The unified front of Mages from Pelian and Emeradis was truly awe-inspiring. In a few short hours, they had restored not only Feinheath's infrastructures but also Opungale's. It was a testament to the new developments on Aigas – the unification of Pelian and Emeradis into a new nation, Peladis, and the official alliance between the Sif and the humans. What the foolish King Royan of this era had done tactlessly had now been done in good faith.

The trickle-down benefits of these developments reached even the Bryne Family Estate, which, along with everything else in the world, had been obliterated during the great battle earlier.

Somehow, the Mages who restored it had made everything around its mansions greener, richer, and more pleasing to the eye. Only part of that was because Aigas now had richer mana swimming in its fresh air.

Stylla took in the blessed air and smiled. She closed her eyes and found that now, it was easier to stomach her errors. She couldn't have forgiven herself before now. Her sins had been too great, she'd thought. Killing her own brother was the least among them all. Becoming a loyal servant of the Full Deck BoneTender (who had been granted the body of the Null Devil King, Caxellac) for all that time, doing his bidding, killing many of her own kind…

'Yet I can still live with myself. Why?' she thought, opening her eyes.

She looked at her hands. They were coin-grey now; her whole body was. Her hair was honey-coloured, her eyes didn't spot any irises or pupils, even though she could see.

Was it because of this? Could Stylla only forgive herself now because her body looked different, and she couldn't see that previous version of herself that had been turned into a monster anymore?

Or was it...?

"How do you feel?" Skullius asked her with a smile.

Stylla looked at him.

"Why do I feel?" She thought that was a trick question. She felt stronger than she was when she was under the BoneTender's control, yet she was also freer than she'd ever been. Was that because she looked like a female version of Skullius? Was he free from sins?

Back when Yuyui saved her, Stylla had been but a bodiless soul. Skullius had created a body for her soul using his own flesh and meshed both together perfectly using the powers of his War Body.

(A/N: Refer to Ch.1271-1272.)

"Guiltless…" Stylla finally said after a while.

It pleased Theurien to hear her say it. He and Silrat were seated on either side of Skullius, while some of the Stark Troops and Eternity's Weaver stood around them in turn.

"I can accept it now. You gave me a third try at life, even though I don't deserve it," Stylla said, looking at the Hybrid.

"Who exactly measures whether or not you deserve something?" Skullius said. "Besides, it's only your second trial. The fact that you never gave up, even when you found out that Setkh had betrayed you and your family, is a virtue. No one counts what happened with the BoneTender against you."

Stylla gave a sad smile. "Somehow, I can't argue with that."

Indeed, Stylla might have been crushed to death by that shock from back then. The curse that had forced her father into a coma had been delivered by his own son – Stylla's brother, Setkh. But she had kept on going.

"You don't have a choice," said Skullius, grinning. "You're literally wearing my flesh. You have to abide by my beliefs, too." He turned to Theurien. "I don't mean that in a weird way, of course."

Stylla's father was flustered. Perhaps before Skullius became… this, he would have found the heart to give a hearty retort, but now, he couldn't muster one. How could he be playful when it felt like he was in the presence of some godly being?

"I wouldn't dare diminish what you've done for family," he said with a slight bow.

Skullius wished he wouldn't do that, but it couldn't be helped. He sighed as he stood from his seat.

Theurien stood up as well, but only to further encourage his daughter's freedom.

"Everything good that's happened is because you invited this man to help, Stylla," he said, though, with a little bitterness. Stylla shared it. "Despite it all, you made the right decisions and kept our Family as whole as it could have been. I want you to keep the position of Family Head. We'll rebuild and honour those whom we've lost."

At this, Stylla donned a pained look. Many had died, indeed.

Setkh could be forgotten, but not Terese – her sister – or Daggs the steward. The Premium Age Royale had devoured them whole.

Skullius felt for them, but unfortunately, they were but a drop in an ocean of souls he felt for.

"We'll honour them indeed," said Silrat, reinforcing the idea.

Right then, a gigantic shape hovered over them, casting a massive shadow over the entire Bryne Family estate. It was Amanas, a Void rank Prime Treasure – a flying vessel.

It was a rather strange thing, hardly looking like a construct for flight, for one thing. It had a triangular shape to it, its overall aesthetic remaining as that of a continent plucked right out of the sea. Its edges looked like the cross-section of an island, with compact layers of dirt on all sides. Its top layer, or what would be known as its surface, looked like a whole futuristic cityscape made of some polished wood, even though it couldn't be used to house anything living. From this cityscape, giant, insectoid wings – two on both ends – rose diagonally, piercing into the sky as erect prongs.

The first time Skullius saw the top of Amanas, it had reminded him of the city he'd seen in one of the Null Remnants where he fought Actuass and Jerthrax.

A column of blue light fell from the underside of the flying vessel, landing a couple of meters from the group.

"She's really having fun with this," Skullius said, looking at it. Kintar was the one piloting it. She'd been obsessed with the controls from the instant she'd discovered how to work them. Turning to the Stark Troops and Weaver, he gave them a command. "Go on ahead of me."

They acknowledged. One by one, they marched into the column of light, and at once, it seized and pulled them straight into Amanas at faster than light speed.

"It's time to leave," said Skullius with a sigh. He wasn't done with the goodbyes, unfortunately.

As he turned to Silrat, Theurien, and Stylla, Suzamete and Luserus warped next to him.