"Johann… Johann…"
But Nitocris's earnest persuasion couldn't reach Pheles's ears at all. The only thing on her mind was the Reiji Maigo—or rather, Johann's soul sleeping within it.
"As expected, you can't understand human speech after all..."
Looking at Pheles, Nitocris felt a strange déjà vu, as if she were facing Salome again. Both these women were deeply obsessed with a man named Johann, incessantly murmuring his name—as if not repeating it would prevent them from speaking normally. Of course, the greatest similarity between these two women was… their inability to communicate properly most of the time.
Left with no choice, Nitocris raised her hand to subdue Pheles.
The suppression was remarkably easy. Pheles had promised Johann never to consume humans' Power of Existence; with the Reiji Maigo, neither Johann nor Pheles lacked power. After the Reiji Maigo was transferred away, Pheles—still keeping her promise—was currently at her weakest.
And besides… there was another reason.
This Pheles, appearing suddenly at the school, was not her true body.
When Wilhelmina arrived, what she saw was precisely Nitocris, demonstrating an absolute gap in power, effortlessly smashing the storm raging around Pheles. Like a bird with broken wings, Pheles fell from midair and was swiftly subdued by Nitocris.
"Pheles!"
Wilhelmina could no longer maintain her outward calm. Countless ribbons shot out swiftly, catching Pheles before she struck the ground and pulling her safely into Wilhelmina's arms.
"Pheles…! Pheles!"
"Calm down, Manipulator of Objects."
Wilhelmina, about to retaliate instinctively, suddenly noticed Nitocris and Shana staring intently at her from ahead.
"I held back carefully; she isn't injured. Also, take a closer look—what you're holding isn't Pheles's true body at all. It's merely a puppet created from an Unrestricted Spell of wind."
If Wilhelmina hadn't lost her composure, she would've easily seen this "Colorful Flutter" Pheles was only a puppet.
"Hmm… did she send this clone immediately after sensing the Reiji Maigo? That means the real Colorful Flutter might already be on her way here now," Alastor's rumbling voice sounded from within the crimson pendant. "However, something still confuses me… why is Colorful Flutter so obsessively focused on the Reiji Maigo? And why, upon seeing the God of the Underworld, would she call out the name of the Eternal Lover?"
"Johann…" Wilhelmina, holding the unconscious puppet, frowned. "I've heard that Johann and Pheles were attacked by Sabrac, the Destructive Blade, and that both met a tragic end, de arimasu."
"Sabrac?" Shana spoke up uncertainly, unfamiliar with this name due to her relative inexperience.
"Sabrac, the Destructive Blade—a very powerful Crimson Lord, and also the most infamous assassin among Crimson Denizens, de arimasu. He never joined any Crimson organization, but accepts various assassination missions. Even Bal Masqué frequently hires him—usually for murder," Wilhelmina explained calmly, pausing briefly before continuing, "I first met Pheles and Johann precisely because we had fought off Sabrac together, de arimasu. We traveled together for a short while, but not long after we parted ways, I heard they were attacked by Sabrac once again."
Nitocris also recalled the information about Sabrac, the Destructive Blade. When she first encountered details about him, the intimidating aura she felt was even stronger than that of Sydonay, the Thousand Changes—said to be the strongest Crimson Lord under the Trinity. At one point, she'd even assumed Sydonay ranked first below the Trinity, with Sabrac as second.
A shame his death had been handled rather casually—his actual power never clearly displayed.
Speaking of which… Sydonay liked taking missions; Sabrac also liked taking missions. Was it a trait of powerful Crimson Lords to be so idiosyncratic?
"Against another assault by Sabrac, clearly the 'Promised Pair' weren't as fortunate the second time," Alastor surmised grimly. "The God of the Underworld obtained the Reiji Maigo from a Mystes named Sakai Yūji. For a Treasure Tool to transfer, the previous Mystes must've died. Yet Colorful Flutter appears to have survived… Even so, even if the Reiji Maigo was the Eternal Lover's relic, even if it could replenish Power of Existence, Colorful Flutter shouldn't display such fanatic obsession. And that still doesn't explain why she called the holder of the Reiji Maigo 'Johann.'"
