Vale continued his somber saunter without fear, assuming that Ophelia hadn't laid a trap for him, else the plume Mias sent to follow her would have already sniffed it out and warned him.

Vale rounded the corner, and at the end of the hall, where the level floor rose into a ramp, he saw it still there…

"Crystal Prison…"

An ability that Ximena had no way to free herself from.

Vale thought back to the description, and focused on that last line…

[Crystal Prison] - [As the Heir of Crystal, you walk a path of broken shards. The many crystal reflections cast from your frozen blood show only the truth, but give rise to falsities. To hold close is to condemn. To push away is to save. It's your fate to pick what the crystal's reflection sees. But beware, for a reflection that gazes upon itself is doomed to endless captivity, absent the intervention of another.]

The workers would be able to dig her out, given time, but…

There were many, many complications with that.

Vale approached the red crystal and placed his hand on its cold exterior, feeling a slight wet spot as he rubbed his fingers along its edge.

First and foremost, Ximena had a spear going through her body from her oblique to her hip… Not a simple injury she could just heal from.

'It's a miracle she'd been able to stay conscious and activate the ability at all in her condition.'

Well, if she ever went unconscious, that would mean she died…

But, still.

Ximena was one with a very unique constitution, where her blood didn't even pump, so it would be natural to assume she'd be immune to a physical attack — or one would be of very little consequence for her — but the look in her eyes and expression told a different story, one of a person on the verge of death.

While physical damage did cause her Aether to leak and an accumulated amount could eventually kill her, this didn't look like a wound capable of killing her based on that reasoning alone, even despite its grievous nature…

Unfortunately, this wound was much more than it appeared at first glance.

Vale stared into the transparent red crystal at Ximena, whose arm was frozen while outstretched, a pained expression etched into her face. Her wings curled around her wound in a pitiful attempt to save herself.

Her sad eyes looked lost and lonely, but slightly content.

Vale didn't know the reason for the possibly content undertone of her look, but he himself wasn't content… he wasn't content at all.

Vale looked at the shash wrapped around his arm, which had been dormant ever since it pulled him away.

While Ximena was still alive, she'd most likely resume the process of dying the moment she got freed. The only one who could possibly heal her from this state, that Vale knew of, was…

'Salome…'

That brought on the third complication…

The crystal was cold… meaning, Absolute Zero was most likely unaffected by her stasis. So, as they chipped away at the crystal and got closer to freeing her, her constitution would make it impossible for the workers to make any progress without killing themselves.

Next, even if Salome agreed to heal her…

Salome's life would also be at risk.

While Lust blocked out pain and other factors during an action with another… would it still respond the same if a third-party source was involved?

Probably not.

Meaning, Salome in the fraction of a moment would have to shatter the crystal or absorb it just enough not to kill her, remove the spear, heal her, and escape before she died…

Something Vale didn't think the succubus was going to be willing to do for her mortal enemy. But who knows, maybe the succubus had changed since meeting Vale?

'I doubt it.'

Hate doesn't go away so easily; it sleeps when it's convenient and waits for the perfect time to resurface.

For the succubus, that perfect point would be now — a point where her refusal to help had reasonable grounds besides hatred; where a justifiable inaction would lead to a long-desired result.

The rest of Vale's Champions caught up.

Awilix said evenly, without care:

"That doesn't look very good."

Salome had an odd expression on her face, the corner of her lips slightly upturned:

"No, it does not…"

Mias then muttered after:

"What a terrible blow… It rended straight through her Aether and clipped her Core…"

***

Vale took a moment to gather himself before slinging out a slew of orders left and right.

The first thing they did was clean up and organize all of the loot from the levels and strip the invaders.

On the bright side, they'd gained a massive amount of supplies in a short timeframe… plus, it could have been much worse as Ximena was still technically alive.

Jaune, the rugged warrior, according to Mias, could disperse Aether, not due to some Item, but either his Trait or Aspect… That meant the man could cut through Ximena's crystals, which were made of Aether, like butter.

If they hadn't gotten distracted chasing Vale, the man would have taken his time to dig out his spear and kill Ximena. In fact, it's almost weird that such experienced fighters would rush into an unknown dungeon like that.

They moved like they already knew they'd be successful, and they didn't have to worry at all…

'I wonder…'

Vale shook his head.

After picking up the spoils, Vale had the corpses transported outside and dumped off the ledge, sending them into the depths of the ravine. They could properly bury the bodies the next time the sun rose. But for now, he wanted them out of his sight.

Next on the agenda… was at least moving Ximena.

Thankfully, the crystal wasn't attached to the ground, so it was movable. The problem was the insane weight and size.

The workers spent two hours chipping away with their claws and making handholds to improve grip. Then, once barely light enough, nearly everyone helped drag Ximena to the room just outside the streamers at the exit of the maze.

They'd only be able to get her further in if they widened the door or shaved off more of her prison, which they couldn't do just yet. Or at least, they held off on that for now.

They placed her away in the far corner, making her crystalized dying form almost look like a horrid decoration…

Vale spoke not a word to Salome during this entire time about asking her to heal Ximena, as he was sure the succubus had long reached the same conclusion as he.

Instead, Vale decided to wait to see if the succubus would bring up the solution herself. If she did, it was clear Salome's pragmatic side had outweighed her hidden emotional side…

Although after six hours had passed and she remained silent on the topic, it became clear to Vale where her true feelings lay.

Vale didn't know how Salome would react to him asking her to risk her life for her enemy, but it was almost certainly going to end terribly. At least that was what he'd convinced himself.

Vale sat on the stone throne in the room with Ximena and leaned back, angling his head toward the cave's roof.

'How does one make two beings with a decade-long vendetta forgive one another for the atrocities they committed…'

***

Ophelia didn't entirely understand the point of all that, but it wasn't something she was particularly sad to do.

To waltz into the bastard's home and taunt him?

That was something she thoroughly enjoyed.

Plus, it all happened as Leila dictated.

Leila had given her a strict plan to follow that would apparently set in motion an avalanche of cause and effect, inevitably reshaping the entire world and leading to her desired revenge.

Ophelia didn't feel good about leaving her brother's corpse behind like that, but apparently, it needed to be done; nor did she feel good about tricking those five into attacking the dungeon with the promise of fortune.

A feat that had been really easy to do with just the slightest display of foretelling.

Predict an animal scampering by, the wind's rustle, the nuanced ambient sounds, facts you shouldn't know about someone, and it becomes hard to doubt your words.

Of course, those five were anything but innocent, at least according to Leila. They regularly murdered and looted other dungeoneers for sport.

Their deaths were more of an act of kindness in the greater lens because she saved numerous future lives.

In any case, Ophelia was torn at her inability to give her brother a proper burial. In fact, she felt despicable for doing this all in his name, then using his corpse. But having to do such an action wasn't her fault…

'If only that Sloth bitch never existed.'

Even the mere thought of that horrible Vice made Kindness want to grow a rose garden with their corpse as fertilizer.

'Not that I'd let my beautiful seeds be planted in such tainted soil.'

Ophelia trotted past the girl trapped in a crystal and paused momentarily to look at her strained face as she was dying.

'Pitiful.'

Anything that served Lust was pitiful…

Ophelia spat on the crystal and then turned and walked up the ramp.

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