's head in front of her face. The long golden hair of the doll was still bright even after being baptized by lava, and the bright eyes reflected brighter determination.

"Put the doll here, Miss Liliana, and then escape outside the temple and have a good rest."

"...?"

Liliana was taken aback.

Is this a plan?

The plan is to let myself leave the doll and escape to rest?

She didn't react for a while, and even stopped. This was a fatal mistake. The giant statue took a step forward, leaving a piece of broken smoke and dust in the black eyes that reflected the beautiful face of the doll. .

One step, two steps, as if the giant statue suddenly became smarter, it didn't follow Liliana's moving path for the first time, but ran straight towards her.

"faster!"

The puppet screamed, and in the mental communication, the words she was supposed to explain to the girl exploded.

"The Colossus of Famo is a rigid alchemy creation. Since the target is to give priority to the enemies in the temple, it will not attack the enemies that are no longer in the temple until the enemies are destroyed. At the same time, if the attack method is invalid, it will replace it with a more powerful one, such as [Osfuss Blazing Light] is disabled, so now it is chasing the doll and Miss Liliana, if it can't hit the doll, it will melt it with the hearth! And after using it, it will be stuck for a few hours stagnation period, if that's the case—"

Liliana can then rest and recover her spell slots.

But Liliana still looked at her suspiciously, as if she was still puzzled by the so-called plan, she rubbed her head and ran, passing directly between the legs of the giant statue!

The Colossus's awkwardness in bending and turning turns bought a little time.

"...But what about you, Ms. Doll?"

"Puppet?"

"...Yes, Miss Doll, are you okay? Although you seem to have strong heat resistance, can you withstand that kind of crushing pressure?"

Liliana asked immediately.

"...If it can withstand such a strong blow, what about that great magic?"

If they can't get the doll's body, it doesn't mean much for them to come to this temple.

If the puppet's head was lost, it would be no different from Liliana's own death here.

"The puppet doesn't know! But!"

"...Is there no other choice...?"

"..."

The puppet looked into Liliana's eyes with a serious expression.

"The puppet probably knows what materials the puppet's parts are made of, and has an inaccurate estimate of the strength of the puppet, and it's not sure whether it can survive the attack of this colossus, but only puppet can do this, There is no other way."

In order to relieve the burden of the girl's panting, the voice of the puppet exploded directly in her mind, and Liliana's calm face showed a trace of struggle, in the midst of a spiritual dialogue.

"...Why did you do this for me?"

She still couldn't suppress the thought.

"Because the puppet and Miss Liliana are leaving here."

The puppet didn't understand why she was saying this at this time, and she responded immediately, urging the girl to untie her hair from her hands.

This time, Liliana only hesitated for a short time.

She untied the hair wrapped twice around her forearm, placed the doll's head on the floor, bit her lips tightly, and frowned in an unacceptable arc.

Then, biting her lip, she ran towards the nearest door with her last strength.

Running, running, stumbling out of those pointed arched doors, the moment he fell in front of the steps, a blow that was more powerful than the vibration of the giant statue's steps caused the floor of the temple to be ravaged and shattered.

A flying stone hit the girl's thigh, and the sore feeling was instantly overwhelmed by the severe pain. At this moment, the words of the puppet sounded again in the girl's mind.

"The puppet's plan was right, the Colossus will target the puppet's head, and its—"

——Boom!

"Its hammering—at least the hammering of one arm—"

——Boom! !

"You can't destroy the doll! The structure of the doll is very strong——"

——Boom! ! !

Frequent heavy hammers fell, interrupting the puppet's words time and time again. The girl supported her body in pain and turned her head, but everything that could be seen through the small door was hidden in the dust, only the shadow of the colossus knelt on the ground. ——

Boom!

again.

Boom! !

Ravaged the doll's head.

"..."

Liliana remained silent, feeling the ground below her tremble again and again, as if waking up from a dream, realizing what she had done.

She dropped the doll.

