’No,’ I thought inwardly.

I didn’t want to consume it right in front of eight witnesses who were already looking at my every move very closely.

Right now, they might only be thinking, but they weren’t asking about the key which appeared out of nowhere, so I think it is better to use the stone later.

I canceled the prompt and quickly slid the black stone deep into the zippered pocket of my pants and pulled the zipper shut so I wouldn’t lose this precious item.

This was the exact thing I had entered the Gate to obtain for Vera, and I wasn’t about to risk losing it.

In their minds, the key was a reward for clearing the Gate, but the stone wasn’t. Also, the real reward is yet to appear.

"Alright," Seok said and nodded once. He saw me pull out and secure the item but didn’t ask anything about it. "We will wait."

As soon as he said that, the golden pillar of light radiating from the room behind the throne began to expand outward. The light grew wider and brighter with each passing second.

"I would suggest you guys come down from there," I said and gestured for the Hunters to move away from the raised platform of the throne.

The Hunters didn’t hesitate for a single second. The moment the words left my mouth, they splashed through the water to stand near the walls of the grand hall.

I also took Vera’s hand and stepped a few meters back as well. From there, I watched the golden light completely submerge the sapphire throne and the floating head of the dead queen.

As soon as the golden energy crossed the queen’s body, an incredible phenomenon began to occur.

The dark purple cloud of mana that had been hovering around her severed head vanished entirely. And then, the head began to move. It drifted slowly downward through the water, aligning perfectly with her neck.

Buzz.

A faint silver glow erupted from the seam where her flesh met. In just a matter of seconds, the deep gashes along her throat began to close up. Her scales also mended together, and the silver blood that had been floating in the water was reabsorbed into her skin.

"No way..." Hana gasped as her trembling hand clutched the magic pouch. "The dead... the dead boss is reviving?!"

"Is it a second phase?!" the archer shrieked and instantly pulled his bowstring back in fear. "Damn it, I knew it! We are trapped!"

"Lower your weapons!" Seok let out.

While others were panicking slightly and were afraid, thinking there was a second boss monster, his eyes were locked onto me. He noticed that I was just standing there with my arms crossed and was completely unbothered by the fact that the queen was being revived.

"Brian told us to wait. This is part of the clear condition!"

The revival wasn’t just limited to the queen.

As the golden light continued to expand through the grand hall, the surrounding ruins began to repair themselves right before our eyes.

The massive stone pillars that Vera and Trion had shattered during their clash began to piece themselves back together, the cracks in the floor sealed shut, and the debris floating in the water dissolved into tiny particles before vanishing.

Unlike the one in front of us, the hundreds of dead civilian mermen and mermaids floating near the outer gates didn’t revive.

Instead, their corpses slowly began to glow with a soft, peaceful white light before completely dissolving into the water. The palace was returning to its original, pristine state. But except for the queen, no one was getting revived.

"Huff!"

Suddenly, a loud and sharp gasp echoed through the water as the mermaid queen’s eyes snapped open.

Her eyes weren’t the blood-red or pitch-black voids of the monsters we had fought. They were a brilliant, glowing sapphire blue, filled with absolute clarity.

She sat upright on her throne. Her silver and gold scales were shimmering under the renewed light of the palace as she looked down at her hands, then over at the dead bodies of her guards resting at the base of the stairs.

Phew!

A deep and sorrowful sigh escaped her lips, creating a stream of beautiful bubbles that drifted toward the ceiling.

She raised her head, and her gaze swept across the room, passing right over the Hunters before finally locking directly onto me and Vera.

For a long moment, she just stared. The silence in the grand hall was broken only by the faint hum of the golden pillar.

Then, moving with a fluid and haunting grace, the queen slowly stepped down from her sapphire throne.

She didn’t spare a glance at the Hunters, who instinctively tensed up. Instead, her footsteps guided her toward a specific body resting right in front of my eyes: the fallen prince, Trion.

She knelt beside him. Trion’s eyes were still wide open. His face was frozen in a mask of shock and unfulfilled rage even in death.

A profound sorrow softened the queen’s features. Gently, with trembling fingers, she brushed them across his face and closed his eyelids for his final rest.

"This... is fate," she murmured.

Her voice carried a melodic, echoing resonance that was heavy with the grief of a mother but steady with the dignity of a ruler.

Slowly, she stood back up and turned her gaze toward me once more. Her brilliant blue eyes narrowed slightly as they drifted downward to track the weapon tightly gripped in my hand.

She was looking at my dagger. Even under the shining effects of the golden light, the blade remained drenched in the distinct, dark blood of her son.

"Did you do this?" Her voice cut through the silence as she looked from the blade straight into my eyes.

For a long moment, nobody spoke.

The entire hall remained silent as the queen’s sapphire eyes stayed fixed on me. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"I asked... did you do this?"

She repeated her words, and I took a step forward. Vera also followed me and stood beside me.

"Yeah."

I met her gaze without looking away.

"I did."