"The five of you are under arrest, so you better not make a scene!"

Clark's loud voice caused even Felicia to shudder. He seemed genuinely mad at her—at all of them—for what they did.

'S-something's wrong…' She instantly thought to herself with wide-open eyes.

Clark and Belle were supposed to be under her control. They were supposed to be on her side at all times, yet what was going on here?

'Did they somehow break out of my Skill? But how? When?'

"I-I don't understand… where is Justin? He will say something to help us!" Lyvia muttered as she began to cry. "Justin, please come and—"

"Silence!"

"Eeeeeeek!" Lyvia squeaked in response to Brutus' harsh command, now realizing just how terrible the current situation was.

They were surrounded on all sides, and even though only Clark and Belle were guarding the gate, it was clear that they were leagues above Felicia and her group in terms of power and experience.

This was truly the end of the line.

"W-we surrender…" Felicia had to blurt out, falling to her knees without a second of hesitation.

She wasn't stupid enough to further escalate the issue, especially since she didn't have sufficient information. There were still so many things that confused her, and without understanding them, it would be foolish to act.

'We are still Otherworlders, and we have classmates on their side. As long as that's the case, they won't kill us or put us through much harm…' She figured it was safer to enter into custody, obtain all the necessary information, and figure out where to go from there.

One after the other, her allies began to kneel—once again following her lead.

'I'm sorry, everyone.' She thought bitterly to herself. 'Even though you trusted me, I let you down.'

She thought she had everything under perfect control, but who would have thought that the Reaper Group would play us like this?

'But why? This is too early for them to play their cards like this. Unless… this wasn't their real goal from the start.' Felicia took in a deep breath and decided not to think too much about abstracts.

Firstly, she would have to understand the facts.

'I just need to be patient, and—'

"NO! NO, I CAN'T GO TO PRISON! T-THIS WASN'T WHAT YOU PROMISED, FELICIA!"

The loud cry of Lyvia pierced the air, causing everyone to shift all their attention to the girl who was still on her feet despite all her allies already kneeling.

She had her hand raised in the air, displaying a ring worn on her finger. The crimson jewel affixed on it began to glow brightly, creating sparks of black and red around her.

~VWUUUSH!~

As the energy swelled, a small tempest began to surround her.

"I won't be caught like this! I'll find Justin! We will have our happy ending! We will—!"

"Apprehend her!" She heard Brutus' voice echo in the air.

It was too late, though.

In a flash of powerful energy, she vanished from her position, completely abandoning her stupefied allies.

"The hell…?" Lucielle whispered, watching the whole thing with slight shock on her face.

Even though she had tried to interfere with the Magic, something interfered with her interference, which prevented it from taking effect.

That meant one of two things.

'Either that girl is much more skilled at Magic than I am… or the one who designed that ring is.' Lucielle highly doubted the former, which meant there was only one feasible option here.

'Who could have constructed that thing?'

*************

~BWUSH!~

Lyvia appeared in a storm of black and red energy, finding herself in a dense forest before realizing that she had vanished from the Royal Estate.

"H-haa… haaa? I did it! I escaped!"

It was a good thing she was able to use the ring that Justin gave her before the start of the mission. He promised that it would bring her directly to him whenever she wanted.

The gift was their little secret, so not even Felicia was aware of it.

And now—

"You…" Lyvia heard a voice emerge from behind her, and it caused her heart to skip nearly instantly. Her cheeks became bright red as she turned to witness the magnificent boy that stood a short distance from her. He had perfect dark brown hair, with a tall stature, and the perfect lean muscular body that would make any girl salivate.

He was perfect!

"JUSTIIIIN!!!" She cried out loud as she rushed towards him, her arms wide open.

Tears floated away from her eyes as she finally reached and hugged him with as much ferocity as she could muster. Sobs escaped her lips as she found solace in his warmth.

"D-don't go… just stay right there… just like that…" She whimpered, hugging him tighter and tighter.

Now that she had him, there seemed to be nowhere safer in the world.

'We can run somewhere far away. Just me and you… away from all of this! We can start a new life together!' As soon as she thought this, she smiled and lifted her head to gaze upon his amazing face.

"Right, Justi—?"

~SQUELCH!~

A sharp dagger pierced Lyvia from her lower jaw, rising to the top of her head, in one swift strike—an easy kill.

Confusion dulled the pain she felt as she felt her consciousness fade.

'H-huh…? J-Justin…?' Her blurry vision picked up the indifferent expression he had as he muttered words that he clearly didn't mean.

"I'm sorry."

Lyvia's body fell lifelessly on the ground, blood spurting out of the open ends of the fatal wound she suffered, while Justin simply stood there and watched in silence.

He said nothing as he watched her bleed out and die.

"My first human life… and yet… I feel nothing…" Justin mumbled to himself, staring at his trembling hands.

He could clearly understand the wrongness of his actions, but his body was perfectly numb to it, creating a severe case of cognitive dissonance.

"Still, it had to be done."

Justin inhaled deeply and began to walk away from the corpse, not sparing it another look.

"This way, I've proven my loyalty to Sir Ater."