Lucian stood within the Dragonkin Soldier's massive claw as it carried him through the night sky.
The sensation of rushing wind was refreshing.
Especially after spending so much time underground, the cool, clean air felt liberating.
The places he had visited this time were nothing like the peaceful tranquility of the Siofra River.
The Ainsel River basin was infested with ants in every corner.
The smell of decaying remains used as food, mixed with countless odors produced by the ant colonies themselves, was enough to make anyone sick.
And then there was the Lake of Rot.
That place was a genuine cesspit.
Compared to it, even Liurnia's lake seemed pristine.
Whoever said Liurnia was filthy clearly hadn't visited the Lake of Rot.
Dragonkin Soldier swept across the skies above Liurnia, carrying Lucian toward Stormveil Castle atop the cliffs.
The Stormhawks emerged from their nests one after another to investigate the sudden arrival of the giant creature.
Lucian used the wind to relay orders to them and had already sent word ahead to Stormveil about their return.
The Dragonkin Soldier flew quickly, only slightly slower than Selinsax.
As a result, the journey didn't take long, and before long they arrived outside Stormveil's walls.
Because the castle had received advance notice and because it was already nighttime, the Dragonkin Soldier's arrival caused little panic.
Lucian directed him to land beneath the massive bridge leading to Stormveil.
A vast, undeveloped forest stretched below, untouched by human hands.
—
Except, perhaps, for Tarnished who had been knocked off the cliffs by Margit.
If someone piled together all the corpses of players who had been launched off those cliffs, they could probably fill the entire area below.
Of course, most Tarnished would never even know what existed down there.
Judging by the geography, the area lay directly behind the Gatefront.
It was technically explorable in-game.
There was a graveyard there, along with a group of spirit jellyfish.
But because of the terrain and dense forest cover, almost nobody ever visited.
Most players simply turned right, followed the road uphill past Roderika's shack, and headed straight for Stormveil.
The Dragonkin Soldier wasn't like Selinsax.
He couldn't transform into a human and live inside the castle.
If he were merely the size of a Troll, that wouldn't have been much of a problem.
Unfortunately, he was far larger than that.
There also weren't any particularly suitable locations farther away.
This forest happened to be spacious enough and offered plenty of room for him to move around.
For now, it would serve as the Dragonkin Soldier's residence.
Within the forest, even the towering ancient trees barely reached his waist.
Once the Dragonkin Soldier landed steadily upon the ground, Lucian began considering how to arrange things going forward.
At that moment, a clear and surprised voice suddenly rang out beside him.
"Wow! You're huge!"
"Are you a dragon? You don't look quite like the dragons I remember."
"Hey, hey, what exactly are you?"
"And why do I sense a giant and a Silver Tear inside you?"
The unexpected voice startled Lucian.
He immediately turned toward its source.
There, hovering nearby, was a tiny figure dressed in green robes.
She had appeared without warning.
Before she spoke, Lucian hadn't sensed her presence at all.
This wasn't simple stealth.
She hadn't even been trying to hide.
'Is this... cognitive interference?'
'Or some kind of presence suppression?'
At the moment, the tiny creature was rapidly circling around the Dragonkin Soldier.
The Dragonkin Soldier had noticed her as well.
The size difference between them was absurd.
Calling her fly-sized would almost be flattering.
Yet for some reason, he felt no hostility toward her.
Since Lucian hadn't issued any commands, he simply stood motionless.
Lucian carefully observed the tiny being, growing increasingly surprised.
Though he had never personally met one before, he had heard Hakkan describe them long ago.
It didn't take long for him to realize what she was.
A fairy.
The very same fairy Hakkan had accidentally released from a cave.
Perhaps the last fairy remaining in the Lands Between.
Every visible characteristic matched perfectly.
And a lifeform this extraordinary was likely unique.
There was no mistaking it.
Realizing this, Lucian remained cautious and continued observing.
The fairy was only slightly larger than miniature Ranni.
She moved through the air at incredible speed.
To ordinary eyes, her movements looked almost like teleportation.
Even Lucian occasionally lost track of her unless he focused completely.
