The McLean family was overflowing with long-awaited private guests.
Since I often hosted clients for the clothing business, I guided everyone to the designated reception room.
The Cheonggeuk Chariot, which departed from the royal palace and arrived in Nirva, contained none other than Elise, the third princess of the Frisia Kingdom. Along with her were the elf Eris, Eve, May, Sen, Adriana, and even the Goddess of Time.
There were so many women that listing them would be a chore!
Judging by their descending expressions, it seemed they had quite the rough ride in the carriage.
Sitting across the long table were the women, facing Rin. The first to speak was none other than the belligerent May.
“Did you really connect with the Spirit Realm in secret just to meet us?”
“……”
Rin lowered her head, feeling poked. She knew her behavior was selfish.
“I would have been able to see too if you came a little earlier, right?”
May crunched down on the snacks provided by the McLean family, making an ochak sound. It seemed quite irritating to have missed out on a good opportunity.
“But who’s that little girl?”
Hayun, seeing Rin in a tight spot, interjected. The cute girl with flowing silver hair was quite the sight!
Worried that Daniel had reached out to some unknown woman again, Hayun was relieved at Sen’s response.
“She’s the Goddess of Time.”
“What?”
Hayun was flustered at the unexpected answer and quickly turned to Rin. No surprise, her black hair was swaying with mana!
“The Goddess of Time?”
Drip, drip.
The table began to crack at the point where Rin stood. May, Elise, and Sen quickly stepped back as if they expected it.
The three of them held the perspective that there was no need to spare the Goddess of Time, so they didn’t think to stop Rin.
“Wow, she turned into a monster.”
“We should invite her as the royal archmage.”
“I wonder what she’s been doing for three years?”
Rin’s power was astonishing, so much that it made everyone gasp. Thankfully, she was controlling it; otherwise, the entire mansion would have been launched into the air!
Eek!
The Goddess of Time fled behind Adriana as usual. But even Adriana couldn’t step up confidently this time.
As the only active witch, she had a bit of confidence in magic, but witnessing Rin’s mastery was enough to make her tremble in defeat.
This was talent.
No one born in the witches’ village could reach this level of magic on their own. It was a moment that put the name “witch” to shame.
“Just when I was in the mood to kill a god, this is perfect.”
Rin was completely sincere.
Even on a usual day, if the Goddess of Time were in front of her, she wouldn’t have let her go safely.
Seeing the Goddess of Death seducing Daniel with the weight of her heart, there was no hesitation.
“I’ll make sure you die the most painful death.”
Rin’s black eyes were tainted with a murky color. Who could possibly stop her now? And yet, Eris, the elf, jumped up to block between the two.
“Calm down a bit. I understand your feelings, but we might need to spare her.”
“You want to spare her? That woman?”
As Rin tightened her grip, mana began to swirl and coalesce at her fingertips. It was a warning: if they didn’t move, they might get swept away.
“Be rational. It’s for Daniel.”
“Da, niel.”
Crack.
Rin gritted her teeth.
Truthfully, Rin had never liked Eris.
Since her childhood friend Daniel had been cherished by her for a long time, she couldn’t bring herself to tell him, fearing rejection.
Once she entered the academy, she finally found the courage to express her feelings.
But the answer she got from Daniel was a thunderbolt out of the blue: he already liked someone.
And later, she learned that it was Eris standing right in front of her.
At that time, Rin couldn’t understand how Daniel could like someone she hadn’t met yet.
But now it made sense.
Because it was she who had killed Daniel and Eris in the first cycle.
She had heard every confession of love.
The proposal to marry and Daniel’s accepting voice echoed in her head, twisting her insides.
“Daniel’s promised someone.”
Should she just kill her here?
Rin, who normally wouldn’t even think of it, impulsively considered it. The actions of the Goddess of Death and Daniel had started to impact her this much.
“I’m going to revive Daniel.”
But Eris’s next answer was enough to erase Rin’s impulsive thoughts.
The light returned to her eyes.
Her brain cooled down like a freezing wind on her heated mind, and an unimaginable hope ignited from within.
“You’re going to revive him?”
“Yes, I need Rin’s help for that.”
Eris pulled out a small decision from her bosom. Acknowledging the logic that had elevated Rin to the realm of archmage, she understood instantly.
That was a part of Daniel McLean.
The traces left accidentally when he sacrificed himself to save the world.
Her head began to spin.
If her magic that connects the spirit realm and this were combined, the possibility of achieving the miracle of resurrection seemed within reach.
“When will it be possible next?”
Eris smiled meaningfully as she noticed Rin grasping her intention without needing to say it.
Rin, who was once worried, had now put away her monstrous power. Connecting the spirit realm and the continent required a lot of mana, so she needed to conserve as much as possible.
“It’ll take a little time. It’s not easy.”
“That’s fine. Thankfully, Rin had already developed magic regarding the connection with the spirit realm.”
Originally, she thought it would take at least a year, factoring in the time to develop the magic together.
So she needed support from others and had gathered them all here.
But hadn’t Rin already prepared everything?
Eris nodded with satisfaction as she watched Rin.
“Thanks to that, it looks like we can bring him back soon.”
*
“What I can do.”
Lately, as I swung my sword, I could only think about the advice given by the Goddess of Death.
Even though it felt strange to be pondering this while the God of Life could invade at any moment.
Honestly, this was more important to me than the God of Life.
“Sigh, this is tough.”
After thinking about it several times, I ultimately realized that talking to the individuals involved was the most important.
They were the ones who were trying to revive me, after all.
Effectively, I would be getting back a life I had already lost; it was like receiving a gift back from them.
For that life, I would try to live for you.
“I don’t know if they will accept it.”
Based on Rin’s chilling voice, it felt like they were going to revive me just to kill me again, with a glare so sharp it was intimidating.
I knew it wasn’t directed at me, but rather at the goddess, yet I still felt a bit scared.
“Hey! Look at this! Isn’t it awesome?”
The Goddess of Death bounced towards me with joyful hops. Did she realize that her life was being threatened by many?
She rolled up her sleeves.
“Why? What’s so good about it?”
“Look! I got biceps!”
Holding her breath and flexing, the Goddess of Death showed off her arms. The previously plump flesh now bulging and taking form!
“Wow, it’s real.”
“It’s proof that I’ve been working hard!”
She had definitely gotten into a workout groove recently. Seeing her so happy over something like this made me think how innocent she was for someone with the title of goddess.
“Go wash up a bit and let’s play a game of chess.”
“Oh! Yes!”
By the way, I’ve taken a liking to chess lately.
Though I still kept losing, I could genuinely feel myself improving in a way that was hard to come by in the spirit realm.
Having the Goddess of Death look flustered by an unexpected move was quite entertaining.
Just when we were about to head to the river…
Crash!
The sky had begun to crack in its usual form, and light seeped in, signaling that time had come for us.
“I guess we can’t play chess.”
“I haven’t even washed up yet.”
We complained and grumbled at the timing of the God of Life.
Crack!
The sky crumbled, and light poured down into the previously calm spirit realm where darkness had coiled.
The golden light became a path that reached the land of the spirit realm, and countless statue-like soldiers began to invade the realm of death all at once.
