Juna Salacia 

Mass death, burning alive, slavery, imprisonment, disembowelment, boiling alive, execution, crushing, body horror, general war-related themes such as extreme violence.

This is the fertile city of Tioquia, known as the “Water capital” since ancient time.
This peaceful city is sparingly touched by foreign interference and blessed with abundant, high-quality water sources and fertile soil.
It is one among all things brought to us by the “Reason” of Idea, the Demiurge, and it is a precious place that I love with all my heart.

Long ago, Idea created this world as a “miniature garden”.
Then, “hope” and “despair” were brought in the world. And then, “humans” and “Elementals” were created. The former as vessels for souls, the latter as souls that shared the power of God.
Everything, from life and matter to events and the concept of time, started with Idea.

As Idea’s avatars, the Elementals have incredible power.
Humans, to borrow their power, offer their own lives.
By merging with humans, the Elementals gained self-awareness and acquired souls and human forms.
Possessing human bodies and Elemental souls, they became known as “Sibyls” and were revered throughout a long, long history.
This belief continues to this day.

My name is Juna Salacia.
I am the patron saint of Tioquia, and the Water Sibyl.

“May I offer you some tea, Lady Juna?”
“Oh, thank you. But I can do that by myself.”
“No no. I want to do it for the Sibyl…”
“Hehehe. It’s okay. You should rest.”
“Wow… You're so kind…”

Today, a pleasant breeze is blowing in Tioquia.
The city has been peaceful for a long time, and there are many people with peaceful hearts.
Under the blessing of Nefeshé, the goddess of fertility who protects this city, we simply live with our necessities.
I cherish this capital that protects such a way of life.

However… Recently, I heard a rumor that Agidis, a neighboring country, is up to something.
A sense of unease overwhelms me, as if something terrible is about to happen.

But as the Water Sibyl who protects Tioquia…
I am prepared to defend it at any time.

The world created by Idea the Demiurge is a “miniature garden”.
Initially, this world was neither black nor white, but an empty space shrouded in “nothingness”.
There, God created human beings as “vessels” in the form of her own body, and Elementals as alter egos of souls that gave birth to the four elements.

The human population gradually increased thanks to the natural blessings brought by the Elementals, but these blessings were not powerful enough to feed everyone.
Feeling sorry for the poor humans, God sacrificed her own life to create a fertile land, and chose kindhearted people to live there.
Eventually, that land prospered and came to be known as “Luthra”. It was a land inhabited by people who believed in the Aterima faith and worshiped the fertility goddess Nefeshé, who was sent by Idea to care for them.
The Water Capital of Tioquia arose within this land, built upon soil rich with nature’s bounty.

However, as humans began to desire even more blessings, they began to yearn the power of God themselves.
It was called the ritual of spirit channeling.
A ritual in which a young girl’s life is offered up to have an Elemental descend upon her body, reincarnating her as a Sibyl, an imitation of God.
By establishing this, humans gained powers that could rival those of the god who created nature.

Under the guidance of the Sibyls, humans reached even greater prosperity.
Yet this was also the moment inequality arose, born from the abilities granted by the elementals they worshiped.

Humans, or rather, the world, began to distort little by little.

Sibyls were created by sacrificing young girls and invoking the Elementals onto their body.
The four Sibyls of fire, water, earth, and wind were born and then scattered across the land. The people who worshiped each of them received the blessings of their power, shaping their respective countries.
The Water capital of Tioquia was situated between Agidis, which has become a powerful nation thanks to its advanced iron-working engineering, and Luthra, the homeland of the Aterima followers who worship the fertility goddess.
While acting as a bridge between the two countries, Tioquia lives quietly and modestly under the guidance of the gentle and kindhearted Water Sibyl.

The Elementals transformed the bodies of the Sibyls into their “vessels”, and weaved a long history alongside humans.
The Sibyls walked together to protect their respective lands, but at one point, the Fire Sibyl and the Wind Sibyl gradually stopped being heavily involved.
This was a small change never seen before in the long history of the “miniature garden”.

As if resonating with this, the delicate balance of power maintained between countries began to crumble at the same time.
The iron nation of Agidis, struggling with poverty on its barren lands, began an invasion to plunder the fertile soil of Luthra.
This marked the beginning of a war between the countries.

“We will conquer this city! Show the power of Agidis!”

