Kalia narrowed her eyes as she looked at Buford.

He was clearly dying.

He still stared at her with his arrogant smirk and haughty eyes, but his face bore the resemblance of a dead man.

Yet…

“So arrogantly… One time is enough… Just once.”

Yet he continued to approach Kalia until the end.

With staggering steps and twisted movements, he tried desperately to get closer to her.

He wasn’t trying to attack Kalia, nor was he plotting anything against her.

He simply seemed restless, wanting to get closer to her.

Why was he like this? What on earth…

Kalia stared at Buford with a stern expression.

Where did this obsession, filled in both of his eyes, come from?

Woooong—

The Amuntia sword in her hand resonated.

It was Gaia.

The closer he got, the stronger the resonance of Gaia became.

Kalia raised her hand towards Simon, who was observing from a distance.

The purifying power overlaid on top of mana.

This rapid and wide-spreading power was probably the collaboration between Simon and Sasha.

And he would probably be battling against this from a distance.

“Damn it, damn it… You damn… heart.”

Buford clenched his fist around his heart as if in agony and gnawed on his lips.

As his body weakened, the pounding of his heart felt stronger.

Because of that, his hearing was now muffled.

The screams of the monsters, the sounds of explosions, and the noise of something crumbling were deafening.

Suddenly, the bright light that drained his power and the force behind it drove him mad.

But… it didn’t matter.

Buford looked at Kalia with blurred eyes.

Hunger and thirst gripped him and shook him.

It felt as if his heart was commanding him to quickly get closer to her.

Thump-thump, thump-thump!

‘It’s noisy, it’s noisy. It’s so noisy!’

He barely restrained himself from covering his ears, one step at a time, approaching Kalia.

Kalia looked at him with calm eyes as he approached.

“Just once…”

‘Just once.’

What on earth did he want?

Suddenly, Kalia wondered.

Perhaps that man… has already been consumed by Gaia’s heart?

His already purified mind and broken body may not be able to overcome Gaia’s heart.

That’s why, with only his primal instincts remaining, he might be trying desperately to get closer to her…

It’s not right, but Kalia suddenly felt a hint of pity for this man.

He didn’t receive Gaia’s heart through his own will, nor did he become the Prince of Akan by his own volition.

They said his mother was the one who first summoned the demon…

And it was Lirik who extracted and transplanted Gaia’s heart.

Though he lacked any will of his own, he became a villain and committed wicked acts.

Did he ever have a day when he was born and lived in pure love and happiness?

Perhaps this man is just a created villain.

A pitiful existence trapped in the intertwining of misfortunes and villains, destined to grow up as a villain.

Is it because of that feeling?Kalia didn’t avoid Buford, who was reaching out with his fingertips.

Shouldn’t she grant this pitiful villain… his last and only desire?

As if sensing Kalia’s heart, Buford reached out with a more desperate expression on his face.

His trembling fingertips came closer, as if they were about to touch Kalia’s cheek.

And at that moment…

“…You’re truly foolish, Buford.”

A black space appeared behind Buford, and a bitter voice flowed out abruptly.

“You came even though you knew you would die.”

Then, Damon partially emerged, extending a hand with sharp black claws toward Buford’s back.

In an instant, the defenseless back of Buford was pierced by Damon’s hand.

“Agh!”

“…!”

Buford’s knees buckled as he stumbled.

Even Kalia, who was watching it unfold before her eyes, couldn’t help but be surprised.

“…I told you not to betray me. You’re mine, I said.”

Damon’s voice, mixed with sobs, came out as if expelled.

Thunk.

Yet, her hand dug even deeper into Buford’s back.

In that agony, Buford’s back arched like a bow, his pupils dilated, and his lips parted.

“Ah, ahh…!”

Buford barely gasped for breath.

At that moment, Damon withdrew her hand from his back.

And the moment Kalia saw the red heart held in her hand, her eyes widened.

“Don’t be swayed by a worthless heart!”

Before Kalia could react, Damon exerted all her strength and threw the heart she held in her hand.

“…!”

With unbelievable speed, the heart flew far away, as if propelled by magic.

As Kalia leaped, following the heart that was getting farther away, Damon embraced falling Buford’s body and quickly disappeared into a black rift.

In the fleeting voice carried by the wind, it seemed to be pleading for them to show some mercy, but Kalia didn’t have the chance to pay attention to it.

‘Gaia’s heart… Mother’s heart!’

Desperately leaping to catch the heart, but the distance was too short.

If it hit the ground like this, that heart would burst…

The heart that was already in a mess would become even more chaotic and would perish…

“No, no…!”