'Why is a fairy here?'
'Did the Dragonkin Soldier attract her attention?'
'That's possible. The commotion earlier was huge.'
'Though where exactly she's been hiding all this time is another question.'
As he watched her dart through the air, an idea began forming in Lucian's mind.
'This might be an opportunity.'
'Maybe I can talk with her and learn some things.'
Just then, another female voice called out from the bridge leading to Stormveil.
"Liliana! Couldn't you wait for me?! What if you ran into danger?!"
"Ah! Sir Lucian..."
The Dragonkin Soldier's colossal body towered beneath the cliffside forest.
Though there was still some distance between them and Stormveil's bridge, anyone standing above could clearly see the scene below.
Following the voice, Lucian looked up.
A young woman in a witch's robe stood by the bridge railing.
A thin veil covered her eyes.
The moment she spotted Lucian standing in the Dragonkin Soldier's claw, she let out a small cry of surprise.
Shyness and joy warred openly across her face.
The person before him was someone he hadn't 'seen' in quite some time.
Irina.
She should have been in Castle Morne.
Yet the current Irina was noticeably different from the one Lucian remembered.
The old Irina had already been beautiful.
But that beauty had remained within normal human standards.
She was still young.
More importantly, she lacked the unique presence carried by figures such as Melina, Ranni, or even Sellen.
But now...
Lucian was genuinely astonished.
A faint aura of charm surrounded her.
It wasn't the result of a skill or some consciously activated power.
Her sheer Charisma stat had simply become absurd.
And beyond that, the most obvious change was her appearance.
She had become even more beautiful.
If one were to explain it using the character attributes from certain versions of Call of Cthulhu, then simply put:
'Her Appearance score had become outrageously high.'
For ordinary humans, Appearance would generally range from 3 to 18.
Previously, Irina had probably been around a 16.
Now, however, she was closer to a 20, already beyond what a normal human could naturally possess.
Of course, in the Lands Between, where supernatural powers were everywhere and existed on a remarkably high level, such beauty was uncommon but not impossibly so.
Both Melina and Ranni would rank even higher than that.
Especially considering that they carried genuine demigod blood within their veins.
What truly surprised Lucian was the speed of Irina's transformation.
The last time he had seen her, none of these changes existed.
It felt like a girl who had been attending school with him yesterday suddenly announcing that she had become a magical girl overnight.
And more importantly, there seemed to be something deeper within her that had changed as well...
Suppressing his curiosity, Lucian greeted the girl he had not seen for a long time.
"Umu, Irina. It's been a while."
Then he suddenly blinked in confusion.
He hadn't even spoken yet.
How had Irina recognized him immediately?
And for that matter...
Who was Liliana?
Lucian shifted his gaze toward the fairy still darting circles around the Dragonkin Soldier.
Was she Liliana?
Did she have something to do with Irina's current transformation?
The mysteries were multiplying.
Clearly, this would require some time to sort out.
—
As on any ordinary evening, Irina and the fairy Liliana had spent hours wandering aimlessly around Stormveil.
This had become part of their daily routine.
Even though they had been here for quite some time and had already explored every corner of the castle countless times, Liliana's curiosity remained inexhaustible.
Even places she had seen repeatedly fascinated her anew every single day.
As for Irina, now that she had regained her sight, she was more than happy to accompany Liliana and repeatedly observe the place she now called home.
Gradually memorizing every corner of Stormveil gave her an unfamiliar but comforting feeling.
For the first time in her life, she felt as though she truly existed in this world.
It was completely different from the life she had known before.
Before she realized it, night had fallen once again.
Just as she was preparing to return home, something enormous streaked across the sky and caught their attention.
Looking up at the ice-blue wings sweeping overhead, Irina was stunned.
She had never seen such a creature before.
Before she could react, Liliana had already flown off to investigate the giant being.
Though reluctant, Irina had no choice but to follow the unique trail that only she could perceive.
As she chased after the fairy, unease filled her heart.
It had not been long since Liliana had shared the Fairy Eyes with her and granted her sight.