No, no, this is not abandonment, this is the plan proposed by the puppet, I just agreed with this plan with no other choice and implemented it——

——Boom! ! ! ! !

The only response to the girl was a heavy shaking.

The girl convinced herself that she had done nothing wrong, that her body would be exhausted if she didn't take a rest, and it was the puppet plan that saved her.

"...you have to rest... first..."

The rest time that the puppet has earned cannot be wasted.

But every blow made her body tremble.

Liliana moved her thigh, which was hit hard by the shattered stone, and moved down a few steps little by little. Only expensive lotion and a soft towel were touched. A dark bruise is emerging below the wound.

--it hurts.

It is completely different from the soreness caused by too intense exercise, and it is completely different from the pain that is suppressed by the painkilling ingredients in the potion when the dragon scale pierces the skin.

It's not unbearable though.

"it hurts……"

It was just that the fingertips wanted to rub the wound like the mother did for herself, and the pain made the girl's big black eyes full of tears.

This was the first time that Liliana felt pain without any relief after being strayed into the Sith because of the assassination of the inexplicable fisherman.

It hurts, it really hurts, but there is no loving family of my own here.

Even crying is just a waste of physical strength for no reason. Here she is not the emerald pearl, she is just a weak girl who needs the sacrifice of others to survive.

Moreover, the puppet must be more painful, why do you have to do this to such an extent, even if this is the only choice, even if this is the only plan, what is she worth—

— Miss Liliana!

"!!"

The half-drinked healing potion slipped from his hand, and the solid glass bottle knocked against the corner of the steps. Gulu, Gulu, the red potion and the body of the glass bottle splashed into a bloody flower.

At that moment, Liliana seemed to see those short pieces in her body that were scorched and smashed by the flames of her heart. Memories and emotions that did not belong to her rushed into her mind again, and they were called by the puppet again. Push away, leaving only short but profound traces.

Lover's happy face.

A cloth that burns from the hand.

The smirk of the "companion" stabbing the blade in the back.

A young charred corpse in the corner of the dilapidated house.

She jumped up like a frightened rabbit, screaming incoherently in a panic.

"What are you going to do?!"

— Miss Liliana? !

- are you all right? ! Do you have.

——Settled down well? !

This scream caused the doll to interrupt the spiritual communication with the fist of the giant statue, and interrupted the earthquake once or twice. She didn't know what happened to the girl, so she could only regard this scream of unknown meaning as a moment of fright. Putting aside the meaningless words, he intermittently asked about the girl's current situation.

Liliana's response was a brief silence.

Half lying on the steps, she took out another bottle of healing potion and gulped it down, without breathing or pausing on the way.

After she drank the potion in one breath, she completely lay down on the steps. This action made the bruises on her thighs stick to the cold stone slab. After the pain, the pain was followed by the icy cold that relieved the pain.

"...The thigh was injured by the splashed stones, other than that, there is no problem."

When he spoke again, the calmness of the magician cultivated since childhood had regained the upper hand.

——That’s really great——

Boom!

——It’s over——

"..."

——There seems to be some malfunction in the execution of the Colossus's instructions, and its punches cannot be destroyed——

——I couldn’t destroy the doll, but I didn’t use Heart Melt immediately, so I might have a longer period of rest.

——Miss Liliana, please concentrate on resting, the doll will not disturb you——

——Doll——

——The doll is fine——

It was not a long sentence, and the doll finished it after several interruptions. Liliana lay on the stone steps and closed her eyes.

She hummed in reply.

What I wanted to say, I couldn't say.

But it’s okay if you don’t say it, right?

Yes, no problem?

Didn’t the puppets themselves say that there was nothing wrong with them?

She is so strong that even lava cannot ignite her hair. Of course, she won't be afraid of being crushed by dozens of tons of metal, right?

After all, from the beginning to now, I have no idea what she is.

