Never Lost

Tales frowned. "Is that possible? What would the consequences be?"

The Silver Shadow was silent for a long time.

A full ten seconds later, he finally answered coldly:

"That has nothing to do with you, Brilliant Star."

Tales was awkwardly choked off by the blunt response.

But he still drew a breath and stared sternly at the Silver Shadow.

"I... I have friends up there, in Dragoncloud City. I want to know. I ought to know."

Tales thought of Thelma, of Grivo, and even of the entire Shield District, which had been reduced to dust beneath the Magic User's battle years ago.

The Shield District.

At the thought, Tales's nerves tightened.

The Silver Shadow seemed to be studying him. Several seconds later, he slowly spoke.

"What will become of this curse in the future is not something you should consider, nor is it within your power to control."

"At least, as you can see, I can still maintain the current situation, prevent the curse from worsening, and stop the number of dead souls from increasing." The Silver Shadow seemed to find that unconvincing and instinctively added, "I can maintain the status quo for quite some time."

Tales frowned deeply.

"For quite some time?"

"How long?"

Looking at the Silver Shadow's radiance, which had clearly weakened considerably after that strike, Tales could not help sighing.

"If what that general said is true, and even beings as powerful as you are are constantly dying and weakening, with the power you rely on to maintain your self and your sanity continuously disappearing..."

The Silver Shadow's black eyes flickered beneath the reflection of his silver radiance.

"Once you can no longer suppress this curse, once you can no longer 'maintain the status quo'... I don't know what will happen to the curse, nor what