Chapter 4: Counterattack Signal
In the rooftop garden of the Galarc Castle, a huge pillar of light stretched up to the sky. The wondrous sight captured everyone’s gazes, almost making them forget about the precarious situation they were in.
However, there was an odd sense of déjà vu to the scene.
“A hero summoning...?” Christina mumbled in confusion.
Indeed, the pillar of light was terribly similar to that of a hero summoning. The golem turned its body away, wary of the pillar of light. The spears extending from its wings were aimed at the pillar, ready to fire at any moment.
Two figures appeared within the light as it faded. It was a boy in his late teens and a young girl standing beside him.
“Who...?”
In other words, it was Rio and Sora, who should have been in the Holy City Tonerico of the Almada Kingdom. But those in the rooftop garden didn’t know who Rio and Sora were. They blinked at them blankly in shock.
“Where are we?”
Meanwhile, Rio and Sora were just as confused. After all, as mentioned already, the two of them were just in the Holy City Tonerico of the Almada Kingdom mere moments ago. They had just encountered the priestess named Eru at the entrance of the labyrinth by the city, and now...
The Galarc Castle? Why...?
Rio’s eyes widened as he realized they had returned to the Galarc Castle, far from the Holy Kingdom of Almada. Then, he noticed the disastrous spectacle around them.
Rio’s face fell as he spotted Satsuki lying in a puddle of blood with a large hole in her chest. His gaze immediately froze over with anger.
When he saw Masato with his sword and Latifa with her fists clenched for combat, he understood that the culprit was the golem they were facing. He could also see Aishia being pressured by another golem in the sky above them.
“Wh-Why is that thing here?! Dragon Ki— Master Rio...!”
Shocked by the sight of the golems, Sora immediately tried to report something to Rio. But when she saw how furious the normally gentle Rio was, she swallowed her words.
The golem seemed to be aware that Rio and Sora were no ordinary people. It watched them with a cautious glare, calling back the feather blades that were attacking Gouki, Kayoko, and Aria.
Gouki, Kayoko, and Aria used that chance to return to Latifa and Liselotte to strengthen their defenses.
“Sora, can you protect everyone?” Rio asked, taking out a mask from his breast pocket.
“Yup! Leave it to me!” Sora replied energetically.
Rio instantly vanished from where he stood. Everyone’s eyes widened in shock; it almost looked like he had teleported. But the golem was able to follow Rio’s rapid speed and turned to face him immediately.
“Dissolvo.”
Rio had moved beside Satsuki and was taking a sheet out of his Time-Space Cache. He wrapped her in the sheet, covering the hole in her chest, and gently picked her up in his arms. Just then, a telepathic message from Aishia reached him.
Haruto... I’m sorry I couldn’t protect everyone—I couldn’t protect Satsuki.
She sounded quite regretful as she apologized to him.
It’s not your fault, Aishia.
Rio replied immediately. At the same time, the feather blades the golem had called back all shot towards him. Countless orbs of light immediately appeared around Rio and flew towards the golem, repelling each of the feather blades approaching him. Of course, the feather blades were unharmed by such an attack.
“Wha...”
Christina, Liselotte, and the others watching on were all rendered speechless, but it was only the beginning. Rio vanished once again, this time with Satsuki in his arms, and reappeared beside the dumbfounded group on the rooftop.
“Satsuki is alive,” he said to them.
“Huh?” Everyone reacted with disbelief. Although the wound was currently hidden behind the sheet, they had all witnessed the golem’s tail opening a hole through her chest. Her heart and lungs should have been torn apart, causing enough damage to instantly kill her. It was hard to imagine her still being alive after that.
“She’ll regain consciousness soon, but let her rest for now. I’ll take care of that thing. It won’t lay a hand on anyone else,” Rio said quietly.
The golem spread its wings of light as though to rise to the challenge. The wings glowed brightly as the spears all fired towards Rio.
“Master Rio!”
“I know!”
Sora yelled as she held out a hand at the golem. Rio did the same.
Immediately after, countless spears of light hurtled towards them. They struck one after another, causing a series of fierce explosions.
“Ahh!”
Light burst brightly, forcing many of those watching on to clench their eyes shut. The blast had enough force to blow apart the average human.
“Huh...?”
