Before Angel even reached the corner of the hall, Azik, who sat on a sofa wearing a top hat and holding a cane, gazing absently at the crystal chandelier overhead, sensed another angel approaching. He lowered his gaze, his face lighting with a smile and... a trace of confusion.
Mr. Azik hasn't forgotten me, has he...? Angel's heart tightened. She stepped forward, removed the hood concealing her face, and spoke first:
"Mr. Azik, I didn't expect you to wake up so soon."
After her first successful attempt to repair the Death Consul's soul with water from the Samaritan Women's Spring, Angel had returned once a month to the depths of the fourth level of Trier's Underground Catacombs. At the point where the power of a tributary of the River of Eternal Darkness leaked out, she collected fresh spring water contaminated by the sefirah's power, then entered Azik's dreams to repair the inverted pyramid.
After the third repair in early December, the pyramid representing the state of Azik's soul had closed completely, without a single gap. This meant the damage to his soul had fully healed, but whether he could truly awaken still depended on his own efforts.
I'd thought it would take until the beginning of next year... Muttering inwardly, Angel sat opposite Azik. She had barely settled into the soft cushions when a voice she knew well, but had not heard outside a dream for over a year, reached her ears:
"I woke up in that castle three days ago, but I only truly recovered my memories this morning."
As he spoke, he glanced around, filling their secluded corner of the hall with a sinister chill quite unlike the Southern Continent's humid heat. The surrounding clamor grew indistinct. Several travelers who had intended to rest there froze briefly, then