Magrina Fildagreen.

Born as a high elf, a pure-blooded lineage even among elves, she realized that she was hated by her fellow elves.

There was no way she could not know.

From a certain point— no, from the day the curse cast by the black beings bypassed Magrina, it didn’t take long for the world that had once been kind to her to be tainted by hostility.

The curse cast upon the elves during the war with the black beings, which stole their designated lifespans, took away many things in an instant.

Wise sages who had accumulated knowledge over long years.

Great warriors.

Mages stronger than anyone else.

Precious families.

From some, it took away everything.

There were some who didn’t hate Magrina.

But they were only a small minority—and her father.

All the other elves displayed nothing but hostility toward her.

At that time, she was only a 15-year-old elf.

Not particularly knowledgeable in magic.

Aside from the title of princess, she was merely a child who knew nothing of the world.

Even so, the elves didn’t bother to hide their animosity.

Even those who had never seen her.

Even those who had seen her just once.

Even the ones who served her.

As if desperately seeking an outlet for their anger.

They twisted irrationality into reason and targeted Magrina as if it were only natural.

Claiming that she had sold out the elves to preserve her own lifespan.

Spreading ridiculous, baseless rumors.

The only thing that allowed her to endure such an abnormal situation was her father.

Her father, who always embraced her warmly.

But even his tenderness could not fully ease her loneliness.

That’s why.

She deliberately headed outside the royal palace—a place she should never set foot in, not in human form.

Returning as if by a miracle from a place she thought she’d die in, back to the capital of the Allied Forces, she made a friend on the way.

Ella.

An elf around her age, and just the fact that they had both escaped that hellish place made it easy to bond.

She blew away the loneliness Magrina had carried all this time as if it had never existed.

Magrina couldn’t help but be captivated by that sweet feeling she hadn’t felt in so long.

A small warmth she had never truly felt from anyone except her father.

It was too precious to her.

And so—

“Look, it’s her! I told you I saw her turn into a human!”

“Gah—!”

—It ended up like this.

Her bracelet was taken, revealing her true form.

Even as she struggled to breathe, Magrina looked at the elf who was choking her.

“Die—just die—!”

The ragged elf screamed in rage.

As if he was ready to end her life at any moment, he squeezed her throat with all his might.

And next to him—

Ella, who until recently had always smiled at her, was now looking down at her.

Not with a smile, but with a face full of deep anger.

She wasn’t the only one.

Most of the elves there were shouting for Magrina to die.

As if they truly believed that her death would bring them happiness.

“Ha—”

Magrina let out a hollow laugh without realizing it.

Her throat tightened more and more, but at some point, she stopped resisting.

She had gone through this kind of experience many times.

Once by a warrior who had lost his master.

Once by a soldier who had lost his parents.

And once by a maid who had lost a loved one.

All of them had once smiled at her, and now they were trying to break her.

Her vision gradually blurred.

She could have resisted, but Magrina quietly let the strength leave her body.

Though she pretended to be fine, she had already reached her limit.

Even if her father tried to protect her—

She was still too young to endure the eyes of malice glaring at her from every direction.

‘If only I had been cursed too………..?’

To others, it was undoubtedly a curse.

A terrifying thing they desperately wanted to escape.

But Magrina had wanted that curse.

Then maybe, she wouldn’t have had to go through this.

……………Then she wouldn’t be suffocating under this painful, different curse.

Magrina began to feel her senses fade one by one.

The sensations that had driven her to pain slowly grew dim.

And then—

“Kaagh—!”

Unconsciously, she gasped and opened her eyes wide as air rushed into her lungs.

“Huff, huff~!”

The ringing in her ears disappeared, and things returned to normal.

Her numb body regained sensation, and her vision was once again filled with color.

And what she saw last was—

“……”

A very familiar back.

####

Magrina had been pushed to the brink of death.

But Ashur and his soldiers rushed in and subdued the chaos in an instant, and Alon safely rescued her back to the kingdom.

“Thank you, my lord…………. I owe you again.”

“It’s nothing.”

As soon as she arrived at the kingdom, Magrina bowed deeply to Alon.

She was trying hard to act okay, but her ears drooped, and her eyes were filled with gloom.

Seeing her like that, Alon felt his chest tighten.

He had been warned by Kalanda beforehand…

But honestly, he hadn’t expected the hostility to be this intense.

Only after hearing Ashur’s account did Alon begin to understand the elves’ irrational behavior.

‘The Day of Lamentation……..’

A great disaster where countless elves were cursed, their lifespans stolen, and their bodies rotted away.

As he recalled the name they gave that day—

“Magrina—!”

From a distance, Kalanda, having thrown away all royal dignity, came running.