The heart flew too far for Kalia’s fingertips to reach.

The heart was too small, too far away, and too fast for Simon to help.

Has there ever been a moment as desperate as this?

Has there ever been a moment that felt like a lifetime in just a single second?

As soon as Kalia touched the ground, she ran again.

She ran and leaped once more, but she missed.

“Please!”

At that moment, something flew toward her from a distant place at an incredible speed.

It was faster than any wyvern or griffin.

‘A white bird?’

Heading straight for the heart falling rapidly with tremendous speed, it had a pure white body.

But in an instant, before it reached Gaia’s falling heart, the identity of the thing that flew toward it became clear—it was not a bird.

“…Drea?”

A young white dragon.

Drea opened her wings wide and skillfully caught the heart just before it hit the ground, using her back.

-Kyaoww!-

Drea cheered and let out a cry, as if delighted by her own success.Kalia, relieved by the sight of Drea soaring back with Gaia’s heart on her back, swept her chest as if to calm herself.

Thank goodness. Thank goodness.

“Kyao! Kyao!”

The young dragon, grown only to the size of a young child, settled down in front of Kalia, quietly.

And showing her back, the child presented the heart she had rescued to Kalia.

“Thank you, Drea. Really… thank you.”

“Kwee-kwee!”

Drea wagged her white tail and leaped into the air, circling above Kalia’s head.

Meanwhile, Simon, who had embraced Sasha, teleported in front of Kalia and rushed to her.

“Kalia! Damn it, I’m sorry. I should have reacted first…”

Guilt and remorse contorted Simon’s pale face.

Kalia nodded as if to reassure him.

Drea, who had been flying in the sky, carried Sasha on her back and soared into the air. Simon approached Kalia and knelt in front of her, clasping his hands over hers, which were holding the heart.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m safe. It’s weak, but… It’s still beating, Simon.”

-Thump, thud. Thump… thud.-

The heart, stained with black blood, beat slowly in response.

Kalia bit her lower lip, enduring this moment that felt like tears would burst out at any moment.

As if enduring a harsh twenty years, the heart, mottled with crimson blood, faded in color, became tattered, and had a corner that was distorted.

Yet it continued to beat firmly.

Thank goodness. I’m truly relieved.

Kalia held it tightly, unable to hold back her tears any longer, and quietly let them flow.

Simon cast a spell on what was nestled in Kalia’s hands.

The surface of the heart became clean, and the minor wounds healed.

With an inexperienced divine power, he dispelled the remaining magic within the heart, allowing Gaia’s heart to become slightly more intact.

Kalia smiled with moist eyes as she looked at Simon and took slow, deep breaths.

The Amuntia’s sword had been unusually silent for a while now.

The once raging black tension seemed to hold its breath, waiting quietly.

Kalia trembled her lips and called out to the one residing within Amuntia.

“Gaia.”

A radiant light shimmered, revealing Gaia’s form.

With a puzzled face, she looked at Kalia and the red heart held in Kalia’s hands.

“…This.”

Kalia quietly extended the heart in her hand.

Gaia, who had been looking at her with complex eyes, slowly accepted it from Kalia.

And as she embraced it, which had gone through a harsh ordeal, the heart emitted a dazzling light and slowly permeated into her.

When the tattered heart fully permeated into Gaia, the light that surrounded Gaia trembled.

It was a light of fragments of souls, separated from each other but resonating.

Gaia closed her eyes for a while, as if accepting it.

A few more seconds passed like that.

Gaia, tightly wrapped up, slowly raised her eyelids.

In just a few seconds, the depth of maturity, unseen before, appeared in Gaia’s emerald eyes.

Stormy emotions were fully contained within those green irises.

“Kalia…”

Gaia’s incomplete memories returned.

Just by looking at her teary eyes, Kalia could understand.

Gaia, who was looking at Kalia, spread her trembling arms.

“…You’ve grown so much. That little clot of blood… has grown this much. So beautifully, so magnificently…”

Without saying a word, Gaia approached Kalia, who was frozen, and gently embraced her first.

“I’m sorry… And thank you, Kalia.”

How should one describe this overwhelming emotion surging in their chests?

Kalia wanted to say something, to open her lips and utter words, but nothing came out.

Kalia, who had been as stiff as a rock, slowly raised her arms.

Then she awkwardly wrapped her arms around Gaia, who was hugging her.

“It’s good to see you.”

…Mother.

Upon hearing those words, as if swallowing them, Gaia brightened up with a radiant smile.