Nitocris had expected Alastor and the others might guess Pheles had gone insane. Weren't plots like these common on television dramas? After losing a beloved, someone might delusionally see a person who shared similarities or certain traits of their lost love as the deceased, becoming mad and unhealthy in obsession.
"Alright, enough wild guessing. Let me explain," Nitocris spoke emotionlessly. "The reason Pheles is so fixated on the Reiji Maigo is that Johann isn't dead yet—and his soul is currently inside the Reiji Maigo."
"Is that really true?!"
Wilhelmina reacted most strongly to Nitocris's words.
Though they'd traveled together only briefly, Wilhelmina had already considered Johann and Pheles her friends. After losing Mathilde and Merihim, she'd once again found new friends—but before long, terrible news reached her that her new companions had met tragic ends. Despite attempting to act cold and detached, her true self was actually painfully soft-hearted. The loss of two more friends had wounded her deeply.
Yet now, she discovered not only was Pheles alive—Johann, too, had survived. This news struck her so powerfully that it left her dizzy and breathless.
"It's likely Pheles placed Johann's soul into the Reiji Maigo at the critical moment, transferring it to another Mystes. By coincidence, the Reiji Maigo ended up in my hands. I found an extremely weakened soul inside and have since been nourishing it with my divine power," Nitocris explained carefully.
"Coincidence" was a lie—she'd known exactly where the Reiji Maigo was from the start and had deliberately sought it out.
In full view, Nitocris produced the Reiji Maigo.
"So this is…the Reiji Maigo…" Alastor's voice dropped slightly.
"Johann…is truly inside there?" Wilhelmina's expression was deeply conflicted.
Shana paid little attention to the Reiji Maigo, merely glancing at it briefly before looking away. Instead, she was more interested in Nitocris's earlier words.
"Just now, you mentioned this thing was 'far too dangerous' for Colorful Flutter, Pheles?"
"Yes, that's because—"
The words Nitocris was about to speak suddenly caught in her throat. Her expression hardened sharply as she stared at the puppet of Pheles held within Wilhelmina's arms.
The energy within this puppet abruptly turned dangerously unstable. In the next instant, that violent force burst forth, shattering its container and erupting into blazing amber flames.
However, the explosion never reached its intended destructive potential. With Nitocris present, it was destined never to harm anyone—she confined all the energy within an extremely small area, even pulling Wilhelmina, the closest to the blast, safely away beforehand.
"Nitocris! Above you!"
Even without Shana's warning, Nitocris had already seen it clearly—the amber storm tearing through clouds, roaring toward her from above.
These winds were clearly aiming for the Reiji Maigo in Nitocris's hand, twisting into invisible arrows, surging relentlessly from every direction.
So overwhelming, so sudden—and yet, not a flicker of emotion crossed Nitocris's face.
"O winds of desert night, arise."
A chilling gust suddenly swept up around Nitocris, carrying a coldness so deep it seemed capable of freezing the soul itself.
Unlike the raging amber tempest, this wind was lifeless and gray, leaving absolute silence wherever it passed.
The amber winds could not even approach Nitocris and her companions, instead becoming gradually devoured by the creeping gray chill.
As the amber storm appeared ready to retreat, the gray wind coalesced into a massive hand, swiftly thrusting into the storm and pulling out a dazed-looking Pheles.
Moments later, all of Pheles's powers were thoroughly sealed, and she dangled from Nitocris's grip like a helpless kitten—exactly the same fate that had befallen Shana and Wilhelmina.
Seeing this familiar treatment, Shana and Wilhelmina exchanged a silent glance, understanding everything clearly without words.
"Really, why rush so much? It's not like I wasn't planning to return Johann to you. Did you really have to come and snatch him by force?" Nitocris spoke helplessly. "Haven't you ever heard that haste makes rotten tofu?"
