"There's one more thing, Lady Maria." Dungremy solemnly looked at Maria's face as he took a bite of the cream-covered bread under the candlelight.

"What is it?" Maria asked.

"I was a bit concerned about letting Turing look at Merka's memories. So I checked the disc afterward to see if there were any signs of it being viewed," Dungremy explained.

"And I discovered that the disc had obvious traces of being tampered with."

"Although I don't know what happened, it reminded me of something."

"Since our main goal is for Turing to realize Oedipus's guilt on her own."

"Why don't we just replace the disc with memories related to Oedipus?" Dungremy suggested.

Maria frowned, lifted the nearby wine glass, and took another sip.

"Didn't Turing finish watching Merka's memories? She's very cautious and wouldn't believe something someone told her voluntarily," Maria pointed out.

"I checked the records on the aside computer, and it was only used for less than five minutes that evening."

"That time is definitely not enough to finish watching the memories."

"There were also rumors about some commotion that night."

"I think Turing probably watched half of it and then escaped."

"But she will come back to finish watching the memories. It's a good opportunity."

"Why didn't I kill her back then?"

"If I had killed her, it would've been better."

"Then I wouldn't have to be so conflicted..."

"Mom would have taken care of everything for me."

"Why did I become so indecisive...?" Turing, dressed in a black magic robe with a thin layer of fabric against her chest and a knee-length black lace dress underneath, sat silently on a tile wall, looking enchanting and adorable.

Underneath the Turing's robe, a corner of a dark gold crown revealed itself, shining in the moonlight.

"The identity of a girl is your biggest reliance at the Altria household."

"If someone wants to destroy this reliance, you have to fight back."

"To what extent... until death do us part."

Mother's words felt like the twilight sunlight. Even if you lower your head, close your eyes, hold your breath, you can still taste the scorching iron-like flavor and smell it with your nose.

Turing stood up from the tile wall and quietly jumped onto the grassy patch below the data room, blending into the night as if she had truly disappeared.

"Let's put Elizabeth's matter aside for now."

"Today, I won't hold back anymore."

Skillfully infiltrating the data room, Turing found the entrance to the meeting room.

"Let everything go back to the way it was."

Entering the hall of the meeting room, Turing searched the various bookshelves for a while and retrieved Merka's disc.

"Is this Merka's disc?"

"Why do I feel... that there are fewer scratches than before?"

"I wonder if I can start watching from where I left off last time?"

"But I don't know how to operate this machine..."

Turing, as usual, placed the CD in a reading position and sat on the chair provided by the machine.

Slowly, he drifted into a dream state.

——————————————————————————

"Lena."

"My sweetheart."

"Get up quickly, don't fall asleep."

[Where is this...?] Turing's consciousness followed a flying figure soaring into the sky.

That figure seemed blurry, though not dead, her body still seemed to have infinite energy, uncontrollably passing through the clouds.

[Where is this...]

Turing's consciousness looked towards the gradually receding ground, where there were clusters of forests and land, and the emerald meadow could even be smelled from kilometers away with its refreshing grassy scent.

Turing shifted his gaze and surveyed everything beside the forest, and discovered a beautifully situated ancient city nestled in the valley.

[That is...]

Turing knew that there was only one city in Acadia that fulfilled this kind of environment.

[Pompeii.]

[The city that has turned into ashes due to the eruption.]

Then the name of this forest, filled with lush vegetation, was also clear.

This is the Ash Furnace Mountain Range.

Originally, it had no name, and its most notable experience was being burned to ashes by the eruption.

But now, it was still as beautiful as ever.

[How could Merka have been here?]

As this thought emerged, Turing looked towards the figure standing beside him. The blurry face gradually revealed a familiar face.

It was Joan's face.

"There seems to be someone on the ground?"

Turing felt that her vision was better than ever before. Perhaps it was due to the special nature of being in a memory, Turing could almost see everything she wanted to see within her line of sight.

Two women confronted each other, one with a calm smile, the other with a serious expression, closely watching every move of the person in front of her. Around them, there seemed to be many wandering magicians, guarding the woman surrounded by them, as if facing a great enemy.

She was...

Oedipus.

"It's really pitiful, Maria."

"I couldn't understand from the beginning, how could there be such a stupid talent like you in this world."

"You didn't do this ten years ago... or twenty years ago. Now, you have long lost your chance for success."

"Not only can you not seize the opportunity to achieve great things... but you are also timid, cowardly, and incompetent."

"Fearing the oppression of ruling others while claiming to be the chosen one."

"You've sent every partner who trusted you... one by one into their graves."

"How do you have the audacity to appear in front of me?"

As Oedipus's cold sarcasm reached the nearby bushes, there was a rustling sound, as if something was about to leap out—but Maria quickly responded to it, loudly halting whatever was about to come out.

"Do you think that with just a few words, you can defeat someone who has lost everything before?" Maria's response was indifferent, her face showing no emotional fluctuations.

Actually, just as Oedipus ambushed Maria, he easily knocked Joan, who was following Maria, into the sky with a casual strike.

Everyone lurking around saw this, and their morale dropped a little.

But Maria acted as if she hadn't seen anything.

"On the contrary, it's useless for a rational egoist like you to say such things. It just proves that you are afraid and stalling for time," Maria said.

Oedipus nodded slightly, laughed lightly, took out the pipe from his waist, lit it with a match without a care in the world, and took a puff.

"I'm afraid? You really are a child who never grows up.... Maria."

"So you think you've lost everything? You are belittling it, as if playing a game of house," Maria said.

"What does it mean to truly 'lose everything'? You will experience it soon," Oedipus put down the pipe, took a deep breath, and flicked the spent match aside.

"Do you know why angels have such terrifying countenances?"

"In fairy tales, angels are always beautiful, while demons are ugly and evil."

In fact, it is just the opposite."

"Demons are sexy and alluring. They go to great lengths to seduce and corrupt people."

"Angels, on the other hand, have terrifying and ugly appearances. They use their faces to intimidate enemies and scare away evil demons."

"It's ridiculous how you all fear using the power of angels for such trivial matters."

"You are so ungrateful...."

A fierce swordsman, unable to bear Oedipus's calm attitude, suddenly emerged from the bushes like a flash of lightning and aimed directly at Oedipus's face. He thought that even if he couldn't kill Oedipus, he could at least knock her pipe away and dampen her enthusiasm.

However, a troll with muscles all over its body, erupting with terrifying magic and runes, suddenly appeared behind Oedipus. With one hand, it crushed the swordsman to pieces.

A waterfall of blood gushed from the troll's huge claws, but Oedipus ignored it and said, "Some people are like cockroaches."

"Cannot be killed, cannot die," Oedipus threw the pipe aside and said indifferently.

"Let me test how much pain you can endure, Maria."