“Ugh…!!”
Evan woke up from the shock of a dream.
As soon as he got up, he immediately headed to Minerva.
“Minerva!!”
“You’re awake. Is something wrong?”
“I need your help.”
Minerva nodded.
“If you need my help, I’ll do what I can. What do you need me to do?”
“Use your power to seal Chloe.”
A means to prevent Lucia’s death.
It was to seal her.
Using Minerva’s power, the time of the sealed person could be stopped.
“Seeing you ask me this, it seems Lucia’s condition is critical.”
“…? How do you know her true name…?”
“Let’s save the explanation for later. For now, let’s seal Lucia.”
With that, Minerva quickly returned with Evan to Lucia’s bed.
Checking her pulse, it was fading away.
“I’ll begin.”
Minerva’s magical power enveloped Lucia’s body.
The magic spread like threads, forming a barrier that froze time within its area.
This way, her life could be maintained.
“What do you plan to do now? Calling a healer…”
“Even if we call a healer, the damage from Rohendel can’t be healed, and she’ll die the moment the barrier is lifted.”
Normal death occurs when the soul leaves the body.
But death in Rohendel is different.
It’s the cessation of bodily functions in the real world.
In other words, it’s not the soul leaving, but the body falling into an eternal sleep.
“If you die in Rohendel, the soul remains there. So if we can revive the body, Lucia won’t die.”
“But there’s no way to prevent the death of the body, Evan. Eventually, we won’t be able to pull the soul back…”
“…There is a way.”
Evan knew someone.
A girl who knew more about death and souls than anyone else.
“We’re going to Anima.”
To meet Helen, the Apostle of Death.
“Do you plan to use the power of death to prevent death?”
“That’s the only way right now.”
“I disagree. No matter how much you want to save Lucia, I don’t think it’s right to defy the laws of the world.”
Minerva looked at Evan with a worried expression.
“…And you know how all those who tried ended up.”
Evan touched the barrier surrounding Lucia and spoke.
“…I don’t care.”
“Huh?”
“I owe Lucia. I’ll do what I can while I can.”
A determined look in his eyes.
Realizing she couldn’t change Evan’s mind, Minerva sighed.
“Alright. Then I’ll arrange a carriage to Anima.”
“That’s not something just anyone can arrange.”
“…I know a few undead. I met them while gathering information about the Land of the Dead.”
“How do you even find such things…?”
“Just wait a bit. I’ll try to arrange it as quickly as possible.”
***
Exactly one day after Minerva said she’d arrange a carriage to Anima, an undead arrived to take Evan and the sealed Lucia to Anima.
“…Huh. You really did it.”
“When I mentioned your name, they came quickly.”
“Good job.”
As Evan was about to board the carriage with Lucia, Minerva handed him something.
A small necklace.
“What’s this?”
“I thought it would be hard to carry Lucia around like this, so I made it.”
As if demonstrating, Minerva pressed the center of the necklace.
Lucia was sucked inside.
“Press here to bring Lucia back out.”
“We’re the ones in your debt, but it feels like we’re receiving too much.”
“Not at all. You risked your life to protect Terra. Consider this my thanks.”
“…Thank you.”
Evan smiled slightly and waved to Minerva.
“See you later, Minerva.”
“Yes. Next time, let’s meet with smiles.”
Minerva also smiled and waved goodbye.
“Take care, Evan.”
Now it was really time to leave Terra.
The carriage carrying the two slowly started moving.
To Anima, the Land of the Dead, where a way to save Lucia awaited.
‘Hold on, Lucia.’
I’ll definitely save you once we reach Anima.
***
After two days of non-stop travel, the carriage arrived at the entrance to Anima.
After Evan got off, the undead disappeared somewhere.
Ignoring that, Evan performed a ritual with the items Minerva had prepared to enter Anima.
“Water for the dead, the lifeblood of the living to enter their land.”
As he muttered, the blood formed a perfect circle.
The space of the tombstones distorted, revealing another space.
But it wasn’t the staircase from before.
Beyond the distorted space was the black river where Charon resided.
And behind Charon, preparing the boat…
“Evan oppa…!”
The tiny Apostle of Death, Helen, greeted him.
“Helen, it’s been a while.”
Evan immediately stepped through the space and patted her head.
“Yeah. It feels like just yesterday we were in the forbidden zone with you and unnie… By the way, where’s Chloe unnie? Didn’t she come this time?”
Helen looked at Evan with a disappointed expression.
Evan pressed the center of the necklace and released the sealed Lucia to show her.
“This is…”
“This is why I urgently called you.”
“Did… did Chloe unnie die…?”
Helen’s body began to tremble.
“No, no, she didn’t… Chloe unnie is strong. Someone so strong couldn’t have died…”
“Calm down, Helen. She’s not dead yet. But she’s close…”
“Chloe unnie is really… going to die…?”
“No. I won’t let that happen. That’s why I’m here.”
Evan patted Helen’s shoulder.
Then he turned his gaze to Charon and spoke.
“Charon. I want to go to the Impras Altar.”
“…Are you serious?”
Charon asked in a slightly surprised voice.
It was only natural.
The Impras Altar.
A place where, in extremely rare cases, one could directly meet the God of Death.
“Yes.”
“Only the insane would go there…”
“I have to do this to save her.”
Seeing Evan’s unwavering determination, Charon nodded after a moment of thought.
“Understood. But take the young lady with you. Even as an Apostle, it’s hard for the living to withstand the aura of the altar.”
“Thank you.”
“Young lady… is it alright to accompany Evan?”
Helen clenched her fists and answered.
“I want to save Chloe unnie. So… I’ll go with oppa…!”
“It might be dangerous and scary.”
“Even so… I don’t want Chloe unnie to die… I’ll go.”
The girl showed firm resolve.
At Helen’s insistence, Charon took the oars.
“Understood. I always follow the young lady’s wishes. Board, Evan. I’ll guide you to the Impras Altar.”
“Let’s go.”
As Evan boarded, Charon rowed the boat.
The boat moved through the black water.
After a long time, a large altar shrouded in mist came into Evan’s view.
An altar that seemed to be made of thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of bones.
The indescribable aura from the altar made Evan swallow dryly.
‘Please let this succeed…’
As the boat reached the entrance to the altar, the mysterious aura grew stronger.
As if it knew Evan was alive… trying to block his entry.
“My role ends here. From now on, accompany the young lady.”
At Charon’s words, Evan nodded and walked into the mist.
Holding Helen’s hand.
“Helen, have you been here before?”
“No… I never had a reason to come here. I learned about this place from Charon, but…”
So even Helen hadn’t been here before.
Evan, not letting his guard down, went deeper into the mist.
The deeper they went, the colder it became.
Cold breath escaped Evan’s mouth.
Even using magic to warm his body didn’t help.
“…Aren’t you cold? It’s pretty cold here.”
“Ah, right, you’re not undead, oppa. Hold on…”
A dark blue magic flowed from Helen’s fingertips.
Then, Evan’s body temperature returned to normal.
“Charon once said that if you’re not undead, it’s hard to withstand the aura of death here. Is it better now?”
“Yeah. Thanks to you.”
Evan patted Helen’s hair.
The little girl smiled brightly.
“Hehe.”
“Shall we go? We don’t have much time to save Chloe.”
“…Yes!”