But everyone noticed the lack of pain they felt and gingerly opened their eyes. Rio and Sora stood before them, casting a barrier of light together. That was apparently strong enough to block all the light spears. The barrier was also angled to direct all the shock waves upwards, minimizing the damage to the floor.
Just then, the golem suddenly appeared right before Rio, swinging its fist at the barrier. Shock waves surged, causing a small earthquake on the floor.
However, there was so much essence poured into the barrier between Rio and Sora, not even a crack appeared at the golem’s punch.
“Wow...”
As fellow spirit art casters, Komomo and Sayo understood how hard it was to create such a strong barrier. They gulped in awe.
“Sora, I’ll take care of this guy. It seems to be quite troublesome. Could you go assist Aishia?” Rio asked, glaring at the golem.
“Understood. These guys are golems created by the Wise Gods, so please be careful.” Sora nodded anxiously and gave him an explanation.
“This thing is...?”
Sora had mentioned that they were once disciples of the Seven Wise Gods the first time he met her. And now there was one right before him. Rio took a deep breath.
“Sorry, it might be a very dangerous fight...” he said, worrying for Sora’s safety.
“Wh-What are you saying?! There’s no way we’d lose to these guys! Sora will clean that guy up with Aishia in no time at all!” Sora said proudly. “See you later!”
She rose into the sky and flew away. The golem manipulated its feather blades into going after her, but Rio deployed numerous orbs of light to intercept the feathers.
As a result, the golem’s feathers were all deflected by the orbs, and Sora safely reached Aishia and the others. The golem shot Sora a sidelong glance.
“Hey.”
Rio had moved before the golem in the blink of an eye. Then, with a right fist wrapped in wind spirit arts, he punched the golem in the abdomen. In that instant, condensed wind exploded, blowing the golem’s body back by a meter.
“Pay attention,” he said in a cold voice.
He kept moving forward to keep the golem’s attention on him, this time throwing his left fist forward.
Rio activated the wind spirit arts wrapped around his left hand, but the golem only backed away a little this time. By backing away at the moment of impact, it killed the momentum behind Rio’s attack.
There was enough force to blow an unguarded human to pieces, but the golem only shifted slightly. At that moment, Rio understood how abnormal his opponent was.
Meanwhile, golem seemed to have determined Rio was a greater threat than the others, as it took its attention off Sora and glared at him with its eerily glowing gaze. Its tail wavered like a mirage, taking aim at Rio’s heart. But the wind spirit arts around Rio’s right hand accurately smashed into the tip of the tail, diverting its trajectory astray.
It pierced Satsuki’s heart with this tail...
Rio realized how the hole in Satsuki’s chest had gotten there and frowned bitterly. He would be the one to punish it.
“I will be your opponent.”
He stood before the golem, determined to protect the people behind him.
◇ ◇ ◇
High in the sky above the Galarc Castle, Rio’s and Sora’s summoning had put a temporary stop to the golem attacking Aishia and the spirit folk girls. However, once the golem on the rooftop garden began attacking Rio, the golem in the sky resumed its attack on Aishia. Feather blades danced through the sky under its control.
“...!” Aishia instantly used her wind spirit art to push her physical body into accelerating towards the golem. Sara, Orphia, and Alma were unable to react to the golem’s speed fast enough, so she decided that she had to be the one to put a stop to it.
Fortunately, thanks to Rio being summoned nearby, he was able to transfer essence to her through their contract path. It was more effective to have physical contact with the contract holder, so she couldn’t recover all her lost essence in a single go.
I can keep fighting like this.
It had the boon of giving her much more leeway with her magic essence. Thanks to that, she could heal the injuries on her abdomen and legs that she had been ignoring in favor of using her essence on flying.
Although it wasn’t a hindrance to maintaining a physical body, the pain spirits felt in their incarnated body could potentially reduce their physical ability. It would have been quite harsh on Aishia to fight with a hole in her abdomen, but she was able to move sharply now that she was healed.
However, though it was easier for her to fight, it didn’t change how formidable of an opponent the golem was. She had only been able to land an effective hit earlier thanks to Sara, Orphia, and Alma diverting its attention.
Which was why she was still forced to focus her efforts into defensively evading its attacks. But this time, Rio’s and Sora’s reassuring presences kept her calm.
“Haaah!”
