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

===Part 2===

After taking Restia back to his room, Kamito placed the Demon Slayer against the wall by the bed. After all, the battle against Greyworth had been considerably draining. Whenever in such a state, Est probably was not going to wake up unless Kamito poured a great deal of divine power into her.

Kamito sat down on the bed. Restia quietly took a seat beside him.

"..."

For a while, Kamito remained silent.

...There was a mountain of questions he wanted to ask her. Why had she been teleported to the mortal realm in the form of a human girl? What had happened to her during her memory loss...?

However, Kamito had difficulty finding the right words.

Of course, he was sincerely happy that she had recovered her memory.

That being said, having lived with the timid version of Restia for some time now, he found himself a bit at a loss how to interact with her original self.

Did she read Kamito's mind?

"What's the matter, Kamito?"

Her dusk-colored eyes were gazing at Kamito slightly mischievously.

Kamito felt his heart skip a beat.

"Umm, you saved me back there."

Kamito spoke while averting eye contact.

"Yes, I am glad I made it in time. After all, it would still be too much of a stretch to take on the Dusk Witch in her prime even for you and Miss Sword Spirit."

(...Definitely, without Restia's power, I would've been killed for sure.)

Sighing lightly, Kamito stared straight at his hands.

Defeating Greyworth in her prime relied entirely on the gap in the power level of the spirits. The demon spirit named Vlad Dracul was undoubtedly an extremely powerful spirit, but could not compared to the likes of the legendary Est and Restia, after all. Had Greyworth been using her original spirit, it would be highly uncertain whether Kamito could win even when dual wielding&mdash;

"I suppose I have the Dragon King to thank for restoring my memory too."

"Yeah, we owe her a huge favor."

Kamito nodded and concurred.

Dracunia's Bahamut was the Dragon King, whose mighty fame reached far and wide across the continent.

Her true identity was a legendary-class dragon spirit with the appearance of a lovely young girl.

In the past, Bahamut had been the trusted subordinate of Ren Ashdoll, the Darkness Elemental Lord. Feeling an obligation towards her former master's charge, Bahamut had helped Restia recover her memory and lent them her aid.

"Actually, the favor has been repaid already."

"Huh?"

"&mdash;While you were fighting the witch, a great deal happened here too."

Saying that, Restia told Kamito about what had happened when she had regained her memory.

Inside the Dragon King's throne room, the Holy Kingdom's cardinal, Millennia Sanctus, had shown up.

Then she had released Otherworldly Darkness, almost corrupting the Dragon King&mdash;

"...So Greyworth's invasion was just a diversion?"

Kamito commented lightly.

Who could have thought that something like this happened inside the fortress while Kamito was fighting&mdash;

If Restia had not woken up in time, the Dragon King would have been tainted by the Otherworldly Darkness like the Elemental Lords, with irrevocably bad consequences.

"Come to think of it, there's more to that Millennia than being just a cardinal. To think that the Otherworldly Darkness resides in her&mdash;"

In a rare display, Restia murmured with a solemn expression.

"Yeah, that girl is full of mysteries."

The Otherworldly Darkness was capable of driving even Elemental Lords insane, yet she was able to store it in her right eye. Greyworth's transformation was probably her handiwork too.

How did she manage to retain her sanity?

(Or perhaps, she had gone mad long ago...)

Silence descended.

Tick-tock, tick-tock... Inside the quiet room, only the sound of the clock was heard.

Kamito coughed lightly.

"So, next..."

He asked in a grave tone of voice.

"Back then, why weren't you destroyed?"

"..."

&mdash;Back then.

In front of the Elemental Lord's altar, Restia was definitely supposed to have been destroyed.

By his own very hand, Kamito had pierced her in the chest.

In spite of that, she still survived.

Deep in a Laurenfrost forest, she had turned into a human girl's form&mdash;

"Yes indeed&mdash;"

Restia nodded and gazed into Kamito's eyes.

"Let me tell you. What happened to me on that day&mdash;"