A few moments prior.

Mana pulsed in the air while the purple circle beneath the Cleric glowed a purple hue.

It pulsed throughout the room, causing the clothes of the several people present to flutter. "Please guard me while I'm in the process of sealing the parasitic soul."

As the Cleric's voice fell, his eyes closed and his figure turned completely rigid. He was so still that it almost felt like he had turned into a statue.

The surroundings turned quiet and no one said a word. Be it Atlas, Ivan, Herman, and Delilah, nobody said a single word and fixed their eyes on the two figures at the center of the room.

That was until Ivan broke the silence,

"How long do you think it will take for him to finish? Seeing how complicated the operation is, I suppose it might take a few minutes."

11

His words were met with a strange silence and several stares. Of those stares, Atlas lingered over his body for a few more seconds than the others.

With gently knitted brows, Ivan's eyes squinted.

"Yes?"

Noticing the peculiarity in Atlas's look, Ivan turned his expression to face him directly.

"Do you have any idea, perhaps?"

"...It shouldn't take more than a minute."

Atlas answered in a flat tone.

His words prompted Ivan to raise his brow.

"You sound confident."

"I am just making a guess."

"That's an interesting guess."

Atlas shrugged and shifted his attention back to Julien and the Cleric. Ivan kept his gaze fixed on Atlas for a few seconds before shifting his eyes away.

At the same time, his eyes flickered a strange hue. It was so subtle that hardly anyone noticed.

Not even Delilah who seemed unusually absorbed by the scene in front of her.

Time continued to tick, and the silence that filtered through the room felt thick.

All eyes remained glued on the two figures at the center.

The circle continued to pulse with the mana spreading throughout the entire room. As the mana continue to pulse, the room became more and more dense.

It started to feel warm, almost like a sauna. And yet, none of the people in the room felt a thing.

Time once again continued to tick, and no changes occurred. As the brows of several of the people present furrowed, Atlas's lips parted open.

"A minute has passed."

The eyes of everyone present shifted in his direction. Ignoring the stares, Atlas looked directly at Ivan.

"A minute has passed."

Atlas repeated, his tone lower than before. The warmth that pervaded the room moments prior suddenly faded, replaced by a certain coldness that felt chilling to the bones.

Ivan's expression flickered faintly and he eventually closed his eyes.

Opening them back up again, he smiled.

"You're right. A minute did indeed pass. I guess it shouldn't take much longer for them to be finished."

And just as his words faded, the magic circle pulsed with even more power. A powerful wave of mana swept the entire room all of a sudden, reaching every corner of the place.

The hair and clothes on those present fluttered, and the Cleric's eyes shot wide open.

"Uh, ah!?"

He looked startled, but before he could get any words out, his body flung back several meters, crashing against the side of the wall.

Bang-!

Cracks formed in the area where his body crashed as his body slumped down on the ground. Holding onto the ground, the Cleric coughed several times. His condition didn't look so good.

Nonetheless, nobody paid any attention to him as they all turned to look at Julien who was still slumped down on the chair.

"Did it work?"

"...Is he- !?"

A figure appeared before Julien as she pressed her hand against his forehead. It lasted several seconds before a visible look of relief marred her features.

Shortly after, Julien's eyes opened.

As they did, his pupils constricted slightly as he mumbled, "...Where is this?"

***

My memories were a little bit blurry. All I could recall was Ivan suddenly clicking his tongue before disappearing.

I didn't really understand what he meant by that, but shortly after he left, my consciousness faded and I found myself waking up to a pair of bright lights.

They were so bright that they burned my eyes but when I fully regained my sight, several familiar figures met my sight.

It was only then that I assessed the situation and calmed down.

'I'm back. I got my body back.'

I only felt relief for a short moment until a certain figure entered my sight. My entire body

turned rigid shortly after that.

He nodded faintly as our eyes met.

"It looks like it worked."

"...Yes, it did."

Atlas replied shortly after. I had just opened my mouth to speak when I felt something get shoved in my mouth.

"!!!"

