Alex and Stein spent a whole week at sea, and since they had sailed far from the central continent, the chance of finding a military naval ship had become slim to none.
They also barely had to fight any sea creatures, since Stein was good enough to sense them ahead of time and steer around them with ease.
The monsters they did encounter were well within the range they could handle without trouble.
Alex found himself gaining more respect for Stein. The man wasn't just strong enough to protect himself — he was also a surprisingly skilled sailor, confident and steady even in unpredictable waters.
Once they arrived on the island, Alex handed Stein twenty gold, saying,
"Hey, Stein, wait for me here. What I have to do shouldn't take that long."
"Okai, il weit hiere," Stein replied, happily pocketing the gold.
Alex headed inland once again, but this time the terrain was completely barren; there weren't any monsters in sight — not even normal creatures, not a bird or an insect.
'Well, as the resting place of a legendary being, I guess this could be normal,' Alex thought.
Since Sylvana's martial arts had guided her here, she likely cleaned the island of monsters herself; otherwise, any creature could have preyed on her once she became critically weakened.
As Alex continued forward, he noticed that the magical plants still grew untouched, glowing faintly from within patches of dry soil. That meant Sylvana either didn't know about them or didn't care.
But Alex did care — so he harvested every last one.
Eventually, a rock formation appeared in the distance. It was large, with intricate carvings etched across its surface.
'It seems she not only selected this place as her emergency landing… she also decorated it. Like a mausoleum. Or… were the carvings done by people who came after?' Alex wondered.
He was certain the Morningstars must have moved heaven and earth to find a cure for Sylvana — even sending her aide to the alchemist.
'Probably after the alchemist rejected the petition, calling it madness, the family gave up… and made this her grave.' Alex thought, feeling unexpectedly bad for the woman who had endured poison for centuries.
He realized, somewhat surprised, that this was the first time he had ever felt pity for a noble.
But Sylvana's record was pristine. Alex easily categorized her as one of the few genuinely good people among them.
As he entered the structure, a serious yet elegant hall came into view — tall white pillars rising from the floor to the ceiling, connected by sweeping arcs. Hanging from the arcs were banners made of golden cloth bearing the Morningstar symbol: the head of their famed weapon set inside a sun rising with its first light.
'Fitting,' Alex thought.
When he approached the rectangular platform in the center, he found a breathtaking woman clad in armor, frozen above a velvet red linen sheet.
"Hello, Sylvana," Alex said softly. He spoke to her as if she weren't unconscious, removing his mask since it felt uncomfortable.
What he didn't know was that Sylvana had sensed him the moment he stepped inside.
Moments before…
Sylvana lay frozen solid. She had been like this for centuries — unable to move, unable to speak — but capable of seeing through her aura thanks to her level.
At the legendary level, one could use aura to see, even with their eyes closed; this was a combination of her improved eyes, together with her improved will, which was the last improvement a martial artist got — Sylvana could still observe the world, albeit faintly.
'I wonder how much longer I have left,' she thought.
Her family hadn't found a cure in all this time. That meant the poison was almost, if not completely, impossible to counter.
Time had become a strange, inconsistent thing. Sometimes it crawled. Other times it passed in a blur.
That was what happened when she first arrived. After activating the scroll and plunging herself into cryostasis, she lay in an ordinary cave — then, within what felt like a blink, a grand mausoleum had been built around her.
'Have they… given up on me?' she thought bitterly.
She didn't want to give up, but the truth weighed heavily on her.
Then she closed her senses again… until, after an unknown stretch of time, she felt a presence and awoke.
At the entrance stood a hooded, masked man, his stance cautious as he studied the place.
'Great. A grave robber. Or someone sent by the organization that tried to kill me. Is this how I go? Murdered by a nobody?' she thought.
'This would be the most embarrassing end for a legend in history.'
She had felt nothing for so long. That the fact didn't matter to her, maybe after centuries of suffering, death really was mercy.
She watched as the man approached her resting place. Instead of striking, he simply looked at her, and while she braced herself for the end…
The man suddenly spoke.
"Hello, Sylvana." He removed his mask.
'He looks around twenty… he's a kid!' she thought. The fact that someone so young reached this place at all was stunning.
'He actually spoke to me? Does he know I'm conscious?' she wondered.
"Hah, I probably sound like a maniac, talking to an unconscious woman. But well, maybe I am a little crazy after spending a month alone in a fucking jungle," Alex joked.
'I guess not,' Sylvana thought.
'I'd say you're quite strange, yes.' She wanted to tell him, but her frozen body wouldn't respond.
She watched as the man pulled out an entire alchemy setup — some tools from a bag, others from a pocket watch engraved with dimensional runes.
"But the craziest thing is that I'm doing all this to help you — a noble — despite how much I hate ya'll," Alex continued conversationally, as if she couldn't hear him.
'Oh? And why help me? And what's with that hatred?' Sylvana had countless questions but no way to ask them.
'And what are you planning to do with all that equipment?' she wondered.
"You know, you were poisoned by a legendary poison — the Widow's Crown. It caused all your bodily systems to collapse at once," Alex said.
'No wonder I couldn't be cured… so it was that. Wait — how does he even know that?!'
She sank into momentary despair… then snapped out of it as the boy went on.
"Not only that, but Stormblight was mixed with it, which made the effects even worse for someone like you who controls lightning."
'Damn,' Sylvana thought. It seemed she had been thoroughly screwed over.