Salvation of The Scum Fifth Prince

[36 - irrevocable; final decision]

Brioc peeked at the mirage after seeing the others' expression and blinked curiously.

"Wow~ she looks pretty cool. Familiar too, what was her name again...?"

His voice was louder in the atmosphere, which had been stilled in heavy surprise, but there was no reply.

Asmodeus was still trembling in dismay, and Vendra stared blankly in disbelief. Neither heard him, and even if they did, they didn't want to admit it.

The fact that somebody they loved dearly would cause such havoc.

Soren watched calmly.

"Celine Isda..." started the prince, his low and melancholic voice like a beating drum. "The Death Saint."

The confirmation hung in the air as an unwanted guest.

The Necromancer Queen had no reason to lie, and if this couldn't be a lie, then only one answer remained. Celine had turned her back on the world.

Long ago.

Somewhere nobody existed. Somewhere she was all alone.

"It can't possibly be..." gasped Vendra eventually, eyes unmoving from the scene before her.

Soren thought over it and felt as if he understood. The second leader of the Third Religion had the power to heal almost anything — as Celine did.

Brioc had said that compatible mana was rare, but Celine's had coincidentally been a perfect match for Deimos' injuries that had been inflicted by the Third Religion.

And under the crazy facade of wild instincts, she was somebody abandoned by the heavens and left alone.

This was the woman, the Death Saint, Celine Isda.

One of the traitors that turned their back on Raphael in those missing pages.

The Queen surveyed them cooly, her slender and delicate hands still in the air as the scene played out before them.

"It seems that you are all somewhat familiar with this woman. Then it's all the more necessary that you return, is it not? I'm unsure of the details other than this."

Vendra's lip trembled, but she stood resolutely.

The determination — her desperation to save the world wouldn't crumble in the face of an old friend. However, her elegant voice was unstable, and there was a hint of chaos in her sea-blue eyes.

"I will return, immediately." She turned to the others. "And what will you all do?"

"I still have to tell the young prince of the secret he so desperately wishes to hear." smiled the Queen. "Perhaps his answer may change."

"I don't wish to force him again." said Vendra, reflecting on her past actions with hesitation.

Unknowingly, in her strong will, she had pushed her opinion onto Soren during their first meeting. But saving the world was every person's choice, and not an obligation that one was forced to meet.

Thus, she did not want to pressure the prince again, even if she knew he would decline so long as he disliked the idea.

"I will decide." interrupted Soren, raising his chin lightly as his icy eyes gleamed. "My decision will always be my own."

The selkie glanced at him and nodded slowly, stepping back. "Yes, of course."

"Speak, Necromancer Queen."

There was a mysterious gleam at the edge of her cunning smile, carrying secrets of death and life only she could know. Time seemed to slow on the dark, barren lands as Soren waited for the answer.