Lisa's words made Karyu's eyes widen. Her gaze went to Enrico with a mix of anger and gratitude at the same time. She knew there was no way for Nerfe to return to what he once was, but deep down she wanted to believe there was a chance, even if small, that he could stand beside them.
It seems that won't be possible…
Rina and Sisaka behind them, upon hearing those words, only gripped their katanas more tightly, while Aoi ignited a small flame in her hand behind her back. The three were preparing themselves in case Enrico was attacked.
"…I'm sorry about that."
Lisa looked at Enrico's expression, so she was sure he was being sincere, but she saw something that honestly gave her a bit of fear.
So… empty.
Her eyes glowed golden, seeing the heart of the person in front of her. Yet she simply couldn't find anything, as if an infinite void prevented her from knowing the true feelings of that person.
"It seems your heart can't be read by my ability."
"It can't be seen?"
Enrico seemed surprised for a moment. He placed a hand on his chin, trying to understand why she couldn't see the feelings of his heart.
Could it be a flaw in her unique ability?… Either way, this is good, she won't be able to hurt me with it.
Looking at that fragile girl, anyone would think she was weak; she didn't even have a strong presence. But thinking like that would be a complete mistake, because she not only had the same abilities as Nerfe, but also the same level.
That unique ability.
[Broken Heart: by understanding the feelings of her enemies, the user can use them to control the target, being able to make them sad, angry, or any other emotion. The more she discovers about the target's feelings, the more fully they can be controlled, with the sole thought of obeying the user's orders.]
If she could control him in some way, that would be problematic, so this was great. But it also created another problem: now that Lisa saw nothing, it would only make her even more eager to discover what was inside him.
She's the kind of person who won't stop until she discovers how to understand my feelings…
The worst that could happen would be if she got frustrated and simply tried to open his skull to finally find out. That was her personality after spending years in that cage. Placing a hand on his forehead, he saw her dead gaze filled with curiosity.
I might find those eyes beautiful, but I don't want them on me.
[Why is it that whenever something related to emptiness appears, you find it beautiful?]
Because it's beautiful.
Karyu seemed to notice Lisa's gaze and grew nervous. Her Lady had gone through so much over those years and must want to unleash destruction, but she couldn't do anything that might ruin a way to escape.
"Miss Lisa, these people might be able to help us—"
"I know, Karyu. Don't worry so much. You should go with them."
Lisa sat in the center of the cage, forcing her own curiosity inward. She didn't want to ruin the only way to let her only friend escape. Picking up a blade, she prepared to make a cut on her palm to fill the blood cup today.
"But Miss, I won't abandon you. You have to come with me."
"First of all, Karyu, no one can open the door of this cage. Not even that damned—"
"Open. Now you can leave. Or you can stay as well, since this place is safe for me to leave my companions."
Everyone looked at Enrico, who was near the cage holding the door open. He had a neutral expression, without much emotion. He just wanted her to leave quickly, only worried about how long it would take for that fusion to find them.
After this, maybe there'll be time to find Yumeha and bring her too.
Lisa let the blade fall to the ground, her gaze fixed on the bars of the door. She didn't understand why that door opened so easily; the cursed Nartheis themselves had tried to use magic or brute force to open it.
"How?"
"We can say that I have one of the keys to open it."
Enrico didn't seem to want to answer, but with both of them staring at him in great confusion, he thought they might go mad. Quickly, he explained without wanting to waste more time.
"I'll be quick, so pay attention."
There were three steps for Enrico to have managed to open that cage. One was being a human who came from far away. The second was that this human needed to defeat Nerfe to have a chance to open it. And the third was that he could not have any thoughts of using or harming Lisa.
"So that was it? Father, you were cruel… to me."
"Miss…"
Karyu saw Lisa's legs tremble as she tried to leave, her expression full of fear. That made sense, because if Gideon discovered that this door was open, she would be tortured by him personally. Karyu entered the cage and held her. Without a doubt she was happy that her Lady could leave, but first they had to find a way to get out of there.
"Can you help us? If you can get us out of here—"
"You three go inside. This place is safe for now, because I'm the only one who can open and close this door."
"Alright, my Ketsumei, that's a great idea. We just need to stay inside until my father and my brothers defeat all the Nartheis in the castle."
Rina was the first to enter, with absolute confidence in her Ketsumei. Aoi and Sisaka, wanting to prove that they trusted him completely, entered right after. Seeing that everyone had gone in, Enrico closed the door, leaving the girls surprised.
"Dear, what are you doing?"
"Professor, you're not thinking of facing that Nartheis alone, are you?"
"Yes, I am. But don't worry. Just as I'm sure Rina's father will win his fight, I'm sure I'll win mine."
They wanted to argue with him, but he simply began stretching with a confident smile. Placing a hand on her forehead, Rina was about to speak, but everyone froze, sensing a large amount of magic being unleashed from both sides of that hall.
"That magic is from my brother and Takeshi."
Rina recognized it immediately, but before she could say anything else, the two walls almost completely broke apart, revealing that on one side Takeshi and Raizen were fighting a black Nartheis with devil horns, and on the other side Aina was punching a red Nartheis with white wings. Both battles were happening in a place that was supposed to be safe—well, it was still safe for the girls, but not for Enrico, who was outside.
"Damn, he arrived at the worst possible moment."
In front of him, the fusion of the triplets had arrived, calmly opening the door, which was different from the destruction happening on their side.