It was at this moment that Sora left Rio’s side and ran over to support Aishia. She flew over faster than the speed of sound, shooting up from below to land a punch against the golem with her partially materialized dragon body.
The golem’s body that had been unharmed until now was easily blown back over ten meters. Its momentum eventually diminished and it came to a stop. There had been significant force behind the punch, as the area where it was hit was dented.
“Wha...”
Sara and the other girls were wide-eyed in amazement.
“Hey, Aishia! You’re just gonna be in the way with a tattered mask like that. Go to the Dragon King’s side. Sora will take care of this.” Sora came to a stop before the golem as she called out to Aishia behind her.
“This is a really dangerous opponent...” Aishia said hesitantly. Although she was worried about Rio fighting below them, she was also concerned about Sora fighting alone.
“Oh? Do you think Sora needs your concern?”
Aishia silently conveyed her affirmation through her gaze, which Sora noticed when she looked over her shoulder.
“Sora is well aware of how dangerous this opponent is. Which is all the more reason you should go to the other fight, where there are more hindrances. You’re not going to make Master Rio fight alone in such a situation, are you?” She shrugged in exasperation and waved her hand to shoo Aishia away.
“Got it... Thank you for coming to save me, Sora,” Aishia said to her back.
“H-Huh?! I-It’s not like Sora came here for your sake!” Sora snapped with a blush. But when she looked over her shoulder, Aishia was no longer there. She had already started moving towards Rio.
“We’re going to descend, you three. You can leave this one to Sora,” Aishia called out to Sara and the others on her way down to the rooftop garden.
“Huh? Um, but...”
Sara, Orphia, and Alma’s gazes looked over at the blushing Sora. They seemed reluctant to leave such a small child behind—which was a sensible reaction to have. The force behind her punch had been stupendous, but her appearance was still that of a helpless little girl.
“Hmph. As usual, you make no sense.”
Being relied on and thanked by someone was new to Sora, which was probably why she turned her head away shyly.
Meanwhile, the spirit folk girls were hesitant about what to do. They gazed at the back of the small figure floating before them.
“Hey, you three,” Sora called out without looking back.
“Huh?”
“You’re in the way. Get out of here,” she ordered.
“But...” Sara and the others still hesitated. Just then, the golem instantly repaired the dent in its armor from Sora’s attack and moved close to her. The spirit folk girls only noticed it after it had closed the distance to and finished swinging its fist. However, Sora’s partially materialized dragon arm was able to catch the golem’s powerful fist directly. The golem silently attempted to push its fist forward, but Sora pushed back with just as much strength.
Sara, Orphia, and Alma were speechless, watching on with bated breath.
“Do you get it now? If you weren’t able to react to this thing’s movements just now, you’ll just be in the way. Hurry up and run,” Sora urged them.
“I understand... Let’s go.”
Sara bit her lip in vexation, but she wasn’t immature enough to avoid seeing reality for what it was. Sensing the gap in their ability, she called for Orphia and Alma to retreat. Orphia and Alma nodded with bitter looks and began to descend.
“Hmph, now Sora can fight to her heart’s content.”
Sora huffed and glared at the golem she was facing. The golem then manipulated its feather blades to attack the girls that were descending.
Sora immediately released the golem and vanished. Dragon wings materialized on her back, allowing her to fly faster than the feather blades and slap them away before they could reach the girls.
“How dare you look away while facing Sora!”
Sora charged towards the golem once again, flapping her wings. At the same time, another huge pillar of light rose from the Galarc Castle.
“Huh...?”
Sora came to a screeching stop and stared at the pillar. The golem’s gaze was similarly drawn to the light, but there was something about this pillar that was different from the one that summoned Rio and Sora before.
The pillar of light that had summoned them had been too bright to see through, but the one rising now was transparent. In addition to that, this new pillar of light came to a stop after rising to a certain height and started expanding outwards, covering the entire city like a dome.
A barrier? But there’s no human out there that can cast a barrier of this ridiculous scale... Are they using the ley line of the land?
Sora quickly analyzed what was happening using the knowledge she had already.
Wait, don’t tell me—was it Lina? Or another Wise God?
When considering who could have activated the barrier, Lina and the other Wise Gods were the first to come to mind. The fact that the golems—weapons once created by the Wise Gods—were here also supported the theory of the Wise Gods being involved.
“What on earth is happening?”