Living doll? Although she is indeed a living doll now, and her body is also a doll, the living doll is also made by sealing the souls of other beings. Who knows what she was before she became a doll——

Liliana opened her eyes suddenly. The lonely night sky remained unchanged under the even more lonely moonlight, with bright moon and sparse starlight. The girl wiped her hands randomly on her clothes, blocking her gaze.

So, only darkness remains

"...It doesn't matter...she still needs me...just like I still need her...rest...rest..."

It's like returning to your beloved room. When it's time to go to bed, turn off the lights in the entire mansion and then close the thick curtains to dissipate the magic of the magic lamp. The moonlight cannot shine through the light-blocking fabric, so there is no need to close it. There was absolute darkness above her eyes. Only in such darkness could Liliana have the best sleep.

There are no specially customized curtains or a soft bed, but the darkness makes no difference.

But in such darkness, she couldn't sleep.

The frequency of the Colossus' heavy fists slowly stabilized after the initial violence.

It punched steadily, one punch after another, crushing, hitting hard, shaking the earth, completely ignoring the intruder, who was not far away from it on the steps. Yes, this rigid colossus without the ability to think, All it does is use a stable frequency and heavy punches to try to destroy a small puppet that is not even as big as a symbol on it.

Can't sleep.

Frequent vibrations came from the inside of the temple, through the earth and the only layer of clothing, and struck the girl's skin. Through the muscles and bones, the roar and trembling turned into endless echoes, echoing in the darkness in front of the girl's eyes.

again and again.

again and again.

The end of this torture is when the bruise on the thigh no longer hurts.

Liliana didn't know whether the time spent lying on the cold stone floor, just closing her eyes and doing nothing or thinking about anything, could be considered a good rest. She kept counting the number of vibrations, from 10 to 100. , counting from 100 to 1000, and finally settled on the number 2368.

The Colossus is tireless, but the Doll...

"...Miss Doll..."

Miss Doll, there has been no reply.

"Miss Doll!!"

——Miss Liliana, already——

Boom! !

——Have you rested yet?

"……I have no idea."

Liliana reluctantly shook her brain, which was not relaxed at all, and entered meditation. After she concentrated her mind and entered that calm state, the girl grinned and sighed longly.

Remaining spell slots, 3.

I don’t know whether it was recovered during this period of rest that cannot be called a rest, or whether it was not exhausted before.

…At least it’s better than none.

Even trying to comfort herself felt extremely ridiculous. Liliana smiled bitterly and carefully poked her head out from under the steps.

Now, no more dust obscures the view.

2368, even beyond this number.

The blow from the fist of the extremely heavy giant statue has completely shattered a small area of ​​the temple's ground, turning it into a pit. The marble slabs have long been blown away with dust and debris. Underneath, the solid volcanic rock It was violently colliding with metal. During this collision, the doll's mental communication was intermittent.

"...Miss Doll, are you okay?"

——At least it’s not broken now, but it’s really not an option to continue like this. Miss Liliana has——

——Any plans?

"...I will find a way to sneak into the second floor without disturbing the Colossus, and look for possible magic scrolls or alchemy tools that can cause harm to the Colossus..."

——The material of the doll's memory comes in and out, there is no such thing.

"...Then we can only rely on the researchers' private goods."

——That one is equally, no, even more unreliable——

Boom!

The Colossus' punch once again interrupted the puppet's voice, and before the next punch landed and the puppet said what it couldn't finish, Liliana spoke first.

"...There's nothing else I can do."

——Miss Liliana...

The girl didn't speak again, she had already conveyed what she wanted to say in these concise words.

Of course she could do nothing.

Of course she could continue to rest.

The only executor of the doll's plan is the doll herself. However, if she does nothing, the situation will not get better. If she does nothing, there is no hope at all. If she really doesn't want to do anything, then she doesn't want to do anything. You should not leave the pool suspended in the air.

What's more, she has no choice.

From the moment the fisherman pushed her into the abyss under the tower, and then the man-faced bat took her to this ruins called Sith, she had no choice.

So, at least try.

——The doll knows, then, Miss Liliana, please be careful.

