Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume16 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 1===

O exalted Dragon King ruling over the skies&mdash;

Please embrace the souls of your warriors so that they may rest in peace&mdash;

Inside the grand temple of Dragon Rock Fortress, commonly known as the Stronghold, the prayers of dragon princess maidens echoed.

The princess maidens were mourning the dragons that had died in defense of the fortress, holding funeral rites for their remains.

The ceremony looked like it was going to last the entire night. Kamito got up, took a deep bow towards the altar, then left the grand temple.

He walked silently through the dim corridors that were built from rock.

The fortress currently felt very desolate.

There had been so many female attendants during the daytime but none of them could be found now.

Confronting Greyworth on her own, Leonora had been heavily injured and sent to treatment. Although her life was not in peril at the moment, ordinary healing magic seemed ineffective for the wounds inflicted by Greyworth's demon sword. Apparently, surgery had to be performed by an advanced specialized physician.

(Greyworth...)

Kamito clenched his fist while walking.

In that final instant&mdash;

She should have been able to stop herself from falling.

But back then, she had chosen on her own to fall to the bottom of the canyon.

The Knights of the Dragon Emperor were currently searching for the whereabouts of the fallen Greyworth.

On further thought, that Dusk Witch could not possibly have died simply from falling off a cliff&mdash;

Just then, a girl suddenly emerged from a dark corner in the corridor, accompanied by a flutter of her dress of darkness and the mild sway of her black hair that seemed to meld with the color of the night.

"What's with the pensive frown, Kamito?"

Saying that, the darkness spirit girl&mdash;Restia&mdash;smiled faintly.

"Restia, you&mdash;"

Saying that, Kamito stopped walking.

Restia approached him.

"Let's go to your room. We can talk at length out of earshot."

Standing on tiptoe, she murmured into Kamito's ear.

"...Yeah, you're right."

Kamito nodded and resumed walking.