A girl with fiery scarlet hair raised a battle cry.
The soldiers responded with shouts bordering on rage, and surged into the water capital of Tioquia.
In their hands, they carried weapons crafted by Agidis.

Facing the heavy cavalry of the Agidis army, which was making full use of their iron-working skills, the long-peaceful Tioquia had no way to resist.
Fields, houses, churches, livestock, people.
Everything in sight was destroyed and trampled.

Fires were set everywhere, and screams filled the city, their origin indistinguishable.
Juna, accompanied by several attendants who were also royal guards, rushed to the front line. Hardened by what she saw, she spread her arms and pleaded to stop the atrocity.

“Stop fighting now! I am the Water Sibyl Juna Salacia!”

The swarm of Agidis soldiers was flustered by the appearance of a powerful Sibyl on the front lines, even though she was from another country.
Among them, a girl appeared, smiling as if she was enjoying the battlefield more than anyone else. Her scarlet hair was fluttering in the wind.
Sensing the power of the Elemental, Juna instantly realized that the girl was the Fire Sibyl.

“You're the Fire…!”
“Exactly. I am Tita Avenius, the Fire Sibyl.”

The Fire Elemental that had disappeared made a contract with a new girl and reincarnated her as a Sibyl.
Said Elemental, originally a fiercely combative spirit, may have resonated with the temperament of the girl who was its current “vessel”, but her expression revealed a glimpse of madness.

Under the pretext of a war between nations, Tita enjoyed killing.
As if taunting Juna’s pleas to stop, she used her fire powers to incinerate the people of Tioquia one after another.

“La… Lady… Juna…”

An abnormal scene of people crying out in pain and fear, being killed effortlessly.
Juna shed tears as she held the dead people who clung to her.

She could fight Tita head-on.
But if the Elementals’ powers clashed, neither the people of Tioquia nor the soldiers of Agidis would survive unscathed.

Juna did not approve of fighting.
There must be a reason why Tita had gone so insane. There must be a path to peace somewhere, even between nations.
The Water Sibyl was kindhearted and had “ideals” that did not doubt the goodwill of humans.
That’s why Juna surrendered to Tita of her own will.
In exchange for her own life, she begged for the people of Tioquia to be spared.
However, her wish was not received.

–It was followed by the occupation of Tioquia and the enslavement of its people.
And Juna, accompanying the Agidis army, would be tasked with eliminating the people of Luthra on the front lines.

Tita’s proposal was not even a concession.
But with her people’s lives held in her grasp, Juna had no choice but to accept.
Then, with an evil smile, the Fire Sibyl added,

“The longer you hesitate on the battlefield, the more these slaves will be carved up alive. Don’t forget that, okay?”

“What an inhuman act… You’re wrong!”
“Wrong…heh. To think you can judge what’s right and wrong… You’re quite the big shot, aren’t you?”

Juna, who was taken away by the army, confronted Tita at the center of the Agidis camp.
The war had started aggressively without regard for other countries, and atrocities had been committed wherever place they invaded.
Juna closed her eyes in pain as she remembered the people of Tioquia who had been brutally murdered.

“Would you please reconsider…?”
“…”
“Don’t worry, you can atone for your sins. Nefeshé forgives everything…”
“Shut. Up.”

Tita interrupted her with those two simple words, her gaze cold and dull, sending shivers down her spine.
Juna couldn’t help but gasp.

“Don’t forget your position, okay? I won’t tolerate your lectures.”

Her gaze was unfocused and her dilated pupils revealed her anger.

“It would be easy to kill you here, but from now on you will have to work as a killing weapon, so I will spare you the rough treatment.”
“You really want me to invade Luthra…and kill its people…?”
“You’re free to do it or not. Well, if you don’t, the slaves of Tioquia will just die horribly.”
“…!”
“Until then, prepare yourself in prison… Take her away.”

After receiving a signal from Tita, the Agidis soldiers tied up Juna and her servant.
They were taken to a darkened street and pushed into the prison, where they heard the sound of the lock being locked.
Imprisoned, Juna slumped down onto the cold stone floor, her spirit broken.
She couldn’t get the terms of the deal Tita had proposed out of her mind.

Do I…really have to kill innocents…?
And lots of them…

Since becoming the Water Sibyl, she has never used her power for anything other than to help others.
But now, with hostages held against her, her life weighed on the scales, and only a blood-soaked future remained in Juna’s hands.
Would she kill the people of Tioquia, or the people of Luthra?