Taking this emotion into consideration, after thinking for a long enough time, the doll answered like this.

Although this human girl is being troubled by emotions and memories that do not belong to her, so that her own emotions and some thoughts are buried deep in her heart, and even the doll [Listening to the Power of All Things] can only vaguely feel the noise, However, Liliana's will was not broken.

And just like what she said, in such a situation, you can't have a good rest at all.

Then what the doll can do is to buy her as much time as possible. It is still unclear how this colossus seeks enemies. If possible——

"...Huh?"

The fist of the colossus once again shattered the hard rock, making the holes dug by the fists even deeper.

The doll no longer remembers how many punches it was struck with.

It will only act according to the preset instructions, and it seems that the next instruction is still stuck. The Colossus is just a mechanical lowering and heavy blow. At the bottom of this two-meter-long pit, on the already very hard rock, Hebina Rock The head of his stronger self kept waving.

It's not painful, because the doll has no sense of pain.

But also, there is no escape.

Although it has lost its eyes that can emit high-heat magic, its ability to lock on enemies is obviously not affected. The doll's head is not as big as a rune engraved on its body, but its fists that are bigger than Liliana have never been. Let her splash around like those pebbles. In this one-sided ravage, every layer of rock is broken, starting from the doll's head being embedded in the rock layer.

The doll knew the materials that made it up, and was not surprised by this. She just wondered why she, as a doll, was made so strong, and whether such a characteristic had extraordinary significance.

She was thinking, so when she faced up for the first time to receive the Colossus' punch, because the fist that quickly enlarged in front of her eyes fell on her face this time and made a crisp sound like broken glass in the air. .

"……Eh?"

Couldn't react immediately.

The sound of breaking was drowned in the trembling of the rocks and temples. Neither the Colossus, Liliana, who was doing something unknown, nor even the doll itself immediately realized what happened and what it meant.

Until one second later.

A second after the dust settled, in front of the [Coordinating Leader's Eye] on the left side of the doll, a message that the other [Coordinating Leader's Eye] had been destroyed was displayed.

The little head of the doll is somewhat unable to turn around.

destroy?

Doll's, one eye——

——Destroyed?

The material of [Coordinating Leader's Eyes] is [Heart of the Red Dragon], which is an extremely pure crystal. Not only that, it is also extremely hard. The alchemist who made these eyes used it in the final results report. The poetic language expresses that this is a work that he has devoted all his efforts to. It is strong and beautiful, and can withstand all kinds of powerful impacts. However, at this moment, all the data of the anti-destruction test on the report are meaningless.

"——!!!"

[Unbelievable]——Only this kind of emotion appeared in my mind for the first time in my life.

What still has some significance is that "when it is destroyed with a very low probability, the sealed magic will use the material of the eyeball itself as the casting material, open the elemental valve leading to the crimson sky, gather a huge fire element and release a huge Magic [Nicholas' Sunset Mark]" is just one sentence.

But this has become a thing of the past.

A big hole opened in the roof of the temple, and the traces of melting were like a fiery red ring dotting the night sky. Big drops of the same fiery red liquid fell like raindrops. On the marble slab, before it was The crystallized items destroyed by the colossus sizzled on the railings of the stairs, igniting increasingly fierce flames.

The suddenly heated air roared like thunder, shaking the solid rock temple. The giant statue knelt down, and only magma-like droplets flowed from the disappeared arms and shoulders where they once connected.

The extremely high-temperature-resistant metal was melted, and the balance of the weight was broken in an instant. The giant statue creaked and creaked, raising its metal head. Through the air that was shaking enough to turn the flesh and blood into coke, the inorganic matter The sound came from the chest.

——Suffered serious damage and started melting the heart of the furnace.

The thick armor on the Colossus's chest opened.

Not only the front, but also the rear, a penetrating hole appeared in the body of the colossus, in which the exquisite and complex magic structure like a precisely connected gear mechanism was dyed fiery red.

