Lynn’s consciousness sank into darkness.
The world did not grow quiet because of it.
Alicia’s Holy Light softly covered the wound on his back.
The charred flesh slowly writhed and healed under the glow.
Vivian pulled out her sword, bringing with it a spurt of scalding blood that belonged to Lynn.
She dipped her fingertip in a little and put it in her mouth, her expression complex, nearly intoxicated.
Lilith cradled Lynn’s right hand, which had been mangled by jagged metal and chaotic energy flows.
She lowered her head and used the tip of her tongue to gently lick away the blood and debris.
Ignis lay by Lynn’s feet, nudging his calf with her massive dragon head, a continuous, uneasy growl rumbling in her throat, like a beast guarding its food.
Four people, four directions, encircling the unconscious Lynn in an airtight ring.
The air was filled with the scent of Holy Light, the cloying sweetness of blood, and an intangible, wildly growing something.
“He’s too weak.”
Alicia spoke, shattering the eerie silence.
Her voice was no longer icy from before; instead, it held a gentleness bordering on pity.
While casting her healing spell, she swept her scrutinizing gaze over Lynn’s entire body.
“Every time, he ends up covered in wounds. This time it was for us. What about next time?”
Vivian carefully wiped the blood from her sword with a cloth, not looking up.
“Then make sure there is no next time.”
Lilith’s movements stopped.
She raised her head, blood still smeared on her lips, smiling brightly and innocently.
“Sister Vivian is right. As long as Brother can never leave our sight again, he won’t get hurt.”
The gazes of the three women met in mid-air.
No sparks flew, only a cold, mutual understanding.
They had reached their first consensus:
Lynn could no longer be “left to roam free.”
The question was, who would “keep” him?
And how?
“I will apply to the Pope to take him back to the Sacred Mountain,” Alicia proposed her plan first, her tone brooking no argument.
“The Sacred Mountain is the purest place on the continent, with the strongest barrier. Nothing there can harm him.”
She painted a beautiful picture.
“I will prepare a pure white room for him, with only a bed inside. I will personally prepare his food and water, purifying all impurities with Holy Light. He won’t need to do anything. He just needs to be there, watched by me. That’s all.”
Vivian stopped wiping her longsword.
“You call that protection? That’s imprisonment. Locking him in a white box, what’s the difference from being dead?”
“Dead?”
Alicia’s eyes grew dangerous.
“Death is the ultimate filth. As long as he is alive and his soul remains pure, that is divine perfection. Physical freedom only brings unnecessary trouble and pain.”
She looked at Lynn’s hand, which Lilith was holding.
“For example, this time. If he hadn’t run around, his hand wouldn’t have been broken.”
Vivian stood up, looking down at Alicia who was kneeling on the floor.
“He is a man, a warrior. What he needs is armor, not a cage.”
Her voice was firm and powerful, carrying a knight’s pride.
“I will use the Kingdom’s Mythril and commission the best dwarf master to forge a full set of plate armor for him, tailored to his body. From head to toe, not a single gap. This armor will become one with his body. Unless I personally unlock the Runic Lock on it, no one can take it off.”
She paused, then added.
“Including himself.”
“He will be impervious to blades and spears, fire and water. He can continue to fight, continue to stand by my side. But he will never be able to take off that armor to embrace anyone else.”
“That is true protection.”
Listening to their plans, Lilith let out a soft, giggling laugh.
“The Saintess’s white room, the Knight’s iron can… your ideas are so crude.”
She released Lynn’s hand, stood up, and brushed the dust off her skirt.
“The body is the most troublesome thing.”
She gently nudged Lynn’s leg with the tip of her small boot.
“It gets hurt, it gets sick, it grows old, and it runs around disobediently.”
Her gaze swept over Alicia and Vivian’s faces, carrying a hint of childlike cruelty.
“You just want to lock up the body. But what about his thoughts? His dreams? How will you lock those away?”
Alicia and Vivian both fell silent.
They hadn’t considered this question.
Or rather, they had subconsciously avoided it.
Lilith walked to Lynn’s head, crouched down, and used her fingers to comb through his sweat-dampened hair.
“So, the best way is to make him no longer need this troublesome body.”
Her voice was as soft as a whisper.
“I’ve been reading a very interesting ancient text on black magic recently. It records a Soul Stripping technique. We can extract Brother’s soul completely and place it into a safer, cuter container.”
She tilted her head, looking at the other two, her eyes sparkling.
“For example, a life-sized doll made of the softest cotton and cloth. I could change him into different little outfits every day, tell him stories, and hold him while I sleep.”
“A doll doesn’t get hurt, doesn’t resist, and definitely doesn’t run away.”
“His soul will be with me forever. Pure, complete, and mine alone.”
“That is the most perfect ‘love,’ isn’t it?”
The air in the hall dropped to freezing point.
Alicia’s Holy Light flickered unsteadily.
The hand with which Vivian gripped her sword bulged with veins.
They looked at Lilith’s pure, flawless face and felt a tremor of genuine fear for the first time.
This woman was insane.
A thorough monster, far more deranged than the two of them combined.
Alicia’s plan was physical isolation.
Vivian’s plan was physical restraint.
But Lilith’s plan was the complete erasure and reconstruction of his very existence as a “person.”
“Growl!”
Ignis, who had been silent, suddenly stood up.
She sensed the change in atmosphere, felt the dangerous aura emanating from the three women that made her extremely uncomfortable.
She opened her mouth—not a roar—and instead bit down on the hem of Lynn’s clothes, trying to drag him behind her.
Her logic was simple.
These people were dangerous.
Treasure must be taken back to her own nest and hidden.
“Get lost, beast.”
Alicia, Vivian, Lilith—three voices, three different tones, but saying the same words.
The three simultaneously released their auras.
Holy Light, sword intent, and an indescribable, chilling magical power from Lilith.
Three forces pressed down on Ignis.
The poor young dragon let out a mournful cry, her limbs going weak under the combined pressure, forcing her to the ground.
Yet, she still stubbornly clenched Lynn’s clothes in her jaws.
“His ownership is not something a mere dragon can decide,” Vivian said coldly.
“Before purging you ‘competitors,’ we must first reach a consensus,” Alicia’s gaze swept over Vivian and Lilith.
“First, we deal with this most troublesome creature.”
Lilith nodded with a smile.
“I agree.”
It seemed a new civil war was about to erupt, centered around the “method of handling” and “ownership” of Lynn.
“Cough… cough…”
Lynn, lying on the ground, let out a series of weak coughs.
He slowly opened his eyes.