"Now then. Big sister Demi…"
"Ehfueh…?!"
With Blanid in one arm and Polaris on the shoulder, Rotsard returned to the third princess and used his free hand to grab her face and squeeze her cheeks until her lips puckered out like a duck's beak, and she let out a funny sound.
"While I greatly appreciate what you tried to do for me, from the outside perspective, you did something very bad and will have to suffer some severe consequences."
"...!"
The white-haired giant glanced over at the tear in space, especially the sight of the burning royal castle behind it, and pointed out, causing the third princess to tremble and lower her eyes in shame.
"But, since you did it for me, I don't want you to get punished. What I would allow them to do would be to take away your status as a princess, and exile you from the royal family…"
"!?"
Rotsard pointed out with an annoyed scoff that was well-suited for the third-rate villain, greatly surprising Demi-Leigh.
"I believe that from their perspective, it would still look like a punishment, even though I was going to keep you by my side regardless, and the status of a royal would only be a bother."
"!!!"
Rotsard added with a cheeky smile, stunning the third princess, who finally dared to look up at his face.
*WHOOSH* *TSSSS*
The next moment, a sudden gust of cold wind from the Royal Academy crossed the tear in space, and the fire engulfing the royal castle died down like a candle on a birthday cake.
"A-aren't you forgetting about someone!?"
"..."
The touching moment got interrupted by Saria calling out in anger while still trapped by the roots, causing Rotsard to stare into the distance as his expression soured.
"Hey! If the Royal Magician deofolizing isn't a big deal for you, why don't you just free me already!?"
Despite the nature spell bindings digging into her flesh, Saria growled in annoyance while catching only a glimpse of Rotsard's towering figure.
"Ugh…! The person you mistook for a Grand White Wolf Fae that saved you from getting sliced in half is having a moment here. Because of aunty, I won't let you die or suffer too much, but I am not going to give you any special treatment aside from that."
"Eh…?! EEEHHH!? THAT WAS YOU BACK THEN!? YOU BASTARD! ASSHOLE! How could you fool me like that?!"
Rotsard groaned, rolling his eyes and scoffing at his cousin, causing her to shout in shock and anger.
"The more you speak, the less I want to free you. You know what? You should probably stay like that until this is over."
"WHAT!? YOU WOULDN'T DARE!"
The white-haired giant frowned and scoffed, causing his cousin to freak out…
*WHOOM*
…the thing is, Rotsard wasn't going to deal with that, and instead of freeing the silver-haired girl and her fae, he waved his hand and opened an ice gate directly under them.
"YOU…!"
Saria didn't have enough time to speak her mind about her cousin and got cut off as she sank through the portal…
"Now then… I kind of expected the deofolized Royal Magician to free himself by this point… this is a bit anticlimactic…"
With the distraction gone, the white-haired giant looked up to the sky before looking to the sides and sighing after not seeing an opponent charging at him in a frenzy.
"D-did he teleport away…!?"
"Sorry to say that, but that is an it and not a he anymore."
Syon trembled and asked from the side, to which Rotsard smiled gently and corrected him.
"...and no. The former Royal Magician hasn't managed to break through my ice. I can sense that much at least. If anything, I expect the whole block to fall back down right about…"
*WHAAAAM*
The white-haired giant shook his head, almost apologetically, before pointing at the ground beside him just in time for the mass of ice to come crashing down at huge speed.
"!?!?"
"Now~"
As Syon tumbled back from the afterimpact shockwave, Rotsard nodded with a confident expression, turning around to properly face the returning opponent.
"..."
Before doing anything else, Rotsard looked back at Syon, especially at his empty eyesocket, and his expression hardened.
As the air sparkled with ice particles, the white-haired giant approached the block of ice encasing the deofolized human, and crouched by it.
"You look much calmer than I expected."
He said calmly, glaring down at it with his beastly yellow eyes.
"I… may have witnessed the extent of my powers and got humbled."
Shockingly enough, the former Royal Magician cleared its throat and spoke up awkwardly but… honestly…!
"D… dad…?"
"...my boy… please look away… this foolish old man had said and done such cruel and outrageous things after believing himself to be all-powerful…"
The homunculus flinched and said hesitantly, although with quite the audible hope, to which the former Royal Magician encased in ice looked to the side, lowering its gaze and admitting in shame.
Maybe… maybe even regret…?
"...this is… almost absurd… but, you knew about it, didn't you, my boy? How ridiculously powerful he is."
"...!"
The former Royal Magician continued speaking, and the tiny hope in Syon's heart would swell up with each word.
"You know me better than anyone. Even if all emotions and rationality is corrupted or lost, my logic will never falter. I have lost… and I will have to pay the price for my decision. I… I at least wish to face my end in a human form."
"Dad~!"
The former Royal Magician declared, moving Syon to tears with his last declaration.
"I can offer a cleansing spell… unfortunately, it's only effective against gedwyld pollution and can't save you from deofolization…. But… It just might save what little of your soul is left."
"R-Rotsard…?! Y-you're willing to go that far even for a deofolized human…!?"
The white-haired giant inserted himself into the conversation, making Syon let out a deeply moved gasp.
"Well… not for him. But I do consider his son to be my younger brother, and I just don't want this kid to be swallowed by despair over the loss."
"Thank you."
"R-Rotsaaaaaard…!"
The white-haired giant shrugged his shoulders and pointed out, causing the former Royal Magician to bow its head at him while Syon sobbed, overwhelmed by gratefulness.
Truly, such a warm and inspiring sight…
…was shown to Syon Gemleware by Rotsard's Dance on the Frozen Lake spell…
While the young man whose Mana Sight was taken away, together with the eyeball, was safely embraced by the near-perfect illusion the reality was rather….
…different, after all…