Resolution and the Pitfalls

After the third pot of tea, within the vast expanse of Sally’s soul domain, the evil god’s soul, a malevolent crimson entity, was finally refined into tendrils of black smoke. These tendrils coiled above the colossal flesh monster, radiating an icy, ominous aura.

The soulless husk ceased its trembling and wailing. Instead, specks of starlight began to emerge from within it, scattering outwards like a breathtaking shower of light.

Witnessing such beautiful motes of light ascend from the grotesque, corrupted flesh, Sally managed a strained, bitter smile.

These luminous specks were the remnants of souls devoured by the evil god, representing the last vestiges of those who had once existed in the world.

Ordinarily, these residual souls would have transformed into vengeful spirits under the evil god’s power, aiding it in battle. Now, with the evil god’s soul reduced to ash, these unbound spirits were finally seeing the light of day once more.

However, without Sally’s intervention, these myriad specks of light would ultimately fade like ephemeral fireworks, vanishing into the heavens and earth within mere seconds.

“Grace, are you in there?”

She called out to the empty space before her. A chill settled in her heart.

‘But even amidst this rain of light, what then?’

‘Even if I managed to find her among these millions of residual souls, what would I gain? An empty shell with Grace’s face?’

The silver-haired youth covered her face, a bitter smile twisting her lips.

‘Is it guilt? Sadness? Pain for someone once cherished, now gone forever due to my own oversight?’

‘Perhaps all of it… But what is lost is irrevocably gone. Even profound regret afterwards would ultimately be in vain.’

‘Yet, even so…’

In silence, the devil raised her right hand, its outline already somewhat blurred. The Soul-Guiding Lamps immediately opened their covers.

The luminous motes emanating from the evil god’s corpse were drawn into the Soul-Guiding Lamps in batches. Only when her soul vision revealed an utterly desolate darkness did Sally finally take a deep breath.

As if expelling all the pent-up sorrow from her very core, Sally exhaled a long breath, effortlessly reducing the tattered evil god’s corpse to dust.

‘This time, it’s my turn to protect you… Finding you among millions of residual souls? That’s easily done.’

‘Even if it takes a great deal of time, even if you won’t remember me, even if…’

‘This is what I owe you.’

“Cough, cough, cough… Damn it, is my body giving out?”

Under the returning brilliance of the moonlight, Sally glanced at her body, now forty percent transparent, and let out another bitter laugh.

“Though I exploited a loophole in the barrier’s world laws, coupled with the idiotic evil god’s Blood Temple obstructing the laws of this realm, and even using this legendary magical artifact—the Mirror of Dimensions—as a buffer for the world’s magical disturbances during my descent… it’s still imperfect.”

Coughing again, Sally covered her mouth. She vaguely detected a faint, metallic aroma wafting around her.

It was the scent of a long-overloaded alchemical puppet, its mithril alchemical runes beginning to melt within its limbs.

“It’s no good… In the future, I must seize the time to comprehend the world’s laws to reduce the impact of my descents.”

“Still, these pure negative emotional energies cannot be wasted. The remnants refined from this evil god’s soul are more than enough for Rao to complete his purification ritual… cough.”

Coughing up another mouthful of black, burnt-smelling smoke, Sally quickly concentrated it using Mage Hand, shaping it into an oval black gem.

“This should do it…”

Tucking the black gem away, Sally cast a final glance at the world around her, now desolate and ruined, purged of vengeful spirits and corruption by the evil god’s demise.

The Saint’s true body had departed, and the doll slumped weakly onto the stone chair.

Her body’s joints groaned and creaked. Her five senses, overloaded with magic, were a chaotic jumble, her vision a kaleidoscope of colors. The heat from her overheating magic runes caused her surface temperature to soar to hundreds of degrees, with any approaching cold mist instantly vaporizing into scorching steam.

The construct alarm in her mind blared incessantly, reporting the severe damage her body had sustained.

