Chapter 356: Tinateria

The following afternoon, Regis returned to the Ancient Tree. He still needed Killian’s help to sit beside its trunk, and Pandora made him promise to stop before exhausting himself again. Only after agreeing did he close his eyes and enter Flona’s consciousness.

"You came back."

Flona reached towards him, her expression brightening as he settled beside her. Regis took the hand she offered and examined the dark marks that remained along her arm. "I told you I would."

"You took a long time."

"I had to rest, remember?"

She looked at his face before reluctantly nodding. Nevertheless, she kept holding his hand even after he finished examining it, and Regis let her while preparing to continue the treatment.

Over the next few days, he returned whenever his condition allowed it. The corruption gradually receded, though he still had to leave the most difficult portions alone. Outside, the fading discoloration gave Marzana something to look forward to each time he opened his eyes.

Flona also became more talkative. Sometimes, however, she would stop halfway through a sentence as though listening for something. Whenever he asked whether her sister had answered, she shook her head.

***

"His Holiness is ready." Anna’s words drew Regis’s attention towards her. She sat opposite him in one of the rooms still fit for use near the courtyard, having established contact with the Grand Cathedral of Light.

Killian had pulled another chair close to his, while Pandora and Aurelia stood on either side of him. Levada remained near the door, watching the three of them with an expression he could not quite read.

"Regis?"

The unfamiliar voice made him straighten. "Yes, Your Holiness."

"Anna has told me about your help in Toran. And now, I hear that you fought alongside Levada against Aziza." Hagios paused before continuing, "Thank you for helping them."

Regis had prepared himself for questions about his demonic power. Being thanked instead left him unsure how to respond, and it took a moment before he managed to speak. "They helped me too."

Beside him, Killian had relaxed slightly, though Pandora’s fingers remained curled around his sleeve.

"There is something about Toran that I need to ask," Hagios continued. "Anna said you were caught in my Beacon of Purification. Can you tell me what happened?"

Regis’s fingers curled against his knee. For a moment, he could almost feel the light digging beneath his skin again, reaching for the demonic power he had tried to hide. "It burned," he answered quietly. "I thought it was only targeting my demonic power, so I tried to pull it all back inside. That just made it worse."

Anna’s expression changed as she listened. He had avoided explaining his survival before, and she had not realised how much he had suffered beneath that light.

"I couldn’t get away from it. Even when I..." Regis stopped, unsure how much he wanted to say. He had no intention of revealing Perfect Adaptation, but the memory of lying helplessly on the ground made his throat tighten. "I thought I would die there. For a while, I wished I would."

Pandora’s grip tightened. On his other side, Aurelia quietly placed her hand over his, while Killian lowered his gaze towards the floor.

Hagios did not answer for several moments. "I did not know you were there," he finally said. "After the portal collapsed, I wanted to eliminate any demons that might have remained in the city. I’m sorry you were caught in it."

Regis lowered his head. He had learned from Anna that the Pope was responsible, but he had never known what he would say if they spoke about it. Now that Hagios had apologised, he found himself even less certain. "I survived," he eventually muttered.

"I’m glad. But you should have received help that night."

Regis remained quiet, his hand slowly relaxing beneath Aurelia’s. Hagios did not immediately ask how he had survived, allowing him a little time before the conversation continued.

"How is Flonaralavenrosa?"

"Better. There’s still corruption left, but it’s easier for her to move her power now."

"And her sister?"

"Still nothing."

The silence that followed lasted long enough for Regis to glance towards Anna. Before she could speak, Hagios’s voice reached them again.

"When you next visit, could you ask when she last heard Goddess Yggdrasilia? Anything unusual before they lost contact may also help us understand what happened."

Regis thought of the little girl stopping to listen between their conversations. "I can ask her. But if she gets tired, the questions will have to wait."

"Of course. Her recovery comes first."

He nodded before remembering that the Pope could not see him. "Alright."

Anna began explaining how the treatment had affected the Ancient Tree’s condition outside. While she spoke, Regis glanced down at his storage ring. Hagios had been willing to listen, and the conversation had gone better than he expected. ’Well... if I’m going to ask anyone, it might as well be him.’

"Your Holiness, there’s something else."

"What is it?"

"Do you know about a sword called Tinateria?"

Anna stopped moving. Even Levada had turned her full attention towards him, making Regis wonder whether he should have asked more carefully.

"The Holy Sword of Light," Hagios replied. "It was wielded by Mehar, our late Executor of Benevolence. Where did you hear that name?"

"I received a shard of it as a reward a few years ago." Regis took the familiar fragment from his ring. "Alexis let me choose it from the treasury. Its name was written there."

Anna leaned forward as he held it out. Her eyes followed the golden engravings across its white surface, but before she could reach for it, Regis continued.

"Then, before coming to Edenelia, I found the sword itself."

"You found Tinateria?"

He nodded at her, putting the shard aside. "It was already badly damaged when I found it."

Regis shifted his feet aside before taking the ruined sword from his storage ring and laying it on the floor beside his chair. Its enormous blade occupied much of the space between him and Anna.

Anna rose before he could say anything else. She knelt beside the weapon, her hand hovering over the chipped blade before slowly moving towards its handle.

"Sir Mehar..."

The name escaped so quietly that Regis almost missed it. Looking at her expression, he let his unfinished explanation fall away.

For a moment, Anna remembered a hand resting on her head and a familiar voice telling her that she was too kind for her own good. She had been so relieved when he arrived that day, certain he would take care of everything while she led the civilians to safety.

Her fingers finally touched the damaged sword, and she lowered her eyes. "Your Holiness... Tinateria is here."

Levada approached, her gaze moving slowly along the ruined blade. Regis and his companions remained quiet as Anna carefully examined it.

After a while, Hagios spoke again. "Where did you find it?"

"In the Sagrada Dragona Mountain Range. There was a cave that became exposed after I used grand magic, and I followed a familiar light inside." Regis watched Anna trace one of the large chips. "The shard fitted into one of those gaps. That was how I confirmed it."

"Was there anything else in the cave?" Hagios asked.

"A large, round rock. The sword was embedded in it when I arrived."

Regis paused as he remembered Wisteria appearing before him. There had been the temporary soul mark, her concern for the queen, and the warning that had made him hurry towards Edenelia. Everything afterward had left him little time to examine what he had brought away from that cave.

Her voice had reached him once more after she disappeared.

"At least, I thought it was a rock..."

Anna lifted her head as Regis looked down at his storage ring.

"Until Wisteria called it an egg."