In a Distant Place within the Borders of the Eastern Sea…
On an island not long after Cassian and the others had left, a girl with a wild appearance sat atop a massive tree. Her previously neat and elegant appearance had completely vanished. It had been weeks since she last bathed or changed her clothes. Her hair had grown rapidly, reaching the ground, but she hadn't bothered to cut it.
The image she once valued most was now the least of her concerns, as two greater impulses dominated her mind: revenge and addiction.
Because her cursed puppet refused to obey or simply leave, he made her addicted to the fruit as well. All she could think about was the fruit, and with no one left to curb her addiction, she ate it day and night.
After someone disposed of all the stored fruit, Diana had to climb to a more distant island. Above the island where she had spent her entire life, the highest and largest among them, she found the source of the fruit's growth. One of the three guardians was harvesting the annual crop and distributing it to the masters.
There were signs of destruction everywhere around the fruit's growth area, indicating someone had tried to destroy these fruits forever. But looking at the tree, which wasn't even scratched, it was clear they had failed.
Every day, around sixty fruits grew from this place, and Diana didn't hesitate to eat them all. Her face was stained with the golden juice of the fruit, while her white clothes had turned a brownish-black due to the mud.
As she devoured the fruits from the dirty tree branches, she didn't even wash them, eating them along with the mud. Her intelligence stats remained at rank B-, but all her physical stats had stabilized at rank A+.
"They no longer have an effect..." she spoke for the first time in days, despair filling her face.
"Why?! Why?! Why?! Why?!" she cried loudly, scratching her nails through the dirty mud as her tears fell onto it. Some of it entered her nose and mouth. In the past, she would have washed her tongue immediately, but now she didn't even think about it.
"It no longer satisfies my addiction..." she cried louder with each passing second, banging her head against the ground.
"Cassian! Cassian! Cassian!" her blood-red eyes widened as she uttered the name she had been thinking of for the past few weeks.
Unfortunately, the reason for thinking about him was not love, but something far more sinister.
"I'll make you see... Enjoy yourself while you can because I'm coming to the West soon..." she lifted her mud-covered head and began to make her way back.
"If the fruits aren't enough, I'll create a concentrate. The previous guardians probably never thought of it since their rank stayed at S- for decades..." she thought.
The three guardians never told anyone that the fruit's effect stopped at rank A+. If they had informed old Adam or anyone with basic scientific knowledge, they would have found a solution.
"Just a bunch of weak fools who couldn't even protect their community..." Thinking about how she, Cassian, and the guardians were of the same race, she couldn't help but spit on the ground.
"Filthy humans." she thought as she jumped from the upper edge of the island without any worries, as if she was about to commit suicide.
"I need grandfather's lab. Good thing he taught me many things before he died too..." she looked at the paper she pulled out of her storage ring at that moment.
She read it while falling at a crazy speed, her anger increasing with every word.
—--------
**From the Resistance Team**
Hello, survivor. The resistance team announces that the Puppets Society has finally been dissolved, and all the masters have been eradicated.
Receiving this message means we found a sample of the sacred fruit in your blood (the method we used to differentiate between victims and criminals).
To get rid of addiction effects, this paper will guide you to the lab where your addiction began. We've placed a large quantity of the antidote, enough for everyone. (The antidote works only once. Beware.)
After taking the antidote, you can enter the portal we made to reach the coast, where we have placed dozens of extra ships you can use for transport. Don't forget to remove the bracelet and get a supply of food before leaving.
—----------
"The resistance team and Cassian… they are definitely connected…" Diana muttered as her body crashed onto the roof of her old palace, where her family's corpses still lay.
Her body sustained fractures, and blood spread everywhere, but she didn't die, and the pain didn't affect her addicted mind.
"I will kill them all..." she thought as she began to limp slowly toward the lab.
### ***
=+=
All of us, except Elara, gathered shortly afterward, as he was still unable to wake up.
Additionally, Daristan had finally calmed down and came to spend time with us. His mana reserves were already starting to refill. Everyone except him was frowning, thinking about Elara's situation.
"I will get that potion no matter the cost..." I tried to calm things down with that statement, and it partially worked.
"About that... I-I'm... I'm sorry..." With great hesitation, Daristan apologized. It was clearly difficult for someone as proud as him.
He thought Jin used a teleportation skill or tool to save me somehow and that he was the reason for taking me into the air.
He may not be entirely wrong, but I would have died at Eldrick's hands if he hadn't shown up, so he can't be blamed entirely.
"You have a high sense of responsibility, but it's not related to the matter." Jin glanced at me as he spoke, his meaning clear.
"I'm sorry..." I spoke sincerely.
"I'm not trying to blame you, Cassian, but I hope you work on yourself more to avoid other incidents." He closed his eyes as he spoke. 'It's not any of our faults, but it's everyone's responsibility...' he thought.
"We will help you in the inheritance court to get that potion." Killian and Daristan spoke simultaneously.
I don't know much about why Daristan and Killian need me, but it seems they want to help me so that I help them afterward.
That's fine. They are beneficial to me anyway...
Elara's incident might be very unfortunate, but at least it united everyone on my cause without me even speaking. I'll give him the potion after he did this...
"It's really strange that you believe he will survive in the first place. Didn't the soldiers tell you it's not certain?" Alios spoke as he exited the room where Elara was treated.
Everyone's expressions darkened when looking at him. Did he really die? This team might fall apart, and it was just formed... Jin stood up, his eyes widened, glowing red as he looked at Alios. The latter didn't care much about the threat.
"Well... He did survive, but I doubt he'll wake up anytime soon..." Alios laughed a bit, restoring color to Jin's expressions.
It seems this group won't disband now, at least.
"Regarding the legendary potion, don't tell anyone you want it before sitting on the throne. It will only bring unnecessary conflicts and betrayals."
***
Lucas kicked the ground beneath him in great anger as he listened to the team's conversation from outside. The veins on his forehead bulged, barely preventing his mana from spreading.
If his terrifying mana reserves spread without any suppression, it could cause everyone inside but Jin to faint.
It could also lead to an unnecessary fight with Alios, which wouldn't be in his favor.
'Fighting a council member of the family doesn't seem like a wise choice.' Lucas sighed in the end, calming himself.
'The legendary potion will be for her… and only her!' Lucas began walking away from the vehicle while thinking.
'We refused to support Loana because she wouldn't give us that potion. If you refuse too, we'll lose our only reason to support you! Cassian StarHold!'
Lucas gritted his teeth as his anger returned. then disappeared among the trees, heading to rest somewhere.