The world around Ciara collapsed, and the lovely sight was replaced with an old, musty mansion.

The chairs were covered in dirt, dust, and were already broken down. The floor was dirty, the chandeliers had fallen to the ground, and everything else was a mess.

The interior was very old, and the nearly broken-down building was simply pathetic in comparison to what was shown just earlier.

“Ciara.” Jerry’s voice called her from behind.

As usual, a wonderful smile radiated on his face, causing the girl’s heart to flutter. She forgot about the ruined building and simply focused on Jerry’s lovely charm.

“Looks like everything is back to normal. You got the Arcana, right?” He asked with such innocence and curiousity that it made Ciara’s heart ache for a moment.

“Y-yeah.” She blurted out hesitantly.

“Sweet! At least one of us got it. I was afraid you’d fail too, but it’s such a relief that you passed.” Jerry placed his hands on Ciara’s shoulder, proceeding with a thumbs up.

“Y-yeah…”

“We should use our Spell Cards and get out of here.” Jerry rummaged through his outfit for his magic item.

It made sense that they couldn’t find their Spell Cards in the illusion—though that was just Ciara at work—but now that they were in reality, Jerry assumed he would be able to find it.

Fortunately, he did.

“Alright, Ciara.” He brought out his Spell Card.

Both of them drew close to each other, causing a slight air of awkwardness between them.

For the same people who had shared quite a good portion of intimacy together—even on this adventure alone—their reaction towards each other at this point felt bizarre.

“I-I’ll activate it.” Jerry murmured.

>SHIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGG<

His card began shining brightly, ready to warp space and allow them exit their current position. However—

>BZZZZTTTTTTZZZZZ<

—The Spell suddenly failed.

Both Ciara and Jerry expressed surprise by the failure of the spell. This was the one thing they never imagined would occur.

Jerry observed his card properly, murmuring words to himself.

“What just happen—”

“Jerry, watch out!”

>BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!<

In a flash, the entire building was blown to bits. Every block got eviscerated by the brilliant detonation that remained a mystery.

The dark night was illuminated by the beautiful firework—or rather, the purplish, dark energy that consumed the area.

After completing the deed of destroying everything, the dark explosion fizzled out. Nothing but dust and debris now replaced the previous house.

The garden was also caught up in the blast. In fact, the entire compound had already become a sea of ash and smoke.

Thankfully, there was no blood.

“Haa… haa…” Ciara heaved with a strained breath.

A dense blue barrier covered her and the shocked boy beside her. Sweat enveloped Ciara’s slightly throbbing body as she tried to recover from her dangerous action.

Thanks to exerting herself so quickly, they had been able to avoid the situation. Still, it was so risky that she had gotten very close to suffering Mana Shock.

‘A second later, and I would have been too late!’ Her thoughts rang.

Smoke and dust cleared the path of the malefactor as he approached. His silhouette appeared tall and lanky, as he moved in a casual manner.

Ciara kept her eyes on him while supporting Jerry, who was also recoiling from shock.

“What just… who is that?” He muttered.

They both strengthened their sight and watched the man who had just tried to kill them, approach.𝑜𝓋𝑙xt.𝒞𝓞𝔪

‘This… no way!’ Ciara was the first to notice, then Jerry also realized the same.

At this point, the culprit stood a couple of meters away from the teenagers. His calm eyes and playful grin displayed nothing but malevolence.

Forbidden, twisted energy formed around him as he placed both hands within his cloak’s pockets.

His brown hair flapped around, all thanks to the blowing wind, and the darkness surrounding him seemed to be dominating the area with every given moment.

“It’s been a while… students.” The man spoke with a friendly tone, but nothing about him indicated an ounce of goodwill.

“L-Legris… Damien…?!” Ciara and Jerry shuddered in his presence.

He seemed so very different from the last time they saw him. For one… the energy flowing around him was extremely deadly.

“Looks like you guys still remember me. That’s a relief.” He responded to their surprise with a friendly tone.

However, considering the fact that he had nearly blown them apart with his attack—something that was extremely difficult to survive—it was pretty logical to deduce that he had no intention of being nice.

‘Is he the reason why the teleportation isn’t working…?’ Ciara asked herself.

Her own Spell Card was in her grasp, yet nothing was happening.

‘Just how…?!’

The fact that Legris Damien confidently stood in front of them made him the prime suspect.

“What did you do?” Ciara growled.

“Hey, hey. Is that a good way to greet your former teacher?”

Ciara’s eyes narrowed at the older fellow, and she clutched Jerry close to her.

The boy might have thought she was scared again, and needed his comfort, so he drew closer to her as well. However, he was sorely mistaken this time.

Ciara was indeed frightened, but the only reason she brought Jerry close was to protect him.

“I came for the Arcana. Hand it over, and no one has to get hurt.” Legris grinned, drawing close to the duo.

Ciara, after hesitating for a moment, decided to betray her character.

“W-we don’t have it.”

‘What am I doing? I should just give him the Arcana and he’ll leave us alone!’ Her inner self yelled at her folly, but Ciara found herself refusing to budge.

“Is that so? I would have believed you, but… I can sense Aether coming from within. You have the Arcana inside your body, Ciara.” Legris’s malevolent grin unnerved the two.

More sweat formed on Ciara’s face as she shuddered.

“If I kill you, it should come out pretty easily, don’t you think?”

“W-wait!” Ciara quickly yelled.

Despite her attempts at chivalry, there was no way she could risk her life and Jerry’s.

“I-I’ll give you…” She weakly muttered, rising from Jerry’s grasp.

No matter what happened, there was nothing she cared about more than Jerry, and her securing their happy ending.

Fate of the world or not. Mission or not.

“If you let us go, I’ll give you the Arcana.”