[Osferth's Burning Dragon Breath] is a great magic named after the Flame Dragon King, one of the thirteen oldest dragons. In order to use this, the Famo Colossus must open his chest and back armor, otherwise Before annihilating the enemy, this violent power will melt it first.

Action instructions, the heart of the furnace melts.

"...It's too late."

If on the battlefield, it should have entered long ago when the first few punches failed to crush, but was announced belatedly because of a malfunction, and Colossus didn't do so until after losing a hand.

The situation pursued in the plan has finally arrived. The puppet plan is to let the colossus use this and then fall into a state of being unable to move, so as to gain time for Liliana to rest, but if it comes now.

The puppet could only twitch the corners of its mouth feebly.

It's too late, and.

Together with the sense of powerlessness, there is unprecedented fear.

She didn't even feel that way when she was almost cornered by the firebird, and she didn't even feel that way when the huge firebird was about to bury the doll and Liliana in the lava lake. It was indeed unscathed, and it also protected Liliana's precious ring.

can now.

One of his own eyes was destroyed.

So does it mean that I am not as strong as it is recorded in the information? If such a simple and crude power will be destroyed, can [Osphus's Burning Dragon's Breath] burn himself?

My mind is full of such thoughts, but I can't think about it. Even if I think quickly, this head is just a part of myself as a living doll, and what I can do is extremely limited.

There is no escape for the puppet.

Dolls can't resist.

In front of the puppet, at a close distance, the heart that is much bigger than her head is beating unceasingly, the structure of magic is sliding, these gears are more precise than clocks from a magic emperor, they are not It rattles, yet turns fiery and bright red with every perfect swipe.

Even if magic cannot be used, the puppet can still feel the trembling of the thread of [Dharma and Principle], and the elements of fire are gathered. From the lake of lava outside the temple, all, all flames were gathering, penetrating the thick towering stone walls, almost swirling flames behind the Colossus.

Under the extremely delicate magic, the jumping flames will follow the [law and reason] and turn into the dragon's breath of destruction.

According to the plan, she will endure the melting of the furnace heart to buy Liliana time to rest. Now that the plan is carried out faithfully, she will also face a zero-distance blow of great magic, but will the doll be safe and sound after the plan is implemented?

She didn't know what she was in the first place, and she made this plan just because she was not afraid of the lava, which brought her ridiculous confidence without any tangible evidence.

And that confidence had been lost a moment ago.

Facing the mighty power of the churning magic, the puppet even forgot to close her eyes. She watched helplessly as the structure of the magic distorted the air. When the puppet's thinking was about to stagnate, her vision suddenly broke into another At the same time, a feeling of being absorbed came from the face.

Things always seem to go beyond expectations.

The vision was shaking, and the scenery inside the temple was tumbling. At the end of this falling curve, a petite figure jumped down from the fence on the second floor, and embraced the doll's head in mid-air.

"Miss Liliana?!"

"【Pierce the iron hooves of war horses, shoot down the valiant blades of thugs, you are flying elves, sprinkle the piercing magic arrows!】"

In the upside-down view, her face cannot be seen, but the touch of human skin from the back of the head made the puppet call out the girl's name in surprise. When did she touch the second floor? ? The magic just now——

Everything happens in an instant.

In the field of vision, the silhouette of the upside-down colossus under the lava fire quickly turned into a back view. The girl's body drew a semicircle behind it and flew towards the fence on the second floor. The silver-white hair that has not faded is almost about to burn in the vortex of the flame.

"【Tamira Multiple Arcane Missiles】!"

The girl's hair brushed the flames and ignited sparks, but Liliana just indifferently sang the [interpretation] that she chanted quickly when she jumped down from the second floor.

Elegant arcs passed through the fiery red and dim entangled temple, and pure magic power gathered in the pale gold magic circle, and under the weaving of [law and reason], it turned into more than ten missiles that could pierce mail armor, and shot into the Swept by the flames.

The puppet immediately understood what Liliana was thinking. The target of these arcane missiles is the core of magic, and it is also a key component of the Colossus. It is a pure magic structure, stable, but fragile. Once it is destroyed by the same pure magic, will immediately lose function.

