Elena and the others watched as Rei drew closer to the Black Crystal. Since they had no idea what it truly was, they could not move freely.
If what Rei had told them was correct, the crystal was even capable of resurrecting the Giants. None of them could begin to understand the theory behind such a phenomenon.
Of course, with no Alchemist present, it was only natural they lacked a detailed grasp of how Magic Items functioned.
Still, whether the object Rei approached was truly a Magic Item at all was a legitimate question. To their eyes, it looked like nothing more than an ordinary crystal—a simple mineral.
If it truly were a Magic Item, one would have expected some visible signs of human craftsmanship.
As they wrestled with these doubts, Rei gently placed his hand on the Black Crystal.
“…Nothing’s happening?”
Elena had assumed that touching the crystal would trigger some kind of reaction, but nothing occurred. Rei simply stood there with his hand against its surface.
“I wonder what’s going on,” Vihera muttered, half-joking. “Maybe the Black Crystal has a will of its own and it’s actually scared of Rei?”
Given the crystal’s eerie abilities, the others could not immediately dismiss her words. The fact that none of them laughed it off showed they all felt the same unsettling presence.
Ten seconds passed. Then twenty. Rei remained completely motionless.
Finally losing patience, Elena called out.
“Rei! What’s wrong!?”
There was no response.
“Maybe he can’t hear us?” Vihera suggested.
“Listen, Vihera. We aren’t that far away. And if there were any Giants left, they’d be rampaging around, but it’s quiet.”
At Marina’s calm observation, Vihera gave a reluctant nod. Still, the question remained: why weren’t their voices reaching him?
The same doubt lingered in everyone’s minds.
After exchanging glances, Marina was the first to speak.
“I’ll try using Spirit Magic to project my voice directly to him. …There aren’t many Wind Spirits underground, though.”
While Spirit Magic was nearly omnipotent in Marina’s hands, it had clear limitations. Just as Water Spirit Magic was difficult to use in a desert far from an oasis, the sparse airflow underground made Wind Spirit Magic less responsive than usual.
“Even so, you can still do it, can’t you?” Vihera asked.
Marina smiled and nodded. She could never refuse a request from her companions when they showed such trust in her.
“Understood. Give me a moment. I’ll try.”
She reached out to the Wind Spirits. The response was noticeably weaker than it would have been on the surface, but she succeeded.
“Rei, can you hear me? Rei? What’s wrong? Did something happen? You touched the Black Crystal and stopped moving completely. Can you hear my voice?”
Marina’s words reached Rei’s ear through her magic. The others could not tell whether it had worked, but knowing the power of her Spirit Magic, they remained calm.
The real problem was that Rei still showed no reaction at all.
“He should be able to hear me, yet there’s nothing,” Marina said. “What do you think?”
“Watching from here isn’t going to accomplish anything,” Elena replied. “We should move closer and call out to him directly.”
Vihera nodded in agreement.
At that moment, Byune poked Vihera’s side and held up a small pebble.
“Mm!”
“…You want us to throw this and see how he reacts?”
“Mm.”
Having known Byune for so long, Vihera immediately understood. Still, she looked toward the others with a troubled expression.
“What do you think?”
“If we’re going to try something, we might as well,” Elena said. “Just don’t throw it hard enough to hurt him. Aim for something that would simply get his attention.”
Vihera reluctantly took the pebble. She was worried it might interfere with whatever was happening to Rei, but the current stalemate left them with few options.
“Ready? I’m throwing it.”
Once everyone nodded, Vihera flicked the pebble with a light motion of her wrist. It flew straight and struck Rei’s hooded head.
Everyone held their breath.
Yet Rei remained as still as a statue.
Another ten seconds passed in heavy silence.
“What do you think is happening?” Vihera finally asked.
No one had an answer.
“We can’t stay here forever,” Elena said at last. “Since calling out and throwing the pebble had no effect, let’s descend the stairs to the Underground Fifth Floor ourselves.”
“I agree,” Marina replied. “This clearly isn’t normal. We need to get right next to him and try speaking directly.”
As they descended, Vihera spoke up again.
“It really was good that we wiped out all the Giants first. Though I didn’t expect there to be so many right after a shipment.”
“True. I was able to fight to my heart’s content, so I’m satisfied. Still, it would have been better if they’d been a little stronger.”
Vihera sounded both pleased and slightly disappointed. Elena and Marina exchanged small smiles. Byune, used to Vihera’s attitude, remained expressionless.
They continued down the stairs while keeping a close eye on Rei, ready to notice even the slightest movement.
When they reached the Underground Fifth Floor, the area was empty except for Rei and the Black Crystal.
“Even up close, it doesn’t look like there’s anything special about it,” Marina observed.
“I think Vihera’s right. Which means the Black Crystal must be the cause. Let’s move closer.”
Everyone nodded and slowly approached Rei, who remained frozen with his hand on the crystal. Even when they stood close enough to reach out and touch him, neither he nor the crystal showed any reaction.
“We’ve come this far and still nothing… Should we try touching him?” Marina asked.
“I doubt it will help, but we should at least try calling out to him first. Spirit Magic didn’t work, but maybe hearing our actual voices up close will make a difference.”
They all called to him.
“Rei, what’s wrong?”
“Rei, did something happen?”
“Rei, look over here already!”
“Mm!”
There was still no response.
“If even our real voices don’t work, there aren’t many options left,” Marina said. “We’ll have to touch him directly. Who wants to do it?”
“I will,” Elena said immediately.
Both Vihera and Marina had been about to volunteer, but Elena spoke first. The two women exchanged glances, then quietly stepped back several paces. Byune, who saw Rei only as a companion and not as a man, followed their lead.
Once the others had moved away, Elena cautiously reached out and placed her hand on Rei’s Dragon Robe.
She knew she was being reckless. Touching someone who had been incapacitated by an unknown object like the Black Crystal carried the very real risk that she would suffer the same fate.
Even so, she did not want to leave the task of saving him to anyone else. She understood that this decision came from nothing more than petty female pride and jealousy.
For now, she was able to travel with Rei because she was acting on behalf of the Noble’s Faction. But once the incident in Reblurina was over, they would have to part ways again. She could still speak with him every few days through the Paired Orbs, yet she could not help envying Marina and Vihera, who spent their days at his side.
“Rei… Rei?”
Acknowledging her own feelings, Elena gently touched the Dragon Robe.
The moment her fingers made contact, she braced herself for something to happen.
But nothing did.
She could clearly feel Rei’s body beneath the robe. While she had not expected anything specific, the complete lack of reaction left her both puzzled and faintly dissatisfied.
“Elena, how is it?” Vihera asked.
Elena shook her head.
“There’s no reaction at all. What could possibly be happening?”
“If we knew that, we wouldn’t be stuck like this,” Marina said with a sigh. “Vihera, can’t you do something with Spirit Magic?”
“Listen, Spirit Magic isn’t some all-purpose solution that can fix anything.”
As the two spoke, Elena shook Rei’s body once more.
“Rei, Rei…!?”
In that instant, something changed.
Elena could not tell what triggered it, but a vast surge of magic power suddenly erupted from Rei’s body. The power coiled around him, turning into deep crimson energy.
Elena immediately recognized it.
Flame Emperor’s Crimson Armor—one of Rei’s most powerful skills, a perfect fusion of offense and defense.
Yet despite the armor’s activation, Elena, who was touching him directly, did not suffer so much as a single burn. The same was true for Marina and the others standing nearby.
Before their astonished eyes, the crimson magic completely engulfed the Black Crystal. Not a single fragment, not even a speck of ash, remained. The crystal had been utterly annihilated.