The man abandoned his glasses and approached Maria, exuding the very darkness that made the poor girl shiver endlessly.

At this point, she was closing her eyes tightly, curled up in a ball as she struggled to stay afloat.

Any little resistance, and Maria felt like she would sink into despair.

“Y-you… you would dare compete with Master Stefan?! You think you’re better?! You know nothing. Ignorant nonentity!”

His steps were slow and haggard, almost as if he was on the brink of death. Still, he had enough oppressive presence to make the entire area tremble.

“E-eek… e-eek…” Hot tears flowed down Maria’s cheeks as she sobbed.

She didn’t understand the man’s words. His mere presence, and the grating sound of his voice simply drove her insane.

She prayed for salvation, but even her Arcana no longer responded.

“You bitch! You cur! You sow! You in—!”

>SWOOOOOOSSHHH!!!<

Suddenly, in a white blur, something sharply moved.

The grating voice stopped, and the oppressive aura vanished. It was as though there was now a dead calm in the raging sea.

“Haaa… so noisy.” A familiar voice rang in Maria’s ears, causing her to open her eyes.

The first place she turned to look was Jared’s position. He wasn’t there!

“A-ah…?!” More tears streamed down her eyes as her face moved in the direction of the approaching man.

“Y-you’re awake…” Maria’s whisper contained relief and gratitude.

Jared was currently standing right in front of the insane researcher—holding a blade that ran through his opponent’s body.

“Y-you… you bastard!” The researcher coughed blood—dark, corrosive blood.

“You should shut up.” Jared’s voice was commanding and cold.

His eyes showed pure disgust, and a deep-seated hatred could be found just far within them.

“I would have made you suffer the same kind of pain you put her through, but I don’t have the luxury of time.”

“M-master Stefan told me you’d come… Jared. You aren’t good enough… but he considers you a rival. You inferior… your Mana… your Magic. inferior… In the end…” The man’s murmur was strained, but he spoke anyway.

“I don’t care.”

>SWISH!<

In a quick slash, his body was rend into two, and then Jared burned everything to a crisp with a busting glow of white energy.

“You’re the true fool…”

Maria watched as Jared’s eyes slowly transformed into that of pity and pain. There was a profound wisdom locked within that she couldn’t fathom.

It was almost like he was a different person.

“… You dedicated yourself to a lie.” Jared’s lips finally closed, and he turned back to look at Maria.

A delicate smile was planted on his face. It showed how happy, yet sorry he was.

The young girl who watched him knew something was different. The person standing in front of her was Jared, but… he wasn’t the same person she knew.

There was something about him that was different.

“J-Jared…?”

“Yes. It’s me… but I understand why you’re confused.” As he began moving closer to her, the blade in his grasp vanished in a blue spark.

“W-who… what are you now? I don’t understand…”

Maria didn’t know how to feel.

Her body was trembling as he drew closer to her. It wasn’t out of fear, but a different feeling. It was an overpowering feeling of reverence.

Jared currently didn’t feel human—the same way Maria felt when she wielded the power of The Pope.

“It’s still me, Maria. I’m just borrowing some power from Strength.”

Suddenly, the aura around Jared dissipated, and he felt the same way as before. Still, though…

“There’s still something different.” Maria murmured, noticing a glow in his eyes that weren’t present before.

The young girl didn’t have the words to describe it, but—

“You really are very perceptive, Maria.”

—Jared had changed.

“What happened to you? Why did you fall unconscious? Why are you different now?” She asked, and then Jared drew even closer to her.

Before she could say or do anything else, he draw her closer to himself, and both of them were locked in an embrace.

Maria felt sweaty and dirty, but she could not resist the urge to wrap herself around him. Her shivering body slowly calmed, and she felt much better then before.

After they hugged for a minute—maybe two—Jared withdrew himself and locked eyes with her instead.

‘S-so close…’

Having the face of the boy she had feelings for so close to her made Maria feel like drawing much closer, but she controlled herself.

‘N-no! I can’t be certain it’s really—”

“Don’t worry, Maria. It’s still me.” Jared suddenly answered her worries with a smile.

Maria froze. She was too captivated by his charming smile that she forgot to do much else.

All the despair that assailed her in the past were drown in.the vast sea of forgetfulness. At the moment, it was just her and Jared that existed.

“I just… had something returned to me.” Jared’s voice was soft and calm.

His eyes narrowed, and his smile grew broader.

“I finally understand what’s going on.”

“Eh?”

“I’ll explain everything soon, Maria. First, though, we have to act quickly.”

Maria was still confused, but she decided to listen to Jared.

“The Netherlores have access to something very dangerous. Even I can’t comprehend how it got into their grasp, but its not supposed to exist here.”

“O-okay…”

“We need to destroy it. I’m afraid you were right, Maria. Stefan is already affected—maybe more than I can comprehend.”

“Affected by what? Is this also related to the monster that attacked our Estate?”

Jared nodded, causing Maria’s eyes to widen.

“I didn’t think too much about it initially, but… the name ‘Netherlore’ bears a keen resemblance to ‘it’. Why didn’t I notice sooner?”

“Jared, what are you talking about? I don’t understand.”

At this point, Maria was exasperated. She hated being left out, especially when she wanted to help.

Grabbing the boy by both arms and drawing close to him so he could see her eager eyes, Maria asked with all seriousness.

“What exactly is going on?!”

Jared sighed, instantly raising his hand to acknowledge defeat. Once he did this, she loosened her grip and stepped back a little.

“It’s about the Netherlore family. They’re involved in something that shouldn’t exist in this world.”

Maria’s eyes widened, awaiting more from Jared.

“They have access to Nether.”

*

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*

A

/N

Happy Mass Release, everyone!!!