Up until now, the most powerful and terrifying creature Irina had ever seen was Agheel's severed head hanging beside Lucian's throne.
Thanks to the fairy's power, she could perceive just how terrifying the Flying Dragon had been in life.
Yet the creature that had just crossed the sky radiated a pressure that far exceeded even Agheel's.
With Liliana determined to investigate, Irina could only grit her teeth and follow.
What she never expected was to find the person she had been longing to see.
Watching Lucian leap down and land beside her, she stared blankly.
Though she had never truly seen his face before...
She had once memorized every feature with her own hands.
Because of that, she could recognize him instantly, even before hearing his voice.
Looking at her, Lucian asked in surprise,
"Irina, your eyes..."
"You can see now?"
His question brought her back to reality.
She hurriedly nodded and lifted the veil covering her eyes.
Her eyes were open.
Deep, mysterious radiance shimmered within them.
Seeing this, Lucian nodded.
It really was a medical miracle.
Not only had he saved her life...
Her blindness had somehow been cured as well.
A regret left behind by the game had finally been corrected.
That alone made Lucian extremely happy.
Curious about the strange changes in her eyes, he leaned forward and examined them closely.
The sudden proximity made Irina too nervous to meet his gaze.
She quickly turned her head away, lowered her veil once more, and nervously twisted the hem of her robe.
"I-it's thanks to Liliana's power..."
"Ah, right. I haven't introduced Liliana yet."
Mentioning the fairy helped calm her down somewhat.
Lucian nodded.
"So what's the story with that fairy?"
"Tell me about her."
Taking a deep breath, Irina regained her composure.
She glanced toward Liliana, who was still enthusiastically pestering the Dragonkin Soldier.
Then she began her explanation.
"Fairies are very strange creatures."
"Their curiosity is unbelievably strong."
"And their ability to focus seems... odd."
"They'll suddenly abandon whatever they're doing and become fascinated by something completely different."
"They're incredibly free-spirited."
"But somehow it's impossible to dislike them."
Remembering her experiences with Liliana, Irina smiled.
"Not long ago, Liliana suddenly appeared in my room out of nowhere."
"She approached me herself."
"We formed a contract."
"And because of that, I gained the eyes and powers of a fairy."
"I'll start with the Fairy Eyes, since they're what I know best."
"They provide vision that completely surrounds your body."
"There are no blind spots at all."
"You can even see behind yourself."
"Because of my condition before... well..."
"Anyway, adapting to it wasn't too difficult for me."
"And through them, you can see something called 'Concepts.'"
...
After listening to Irina's explanation of the Fairy Eyes, Lucian finally began to understand a little.
At the same time, he identified a crucial piece of information.
Concepts.
A vague and abstract idea.
Yet potentially an incredibly important one.
Perhaps...
The Shamans could finally be cured.
The fusion between Shamans and Hornsent flesh wasn't something conventional medicine could solve.
Lucian still didn't fully understand exactly what "Concepts" looked like through a fairy's vision.
But it was clearly different from the perspective granted by his own Perception attribute after breaking its limits.
If Irina repeatedly emphasized Concepts, then perhaps there was reason for hope.
After all, she had just mentioned that when looking at the Dragonkin Soldier, she could even identify the origins of specific muscles and body parts.
If Shaman and Hornsent components could be distinguished on a conceptual level...
Then treatment might become possible.
As for separating them afterward...
Once a distinction existed, Lucian could attempt to use the analytical capabilities of the Great Rune.
At first, the Great Rune's analysis had merely allowed him to understand and use the powers of different lifeforms.
Later, he gradually learned to analyze the very structures of living beings.
Over the course of his journey, he had made tremendous progress.
While he still couldn't perform absurd feats like cellular reconstruction through sheer force of will...
More advanced applications had already become possible.
His extensive modifications to the Dragonkin Soldier had been one such experiment.
The success of that endeavor had given him confidence.
He still couldn't be certain the idea would work.
But at least there was hope now.
Letting out a relieved breath, Lucian looked toward the fairy who had somehow appeared on his shoulder without him noticing.
"I have something I'd like your help with."
The fairy tilted her head curiously.