"Who the hell is Paula?" Those four asked him in unison.
Well, there might have been sight differences in the exact wording, but—
Did Konrad never mention her before?!
But then he remembered Lily saying something about a new girl and that she's okay with it?
Ugh. Okay. How much should he have explained now?
Like, in front of those two Mages, too—
"The demon who possessed me." He went with the simplest one, snapping at the Crimson Mage. "You did something to her, didn't you?!"
It was his voice that overwrote hers, after all, and—
"Oh, that?" the redheaded wizard grunted, still headfirst into the ground. "Yeah. I sealed it away. Or her? I guess it could be a her, too, but demons are demons, right? So you're welcome."
And he had the gall to say that while a greater demon forced his face into the dirt?!
What an idiot.
"Unseal it," Konrad demanded, taking a menacing step. "Now."
Though the fact that this guy could even do that—
Learning that technique might have been useful.
Like, in case they ever got into a rough argument with Paula.
Once he got her back first, that is.
But if this guy could seal her off somehow, there must have been a way to undo it, too, right?!
"Huh? Are you mad? Why would I do that?" that idiot protested, despite his precarious state.
Konrad took another step, but wasn't sure how else he could convince him.
Given how that bastard sliced through his barriers? And even his parallel brain's?
He must have been dangerous.
Now, sure. An ordinary Mage was still no match against his wives, but—
"Ah, you see, Crimson, there are a few things you might not know about these people yet," the old Silver one muttered, too. "What you might have judged as a demonic possession—"
"Oh, that chick you brought from we-know-where?!" Lily asked, squeezing her hand harder.
"He what?" Gabrielle joined in, furrowing her brows. "He brought back something else, too?!"
Ugh. Yeah.
After nuking her home, she must have been a little skeptical of anything he did now.
"She was harmless, okay?" Konrad claimed, though he wasn't so sure about that, either.
In fact—did he even want her back?!
His mana pool seemed unaffected so far. And that parallel brain was still a mutant copy of Lady Origin, who was also rather terrifying. She used to be so annoying early on, too, and—
Heck, didn't he want to get rid of her as soon as he returned to Kasserlane?
And yet, despite all that, he was seething with anger now.
"Give her back," he demanded. "All she did was try to defend me from those attackers. And whatever she did, she did so on my command, too. I take responsibility. Unseal her."
"Oh, hey," Lily mumbled. "Now you're making me kinda jealous, you know."
But despite saying that, her knee dug deeper into the Crimson Mage's back.
"Okay, okay, I got it," the redheaded wizard yelped. "But I can't undo the seal myself."
Ugh. That's exactly what Konrad was worried about.
"What do you mean?!" he shouted, crouching in front of his face. "You did it. Undo it."
"I, uh, can hand you the keys," the Crimson Mage explained. "Then you can do it yourself, but um—I would appreciate it if the Flame Sorceress would get off my back first."
"Keys?" he muttered, leaning back.
"Since it seemed like you were under the demon's influence, I sealed it off inside your head. It's still there. But opening the seal from the outside might make it damage something important."
But creating that seal did not? Ugh.
Paula wouldn't go on a rampage after he let her out, right? Right?!
"I can assure you I'm not under any demonic influence," Konrad grunted, which was a rather obvious lie. "Tell me how to let her out then, and give me that key or whatever."
"Huh? Not under my influence?" Lily pouted, calling him out. "Not even a little, Konny boy?"
"Y-you know what I mean," he sighed, getting up. "Would you mind giving him some space to move, please? I'm sure he learned his lesson and won't try anything funny anymore."
Though Konrad could only wish he had the same confidence in that as his voice sounded.
"Thank you," the Crimson Mage croaked once he was free to stand. Then spent at least a minute dusting himself off. Good thing they were still in Gabrielle's time bubble, but—
"Hurry it up, will ya?!" Lily snapped, making him jump.
"Right. So, these are the runes you need to unlock that seal," the wizard claimed. And he didn't say or write them anywhere. He transferred them straight into Konrad's mind with telepathy.
Not the way he used them with his haremettes before.
It was much sharper and—
They didn't feel like suggestions or friendly voices.
Almost like a command.
"Aren'tcha going a bit too deep there?" the demoness sneered as if she were about to slug him again. "Try something funny with my Konny boy once more, and I won't be so gentle."
"Now, now," the Silver Mage tried to intervene. "Crimson has his own methods."
And from his all-red garb, Konrad would have assumed he was a fire wizard.
Instead, he seemed adept at mind and time magic, both of which freaked him out.
But the guy must have gotten the messages, loud and clear.
And Konrad was ready to cast his own spell with those runes—
Despite never seeing any of them before.
"You sure this'll let her free, and not—don't know. End time and space itself?" he muttered.
"Haha, you're funny, kid," the Crimson Mage said. He was what, like thirty years old? Konrad could have been his father in his past life. "Think you have the mana to do such a thing?!"
Well, he definitely had the pool now, but—
After their duel with Zoltan—still frozen in time right by their bubble—he was down to a meager seven hundred mana. Hah. Which would have been almost his max before, but now?
He felt so, so empty.
"Okay, here it goes," he grunted, focusing on the strange new runes. But now that he thought about it—"How much essence should I even assign to this?"
"None at all," the wizard in red said. "It frees up the mana I used on that seal immediately."
Huh. So it was, in fact, something like a key.
He wasn't trying to use his essence to disrupt a spell, but rather the right instrument to end it.
'Uwaaah, that guy is dangerous,' Paula's familiar voice warned him, a tiny bit too late. 'He went through all my safeguards like they weren't even there. And that corner of your mind—it's dark.'
"I guess it worked," Konrad grunted, overwhelmed by the headache her voice caused.
"And in case you're tired of that demon possessing you," the Mage smirked. "Here are the runes to seal it away again. These will take some of your essence, though. Like a large fireball's worth."
'Hey, um,' Paula mumbled, toning down her voice. 'You won't need them, right?'
"Thanks, yeah. Good to know," he said, ignoring her. "And guess we're even now."