"Bang!"
Just as Riezel turned around, ready to leave, a sound like shattering glass rang out behind him.
"----"
Riezel froze, his eyes narrowing slightly.
At that moment, he could clearly sense that his Cursed Speech had been broken—and broken in an exceptionally violent manner.
At the same time, an astonishing surge of magical power appeared behind him, cold and dark.
Riezel slowly turned around, raising his gaze toward Shalti.
Then he saw her.
Shalti, freed from her restraints.
Shalti, consumed by madness.
Her beautiful ice-blue eyes had turned crimson, like blood. The ice maiden simply stared at him, her face devoid of expression.
The instant he saw that, Riezel understood what had happened to the girl before him.
"Is this the abnormality of her being an Aether Affinity User?"
That was right.
Shalti's inexplicable descent into madness was one manifestation of Aether Affinity.
Aether Affinity was an aptitude that only appeared in those who possessed some trait that "should not exist in this world."
Riezel possessed Aether Affinity because his soul itself did not exist in this world.
The High Priest possessed Aether Affinity because of her unique constitution, which allowed her to remain forever young.
Belti possessed Aether Affinity because her magical power was special; even without learning any magic, she could heal others.
As for Shalti, her peculiarity was naturally those extraordinary senses of hers.
Those extraordinary senses allowed her to perceive many things as though she could foresee the future, but they also affected her emotions and mind, making her increasingly indifferent and cold.
That was why Shalti cared about nothing and remained cold toward everything, displaying an apathy far beyond that of ordinary people.
And when someone like her became filled with an obsession and fixation strong enough to surpass even that inhuman indifference, her