Cape

As Nova was being embraced from behind by Freyana, a shred of strange fabric was seen on his chest.

『...What is..?』[Alex]

The fabric quickly grew all over his body, enveloping him in a coat that resembled space.

A cape with three elegantly trimmed flowing pieces appeared, with a glowing bright blue hem.

『What's going on?!』[Freyana]

She pulled herself a bit further away, taking a good look at what was happening.

The blue hem seemed to travel through the Raiment.

Everyone there freaked out.

『Is he..?!』[Kikhia]

The blue hem suddenly burst into flames on the outer edge of his Raiment, showering the area in sparks of blue light.

『He… has a Raiment?!』[Sarena]

『He must have been pushed to the edge of life and death! If this goes well, the Raiment may save his life!』[Mune]

The blue glowing hem seemed to pulsate, increasing and decreasing in brightness periodically.

The brightness of the blue seemed to fade over time.

His skin was still heavily damaged, and the color of his flesh was a bit pale.

『No… Wait! The Raiment won't last long enough! He needs to heal for longer than this!』[Sarena]

『Fairy Tale!』[Freyana]

A swarm of green butterflies came out of a wisp of green mana from Freyana's hand and floated on top of him, supplementing his healing.

Before long, the Raiment faded into the wind, but not before most of the cuts and bruises faded.

They all stared at Nova with bated breath.

『...Is he…?』[Mune]

Nova's eyes opened, murmuring to himself.

『...I didn't sleep long, did I?』[Nova]

『Nova! You're alive?!』[Sarena]

Mune was shocked enough to drop his jaw for a moment, but recovered his cool soon after.

『...Tough bastard.』[Mune]

『Nova…! Thank you!』[Kikhia]

She bowed her head down to him, finally some tears escaping from her eyes.

『...My own selfish actions… don't worry about it.』[Nova]

『You did it, Nova! What was that?!』[Alex]

He felt pain all over his body.

『I expelled Ashu-』[Nova]

He stopped himself and changed his sentence, lest they think he was possessed.

『I mean, the demon, from his body using a spell that my father taught me.』[Nova]

『What kind of spel-』[Sarena]

『Ah. Etoile, huh? I guess your dad really does treat you well.』[Mune]

『There's a real spell?!』[Sarena]

『Huh? Why not?』[Alex]

『Well I mean… it'd be really high mana-』[Sarena]

She shut herself up as she realized that Nova almost died to expel Ashura from Zousa's body.

Freyana held onto Nova tightly, crying in relief.

『...What are you crying for, Freyana? I told you that I wouldn't die, right?』[Nova]

『Shut up, stupid idiot! Stop doing things like this!』[Freyana]

『...I'm seriously thinking that Nova might just be immortal.』[Mune]

『...Wasn't there someone called that in the first years?』[Alex]

『Haah… whatever… I'm just tired already. Where is your brother, Kikhia?』[Nova]

Nova leaned back on Freyana, relaxing his body.

She pouted, but remained quiet.

『He...』[Kikhia]

Zousa returned, the barrier shattering above them.

『...Young man! You're alive!』[Zousa]

He crouched down next to Nova.

『...I am. I'm glad to see you are as well.』[Nova]

Zousa put his hand over a fist and kneeled down to Nova.

『Please allow me to call you master, sir! I will serve you for the rest of my life in compensation for this service you have done for me!』[Zousa]

Kikhia looked at him with a shocked look.

『Brother!』[Kikhia]

『I… am not comfortable with having a servant?』[Nova]

『Please, sir! Surely someone who would risk their life for others is someone I can follow!』[Zousa]

『I don't have any need for a servant. Just do what you want to with your life.』[Nova]

『...I still want to follow you.』[Zousa]

Nova was too tired to continue arguing.

『...I'm… house...less.』[Nova]

Nova quietly slipped into sleep.

『...He's...』[Sarena]

『Asleep.』[Mune]

Freyana hugged him lightly, clearly happy to have him back.

Mune had a big grin on his face.

『He's asleep.』[Mune]

They finally turned to Zousa.

『...Now, who sent you?』[Mune]

『...The Revolution hired me.』[Zousa]

Mune's fist clenched.

『The Revolution...』[Mune]

The people nearby looked over to Mune, because it seemed like he knew who they were.

『...You know of them?』[Alex]

He put his hands up in the air.

『...Nope!』[Mune]

『HUH?! You made it sound like you knew who they were!』[Sarena]

『Huh? No I didn't.』[Mune]

『Hahaha! You totally did!』[Freyana]

Zousa broke into a smile before starting to laugh, then cry.

『...Are you… alright?』[Alex]

『Hahaha! I am! It's just…!』[Zousa]

His tears streamed down his face, around his smile.

『All this time, and I never thought I'd make it back here.』[Zousa]

Mune's hard face softened when he saw Zousa's crying face.

『...Argh… What are you doing, crying? You're a man, so act like it!』[Mune]

Mune patted Zousa's back, causing him to cease his crying.

He sniffled.

『...You're right. You really are a good guy, man.』[Zousa]

Zousa hugged Kikhia, much to her surprise.

『Ahhh… I've missed you so much, Kikhia.』[Zousa]

Her eyes teared up as she began to cry and hug him too.

『I...I missed you too, brother!』[Kikhia]

Everyone in the group of people had a smile on their face.

It was like the moment Nova woke up, the somber and dark atmosphere was burnt away by his blue flames.