A servant knelt before the despairing Juna.
The young man, who looked about a decade older than Juna, started to speak in a cheerful tone.

“Lady Juna, I am with you. There is nothing to worry about.”
“Gustave…”

When a Sibyl’s channels an Elemental into her body, she stops aging.
So, although he appeared to be much older than her, the servant called Gustave was Juna’s childhood friend.

“…Hehe. There’s no need to be so formal even in a place like this. Just talk like you used to.”
“Well then… Juna. Don’t be so downhearted.”
“But if I don’t kill with my own hands, everyone in Tioquia will be killed.”
“It’ll be fine. Luthra must be working on something. And the Fire Sibyl might just be bluffing. She should know that if the Water Sibyl’s power is turned against her, she won’t get away with it.”
“I see… That’s right… Thank you, Gustave.”

Yes. Gustave was always by my side, encouraging me.
Even though Tioquia was at peace, there were still people who tried to get their hands on my power, but every time that happened, Gustave put his own life on the line to protect me…

“Um… I know this isn’t the right time to talk about this, but…”
“Huh? What is it?”
“… Ever since we were little, you excelled in every field. There were other suitable jobs for you, so why did you choose to become my servant?”
“That’s…”

Juna looked straight at Gustave, who hesitated to speak.
She was usually always accompanied by maids, so being alone together like this was a rare occurrence.
Realizing that he couldn’t dodge the question, Gustave begins to speak with a somewhat embarrassed look on his face.

“It’s because I wanted to be by your side… To protect you. Even my studies and swordsmanship, all of them were for your sake…”
“…I see. I’m very happy about your feelings…”
“Juna…”
“Gustave…”

The two held hands and looked into each other’s eyes.
Not only were their positions different, but even their very nature were different.
Though they never said it directly to each other, they could sense that their feelings were mutual.

Encouraged by the one she loved, Juna found a faint glimmer of hope.
Even if it was only a momentary consolation.

Luthra was a religious nation of devout Aterima followers.

It was an idyllic landscape of vast fields and grasslands.
It had land suitable for farming, proof that it was blessed by the Earth Sibyl.
The cavalry of the Agidis army was galloping through this landscape.
When they reached the fortress with its stone gate, well over 5,000 Aterima priests were waiting for them.

At Tita’s command, the Agidis army marched to the fortress, and just like in Tioquia, the Aterima followers were crushed.
However, since the Aterima followers did have some fighting skills, some Agidis soldiers were wounded in counterattacks.
It was a real battlefield filled with swords, axes, and bows and arrows.
The sight of so many people lashing out like beasts with murderous intent was too gruesome for Juna, who had never experienced war.

Tita, who had also taken up her great sword and was slashing down Aterima followers as if it was a game, called out to Juna.

“Hey! It’s your turn! What are you just standing there for?”
“This… It’s so horrible… I can’t kill someone…”
“Sigh. You really are hopeless. After all that nagging, you still don’t get it!”

Tita gave the signal, and Agidis’ servants brought in a restrained woman.
It was the maid who had been taking care of Juna’s daily needs.

“…Lady Juna!”
“No! You’re here!”

Without even time to bask in the reunion, Tita took up her sword.

“Well, goodbye.”

Without hesitation, she plunged her sword into the maid’s chest and tore it straight to the lower limbs.
She fell forward, spilling her organs everywhere.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
“I told you I’d kill them if you hesitated. I’m the type to keep my promises. Hahaha, HAHAHAHAHA!!”
“Why…would do you such a cruel thing…”

Just knowing that the people of Tioquia had been killed made her feel as if it were her own.
And since it was someone close to her, the grief was immeasurable.
Juna instinctively dropped to her knees.

“Hurry up and do it, or someone else will die, you know? Yeah, I think he’ll be next.”

She pointed her sword at Gustave, the man Juna loved.
Tita chuckled evilly.

“Guh… You bastard…”
“No! Don’t lay a hand on him!”
“Then you’ll have to do your “job” properly. I won’t wait any longer.”
“…I understand.”
“Ah, that’s the spirit!”

Juna couldn’t let any more of the people of Tioquia be killed – especially Gustave.
And so she chose to “kill others” to protect those she cared about.

