The storm at the mountain peak gradually subsided.

As time resumed its flow, the girls slowly regained their mobility.

Yet, none of them moved.

Sigrdrifa, closest to the Bronze Dragon, had already fallen to her knees in the snow, the North Wind Axe discarded to one side.

After a while, she suddenly slammed her fist into the ground with great force.

Snow splattered in all directions.

Eleanor dissolved the long spear formed by her will, silently looking upwards, her blue eyes fixed on the wormhole in the sky that had already closed.

Farewell, Squad Leader.

And... make sure to return.

She looked at the sky above, murmuring silently, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Then, a heavy punch landed on her face.

Sigrdrifa knocked Eleanor to the ground, swiftly mounting her, and rained down punches fiercely. Eleanor merely covered her face with her arms, allowing Sigrdrifa to hit her without saying a single word.

"Stop fighting, you two!" Nora and Mia quickly rushed forward, each grabbing one of Sigrdrifa's arms, pulling her off Eleanor.

"Why?!" Sigrdrifa's face was also full of tears, displaying an expression of hateful, despairing helplessness as she screamed hysterically at Eleanor:

"Why did you stop me!!!"

Eleanor didn't reply. She only stood up with her swollen face covered, spitting out blood onto the snow beside her.

"Stop fighting." Little Mia said helplessly from the side, "When the Squad Leader returns, he'll scold you..."

Then Sigrdrifa turned her glare towards her, her eyes full of a violent and vicious intent as if she wanted to tear her apart alive.

"He... may never return." Medea stepped forward, placing a hand on little Mia's shoulder, stating expressionlessly.

At least for now, it's impossible.

"Ha, what do you mean?" Mia still didn't understand.

"The literal meaning." Sigrdrifa also shook free of the two, standing silently, her chest still heaving violently as she breathed heavily, her cold gaze fixed on Eleanor.

Nora rushed to Eleanor's side, using the Evolution Law to heal her injured cheek. The knight girl looked down sadly at the ground, not saying a word, allowing Nora to gently stroke her cheek.

"Now he is gone." Medea grabbed the sullen Sigrdrifa, took a deep breath, and looked at the other girls present:

"Are you satisfied now?"

She looked at Eleanor, who helped Aske, then at Miel, who secretly acted, and finally at Theodora, who did nothing throughout.

"Are you satisfied now?" Medea asked again.

"Medea..." Nora began slowly.

"Nora." Medea said coldly, "Congratulations, you succeeded."

"Now we are all losers."

No one answered her.

Or rather, at this moment, when everyone's differences had become so evident as to be almost opposed, any extra words would be just a waste of time.

"Let's go." Medea looked at Sigrdrifa.

Sigrdrifa nodded blankly.

"Wait!" The two girls began to leave, and little Mia frantically ran in front of them, "Where are you going?"

But Medea just gave her a faint look, and then she and Sigrdrifa simultaneously disappeared into the air.

More precisely, they concealed their presence in the minds of everyone.

"Let them go." Miel said behind her, "After Aske left, they definitely couldn't stay either."

"What do you mean?" Little Mia seemed lost and confused, perhaps still refusing to believe what the girls had said, she laughed awkwardly, "No way? Haha, you don't really think Aske is gone forever, do you?"

Still, no one answered her question.

"Nora!" Mia ran up to Nora, looking up with a face full of hope, asking pleadingly, "Nora! Aske will come back, right... I mean, it's impossible! He couldn't just leave us here, right?"

Nora remained silent, just gently patted her head, showing a somewhat sorrowful expression.

"But, but..." Seeing her acceptance of the matter, little Mia's face turned even paler. Like when she first learned she was abandoned by the Thief Guild, it was as if she suddenly fell from a warm environment into an ice cave, and for a moment, even lost the sense of her body.

"It's not supposed to be..." She said unbelievingly, her voice starting to waver, "Why, why..."

"Mia." Theodora also came forward, speaking softly, "Aske is gone, you must accept this fact."

Little Mia ignored her, her shoulders slightly trembling, tears sliding down her delicate cheeks.

"Miel?" Theodora turned her head and asked.

Miel also sighed, walked over, and hugged the sobbing little Mia.

"Then, we're leaving too." Nora nodded to Theodora, then said goodbye to everyone.

"Wait!" Seeing these two girls about to leave as well, little Mia suddenly broke free from Miel's embrace, calling out to Nora and Eleanor, "You all!"

"Are you all going to leave too?" She asked, holding back sobs.

Seeing the always optimistic little Mia become like this, Nora also felt a pang of guilt and reluctance for a moment, but she quickly hardened her heart and said softly:

"What else can we do? Little Mia... Aske is already gone."

"But the Azure Longsword is still here!" Little Mia shouted in disbelief, "Aren't we a team? Aren't we all mercenaries of the Azure Longsword?"

"Little Mia, we didn't join the Azure Longsword because we liked being mercenaries." Nora had to sigh, deciding to be honest with little Mia, "We stayed in the team for Aske."

"In the end, the so-called Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps wasn't really brought together by the team itself. Now that Aske is gone, what's the point of us staying?"

She supported Eleanor as they continued walking down the mountain: "Goodbye, Mia. If you ever have time, come visit me in Solomon City."

"This is... betrayal!" Little Mia shouted at their retreating figures, her voice full of suppressed sobs and despair, "You've betrayed the Azure Longsword! If, if Aske comes back and finds out, he'll be so, so angry!"

"Mia." Miel tugged at her arm, indicating she shouldn't vent like that.

"Why has it come to this..." Until Nora and Eleanor's figures also disappeared behind the snow slope, little Mia collapsed in the snow, pressing her face forcefully with her hands, unstoppable tears flowing through her fingers, "Why..."

Miel sighed helplessly, glancing at Theodora beside her.

Theodora was also comforting Peggy, who was kneeling in the snow. The Blood Clan girl hadn't said a word the whole time, or rather, since Aske disappeared into the wormhole above, she had completely sunk into a state of refusing to accept reality, just dazedly kneeling in the snow, as if her mind had completely blanked out.

"When do you plan to leave?" Miel asked.

"I'll leave after a little while." Theodora responded.

After all, there was still an empire waiting for her to govern.

————————

In Solomon City, in the Ratlan Palace, the believers in the square were already in an uproar, forcing even the Pope to come out and give a speech to calm the uneasy public.

Because the hand of the Giotto Bell had jumped straight to 10, causing several cardiac arrests among the believers in the square, who collapsed dead on the floor.

Returning to Ratlan Palace, the cardinal bishops remained silent.

Just a few hours earlier on Mont Blanc, Aske had left this world, and with the secret agreement reached among the Church Court, Zongdelilic, and the Bronze Dragon, the countdown to the disbandment of the Azure Longsword had already begun.

If they had previously been a coordinated group of nine R4s that posed an unparalleled potential threat to the Church Court, they were now dispersed and disordered, increasing the chaotic danger to the world, which was why the hand of the Giotto Bell had turned.

The Cardinals continued their silence, quietly calculating the future implications for the Church Court's strategy and the anticipated return of one of the R4, the future Holy Daughter, when they suddenly heard Pope Innocent sigh gently:

"""

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