Chapter 522: Isaac! Wizard Physique! The Suspension Bridge Effect!
Although Tohka was naturally innocent, she wasn't foolish. Even she found those memories terrifying. She frowned. "Why is DEM targeting Spirits so much? Is it really because of spacequakes?"
"Spirits manifesting cause spacequakes, which cause damage. Perhaps some people are truly affected by this," Ren thought of the AST unit where Origami Tobiichi belonged. "But DEM isn't that kind-hearted. Like him."
His gaze looked hundreds of kilometers away, then returned, focusing on the new white-haired man in a suit he had transferred before them.
"!!!" Ellen's pupils contracted. She couldn't understand why the boss, Isaac Ray Peram Westcott, suddenly appeared.
Isaac, after a few seconds of daze, analyzed the situation. He understood that Ellen and Rosa had fallen. He calmly raised his head, a standard smile on his face. "Friends, perhaps there's some misunderstanding." Although he appeared around 30, his actual age was 50.
"Heh." Ren scoffed. His cold voice pierced into Isaac's ears. "Isaac, president of DEM. Explain your purpose in capturing Spirits."
His expression remained unchanged, yet he uncharacteristically and obediently explained. "My physique is special; a pure wizard physique that can absorb a Spirit's inverse Sephira Crystal without being controlled by it. My purpose is to seize the Spirits' power and rewrite this world."
"Hoh-hoh, a standard villain," Shiroyasha had a 'watching the show' expression.
"So he wants to torture Nia, make her Inverse, and then seize her crystal," Kurumi quickly understood.
"Such a guy…" Tohka was unusually filled with anger.
"That's about it." Ren shrugged. Now that they understood, this guy was no longer useful. With a single glance, Isaac's eyes showed hysterical pain. But before he could wail, his body dispersed like flying ash.
Although it was an instant death, that instant felt like hundreds of years to him. Ren had done nothing but replicate his human experiments on Nia and made Isaac experience them repeatedly, in mind and body, for a hundred years.
"Isaac!" Ellen cried out for the first time. He was an old friend of several decades, and his death still brought a sense of sadness. After the sadness, her heart was as still as water. She thought it would be her turn next.
However, she saw Ren glance at her with a smile, then said to Kurumi, "Kurumi, I am here now. I can easily grant your wish."
Kurumi was slightly stunned. She understood he was talking about her goal. She had no doubt he could do it. At this moment, her heart stirred, but the words caught in her throat. It was as if she had undergone a struggle. She finally beamed with a brilliant smile. "Oh my, I've worked so hard. How could I give up so easily? Thank you, but please allow me to refuse."
"I respect your choice," Ren smiled faintly.
"Well then, we'll be leaving."
"Eh! Ren-kun, are you leaving?" It was Nia who cried out, gripping his arm tightly.
"Hmm?" He looked at her anxious eyes in surprise. He had already perceived the faith of adoration and admiration. Just because I helped her? Is this the legendary suspension bridge effect?
[Inorin's Note: The 'suspension bridge effect' is a psychological phenomenon where individuals misattribute feelings of arousal (fear, anxiety) from a dangerous situation to attraction towards a person present during that event.]
"Nia, we don't belong to this world, so we need to leave."
"But…" she pursed her lips, very unwilling.
However, his next words made her heart pound. "However, if you wish to have a connection with me, you can become my Angel."
"Angel! I want to become an Angel!" she had no idea what he was referring to but already responded eagerly.
This made Ren not know whether to laugh or cry. "Good. Then receive it, the baptism of faith."
[Inorin Note:
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