Juna slowly raised her Staff of Great Waves and muttered a prayer to the Elemental.
Using the power of the water Elemental, she could summon a raging torrent that would engulf everything.
But the Agidis’ soldiers would have also been caught up in it.
With Gustave’s life in her hands, she had to avoid that at all costs.
Juna looked down and hesitated, then opened her eyes in resolve.

The battlefield was silent, as if the commotion from earlier had been a lie.
All that remained was a mountain of corpses.

“As expected from the Water Sibyl. I didn’t think she’d go this far, though.”
“That’s…! Because you made me do it!”
“You’re surprisingly talented, aren’t you? Well done, well done.”

As the Water Sibyl, Juna can freely control the essence of all water, and so she chose another method.
It was to target only Aterima followers, and make their blood boil all over their bodies.

Their blood vessels burst, and they bled from every single part of their bodies until they died.
Their faces were so distorted that they no longer looked human.
Such a mountain of corpses spread out before Juna’s eyes.
What had she done? She realized too late, and unable to hold it back, she vomited on the spot.

“Oh, so it’s your first time killing someone. Congratulations. Good luck for the next battle.”

Tita waved her hand, but Juna couldn’t answer her. To keep her mind from collapsing, she repeatedly muttered to herself.

It was… It was not my fault.
I was taken hostage and was only given orders…
That’s right. The Fire Sibyl was the one at fault… It was practically her doing…

Unnoticed by Gustave, who witnessed the carnage and called out with concern, though astonished by the Water Sibyl’s power.
To keep her mind from collapsing, Juna muttered to herself over and over.

To find out the location of the Earth Sibyl, the Agidis army burned fields, grass, villages.
They continued their invasions with a brutality far too savage to be called a national army.

Juna was part of that fighting force.
With her beloved taken hostage, she was no longer using her powers for the prosperity of her people, but to slaughter Aterima followers one after another.
Yesterday, today. And surely tomorrow too.

Juna was haunted by the screams of those who had fallen helplessly before her water powers, and the ghosts of those she has killed appeared in her dreams every night.
Gustave, her only source of emotional support, was under the care of a different unit of the Agidis army, and she was forbidden to have contact with him.
In these hopeless days, Juna’s mind was steadily being eroded.

“Oh? Isn’t this our Water Sibyl, wreaking havoc again today? Tee-hee.”

Juna was resting at the camp, mentally exhausted after destroying a village in Luthra earlier, when an Agidis soldier with a vulgar smile spoke to her.

“You're…”
“Hehe, there’s no way the Sibyl would know. I’m just a lowly foot soldier.”
“Why do you guys…continue this war that’s like an invasion…”
“Why…?”

The soldier was stunned when Juna asked him that question, but then he suddenly laughed out loud as if he remembered something.

“Hahahaha! You’re asking silly questions, my dear Sibyl!”
“S-silly…?”
“The reason for war? Of course it’s because the world is unfair! Nothing grows in Agidis’ dead soil, so everyone in our country is hungry. We have no choice but to steal.”
“But… Don’t you think about the people who you have stolen from…?”
“…Do you want us to starve to death, then?”

The soldier’s eyes sharpened, and he glared at her.
Juna couldn’t say anything back to those words.

“This is our only way to survive… It was unfair from the beginning anyway. It’s worse for the stolen.”
“But… There must be some way to resolve this peacefully without fighting…”
“That’s a noble idea, but Sibyls have no right to say it.”
“…Why?”
“You’re killing people in numbers we couldn’t possibly match in a lifetime… Such pretty words don’t suit a Sibyl who's gotten her hands so dirty!”

Without a trace of sarcasm, the soldier laughed as if he’d truly enjoyed the conversation, then walked away.
Left behind, Juna was shocked to learn what people thought of her objectively.

Am I… The same as those people…?
I have taken…so many lives…

“Haaaa, HAAAAAAAAAAAA…!!”

Perhaps her mental strain was too much, but she couldn’t breathe properly.
She dragged the shackles on her limbs, but there was no one to help her.

Was it a defense instinct to protect herself from further injury?
Juna collapsed with a thud and lost consciousness.

As Agidis’ army advanced its invasion of Luthra, Juna continued to stain her hands.
Whenever she destroyed a human body on the front lines, she despaired at the reality she found herself in.
Her inherently kind nature forced her to confront that despair head-on, creating a vicious cycle that further eroded her heart.

