World in the Painting: Ishruna · Kindling

"Hey, hey, you already used that excuse once before. It has no credibility at all."

Olga Marie spoke without the slightest politeness. If she had not sensed that something was wrong earlier and used Illusion Magecraft to fabricate a "Gray," then Gray would undoubtedly have been severely wounded by that sudden betrayal just now—perhaps even killed.

"I couldn't do anything about it..."

Gale grinned and spoke aggrievedly.

"You were the ones who sealed me away. If this space hadn't weakened the seal, I wouldn't even have been able to warn you."

"If you could have explained all this clearly, we wouldn't have sealed you."

"But what was sealed inside was only a fragment of my soul. It's already pretty impressive that it possessed intelligence."

"So this is all our fault, then?"

Olga Marie snorted softly and folded her arms.

"Of course... not."

"You didn't really think I hadn't seen through your disguise, did you? You wanted to mislead me into extinguishing the Primal Fire so you could destroy it. Your acting was far too poor!"

"Those are the remnants of the souls of every Flame Transmission bearer I collected over the centuries, along with myself. With thirteen Holy Kings as kindling, the Primal Fire will surely blaze fiercely—!"

"I deceived her, pretending to extinguish the Primal Fire. In truth, I hid it within the original text of the Crimson Poem and successfully delayed things until you arrived."

"The first Holy King had long learned of the world's end through the Crimson Poem. He wanted to break fate, but in the end, he failed."

Gray looked at the Crimson Poem and let out another heavy sigh, her expression dim.

Kischurche pointed at the burning humanoid seated upon a throne not far away.

As though he had suddenly sensed something, Gale abruptly