At Mr. Diomedes's words, Drost's eyes suddenly widened. "You..."
Before he could say anything else,
the surrounding light suddenly dimmed.
The three o'clock sunlight vanished in an instant, as though curtains had been drawn. It continued growing darker.
As everything around them sank into gloom, only Mr. Diomedes began to shine with a bright radiance. Like a candle lit on a stormy night during a blackout, it gradually illuminated everything around them once more... except that all lifeless things had turned gray and white, old as faded photographs.
Mr. Diomedes stood motionless with his hands behind his back, staring expressionlessly at Drost.
Yellowish flames suddenly ignited in the depths of his eyes. The instant they rose, they halted as if someone had pressed pause, solidifying in place.
Under the old elf's gaze, Drost's movements gradually slowed.
The expression on Drost's face seemed to freeze. His outstretched hand moved slower and slower before gradually stopping. His body was also losing its color.
When Drost became completely motionless, his body turned black and white like everything else in the room. He looked like a stone statue with vacant eyes, or a grotesque and comical funeral portrait.
In an instant, Drost had been subdued by Mr. Diomedes.
—Just like the people who had once tried to assassinate Drost, when Mr. Diomedes had taken control of them.
Mr. Diomedes stared blankly at Drost, his gaze sorrowful, as though recalling the past.
"Is this the strength of a Pope Guard...?"
Iver murmured in awe, suddenly filled with yearning.
On this world line, Yanis had left Avalon early. Presumably, it was because Queen Sophia had become a seeker of the Path of Twilight after using the potion. Their fundamentally opposed positions had driven a wedge between the two old friends.
Yanis was clearly a staunch Equilibrist.