It was almost impossible to attack this part before, the thick metal is the best protection for this part, but now, in order to execute the instruction of melting the furnace core, the biggest obstacle has disappeared, only this time...

"……no."

Only at this time, there is a chance to cause direct damage to the core—but.

Having a chance doesn't mean you can do it.

Maybe it didn't hit, or maybe the core itself had other security measures. The response from the dozen or so arcane missiles was the fiery dragon's breath on the colossus' chest.

Great magic was activated.

It was a flame that could only be described as a sea tide. The destructive flame wave gushed out from the virtual image of the dragon head made of magic power on the chest of the colossus, destroying everything and easily melting the snow-white stone wall of the temple.

In an instant, the magnificent temple turned into a hellish scene.

"...It still can't be stopped."

After landing behind the fence on the second floor, Liliana waved away the silk thread of the [Black Widow Pulling Silk Spider Web Technique], and Liliana turned her head to look down at the stone wall broken by the flames.

Fortunately, even if a huge hole was opened and the structure of about 3 meters on the ground floor was almost completely melted, the temple seemed to be able to hold on.

At the beginning, Liliana risked using the [Black Widow Silk Web Technique] to sway the past because she was worried that the temple would collapse due to an attack, trying to prevent the magic from being completed. Now it seems that even if it fails, there is no problem.

The girl stared at the silent figure in the firelight, and after a few minutes, she looked away.

The armor on the chest and back has been closed again, and the huge colossus has not moved.

"In this way, you can rest safely and well..."

The puppet that recovered from the upside-down state didn't realize what happened until now.

That little head stared blankly at the temple filled with flames and smoke, until it was held up in front of the girl's eyes and met her eyes, it was finally relieved, and showed a lucky smile to the girl.

Where the fiery red pupils were originally, now there is only an empty eye socket, and the fair skin is still soft, without any scorching marks, as if the red engraved seal and the colossus that burst out from bottom to top more than two thousand times The boxing was as if it didn't exist, and the colossus destroyed one of her eyeballs, but that was all.

Liliana looked at the doll silently, and the girl couldn't tell what kind of mood she was in right now, but...

"...You, too, are not indestructible."

She couldn't bear it and said such words.

"Ahaha, it's true... now the field of vision is only half..."

The puppet couldn't help showing a wry smile, but soon, "In this way, Miss Liliana can rest well, even though it's only a few hours." She smiled again as she said so.

"...one eye is gone, is it okay?"

"Eh? It's okay, it doesn't matter, anyway, there are a lot of spare parts for the doll, after a while, Miss Liliana will take the [Power of Investigating the Truth] off the necklace and put it on the doll. Now Liliana Miss really needs to rest well, because I don't know when the Colossus will return to normal...Miss Liliana?"

"...What's wrong?"

"Miss Liliana is the one, why are you staring at the doll?"

"……That is……"

"Now it's time to take a break, right?"

"……Um."

Biting her lip, subconsciously exerting a weak force on the hand holding the doll's head, Liliana responded softly, hugging the doll in her arms, in order to find a way out of the temple that had been ruled by high temperature. look up.

The eyes of the eyes buried in the blackness moved from the kneeling back of the giant statue to the end of the corridor on the second floor, which was enough for an 11-year-old petite girl to climb in and out of the diamond-shaped window.

She hesitated, then took a step.

"————————."

"?!"

"W-what?!"

The siren of the temple made both the girl and the puppet panic. The harsh and noisy alarm echoed in the hot air of the temple again and again, intermittently, and mixed with many meaningless noises.

"...Miss Doll, is this alarm too late?"

"It's late, yes, but."

The doll's expression became more and more ugly.

"This is the alarm when the Colossus stopped moving. This alarm is—"

In her hasty words, the temple began to shake.

— violent shaking.