Her former, cool expression was nowhere to be found.
Her face was ghostly, her cheeks were thin, her eyes had dark circles underneath, and she walked dragging shackles attached to her limbs.
It was an “omen” that she was losing her Sibyl powers.

If a Sibyl loses her will to live through despair, she will no longer be able to function as a vessel for the Elemental.
In short, she was going to lose the power to bind the Elemental to herself…and die.

Watching the scene with concern, the young Agidis soldiers called out to Juna.

“Water Sibyl… are you okay…?”

Though the Agidis army committed atrocities in Luthra’s lands, not all its soldiers were like that.
Though they killed many on the battlefield, some admired Juna for her overflowing compassion toward others, and cooperative individuals had begun to emerge.

“Once Agidis rules over Luthra…the war will surely end and peace will come. So, Water Sibyl, please bear with it until then…”
“Yes… That’s right… Thank you for your concern…”

Juna managed to smile as she replied, and the young soldiers suddenly became animated.
Then, as if a flood had broken, they began to pour out their thoughts.
The young soldiers all told Juna their dreams, such as returning to their hometowns to become craftsmen after the war was over, or taking their families to Luthra.
Juna’s cheeks relaxed as she heard words full of hope that she hadn’t heard in a long time.

However, Tita would not allow even such a small, fleeting comfort.

Accused of violating military regulations on grounds bordering on nitpicking, every single young soldier who had admired Juna was crucified.
In vain, they pleaded for their lives with desperate looks on their faces, and they were brutally executed.
Juna could only watch, tears streaming down her face.

The despair swirling in her heart was reaching its limit.

But even so, Juna desperately tried to motivate her broken heart.
The presence of her servant and beloved, Gustave, gave her hope for life.
However, this also meant that Gustave was her “final line”.

The invasion of the Agidis army, which has pursued the Earth Sibyl and taken over various parts of Luthra, was finally reaching its climax.
The “citadel of Anchieta” had the headquarters of the Aterima faith and a sturdy, stone-built defensive church.
It was called an impregnable fortress for a reason, as huge walls stood around the cathedral.
Atop those walls, a great number of archers were waiting.

With no care, Tita gave the order to advance, and the Agidis army roared as they charged towards Anchieta.
Meeting them were arrows and iron balls filling the sky.
They rained down mercilessly on the Agidis soldiers, instantly transforming the battlefield into chaos.

“That’s terrible… Treating you own country’s soldiers…like this…”

Juna lamented, watching the soldiers foolishly charge forward and be reduced to lumps of flesh.
In contrast, Tita, the one who gave the ruthless order, looked boredly at the battlefield. Then she muttered, “Yes,” as if she had thought of something.

“Hey, will you kill every citizen in this city? If you do, I’ll release your precious hostages. You’ve already killed plenty of them, so you can do more, right?”
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. Kill everyone, and I’ll release your servant. Easy, right?”
“That’s…”

Driven to the brink, Juna wavered at Tita’s proposal.
At the same time, she felt terrified, as if she had become something other than herself, being swayed by such an inhumane, sweet invitation.

“Well, this isn’t a request, it’s an order.”

Yes, Juna had no choice in the first place.
If she refused, Gustave would have been killed.

This is the end. This is truly the end.
I’m sorry. I’ll spend the rest of my life by atoning.
I’ll try to make it as painless as possible… Please kill me…

Juna’s heart, crushed by repeated despair, was becoming increasingly warped, so much so that her own sense of justice was becoming unclear.
The despair was also weakening her Sibyl powers.

Juna fought with tears in her eyes.
To prevent her heart from breaking any further, she was only thinking of Gustave.
And without other thoughts, she fought almost by reflex.

“Please wait for me, Gustave. I want this nightmare to end quickly, so that we can enjoy the wind of Tioquia together…”

However, the terrain was unfavorable, and the counterattack by the Aterima followers was fierce. With her powers weakened, Juna was unable to advance as she wished.
Worse still, she was forced entirely onto the defensive. Trying to hold out while casting protective magic over the Agidis soldiers, she watched them fall one after another. Finally, they began to be pushed back.

“Even though we had an agreement with Luthra… You traitor!”
“How dare you go against Lady Mian!!”

Juna bowed her head as the Aterima followers cursed her with murderous intent.

What am I doing?
Who is to blame?
The Fire Sibyl? Agidis? Luthra?
Or…me?

