"You thought that running away will spare you? Did you really believe you could get away?"
A rough voice sounded behind her, nearly turning into a hearty chuckle as if a good joke had been said.
"Ince Zangwill." Daly spoke through a mouthful of blood.
"That's right, your little underling that you so liked to toss around."
Daly remembered the days she was seen as a deities messenger and placed on a pedestal. Countless events and believers moving around her in circles, abiding to her every whim.
"I didn't just like it—I loved it. The way you would grimace every time a sixteen year old would order you around made me happy."
She could feel his anger rising behind her, she could feel the mountain of resentment and hate slowly falling down over her head.
"The only regret I had when I left was that I wouldn't be able to see you hate me once again. Thank you, thank you for fulfilling my wish." Her characteristic smirk played on her lips.
The man named Ince Zangwill had enough of her nonsense, he shattered her heart, making it explode with countless streaks of blood.
By this point, Daly lost consciousness and tumbled forward after he forcefully snatched his hand away from her chest with a sick expression, as if he had just squished a pest.
The man in the black robes then walked forward, picking up a black notebook that had been laying on the ground and turning to face the other woman. He smiled.
"How unfortunate for you. At least you won't get to live seeing your dear friend's funeral."
He watched as the woman in the black dress threw up gallons of blood, the bones in her chest rattled with each muscle spasm, piercing her heart even further and cutting her arteries one by one.
Soon enough, she lost consciousness too.
The man smiled brightly, put the notebook under his armpit and disappeared as if slowly being erased by an eraser.
***
Leonard observed as the veil of darkness retreated little by little, only to be soon replaced completely by another—one a little more different.
Illusion.
He recognized the ability, as he too used it with his sealed artifact a great number of times.
Only this illusion was much larger, much more potent than his could ever be.
Leonard ran here when the old man informed him that something's wrong. When his spiritual intuition told him that something happened at the divination club, and that Megose was far too dangerous.
Leonard wanted to scream at that old fart, he wanted to know why hadn't he told him earlier, but it didn't matter anymore.
He now stood in front of the aftermath, only catching a glimpse of the destroyed building and its elevated surroundings that turned to dust.
He gritted his teeth.
"If you knew, why didn't you tell me earlier? Why did you wait until the last moment?!"
He berated the aged voice that usually spoke in his head.
"Why? Why did you let this happen?"
His anger turned his voice into shouts.
"Answer me! Old man! Old man, answer me!!! OLD MAN!"
"Pallez Zoroast."
"!!" His eyes widened.
A calm, even tone was heard behind him.
Leonard slowly turned back, watching the shadows reveal the silhouette of a tall man, with a half top hat and glasses.
He had cut features, sharp eyes and black hair that framed his face nicely.
Leonard recognized that man as he had seen him once after all.
Gehrman Sparrow.
Leader of The Arcanists.
Archangel of the Seer Pathway.
And the Bane of all Churches.
The man crossed His hands over His chest, and spoke with a low—but powerful voice.
"So this is where you were hiding."
Leonard was so shocked that he forgot what He was even talking about in the first place.
Pallez Zoroast? Old man's name is Pallez Zoroast?!
Gehrman Sparrow's eyes narrowed as he shot a chilling glare at the black haired man before him.
Leonard's eyes glowed green with countless symbols fading in and out of his irises.
His usually calm, slightly melancholic voice was replaced by an old one—one aged by time itself.
"Took you a while."
He didn't even try to hide anymore; it became rather obvious that this would be futile.
"You hid in my organization and parasitized my member."
"I promise, I have nothing but good intentions."
It was like playing a game of cat and mouse. The cat already caught the mouse—playing with it in its paws.
Now it was time for the mouse to plead for freedom—for life.
"And how am I supposed to believe that?" Gehrman raised his eyebrow.
Meanwhile, Leonard's brain was doing mental gymnastics.
Am I going to die just like this?
What about my friends? My teammates?
He didn't have any control over his body, and could only watch as his mouth moved on its own.
"I swear—on Leonard."
What?! There's no way that would wor—
"Okay."
That worked?!
Ignoring Leonard's shock, Gehrman extended his hand forward and spoke once again.
"I shall graft your souls together, that way—if you do something, Leonard will be killed and you will share his fate."
He addressed Pallez Zoroast, but it felt like he was speaking with Leonard more.
In his head, the old man spoke again.
"So what do you say?"
My choices are die or die later. Of course I'm going to choose to die later!
He felt the control free his body, leaving him stiff with tension.
Trembling, he nodded his head slowly—looking at the Leader.
Gehrman didn't waste any time, as Leonard felt his soul being stretched and pulled, then contracting as if it was being stitched together with something else.
That pain was incredible, he never felt such pain ever in his entire life!
Gehrman lowered His hand and put it in His pocket, lowering His hat with His other one.
"You shall be under my close watch from now on."
With that, Gehrman Sparrow retreated back onto the shadows, and Leonard was left alone—standing in the street like a stone statue.
***
Evelyn woke up on the river, watching the endless current and countless grotesque figures walking in their never-ending pace.
Her complexion grew paler, as she felt like throwing up all of her internal organs.
But she kept it back—swallowing thickly.
Her arms and feet trembled greatly, her breathing grew smaller with shorter intervals.
Panic.
She was panicking.
Her soul felt like it was being pulled in a direction, one that was impossible to ignore.
She followed that pull, seeing a figure standing over the water—one that looked just like herself.