Sora frowned in annoyance and returned her gaze to the golem.
◇ ◇ ◇
Meanwhile, in the sky far above where Sora was fighting...
“I’ve been had...”
Reiss was stuck outside of the barrier. He had a rare frown of displeasure on his face as he sighed and formed an essence bullet at his fingertips. He fired it at the barrier, but the moment it made contact, it burst and scattered.
A barrier to prevent external entry and defend against attacks, I see. It probably has other effects too... That woman has no intention of hiding her involvement after all.
A barrier of this scale couldn’t be activated on the spot. It had to have been prepared long in advance. Either way, as long as this barrier was here, Reiss was split from the two golems he had deployed.
It may be possible to destroy the barrier if I deployed the third golem, but...
The problem was what would happen after breaking the barrier and getting inside. He didn’t know what other traps were prepared, and Rio and Sora had been summoned within the barrier already. Not even the golems could stand a chance against the Dragon King that Reiss knew. All they could do was buy time. It would be foolish to continue deploying his forces without any chance of victory.
However, Rio wasn’t the Dragon King that Reiss knew one thousand years ago. There was no telling how much of the Dragon King’s power he could use.
Two golems should be a good test of how irregular his combat power is. Although that changes my original goal quite a bit.
He should use this chance to evaluate him—it was the least he could do after his plans to use golems to eliminate Celia and the others in Rio’s and Sora’s absence had been ruined by their summoning.
I’m also curious about what that woman will do next...
With that, Reiss decided to watch over the fight within the barrier instead.
◇ ◇ ◇
Meanwhile, deep beneath the Galarc Castle.
“What was the sorcery you just activated?” Celia asked Miharu, who was standing beside her as she gazed in awe at the mana crystal floating in the middle of the room.
“A barrier that isolates the inner area from the outer area. This will prevent any new forces from infiltrating. We’ve succeeded in summoning Rio and Sora, so we’ve passed the first checkpoint,” Miharu said, beaming smugly. It was an expression she would never show under normal circumstances.
“I see...”
Which was why Celia blinked as she stared at Miharu’s face.
“What? Now that we’re past the first checkpoint, we have a little space to breathe. I’ll answer any questions you have as long as you keep your magic essence under control,” Miharu said, noticing Celia’s gaze.
“It’s just—you’re nothing like the Miharu I know...”
She had a faint idea of what was happening to Miharu right now, but with the situation being what it was, she hadn’t sought any confirmation. But now that she had been told the first checkpoint was passed, Celia shot Miharu a searching look.
“Of course. I’m not her, after all. Don’t lump us together,” Miharu muttered in disgust.
“Don’t lump you together... So am I talking to the Wise God Lina herself right now? Not Miharu speaking on Lina’s behalf?”
Celia made an accurate guess of the situation based on the information she gained from their conversation.
“Ayase Miharu’s consciousness has completely withdrawn back. She has no idea what’s happening right now. Did you think she was speaking with the memories of the Wise God Lina?”
“Oh, um... Y-Yes. But wait... Huh?”
The Wise Gods were figures of worship in the Strahl region. Celia adjusted her tone, thinking it would be bad to speak to Lina like how she normally spoke to Miharu. But then she tilted her head curiously, realizing something odd about that.
“Is it strange for the Wise God Lina, who reincarnated into Ayase Miharu, to have a different personality to Ayase Miharu?” Miharu—no, Lina asked, guessing Celia’s question before she could ask it.
“Yes... I was told that people who leave this world through reincarnation or teleportation cannot keep their memories... Rio didn’t have the memories of the Dragon King, so how come you do? And as a separate personality...”
“I’m not the only one. Aishia regained her memories too, no?”
“Oh...”
Now that she mentioned it, that was true. Aishia had regained the memories Lina copied to her in the middle of the battle with Saint Erica, creating the opportunity for Rio to awaken as a transcendent one.
“There are exceptions to everything,” Lina said with a meaningful smile. “That said, the way Aishia and I retrieved our memories is different. I’ve kept my personality along with my memories. It’s a long story, so I’ll keep my explanation brief for now. You know the spell you recently learned that allows you to assume an alter ego? I used a variation of that magic to possess this girl. My abilities are drastically lesser compared to my former self, and I can’t use any powers since I’m no longer a transcendent one.”