The source is those thick stone pillars, these inorganic structures that still wrap more than a dozen malfunctioning colossi seem to have suddenly gained life and began to dance enthusiastically.

Like branches dancing in the wind.

It's like being fiddled with a wobbly spring.

The fist of the colossus shakes the ground and stone bricks, and the slight shaking is like a harmless breeze compared to this. The doll speaks the translated content loudly, her voice in a huge stone falling from the dome was completely submerged.

"Miss Liliana!"

When the boulder from the dome fell from the top of the field of vision, passing through the girl's "body" and cracking the floor below, the boulder that fell to the ground just because Liliana and Alice got rid of the threat of the giant statue in Tina's heart once again Lift it up high.

Liliana and Alice's worst fears have come true. The temple—no, the island on the lava lake is really collapsing. , then their expectation of leaving here will come to naught.

More importantly, before that, they themselves were in deep crisis.

The grand dome began to collapse, and within a short period of time, the temple was shrouded in dust from the falling stones. Tingna couldn't see the scene below clearly, so she could only turn her worried eyes to the witch and dolls around her.

"Don't worry, since Lily and Alice are sitting here, it means that all the difficulties in Sith have been overcome."

The puppet leaning against the witch showed a gentle smile, and pointed to the corner of the storm of fire and dust.

A petite shadow rushed out from there.

"Miss Liliana?!"

"...We will never give up the chance to leave here. At least at that time, I rushed down the burning stairs without even the slightest hesitation."

After saying this, the witch silently looked at herself who rushed into the smoke.

Although I don't know the reason, after becoming a witch, whether it is a good memory or a bad memory, it is deeply engraved in my mind. In contrast, the memory of being a human being before becoming a witch seems to be sealed in The gray-covered wooden box became thin and colorless.

Except for a few memories, only a very small number of memories, even after hundreds of years have passed, have been washed and will only become clearer and clearer.

She looked at the fleeting face in the gaps of dust, dusty, and sometimes she herself felt that it was not so much the habit of keeping calm and collected from the education she received since she was a child, but it was really Some facial paralysis? Even in the situation where he would be smashed into minced meat if he made a slight mistake, he remained as expressionless as ever.

"...But even if we can successfully get there to get the body of Miss Doll, the worst case scenario is to sink into the magma along with the island. At this time, I said so."

"……Eh?"

"Miss Tingna should not be able to hear the conversation between Lily and Alice below, nor can she see the action."

In the tumultuous dust, stones fell from the dome.

I can't see any scene at all. This near-annihilation scene covers everything, and I can't see anything.

Only the words of the witch and the puppet lifted the dust curtain in this collapsed building.

"...Alice's ears have the power to hear everything, so sensitive that she can even accurately calculate when each stone brick will fall, where it will fall, and whether it will hurt us...left, right, forward, stop. "

"Alice can only give accurate results, but she may not be able to tell Lily what to do to completely avoid danger. Even if Alice can give such accurate instructions, Lily may not be able to do it, but even so."

"...I believed in her, even if this trust caused a boulder to fall less than one centimeter from my toe, and the gravel left countless scars on my body. At that time, there was no other person I could trust, and no The reason to trust, this trust leads us to the center of the temple, in front of the curtain where Alice's body is placed, the collapsed stones have not yet buried here, but this is the center of the temple, here, no matter which direction you go To escape, you have to go through the falling stones again, and I said: 'Now, the only way to escape from here is to grow wings'."

Liliana said calmly, looking down, her bare feet were hanging outside the uncollapsed beam, shaking.

The puppet sat in the arms of the witch, looked up, and the slender legs exposed from the nun's robe rested on Liliana's thigh.

Their eyes met, and they smiled at each other tacitly.

"'Then grow wings,' Alice said." A drop of crystal fell from the witch's wobbly toes.

In the center of the dust cyclone, deep in the smoke, falling water droplets illuminate the sparkling sparks.

It was just a faint spark, reflected in the insignificant crystal, even the girl chasing the falling trajectory can see through the fate that will eventually disappear.

