CHAPTER 61: CHAPTER 61: COLLATERAL DAMAGE

The door hadn’t moved.

Not once.

Not after the first blast.

Not after the third.

The magical barrier remained perfectly intact—cold, silent, indifferent to effort.

Lys paced across the cracked floor of the outer chamber like a caged beast. Her boots scraped with each turn. The wall on her right bore a fresh dent from her latest punch.

"This is insane," she muttered. "Absolutely insane."

Cordelia sat on a chunk of fallen stone nearby, arms crossed, her expression unreadable. Bits of dust floated in the air, disturbed by the heat still lingering from their last failed attempt.

Lys turned again, eyes wide with restless fury.

"We heard the explosion. Something happened in there."

Cordelia said nothing.

"What if he’s hurt? What if he’s bleeding out behind some stupid enchanted door while we just sit here like idiots?"

Still no answer.

Lys clenched her fists.

"I swear, if something happened to Noah—if something touched him—I’m going to burn this whole place down."

"You already tried," Cordelia said quietly, brushing a bit of ash from her sleeve.

Lys spun on her. "Why are you so calm?! He could be—"

"Because freaking out won’t open that door," Cordelia interrupted sharply.

For a moment, silence.

Lys looked away, her jaw tense, shoulders shaking slightly.

Cordelia softened her tone just enough.

"We tried. We did everything we could. Now we wait."

Lys didn’t respond.

She just stood there, arms limp at her sides, breathing hard. Her eyes never left the sealed door.

’Please be okay...’

—--------

The steps felt longer on the way up.

Saphielle walked slowly, her hand brushing along the damp stone wall as they ascended the spiral staircase leading out of the ritual chamber. The air was cooler now, tinged with old dust and faint mana residue.

Noah walked a few steps ahead, silent at first.

Neither of them said anything for a while.

Then—without turning—he spoke.

"Sorry about the house."

Saphielle blinked, surprised. "...What?"

He stopped near the next landing and glanced back at her.

"Didn’t mean to blow up half of it. Really. We were trying to be subtle this time."

Saphielle stared at him.

And then, despite everything, she laughed.

"It’s fine. I was due for a renovation anyway."

Noah smiled faintly and kept walking.

After a moment, Saphielle’s smile faded slightly.

"Do you know if my assistants are alright?"

"Your assistants and helpers are probably fine. Cordelia and Lys probably just knocked them out so they wouldn’t bother you, and that way they cleared the way for me to get to you.he replied.

She raised an eyebrow.

He shrugged.

"Cordelia knocked them unconscious. It’s true, I’m not lying you will see soon."

Saphielle exhaled through her nose.

"I understand that the house suffered collateral damage, but I could have told them to relax with the boys a little. It wasn’t their fault what I was trying to do."

They reached the top of the stairs.

A faint light bled into the corridor ahead.

Behind them, the ritual chamber and everything it held was gone—sealed in silence.

The barrier cracked with a sudden pulse—then vanished.

The magical seals faded in a breath, leaving only the stone doorway between them.

Cordelia stood up immediately. Lys didn’t wait. She darted forward, nearly tripping over her own feet.

"Noah?!"

The second she saw him—alive, standing, slightly dusty but intact—she launched herself forward.

"You’re okay! Oh my gods, you’re okay—why the hell didn’t the door open sooner? We heard explosions—were you bleeding? Did something explode? Did you explode?! Because if you exploded and reassembled I swear I’ll—wait, did that happen?! Are you missing any fingers?! Let me check your fingers—why are you standing like that? Are you hiding a wound?! I swear if something touched your face—"

Noah blinked.

"I’m fine."

"Define fine," she shot back, already poking at his chest, shoulders, neck.

"Alive. No missing parts. Only emotionally damaged, maybe."

Lys narrowed her eyes. "That’s not funny. You could’ve died, you reckless, quiet, infuriating—"

He gently grabbed her wrists and lowered her hands.

"Lys. I’m okay."

She stared at him for a second longer, then looked away with a red face and muttered:

"...Took you long enough."

Cordelia finally stepped through the doorway, arms crossed.

She glanced at them both, then tilted her head back slightly.

"Drama’s over. Good."

While they exchanged words, Saphielle stepped through the threshold, her footsteps echoing as she emerged into what used to be the entrance hall of her family’s estate.

Now?

It looked like a war zone.

The once-elegant marble flooring was cracked and scorched. The central chandelier lay in ruins across the floor, its twisted frame still sparking faintly with residual lightning.

Chunks of ceiling had collapsed, revealing broken beams and a patch of open sky. Vines slithered across the walls like invasive roots—thick, tangled, and clearly magical in origin.

And hanging from those vines, upside down in various degrees of humiliation... were her attendants.

Two of them dangled like puppets, gently swaying, eyes wide with shellshock. A third was stuck halfway through a broken window, his legs tangled in glowing roots. Another was unconscious, slumped in a corner, with hair puffed up and frizzed as if he’d licked lightning itself.

Saphielle stared.

Her eyes moved slowly from one disaster to the next. The melted portrait of her ancestor. The crushed railing of the second floor. The faint trail of blood leading into a hallway—probably from someone who tripped on a root and broke their nose.

She exhaled. Long. Silent. Pure disbelief.

Then, finally—

"You’ve got to be fucking kidding me."

Far ahead, down the cracked path toward the outer gates, Noah walked side by side with Cordelia and Lys—calmly chatting as if nothing had happened.

They didn’t look back.

Saphielle’s eye twitched.

"I hate all of them."

She turned her gaze upward as another stone from the ceiling dislodged and fell at her feet with a thud.

Silence.

Then another sigh—tired, bitter, and slightly amused.

"This place better burn down the rest of the way. I’m not fixing any of this."

She stood alone in the wreckage, surrounded by vines, dust, and the groaning of unconscious servants.