"—Very well, since I promised, I shall tell you."

Greyworth spoke as she looked down at Kamito who was lying on the ground.

"About what I know from the Elemental Lord's shrine twenty-four years ago."

Dawn's rays were streaming through gaps in the gray clouds, illuminating Areis.h.i.+a Spirit Academy's school building.

The merging of the human realm and Astral Zero—Astral s.h.i.+ft—this phenomenon had been interrupted. After that, the great quant.i.ty of demon spirits filling up the sky had vanished.

The ruins in the plaza, set up as a gate, had been destroyed by Kamito and Greyworth's Absolute Blade Arts. There was the angel's remains and a sacred sword, very similar to Est, were stabbed in the ground.

This was the elemental waffe form of Millennia Sanctus, the cardinal from the Holy Kingdom.

Right now, she probably lacked even the power to return to her original form. The blade had lost its l.u.s.ter, standing there like a grave marker.

"Twenty-four years ago, you..."

With blood filling up in his mouth, Kamito spat on the ground and muttered.

That was the year when Greyworth the Dusk Witch had won the Blade Dance.

"...What... happened..."

Kamito asked—

Suddenly, he felt an intense wave of dizziness.

(...Wh... at!?)

All strength instantly drained from his body. He felt a searing pain in the depths of his eyeb.a.l.l.s. His pulse throbbed violently.

His view, containing Greyworth's figure, was dyed a shade of blood red.

"What's the matter, lad—"

Noticing the anomaly, Greyworth cradled Kamito's head in her arms.

The instant she glimpsed into Kamito's eyes, Greyworth gasped.

"This is...!?"