Having been toyed with by fate, Juna lost sight of her own purpose.
The only certainty was that this place was still a battlefield filled with the smell of death.

Juna desperately defended the Agidis army, but her weakened powers were not enough to hold the front line, and the troops collapsed.
The Agidis soldiers threw down their weapons and fled in all directions without any sense of command.

Not satisfied with their successful defense, the Aterima followers began to hunt the fleeing Agidis soldiers, chasing them even beyond their defenses.
They were driven by resentment, hatred, and a righteous cause for their goddess.
Their emotions were all mixed up, and no one could stop them.

“W-wait everyone! It’s dangerous to split up!”

Juna’s voice didn’t reach them.
If they had stayed together, there might still have been a way to protect them. But in this state, with both armies mixed together in utter chaos, there was nothing to be done.
She was too powerless to be called a Sibyl at this point. Like any other ordinary girl, Juna was simply confused.

“…Ah! Gustave, where is Gustave!?”

Gustave was supposed to be imprisoned in the campsite near the outer defenses.
Juna searched for him in the midst of the chaotic battlefield, where allies and enemies were mixed together.

“Gustave! Please answer me! Please…stay safe…”

Was he killed by the Aterima followers who rushed in? Or was he executed by the Agidis army?
Thinking of the worst-case scenario, Juna desperately called out his name.

“Juna! I’m here!”

From the other side of the battlefield came a voice that could not have been mistaken.
Juna’s love was there, perhaps taking advantage of the confusion to escape from Agidis’ army.

“Gustave! You’re safe!”
“Yes! I’m going over there! Wait for me!”

Seeing her beloved running up to her, Juna felt a deep sense of relief from the bottom of her heart.

Ah, Gustave!
No matter how this world gives me despair, as long as you are with me…
I can keep living!

At that moment, an Aterima follower approached the rushing Gustave.
Gripping a dull-grey hatchet, he was about to swing it down over his head.

Juna noticed this and quickly raised her staff to protect Gustave.
A water sphere, imbued with the power of the water Elemental, headed straight for the Aterima follower.

However, Juna had miscalculated.
Since her powers were weakened, her attack flew at a speed slower than expected.
The Aterima follower sensed it, hastily grabbed Gustave by the shoulders…

–And used him as a shield.

“Ju…na…?”
“Gusta…”

In that moment, Gustave’s body began to swell, and his expression became to distort unnervingly.
He then exploded, leaving no trace of his original shape behind.
A huge amount of blood poured down on the battlefield like rain.

“…Huh?”

Still unable to comprehend the sudden disappearance of her beloved, Juna was drenched in the splattering blood, her form staining crimson.

“What the heck… You, you monster!!”
The followers, who had been trying to kill her just a moment ago, fled in fear at this abnormal sight.

A monster? How awful…
You would never say something like that…
Hey, Gustave? Where did you go?
Please show me your face… I want you to pat my head like we did when we were children…
Gustave, don’t be mean to me… Don’t leave me alone…
Did I kill you…? Was it me…who killed you?

He was the man she loved, her last hope left in this world.
And Juna killed him with her own hands.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”

Juna went mad and screamed, clawing at her head.
Her despair reached a critical point, and her mind was completely broken.
That was the trigger for the Elemental to separate from her body and abandon it…at least, supposedly.

Juna’s tremendous rage wrapped around the Elemental that was about to leave.
And instead of remaining within her body, she wrapped it around herself.
The Elemental power that should have been “restrained” within the Sibyl was now unleashed and began to rampage.
She went berserk, instantly destroyed the shackles Tita placed on her, and began walking toward the center of Anchieta.

Juna possessed almost no sane consciousness left.
The Water Sibyl had become nothing more than a raging, uncontrollable puppet.

“Is that…the Water Sibyl… Guh… Guwaaah!!”
“Hey, run! Run! Something’s wrong with her!!”

The Agidis army and Aterima followers have invaded the citadel and were clashing on the front line.
Juna suddenly appeared there, rampaging as a pure killing machine.

As Juna walked with her head down, infinite water spears were being created around her, using the moisture in the air.
They were fired at high speed and became sharp blades that pierce the flesh of anyone.
Heavily armored soldiers bravely charged at Juna, but a huge block of ice fell from the sky and ground them down into pieces of meat.

