Keiser exhaled in quiet relief when his boot finally landed on the last step of the staircase Althira had conjured, identical to the one she'd made back in the dungeon, and so very similar to the mana-formed stairs he himself had created to descend into the undercroft.

From the top of the wreckage where they began, the ground had peeled open at Althira's mana, every slab of stone and splinter of debris folding and rearranging itself into steps.

As they descended, the stair behind them dissolved back into the ground and rubble, resetting itself just in time to avoid being noticed by any of the knights above.

The deeper they went, the dimmer the world became.

Shadows pressed against them from all sides, the air cool and still. Only the faint, steady glow of Keiser's dagger cut through the darkness, runes along the blade shimmering like a thin fire, guiding their steps into the unseen below.

Even though worry tugged at him, wondering how the elf had handled his companions, or why she seemed to have left them somewhere beneath the wreckage.

Keiser forced himself to stay level-headed. Althira had said they were in a safe place, alive and protected somewhere she had prepared. He chose to trust that, at least for now.

His body, however, had its own urgent demands.

Every muscle ached, his bones felt ready to splinter, and he could sense Muzio's physical limits reaching their breaking point.

If he pushed any further, he knew what would happen… his body would shut down again, and he'd lose days and maybe a week trapped in recovery. He couldn't afford that, not now, not with everything already spiraling.

The Saint could heal him again… probably. But only if he first paid the debt of three silver coins, perhaps even more.

The elven herself might be able to help. As elven mana didn't react violently with his bloodscripting, unlike Aisha's attempt, her sigils had flared against the ones carved into him, nearly burning them.

Althira's---just no.

He couldn't trust his body with her. She could leave more than curses. He wouldn't risk it.

If he could reach sixth princess, maybe he could mend before his body collapsed entirely.

But the moment he stepped into the small clearing, held together by red fabric embroidered with golden, vine-like runes that glowed gently like pyre bugs light. Keiser stopped short.

The illumination revealed just enough for him to see that everyone inside was very much alive… but far from fine.

The fabric wasn't just hanging, it wrapped around the entire space like a protective dome, creating a wide enclosure with barely enough room for all of them. The air inside felt warmer, denser, humming faintly with mana.

His eyes immediately found the sixth princess.

She was on her knees, panting hard, sweat running down her temples. The constant drain of magic was taking its toll. Her disguise, or whatever remained of her human facade, had completely fallen away.

Not a single strand of blonde hair remained, instead, her entire form had shifted to her elven state, her hair now a soft, luminous green. She was still channeling mana even now, the glow around her pulsing in weak intervals.

Olga knelt beside her, supporting the princess from the side with steady hands. She looked… herself again.

Her expression, her posture, even the spark in her eyes, everything suggested she was no longer under Aisha's control, her consciousness fully returned.

His gaze swept further across the dome, catching sight of Diego with someone slung over his back.

Tyron stood beside him, also carrying an unconscious figure.

Jim and Jill hovered close to the two, steady and alert.

Compared to the others, those four looked mostly uninjured, tired, grim, but functional.

Yona, however, was another story. She looked even more strained than she had in Hinnom.

Her twin short blades were already drawn, shoulders tight and eyes locked on the staircase that had suddenly formed before them.

She must have been preparing to strike down whoever, or whatever, was about to descend. The tension radiating off her was palpable, each breath shallow and sharp.

But when her eyes finally recognized the figure coming down the steps, her grip didn't ease. If anything, she grew more alert, warier, almost disbelieving.

Her stance only faltered because two idiots shot past her before she could stop them.

"…you bastard!"

"…he's back!"

Lenko and Little Flame barreled into Keiser with the combined force of relief and fury.

Even though Keiser tried to brace himself, his exhausted body gave way and he toppled backward as both of them crashed into his chest, one clinging to him in sheer joy, the other clearly determined to scold him the moment he caught his breath.

Yona's eyes narrowed, her posture tense as if she were bracing for something terrible to happen the moment Muzio reappeared.

When nothing did, no surge of mana, no hidden threat, she finally released a long, shaky breath and lowered herself onto the carpeted floor. The red fabric around them shimmered faintly, a woven cocoon of protection.

Her mind replayed those final moments before everything went dark.

She had been trying to tear open the red cocoon the green-haired girl had trapped her in, along with Lenko and the little girl, when the whole building seemed to rupture.

At the last second, the same fabric had wrapped tightly around them, dragging everyone together. There had been a snap of mana, a deafening blast, a flash so blinding it felt like knives behind her eyes… and then nothing but darkness and muffled silence.

For a moment she genuinely believed she had died.

But then the fabric around them flared with soft golden light, powered by the green haired girl's mana, and she realized they were still alive.

What terrified her more was discovering that Muzio was not among them. The dome had saved many of them… but not him.

From the fabric itself, a staircase unfurled though, and down them came the tenth prince, looking very much alive despite everything, Yona already had her blades on her hands. Her expression hardened.

"Are you really back?" she demanded quietly.

The look in her eyes reminded Keiser of the very first day they met, sharp, wary, as though one wrong move from him would set her off.

"…I never left" he muttered under his breath.

He barely got the words out before Yona's hand shot forward, grabbing him by the collar and yanking him upright with a strength that shocked even Lenko and Little flame, who were still clinging to him.

"I'll be the judge of that," she snapped, pulling all three of them off the ground in one motion.

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