"'Then fly up, let the wings of the puppet take you away from this desperate flame'."

The soot was broken through.

The girl bathed in the firelight is like a majestic angel, and the bright blazing light tears the sweeping smoke and dust.

From bottom to top, the fiery red wings pierced the falling water droplets, and the smoke and dust were blown away. At this moment, the dome in the center of the temple finally collapsed. The red wings stretched wantonly.

All obstacles were waved away, and a burning star appeared in the night sky. They went away, leaving only the girl passing by in an instant, staring at the bright back.

"ah……"

Tina couldn't say anything.

For a brief moment when the golden-red light flashed past her eyes, she saw Liliana and Alice embracing each other. The girl's pure white dress was not stained with any dust, and the doll had a body. She was wearing a black evening dress. The exposed back stretches the bright red wings.

Liliana closed her eyes, like a puppet in her arms, while Alice's only pupils shone with determination.

What an overwhelming beauty.

Can't find the reason, but Tina was caught by this scene and took all the attention until the whole temple and even the island sank into the lava until this time.

"...Miss Tina."

"Eh, ah..."

"... Are you fascinated by it?"

Liliana said words that made the heart beat faster in such a calm tone.

Tina nodded, only then did she realize that the beam on which the witch and the puppet were sitting had turned into a sticky spray on the lava lake.

"Placed here, Alice's body parts are [Seraphim] with the ability to fly. It is simply the blessing of the goddess of fate, which allowed Alice and Lily to escape successfully."

Alice looked nostalgicly at the direction in which the two left. She floated in front of Tina, as if she didn't intend to let the girl have a chance to catch her breath, and the surrounding scenery changed.

Bright are the wings of the red-gold flame.

Darkness is the vast, lightless earth.

Liliana opened her eyes, and the two appeared in front of her at the same time.

interstellar flight.

She lowered her head, looked at the puppet she was hugging tightly, and looked at the puppet that was so much smaller than her body supporting her to fly in the night sky, she was dumbfounded for a moment.

"The puppet and Miss Liliana escaped."

The puppet spread its wings happily.

"I didn't expect that the [Seraphim] was placed there, the body parts with the ability to fly, if it wasn't for this, maybe it would really be all over—"

"...Really, this is really..."

Liliana spoke softly.

"This is really, really lucky."

"Well, I'm so lucky. In this case, it doesn't matter if I don't have to go to the next place to find the doll's arm. The doll can directly take Miss Liliana to the top of the main tower!"

Heard unexpected news.

"……no problem?"

"No problem, maybe because His Majesty Flamel is the manager on the top of the main tower and there is a small team of court magicians stationed there. Apart from these security forces, there is no other security mechanism in design. , It doesn’t matter if you fly directly there, if there is no accident, Miss Liliana should have been caught by the man-faced bat from there too.”

"...Why didn't you tell me before?"

The girl looked at the doll quietly, and replaced the answer with a question.

"Because Miss Liliana didn't ask?"

The little puppet who was excitedly explaining the structure of the top of the tower looked at the girl with some incomprehension, and tilted his head.

She couldn't understand the gloomy, even panicked voice she heard from Liliana's heart.

"...That's what I said."

The girl who muttered to herself silently turned her head away.

The vast night sky floated in front of the girl, but it was different from the endless night sky on the mainland. On the farthest edge where the dark blue night spread, mysterious purple and blue mixed together, entangled, and the sparse stars were in the sky. It's gone completely there, something dark, squirming over there.

That is the edge of this small world, beyond a thin barrier of the world, there is an ethereal and empty void.

Lowering her head, the earth illuminated by the unfamiliar moonlight also left a hard edge on the edge of the sky. The girl turned her head and could see the river they were drifting past in the distance, and the lava lake was left behind. Already as small as a dinner plate.

...was far away, left behind.

"...Hey, Miss Doll."

"Um?"

Tightly clutching the necklace on her chest, Liliana looked at the doll and said such words.

"...Let's go find all the parts of Miss Doll."