“Does that mean you’re a split personality?”
“I guess so. The main personality is Miharu, so I can’t come out unless the possession magic is used.”
“I was shocked when Miharu suddenly started using powerful spells one after another.”
After all, Miharu was a spirit art caster, and spirit art casters couldn’t learn magic. If they did, they were no longer able to use spirit arts. There was no way Celia wouldn’t be surprised to see her using magic out of the blue.
“They’re still wasted on this girl, though.”
“R-Really?”
“It’s all magic she can’t use. Even if she could, her personality isn’t suited for conflict, so you’d just end up annoyed at how meek she is, no?”
“Th-That’s not true... She’s a really nice girl.”
“It is. That’s why I have to stand in for her,” Lina said with a sigh.
Even though it’s the girl I reincarnated into...
Celia stared at Lina, surprised to hear her degrade the girl whose body she was possessing.
“Like I said already, I’m not that girl. We may share the same soul, but our personalities are separate. That’s why I consider that girl a different person to myself,” Lina said, as though she could guess what Celia was thinking.
“But even if you say that...I can’t really see it that way...”
She had reincarnated as Ayase Miharu, yet she didn’t consider herself Ayase Miharu. It was a little too confusing for Celia, who had a strained smile on her face.
“Really? It’s the same as your beloved Rio, isn’t it? He considers himself Rio, not Amakawa Haruto. And definitely not the Dragon King. Well, in his case, his personalities as Amakawa Haruto and Rio have smoothly merged with each other, which probably affects his outlook.”
“That’s true...”
Amakawa Haruto was dead, and Rio was his current self. This was what Rio had told Celia himself, so that was something she could understand.
“Wait, what do you mean by beloved...”
Celia’s snow-white cheeks reddened like ripe peaches. She pouted adorably.
“Seeing the way you easily accept anything to do with him, love is truly blind,” Lina said with a teasing smile.
Celia was unable to say anything.
“Besides, you’re the same too,” Lina added.
“Huh?” Celia tilted her head, unable to comprehend the sudden information.
“You’re the reincarnation of my disciple. How does it feel hearing that? Do you consider yourself the same person as my disciple?”
“I... I do not. I don’t have any memories of that...” Celia said, shaking her head hesitantly. There was nothing left of that disciple’s memories, so it was only natural for her to think that.
“In the first place, reincarnation sorcery is a technique used to be reborn as a different person. A body can only hold one soul. That’s why reincarnation sorcery fuses the soul of the person who wants to be reincarnated with the soul about to be born. Do you know what this means?”
“That the person born from reincarnation was originally a separate person to the one who wanted to be reincarnated? In other words, regardless of the one who wanted to be reincarnated, they would have been born anyway?” Celia said, forming her answer from the information she was given.
“Correct. So in my case, Ayase Miharu would have been born even if I didn’t reincarnate. That’s why it’s only natural for me to consider myself as a separate person to Ayase Miharu. Even my personality is separate from hers.”
Sure enough, Lina gave Celia’s answer a gold star, adding her perspective on top.
“That’s what I find strange, though. If most people can’t keep their memories or personality like you, what’s the point of reincarnating?”
“The point is to increase one’s talent and abilities after reincarnation. Transcendent powers and magic spell formulas can be inherited too. The Claire family was originally a notable family of sorcerers, but your exceptional sense as a sorcerer is because of my disciple fusing with your soul.”
“But even if the soul is fused, if there’s nothing left of the memories and personality from before reincarnation, that person from the past life is as good as gone, no? Why would you reincarnate if there’s nothing left behind?”
“That depends on the individual, don’t you think? In fact, the memories that remain after reincarnation all depend on the spell formula used beforehand. Of course, it’s restricted to those born or reincarnated into this world.”
Those who were born in this world couldn’t choose to reincarnate in another world with their memories. This was the basic premise behind why Rio didn’t have any memories of the Dragon King, but still had memories of Amakawa Haruto.
Then the reason I’ve lost my memories of being Lina’s disciple despite being reincarnated into this world is because...
That disciple herself had chosen not to leave any memories behind. Is that what Lina was saying? Celia wondered to herself.
“For the record, it’s also possible to designate the timing of when one will inherit their powers and spell formulas, you know? It’d be dangerous if a baby without any sense of self used their powers or magic unknowingly,” Lina added.
