It didn't matter that Milo had already eaten the monster meat and would turn regardless of Alec's interference. His actions couldn't be excused just because Milo was already slated to die.

If that were the case, murder wouldn't exist since everyone would die one day. If hurrying that fate along was a grave crime, it was a grave crime. The circumstances didn't matter.

Alec had killed Milo.

That was fact.

Alec couldn't think of anything else, only that he had killed Milo. All the while, Milo's last words rang out in his head like bellstrikes.

'Thanks for lying to me.'

That was what Milo had managed to whisper before transforming into a monster.

He had known all along that Alec was lying to him about him being fine. But he was still grateful. During one of the darkest times of his life, Alec had been there to provide a glimmer of hope. That alone had warmed him.

He was earnestly grateful.

But now, that gratitude was acid down Alec's throat.

Would Milo have been grateful if he knew what Alec did?

'No.'

Alec was convinced Milo would have cursed him just as he had cursed Shim.

Yellow-green phlegm found its way through Alec's fingers and dribbled down his hand and chin before dropping onto the floor while he sat still, cramped like a statue.

He could not accept this discovery. Doing so meant accepting his involvement in Milo's death.

Even if it meant figuring out monsterification, how could he, with a light heart, weigh that against the life of a young child?

"I-it's not over yet. It's not over yet." Alec's voice was weak and hoarse as he slowly turned toward monster Milo and stumbled over to the iron bars separating them.

"Milo, you're coming back, aren't you? If I continue like this, you will return, won't you? You aren't dead, right? Milo…!"

Alec slumped against the iron bars.

He didn't know how long he sat there before managing to stand back up.

He had killed Milo. That was a fact.

He could not change that. But he could change what he decided to do from now on.

First, he had to see if he could make Milo return by continuing to use the Poem in his vicinity.

But before that…

[Major Quest complete. You have successfully figured out the age-old mystery plaguing Miteria. Congratulations.

[You have obtained complete monsterification immunity, 1 Random Monster Egg, and 1 Ticket to the Abyss.]

Alec looked at the holographic screen with dazed eyes. He couldn't quite believe it until now. But this confirmed it. His theory was right, which also meant that he was right about how he had killed Milo.

A moment later, an egg the size of a large apple appeared in his hand. It was off-white with green dots all over it.

"Where's my Ticket?"

[It is not a physical object. It's with me. Do you want to use it right now?]

"No. What is this Abyss thing?"

[A different dimension.]

"Can you tell me anything else about it?"

[Not much.]

"Alright." Alec sighed. There was no way he was going to use a ticket to another dimension just like that, especially not one with a creepy name. Instead, he focused on the egg in his hand and put it on the workbench.

"So, what am I supposed to do with this? Eat it? I didn't even know monsters could lay eggs."

[What you choose to do with it is entirely up to you.]

"Can I hatch it?"

[It is hatchable, yes.]

'So whether I can do it or not depends on me, not the egg.'

"Got it."

Alec had no idea where to even start with that, so he set that aside and turned to the other monsters.

He felt strange.

He had shed blood, sweat, and tears to figure out monsterification. Now that he had, he felt anticlimactic.

'What now?'

He could return to the Academy. But why?

His friends were there, and the library had a lot of information he still wanted. Other than that, he couldn't really see a need to return.

But was it really in his best interest to stay underground and focus on the monsters and Milo until he went insane?

'I mean, I've solved it, haven't I? Moira shouldn't come after me if I just take a breather.'

Alec wrote down his findings in excruciating detail to make sure Moira understood everything he had discovered. He had to omit a couple of details related to how he figured out that digesting monster meat released the Aether trapped in it, though.

Then, he realized that he might be gone a little longer than intended, even if he just wanted to step outside and breathe the fresh air.

If he wanted to help Milo recover as quickly as possible, he needed the monster to listen to the Poem at least once a day.

If he wasn't present, there were only two ways for that to happen. Either he could make something like a phone and talk to him across a vast distance or record himself reciting the Poem and hope it worked.

He didn't even know where to begin with making a phone, but he had an idea when it came to recording his voice.

It would be an engraved spell formation.

The base was a spell he hadn't thought much of since it wasn't reliable, and he could write just fine on his own.

It was a spell that recorded one's voice and transcribed it when engraved on a pen hanging from a string.

Alec altered the spell beyond recognition. Instead of moving a pen, it moved the air around it into sound waves.

It worked. It made Alec sound like he was deathly ill with a rat shoved down his throat for some reason, but it worked, at least until he tried to record the Poem.

As soon as the pendant with the message tried to play back the Poem, it melted.

'Ah…'

Apparently, it wouldn't be that easy, and Alec didn't have the mental strength to keep doing what seemed like a futile endeavor.

So, he stepped out, took a breath, and returned inside the stuffy lab.

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