"...I recall the proverb being 'haste makes you unable to eat hot tofu, de arimasu.'"
"Correction noted," Tiamat chimed in briefly.
"I prefer stinky tofu over hot tofu, can't I?" Nitocris rolled her eyes at Wilhelmina and Tiamat.
"The Reiji Maigo belongs to me and Johann. How could it ever be dangerous?" Even after being captured and sealed, Pheles stubbornly refused to yield.
Nitocris couldn't be bothered arguing further. It was well-known that girls were least reasonable when deep in love, and only became truly cunning when plotting palace intrigue or sabotaging romantic rivals.
"Why don't I just let your Johann explain it to you himself? By now, he should be able to—"
Her words halted abruptly as Nitocris saw clearly—a golden radiance suddenly shining from Pheles's body.
The source of the glow was a golden metal ring, resembling a segment of a chain.
Upon seeing this golden ring, even Pheles revealed a bewildered expression. Clearly, even she had no idea what it was, or when it had appeared on her body.
This sudden golden glow seemed to serve as a trigger. In various obscure corners of neighboring cities around Misaki City, identical golden rings began to glow, along with strange mechanical devices covered in numerous gears.
As these golden rings lit up, one by one, like receiving some hidden signal, the strange mechanisms began spinning, their gears rotating rapidly, spewing out clouds of steam—appearing as if they belonged to machinery already obsolete a century ago.
Though resembling human technology, these contraptions were undoubtedly not creations of mankind. As the machines activated, beams of milky-white light shot skyward, swiftly transforming into ribbon-like Unrestricted Spells that rose into the heavens.
Spells emerging from different cities swiftly wove together into a vast net above Misaki City. Thankfully, ordinary people couldn't perceive these spells—otherwise, unimaginable chaos would have erupted.
Even Alastor, experienced and knowledgeable as he was, felt astonished at witnessing such a large-scale, completely unforeseen wide-area Unrestricted Spell.
While the gigantic and intricate spell above revealed little to him, the aura emanating from those golden rings was entirely recognizable.
With a sharp crack!, the golden ring around Pheles shattered instantly, its fragments morphing into golden chains that swiftly wrapped around the Reiji Maigo, binding it—and simultaneously trapping Nitocris's hand holding it.
A fierce gleam flashed across Nitocris's eyes. The next instant, dazzling white beams plunged down from above, engulfing her completely.
"Nitocris—!"
Seeing this sudden development, Shana instantly disregarded her own safety, launching herself forward like a loosened arrow.
Yet, before she could reach her, the blinding radiance consuming Nitocris abruptly exploded outward, glowing brilliantly like a miniature sun, forcing Shana backward. The overwhelming brilliance burned painfully at her eyes, making it impossible to keep them open.
"Nitocris! Nitocris! Answer me if you're still there!"
Unable to see, anxiety ignited inside Shana, searing like fire racing through her chest. Her heart hammered fiercely, burning so hotly it felt as if even her breaths contained flames.
As the brilliance finally began fading away, Shana stubbornly forced open her aching eyes, desperately searching for Nitocris's silhouette, praying she was unharmed.
She did see a figure standing there. Though her vision was blurred from the intense light, Shana instantly understood—the person standing there was not Nitocris.
This realization sent Shana's anxiety blazing violently, like flames hitting dry straw. Clenching her teeth, Shana's hair and eyes suddenly brightened sharply, seeming almost aflame themselves.
She drew her blade, pointing its tip sharply toward the figure. Yet, just as she was about to question the stranger's identity, Wilhelmina's voice rang out behind her, trembling with disbelief.
"You… You are…"
Wilhelmina slowly stepped forward, staring at the man before her with incredulous eyes.
Yet the one who finally spoke his name aloud was Pheles, already shedding tears freely.
"Johann…"
Johann smiled gently, looking into Pheles's eyes—eyes so very similar to his own—both filled entirely with love, reflecting only each other's figures, leaving no room for anyone else.
"I've returned, Pheles."