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「Ah, there’s Mira!」
「Chief!」

Mira’s surroundings were white, as if covered by snow, and only the bloodied coffin in front of her stood out from the background. She began pondering how to transport it again when she heard voices behind her that sounded out of place.

「Ohh, Sasori. And First Lieutenant… you’re still alive, I see.」

Turning around, she saw Sasori walking towards her with a relaxed gait, Cait Sith affixed on her shoulder and holding his usual sign. This time, it had ‘An emotive reunion filled with tears’ written on it.

「You’re too cruel to meow!」

Mira’s words pierced straight through Cait Sith’s heart, who fell backwards from Sasori’s shoulder and rolled on the white ashes covering the ground, leaving a line behind as the ashes stuck to his fur turning him white.

「At least it seems you took care of the tornado outside.」

Saying that, Mira picked him up by the scruff, getting him away from the ashes. At the same time, Cait Sith began shaking his body to shed off all the powder stuck to his fur, while raising the sign triumphantly, 「Mission Complete」 written on it.

「Meow took them all down!」

Saying that, the ashes got into his mouth and he went into a coughing fit. Mira gently patted his back, and saying 「Good job」 she quickly sent him away. Before he vanished, he turned a pleading look to Mira while the sign changed to 「We need more representation!」, but Mira was not looking at him anymore, instead going to meet the Fifty Bells’ members who were arriving one after the other. All she heard was a sad cry from Cait Sith which was cut off short.

「So, Mira. What’s the current situation?」

When everyone gathered, they looked at the strange sight of the Ancient Circular Gate covered in ashes before Sasori asked that, representing the question in everyone’s minds.

「Well, a lot of things happened.」

With that, Mira told about the man from Chimera Clauzen, the mist that ate away at spirits, the retrieval and restoration of a part of the Spirit King’s power, and how the man fled after dropping the spirit bomb.

「A bomb? Are you alright?」

When Mira finished telling the story, Sasori’s first reaction was to ask that. Seeing everything covered in ashes, anyone could guess just how powerful the blast had been, and Mira had been standing right in the center of all that destruction. So it was more shocking than anything to see her without a scratch.

「Pretty much, just look at me.」

But Mira pushed Sasori’s worries aside, smiling proudly as she twirled around. Seeing Mira was still her usual self, Sasori looked at their surroundings again. Everything had been burned away and turned to ashes, only the columns and broken-down stairs particular to the Ancient Circular Gate remaining.

「You were alright after all that…」

Sasori muttered in disbelief. In a way, that white scenery was beautiful. But something about that shade of white felt unsettling, like an impure and inert emptiness.

「Are these the swords you mentioned?」

Arlon peeked from beside Sasori and asked while looking to the side of the coffin. The two swords from Chimera Clauzen were placed there, one of them covered in a bizarrely wriggling black mist.

「They are, indeed. One of them is a spirit sword, the other is the cursed one that annihilates spirits.」
「A sword to get rid of spirits, huh. So they weren’t satisfied with weakening them, they went and created such a thing.」

Arlon made no efforts to conceal his anger, leaning over the swords and watching the black mist from closer.

「Also, the coffin contains a golem with similar properties, though it’s locked. I tried carrying it back, but it was too heavy for me. Can one of you take care of that?」

Mira’s physical strength was similar to that of any average spellcaster, so she asked for help while enviously looking at Arlon’s arm, bulging with muscles.

「A golem that destroys spirits? That’s interesting.」

Arlon firmly gripped the handles on the coffin and effortlessly lifted it up.

「Ah, it’s lighter than it looks. There should be no issue getting this back to base.」
「Ohh, amazing! I knew your muscles weren’t only for show.」

Mira hit Arlon’s burly arm many times with her palm as she spoke, while Arlon lifted the coffin and held it over his shoulder, 「Of course」 he said, smiling as he flexed his muscles. He was also proud of the body he had trained for so many years.

「Huh? This is just a regular sword.」

To their side, Sasori had picked up the spirit sword and tried to swing it once. Usually, when a spirit sword was swung, the arc drawn by the blade would produce some sort of effect in the air, but nothing happened when Sasori swung it.

「What was that?」

Mira had witnessed the sword’s power with her own eyes, enormous flames flying after her. So she looked at the sword in disbelief.
The sword was the same one she had seen the man use before, that workmanship was unmistakable. But as she looked at it more carefully, she noticed that the particles that usually floated around a spirit sword had vanished entirely.