The Full Moon Queen has returned to lead her loyal Magic Academy.
Even though she has not yet regained her peak condition, there is no doubt that a leader capable of standing against the Golden Dynasty has awakened from the nightmare that once imprisoned her.
The primary reason Touko successfully pulled Rennala out of her self-imposed soul nightmare was that, in Her dream, Touko promised her that she could make Rennala's unborn child of fate come into existence.
Of course, this was not through surrogacy but rather through magic. Touko extracted the Full Moon Queen's genetic material from Rennala, then used her doll-making magecraft to create a growing artificial body, and finally, through the Third Magic, transferred the soul of the unborn child from an amber egg into the newly crafted body.
Upon confirming that Touko truly possessed such advanced techniques, Rennala agreed without hesitation to grant the Aozaki sisters unrestricted access to all of Caria's magic. This demonstrated just how much the Full Moon Queen valued her youngest child.
Meanwhile, Messmer immediately left the magic academy after Rennala's awakening, entrusting all military recruitment matters at the academy to the second-in-command of the Crusade Expeditionary Army—Rellana. However, Aoko suspected that Messmerm fled so quickly because he was genuinely terrified of Rellana grabbing his hand and nagging at him relentlessly.
But Mesesmer didn't simply flee—he had important matters to attend to. He first arrived at the Grand Lift of Dectus, only to find that his original sigil was no longer able to operate the elevator leading to the Altus Plateau. Since Aoko was still busy with other affairs at the academy, Messmerm didn't rush. Instead, he dispatched his subordinates to search for the activation sigil of the Grand Lift of Dectus.
Assisting him in this task were his sister Melina and the Tarnished Champion chosen by Melina. Thus, the Tarnished became the main force in this search.
Previously, the Tarnished had been occupied helping Rya recover her stolen heirloom necklace. Following the trail, he discovered that it had been taken by a thug wearing an iron mask.
The Tarnished managed to locate this thug thanks to the assistance of Patches, who was well-acquainted with talents like the Iron Mask Thug. After Tarnished paid a sufficient amount of runes, Patches immediately betrayed the thug's whereabouts.
Originally, Tarnished expected to engage in a fierce battle to reclaim the necklace. However, when he arrived at the thug's hideout, he found that the man was cooking a pot of delicious-smelling lobster meat. Coincidentally, Tarnished was hungry, so he bought some lobster meat with runes and started eating on the spot.
As expected, the thug's lobster meat was incredibly delicious. Tarnished praised it while eating, and before long, the two became friends who exchanged culinary insights about the Lands Between. In the end, Tarnished retrieved Rya's mother's necklace without any conflict, making it a happy ending for all.
Elsewhere, when Messmerm finally located Tarnished and Melina, he discovered that Tarnished had already obtained half of the Grand Lift of Dectus's sigil. This made Messmerm regard the seemingly foolish Tarnished with newfound respect. Given Tarnished's impressive combat skills, Messmerm generously rewarded him with several prayer incantations related to Messmer's Fire. He also promised additional rewards once the other half of the sigil was found.
If viewed through the lens of Melina's mission, Tarnished, and Messmerm would inevitably clash over the right to become the Elden Lord. However, for now, they remained allies, and the members of the Twin Wings maintained an unspoken agreement to avoid discussing their plans after they reached the capital.
...
As the Crusade Expeditionary Army and Tarnished were busy restoring the throne, a group of followers of the Demi-God Miquella, primarily composed of the Golden Needle Knights, received orders to head to Caelid, which had been completely overrun by Scarlet Rot. There, they encountered the Red Lion Knights, who were still active in the region.
After some friendly exchanges, the ruler of Redmane Castle, Jerren, ultimately agreed to let these followers of Miquella participate in the battle festival. Technically, these individuals were not subordinates of Malenia, even though Malenia and Miquella had a close relationship. Nonetheless, the two were not entirely synonymous.
...
Back at the Royal Carian Academy, Aoko was like a hamster that had fallen into a rice jar—she was completely engrossed in the endless magic tomes, utterly captivated and reluctant to leave. Apart from her, the only other person in the academy who was this happy was Thops, who had returned to the academy.
Thops had been given a research laboratory and was conducting his studies with such fervor that he seemed on the verge of drowning in books. He was even found collapsed in his lab from starvation, nearly dying because he forgot to eat.
For Aoko, casually studying magic was enough. However, Touko had far more responsibilities.
Not only did she have to craft a body for Rennala's unborn child, but she also received the Primeval Glintstone of Witch Sellen from Aoko. Immediately recognizing its connection to soul materialization, Touko agreed to create a new body for Sellen. However, Aoko would have to provide the materials (while Rennala supplied the materials for her child).
Thus, after many years, Touko had once again entered full corporate slave mode, pulling all-nighters thanks to her soul-materialized body, which never tired. Within a short time, the body of Rennala's child began to take shape, which greatly excited the Full Moon Queen. She put aside her work on reorganizing Caria and joined Touko in the workshop for sleepless nights of crafting.
As a side note, the genetic material used to create Rennala's child was extracted from both Rennala and her sister. Rennala did not want to create a mini Rennala, and she also felt more comfortable using her sister's genes rather than those of some random man. As a result, the unborn child ended up being the child of both sisters.
Of course, the child's soul still originated from Radagon and Rennala. This meant that their lineage was technically composed of three parents. Who knows what the child will think about this when they grow up?
It would take some time for Thops to complete his research on the Thops Force spell, so Aoko set her sights on acquiring various legendary spells. However, obtaining these spells required following a specific sequence.
Although Rennala could use Comet Azur, the spell's original creator was the Primeval Sorcerer Azur. Aoko figured that if she could find Azur himself in the volcanic region, she could learn the original version of the spell directly.
Glintstone magic in the Lands Between varied slightly depending on the caster, as each mage adapted it based on their understanding and habits.
Another primeval sorcerer, Lusat, had an even worse fate. He had been imprisoned in a secret dungeon in Caelid by academy sorcerers. To rescue him, Aoko needed the dungeon's sealing key or to forge one herself. She decided to wait until Touko resurrected Sellen to discuss the matter with her.
As for the spell Aoko most wanted to learn—Stars of Ruin—it was currently locked away in a heretical sorcerer's tower in the northern snowfields. However, she could also wait for Sellen's revival to have her teach it instead.
At the moment, Aoko's progress was entirely dependent on Sellen's resurrection. She was unwilling to retrieve the puppet body in Caria Manor, fearing it had been used by Seluvis. As a result, she had no choice but to wait for Touko to handcraft a brand-new body for Sellen.