I didn't even have time to process the situation when a wave of sweetness engulfed my taste buds. It made my face wince for a brief moment, but I quickly recovered when I saw the figure

standing before me.

Her eyes swam all over the place but me.

To make matters worse, I noticed the expressions of several figures before I froze.

All with the exception of Atlas who had his eyes closed and had an expression that seemed to

say, 'Is something wrong? Nothing is wrong. I'm used to this.'

He looked dead inside. Yes... he really did.

His image seemed a far cry from the usually calm and transcended one he had.

It looked a little out of place.

However, I didn't really have much time to think about it since I felt something else get

shoved into my mouth.

"!!!"

I was just about to protest when a faint voice reached my ears,

"...It's okay."

It's okay?

I raised my head to look at Delilah. Her next words almost made me spit everything out.

"I know you like it. After all..."

She paused, mumbling in a tone that only I could hear, '...you want to be engaged with me.'

***

A faint breeze brushed through the empty Academy. It was night and not a soul appeared. With strict curfews in place, none of the students dared to even entertain the idea of going out

at night.

Tak-

The faint sound of a step echoed throughout. It gently rang throughout as a figure with long hair walked in a calm manner.

He looked no older than the cadets, and yet, his presence felt suffocating.

"Wooo~"

Whistling carefreely, he walked towards the residential building. It was a large lodge made

out of black stone that seamlessly blended with the night sky.

As the lamps shone down on the pavement, Ivan calmly entered the residential building and

made his way towards his room.

Click-

With a 'click' his door opened, and as he entered, the whistling stopped.

"...Looks like I have a guest present."

An expectant smile formed on Ivan's features as he lowered his head and closed the door

behind him.

Taking off his shoes, he entered the apartment and turned the corner where a figure greeted

him.

11

Sitting on the red sofa with a cup in his hand and legs crossed, Atlas twirled the cup gently.

"You pulled a rather surprising stunt today."

Although Atlas's voice was calm, it held a certain pressure to it that made the entire room feel

suffocating.

It was unfortunate that he was dealing with Ivan who was completely unfazed by the

pressure.

He made his way towards a nearby wooden table and poured himself a drink.

"And what might this stunt you're talking about be?"

"...Do you think I only had an idea?"

Atlas shook his head.

"I saw everything that you did in there. Why do you think I allowed you to keep it going for so

long?"

Ivan's hand paused.

"You saw?"

"Everything."

"Hmm."

Turning around, Ivan gently took a sip of his drink. The bitter taste of the alcohol traveled

down his throat as his eyes narrowed.

"That's rather odd. Here I thought I was being rather discreet. You're quite a lot stronger than

I originally anticipated. It's almost as if... you're purposely hiding your strength."

The tension within the tool heightened further as the two figures stared at each other.

Atlas took a small sip of his drink.

Feeling the slight burn at the back of his throat, he smiled.

"You think I'm purposely hiding my strength?"

"Are you not?"

"Hah."

Atlas chuckled before finishing the drink in his hand and placing it on the desk.

"I think you're mistaken over here. I am not hiding my strength, nor am I trying too hard to

hide my allegiance."

Extending his hand, Atlas rolled down his sleeve to display his forearm. Ivan's pupils constricted at the sight that greeted him.

His shock, however, merely lasted a few seconds before it all settled down.

Gently closing his eyes, he leaned back on the wooden table.

"I didn't think you'd come openly like that. I'm really surprised."

"Normally, I wouldn't."

Atlas stood up, patting his black blazer. As he raised his head, his pupils turned a shade

darker.

"But you touched something that you shouldn't have."

"Uh, what?"

Ivan frowned. However, it didn't take him long to understand.

"Julien?"

"...So you do know."

"No, I've learned it just now."

He really did, but it wasn't much of importance. Ivan was quite excited at the moment.

He was learning a lot of very important information.

This was good.

Very good.

So long as he-

"Dawn, do calm down. There's no need for you to get this worked up."

Ivan's entire body froze on the spot. It was as if the very air around him had been stripped

away and he lost function of all muscles.

As something touched his right shoulder, Ivan rigidly turned his head to see a faceless figure

staring back at him.

"Hi-"