“Then the reason I recently learned my new magic is because...”
The same applied to Rio and the powers he regained while fighting Saint Erica. Was it all prepared in advance in their reincarnation sorcery?
“Yes, it was decided in the reincarnation sorcery that you would obtain those spells at that exact point in time. The trick needed for you to regain your memories of Rio and Aishia was also activated at the same time.”
“I knew it...” Celia had a look of understanding on her face, like she had found the missing piece of the puzzle. “Then if you use that trick on the others, they should be able to regain their memories of Rio and Aishia too, right?!” she said, looking at Lina hopefully.
“That isn’t possible.”
“Huh...?”
Why? Celia wondered, looking like a kicked puppy as her face fell.
“Or rather, there’s no need for that. We’re going to use another loophole to get out of this situation.”
“Another loophole...?”
“There are other ways of evading the rules of god.”
“Oh...!” The light of hope returned to Celia’s eyes.
“We’re about to activate the sorcery for that now. It’ll help defeat the golems above us as well.”
“Are they a difficult opponent to defeat even with Rio and Sora here?”
“There’s no doubt they’re a troublesome opponent to face. Destroying the golem’s armor isn’t enough, since they’ll keep regenerating until they run out of magic essence. And the ones on the surface would have saved a thousand years’ worth of essence.”
“A-A thousand years of essence? How many times would they have to be destroyed for their saved essence to run dry?”
A chill ran down Celia’s spine.
“They’ve probably used a month’s worth at this point, I’d say?”
“That’s all...?”
Celia once again realized just how dangerous the golems were.
“Not even the transcendent ones would want to deal with them directly. Well, the Dragon King can defeat them easily with his annihilation powers. He could even eliminate the saved essence within the golems directly. It’s such a cheat-like ability. We’re lucky he’s on our side,” Lina said gleefully.
“But aren’t the transcendent powers...”
Unlike Lina, Celia frowned with uncertainty. She had been told that using the powers placed a huge burden on the human body and soul.
Besides, transcendent ones had to use their power for the sake of the world as a whole. If they tried to protect a particular group or individual, they would forget who they were trying to protect. That was one of the rules of god.
Wearing the mask eased the burden of this penalty, but there was no telling how much of the recoil from using the powers for someone could be endured. It was possible for the mask to break in a single instant.
“Like I said, once this sorcery activates, the rules of god won’t be an issue anymore. He’ll be able to use his powers without losing his memories. But he’ll still have to endure the burden on his body and soul...”
Worried about the burden that would descend on Rio if he used his powers, a look of anxiety flashed across Lina’s face. But she sighed as though to dispel those feelings.
“At any rate, he’ll be able to fight without worrying about the penalties of breaking the rules if this sorcery activates. He won’t lose his memories even if he takes off his mask,” she said brightly.
“Wow...”
The rules of god that had troubled them so much would all but disappear. Celia swallowed her breath in awe.
“And so, I’m taking over from here. I can handle this by myself, so you go back up and pass on my message to him.”
“To Rio?”
“Yes. ‘Wait for my signal, then eliminate the essence within the golems using your power. But make sure you only use your powers within the barrier, and make sure you don’t use your powers more than two times in succession. It’d be ideal if you could take them both out in one go, but don’t endanger yourself trying. Finally, once the golems use up all their essence and cease moving, please retrieve the cores.’ Got it?” Lina conveyed to Celia.
“Uh. Um, yes. What’s the signal?”
“The moment the next sorcery activates. It’ll be obvious, so don’t worry about it. Transvectio.”
Lina uttered the spell and a magic circle appeared around Celia. The space distorted and Celia vanished with it, leaving Lina behind.
“I’m counting on you...” she muttered, gazing up at the tall ceiling.
After a while, she suddenly opened her mouth again.
“I’m going to disable all the taboos you decided upon now, father,” she said, as though she was talking to someone who wasn’t there. “My powers couldn’t foresee the penalty for breaking the rules. But you foresaw this future, didn’t you, father? How will you punish me for breaking the rules? Or have you forsaken this world and don’t care about what I do anymore?”
Lina continued speaking, but no one responded.
“So you won’t answer me after all. Then I shall break the taboos.”
Lina continued gazing up at the ceiling in hope of a reply, but pulled herself together with a look of determination.
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