“Left eye nearly non-functional, nineteen percent of body paralyzed, sixty-three percent of construct runes damaged to varying degrees, right hand unresponsive, left calf inoperable…”

“These injuries are truly quite wretched…”

She let out a few dry chuckles. The doll struggled to prop up her limp upper body with one hand, adjusting herself into a more comfortable position on the stone chair.

Due to the imperfect descent measures, the Saint had ultimately triggered a backlash from the world’s laws.

While the Saint’s true body, residing in another dimension, suffered no actual harm, the doll’s body bore the brunt of this rejection phenomenon, along with the severe strain of the Saint’s surging magical power on her internal magic circuits.

Currently, the doll’s appearance was utterly wretched. She resembled a broken doll about to be discarded in a junkyard, with one leg and one arm unnaturally twisted and dangling limply.

One silver-grey eye displayed cracks like shattered glass, and irregular rune-like fissures marred her pristine, fair skin. Steam occasionally hissed from within her joints.

‘Fortunately, the self-repair system isn’t completely broken yet. At least it can restore me enough to move…’

Silently awaiting the activation of her self-repair system, the doll extended her Saint-infused mental energy outwards, manipulating the ambient energy and loose stones in the air around her.

‘At the very least, I need to ensure the remaining monsters don’t find this place before my body can move again…’

A thin mist emanated from around the doll, causing the area within about ten meters to become ethereal and untouchable, much like a mirage.

‘This spatial mist should be sufficient… Now, before I regain mobility, I should speak with that queen’s soul.’

Closing her eyes, the doll’s consciousness sank into her own mental domain.

The mist churned, and the doll’s soul-form materialized in the center of a pure white flower sea.

“Who are you?”

Annelise, wary, questioned the figure that had suddenly appeared not far in front of her, dressed in a Victorian-style flat hat and a linen-colored shawl.

‘Her appearance is almost identical to the vessel the evil god used to ambush my magical avatar earlier. Her aura is powerful and arrogant, and she shows no panic at being abruptly transported to an unfamiliar place, instead exuding an imposing presence, almost queen-like. But…’

“…More importantly, little girl, don’t you think it’s impolite to pick flowers from someone else’s garden without permission?”

The doll felt a twitch in her eye.

‘What’s with that messy flower wreath on her head and the massive bouquet she’s cradling?’

‘And that fleeting, goofy smile I just saw! Stop pretending! I saw it all! You country bumpkin, you innocent airhead!’

‘Most importantly, what’s with this aged loli appearance, with her age and figure severely shrunk?! I don’t recall my Nightmare Barrier having that effect!’

‘Furthermore, isn’t the Queen of the Bloodline supposed to be an elegant, noble, super S-type onee-san who strategizes from afar and rules her entire clan with immense power and almost magical authority?’

‘What’s with this person who tries to act cool but is actually as naive and innocent as a sheltered young lady completely ignorant of the world?’

Watching the female Archduchess’s soul drop the bouquet, desperately trying to hide her embarrassment by glancing around, the doll’s mind went into a frenzy.

‘Ah, alright, alright. I shouldn’t have held such unrealistic fantasies about anything in this godforsaken world.’

The doll rubbed her brow, a hint of exasperation in her voice as she began, “I…”

“Hmph! It’s your honor that this Queen has taken a liking to your flowers! It’s not because they’re pretty! And this Queen asks if this is the reception room at the forefront of Hell?”

The doll: ‘…What is with this textbook tsundere?! And what exactly is a “reception room at the forefront of Hell”?! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻’

“Then you must be the gatekeeper? In life, I was a high-ranking Bloodline Archduchess, so I should receive preferential treatment in Satan’s Hell! Hurry and brew this Queen some black tea! You impoverished servant!”

The doll: “…Heh.”

“Wait… what are you doing approaching me?! Hey! Don’t! Help me!”

“Little one, it seems I need to re-educate you on proper etiquette towards your elders…”