“O h . . . T h a t l o o k s d e l i c i o u s . . . W i t h b l a c k t e a a n d s w e e t s . . . S o s w e e e e e e e t…”
“You bastard! You went insane!!”
” W e n t . . . I f I . . . w e n t . . . Painpainpainpainpainpain”
“Damn… Gah!?”

As a citadel, Anchieta’s defenses were strong. However, they had not anticipated such a situation.
A situation “when a threat beyond human understanding appears within the city.” They were at a disadvantage, and they couldn’t escape.
In the closed space, the soldiers and followers were unable to resist against “something that was once human.”

“D i e . . . D i e . . . E v e r y o n e m u s t d i e . . . I t f e e l s g o o d . . .”

This scenery…
Is this me…?

A tiny, minuscule fragment of Juna’s original consciousness remained, barely perceiving only her own field of vision.

Someone once told me, “This world is unfair.”
Maybe I can understand what that means now…
My beloved people of Tioquia… And G u s t a v e too…
If the world is truly un-unfair, I have to… k i l l them all and make e-e-e-everything fair…!
Gu-Gustave… I l o v e y o u . . .

Juna’s consciousness was now shattered.
In response, her body was shedding tears as she continued to slaughter.

Juna was out of control, and used the power of the Water Elemental to put an end to everyone, one by one.
But that power was not infinite.
If the energy was left unchecked within the Sibyl, it would have eventually run out.
The surviving Aterima followers did not miss the fact that Juna’s seemingly inexhaustible attacks were slowly weakening.

“Archers, get ready! …Fire!!”

On top of the final wall surrounding the cathedral in the center of Anchieta, the Aterima followers’ elite archers unleashed a hail of arrows.
Juna was hit by a multitude of arrows and collapsed, but slowly got up and started walking again.
However, Juna’s body remained that of a flesh-and-blood human. She dragged herself forward, her joints twisted and contorted.
Sensing a response, the archers attempted to press their attack.

“It’s working… Fire the second wave!!”

High-precision arrows cleanly severed Juna’s ear, fingers, and chunks of flesh from her abdomen, yet she still did not stop.

“E v e r y o n e . . . T h e . . . S a m e . . . E v e r y o n e . . .”
“How stubborn…ahhh! Just keep shooting!!”

After suffering a fierce attack that nearly used up all the arrows they had, Juna lost most of her body, and finally fell to her knees.

“A . . . l i t t l e . . . m o r e . . .”

The archers had used poisoned arrows, which were forbidden.
Her knee slid sideways with a wet sound. From the arrowheads embedded in her flesh, Juna’s body began to melt, collapsing to the ground.
She once was the intelligent, kindhearted, and beautiful Water Sibyl.
Her original appearance was nowhere to be seen anymore.

The cobblestones of Anchieta were reflected in her eyes as she collapsed.
Her eyes, which should have been completely dry, were slightly moist, and reflected the sunlight in a scattered manner.
Then, desperately moving her broken lower jaw, Juna muttered what sounded like someone’s name, and she passed away completely.
The Water Elemental that had left her body shed a few sparkling drops before ascending to the heavens.

–The life of Juna Salacia, the Water Sibyl, had come to an end.

Her mangled corpse was trampled upon.
People vented their anger in various ways. Some cursed her, some spat on her.
They were the few soldiers and followers who had survived.
The very people Juna had once believed in and tried to protect.

The abandoned Staff of Great Waves gazed upon the countless deaths that remained behind.

Then, a girl appeared, completely unsuited to this crazy battlefield.
She had a completely different aura from the young children living in Luthra, and she didn’t seem shaken by the horrific scenery.

The girl picked up the Staff of Great Waves.
At its tip, there was a jewel containing Juna’s prayer. It glowed faintly and dully, so much so that it looked on the verge of disappearing.
Her expression seemed to be sad, pitying, or even amused.

“There is no human worth believing in… Love is just an illusion…”

The girl muttered softly to herself, not for anyone to hear, and the jewel’s glow faded completely.
In an instant, it turned into a mass of water, drawn by gravity to wet the cobblestone.

“But… Now that you are free from your Sibyl status and body… You could be together in death… Perhaps that’s happiness too…”

No one knew who this girl was.
God, Elementals, humans, Sibyls. And the outcome of their story.

However, the only thing that was certain was that a war had ended.
The lingering smell of blood was proof of that.