Its gaze briefly shifted to Thomas Bennett's back. Even though it wanted to drain this mortal of everything, that voice still possessed a gentleness and allure that made it impossible to feel any malice toward it:
"I will not take their lives, nor will I demand their souls. I want them to do some things for me. The story of this woodland may be over, but there will be more stories in the future, will there not?"
The pink snow fell ever more heavily, blanketing the ground as though the earth itself were bleeding.
Its voice echoed through the wind and snow. After a brief silence, Thomas Bennett, seated in the snow with his eyes closed, nodded again:
"Fine. But take everything I have offered only after the outcome of my Time War with this elf has been decided."
It laughed softly in the wind. Only Shade knew that the laughter absolutely did not signify delight. It was mockery:
"Fine."
The little elf held in the Great Elf's embrace began to tremble. She felt as though she were nearly burnt out from the battle just now. After all, not everyone could forcibly draw the Sword of Light after using the Words of Sublimation.
If Thomas Bennett truly received the help of that woman with the pleasant-sounding voice, Emilia truly did not know what she could do.
Yet she discovered that Shade still had no intention of stopping what was happening before them. The swirling pink snowflakes revolved around Thomas Bennett. His Destiny Ring emerged even though he himself could not control it, and then all the pink light poured into it.
Beneath the snow-covered square, the enormous shadow of a mermaid swam past. One Spirit Rune after another filled Bennett's Destiny Ring: charm, desire, Reproduction, Craving, ocean, Mermaid.
Eleven rings