“Truly, truly thank you.”

He bowed deeply in gratitude and took Magrina away.

As Alon watched their retreating backs, the scene from earlier flashed through his mind again.

‘…Something’s off.’

A gut feeling.

Just like Kalanda said, many ignore the truth and only believe what they want.

But even so—

The hostility he had seen in those elves’ eyes was more than irrational.

‘I should look into this.’

He stood there for a long time, staring at the shadow where Magrina had just been.

###

Afterward, Alon headed to where Rine was, together with Ashur.

“This is the place.”

“……”

They arrived in front of a massive building.

Unlike the other lavishly decorated structures, it had a plain, square shape.

Upon entering, they saw Rine standing tall in the middle of a dark square.

Next to her, Penia was watching the scene with great interest.

“Ah, Marquis—”

“Penia, how are things?”

“Hmm, nothing much has changed yet. She seems to be observing something, though.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Penia nodded vigorously while alternating her gaze between the book and Rine.

“She’s reading quite intently.”

“Of course! If we go back to our world, just using this properly would be enough to get official recognition from the academy—w-well, that is important, but! I was hoping it might help with your magic research, Marquis—”

Penia laughed slyly, eyes squinting like a cat.

Watching her, Alon thought.

‘When we go back, huh.’

Of course, Alon’s top priority was also returning to his original timeline.

But unlike Penia, he had something he had to take care of once they returned.

…….

Agu had already met his end in the previous battle.

But as far as Alon knew, killing one physical body wasn’t enough to end Agu.

‘To destroy Agu—or rather, the Agus—completely, we must destroy the soul stone in the Underworld.’

In Psychedelia, after the player defeats Agu, there’s no real need to enter the Underworld.

Depending on the route, one of the Four Great Powers would always swoop in and take care of it at the right time.

But unfortunately, this wasn’t Psychedelia, and they couldn’t count on any such intervention.

‘When I get back, I can’t rest—I’ll have to head straight to the Underworld.’

He recalled the location of the Underworld from the game lore and engraved it into his memory once more.

####

Among the Four Great Powers, the Agu (餓鬼) were overjoyed.

Naturally, it was because the leader who had ruled over them had died.

Agu are born subservient to the strongest among their kind.

Born with immense power, they inevitably fall under the dominion of a leader who grows stronger by devouring many of their own.

So, the death of the leader meant a new opportunity.

They rejoiced as if a mortal enemy had died—and immediately began devouring each other in battle.

A new leader had to be chosen.

No one cared how or in what way the previous leader had died.

In the shadow world, the Agu endlessly consumed each other—killing and being killed.

Of course, no matter how much they were chewed up or devoured, they never truly disappeared.

They were merely absorbed.

The weaker ones by the stronger.

And those stronger by even stronger ones.

Over and over again, devouring and being devoured until only one remained.

‘It’ was reborn.

The newly crowned leader, ‘It,’ just like the one before, robbed the other Agu of their intellect, leaving only instinct.

Moreover, the power of greed left behind by the former leader made it even stronger than its predecessor.

Naming itself Mansang, it vowed to become far stronger than the foolish former leader.

……And all of this had happened just one day ago.

“Graaaaaaah!!!”

Mansang let out a horrific scream, looking up at the being before him.

His entire body trembled.

Even though he had forged a body far stronger than the previous leader.

Even though he could wield greed more effectively.

He could not overcome the being before him.

No, it wasn’t that he couldn’t win.

That thing—

Was not something that could be overcome.

It was something inexplicable.

It was incomprehensibility itself.

“Ughhhh—”

Mansang tried to drag his utterly broken body the other way and flee.

But toward him calmly walked a single girl.

Her face was expressionless.

There was no emotion.

No indication of any feeling.

She simply walked forward, unfazed.

“?”

Mansang asked her, despite the excruciating pain.

He looked at her with eyes full of confusion, unable to comprehend why this was happening.

To his trembling voice—

“…Why.”

The girl who had just been approaching Mansang—

“I knew you would return.”

Ana—

“I knew it………… but still……”

Yutia Bludia,

“I was just… angry, you know.”

She murmured softly.

Still shivering with fear, Mansang couldn’t understand what Yutia was saying and scowled.

“Even if you kill me, nothing changes! Even if I’m erased, the Agu will be born again! We—we are countless, countless! No matter how many times you kill us, we’ll keep reappearing!”

A desperate cry, bursting from his shaking form.

But.

“I know.”

“……What?”

“I said, I know.”

Yutia muttered quietly to herself.

“It’s just, you know—mm.”

Calmly.

“It’s just my way of venting.”

She raised her index finger.

“A simple, emotional release.”

And looked at Mansang.

With endlessly red eyes.