No—it was too close to herself!
Long black hair, dark eyes and pale skin—voluptuous figure dressed in a Gothic dress with a tight corset.
It was her.
No—it wasn't.
She ran towards the figure, tumbling down with her.
Evelyn stood over the look-alike, her eyes welled up in tears as her face contorted in anger.
"You! Who are you?"
The other woman's eyes became pitch black, only three white, glowing circles posed as a pupil and iris together.
She looked at Evelyn and smiled.
"Me? I'm Amanises."
Watching her smile made Evelyn even more angry.
"Why? Why did you take over my body?! Why did you let them all die?
"M-my family, my friends—all of them!"
She paused and then spat.
"You horrific monster!"
Her tears ran down her cheeks, but were wiped out by Amanises' hand. Her lips formed a small smile, as her terrifyingly beautiful voice rang in her ears and over the waters.
"Let me take over completely, you won't suffer anymore."
"No...No!"
"Your family—I'll avenge them."
"Your friends—I'll mourn them."
"Your own self—I'll treasure it."
Her smile widened.
"I'll succeed in what you were destined to fail."
Her voice turned into a whisper as her lips moved closer to her ear.
"All you have to do—is let me be 'me'."
Evelyn looked at her with wide eyes.
This 'Amanises' that took over her body—was now asking for more?
"How could you?"
Her smile never wavered.
"Just like you, I want to see my family and friends. Let's cooperate, let's do this together, then."
Evelyn slowly felt her own self grow weaker as Amanises got up from the waters.
Amanises, pitch black eyes with three white circles, black dress and long hair—flipped Evelyn over and drowned her in the river.
Watching as she slowly sunk to the unseen bottom.
***
This was what happened with Amanises after she was hit, blacking out for a few seconds and then coming back to the fight.
Her chest hurt like hell, but it rapidly became numb.
She sacrificed one of her own selves to the river, for a chance to resurrect in the middle of the fight.
Now, Amanises only had one weapon she could use to turn the tides over—and it wasn't even a weapon.
Without giving it much thought, she threw the Miracle charm towards the spiraling Megose while chanting 'Miracle!' in Hermes.
Her eyes watched as the growing monster was vaporized right after her wish.
The charm really was powerful—powerful enough to allow The Fool to act even under the layers of Concealment.
She had never been more glad to have such a wild card under her disposal.
After that, everything ended in a blink.
She didn't even have time to warn or to even react when Daly died under the hands of the man she called Ince Zangwill.
The man picked up the wicked notebook, and turned his face to her—a weird smile on his lips.
"How unfortunate for you. At least you won't get to live seeing your dear friend's funeral."
Those were the last words that registered in her head, before darkness took over her vision making her fall limp to the ground.
Now, Amanises was on a hospital bed, bandages all over her body and blood was being pumped in.
She turned her head over, not seeing anyone else present, only a pack of cigarettes rested on the drawer near her bed.
Amanises removed the tube, making sure it wouldn't leak or that she wouldn't lose any more blood and slowly walked over to the door on the opposite side.
This wasn't an actual hospital, more like a replica of one.
The room had many similar beds, almost all of them were neat and tidy—except for her own.
She left the room, closing the door behind her—which wasn't oiled apparently, since the entire building echoed the hard creak.
Step, step, another step.
The dazed woman continued to walk forward in the hallway, bare feet feeling the cold concrete floor, until she reached another dimly lit space.
The opening was incredibly large, and the mood was akin to the night spent on earth—as the dark brown and white walls gave an eerie vibe, like being in a room slightly lit by the familiar silver moon.
She reached the polished wooden railing, and looked over.
That's right—Amanises was back at the Castle of Elpahel, the headquarters of The Arcanists.
She must've been picked up by one of them after she lost consciousness.
Amanises slowly took out a cigarette out of the packet and brought it to her mouth but—
She had no lighter.
The woman wanted to curse herself when it suddenly lit up on its own.
She heard the echoing sounds of heavy footsteps, and gazed as a figure also leaned over the wooden railing—overlooking the Castle's entrance from above.
It was the archive keeper.
Someone she was quite familiar with.
"Thank you."
"Continue to destroy your lungs, I'm only here to speed up the process." He spoke in his casual, slightly angry tone.
Amanises sighted and then chuckled, taking out the cigarette before, to not end in a coughing fit.
The keeper didn't even glance at her, but his voice turned softer as he continued to speak.
"Sigh. It's impossible to escape that thing. She still believes she's above all."
Amanises turned to him. "Who?"
"Didn't that woman mention it to you? She used to be a proxy of the Goddess of Misfortune. More like a prisoner under her back then."
Her eyes widened.
"Goddess of Misfortune? Why are you telling me this? Wouldn't she put her gaze on us now too?"
"No, not here at least. Even True Gods cannot gaze here."
She was suddenly enveloped by awe. This Spirit World Castle was so protected that even actual Gods can't do anything to it.
"I see. What if she puts her gaze on me now?"
He shook his head. "In her eyes, you're dead. But that won't be for long. At one point or another, you will become a target again. You—and everything you love."
Amanises took the advice to heart. She will do her best to avoid the Misfortune for now.
"Keeper, why are you here?"
The man was surprised. "Why am I here to light your cigarette or why am I here at The Arcanists?"
"The second one."
He let out a long sigh. "Didn't I tell you that she's impossible to escape? If I didn't take refuge here, it didn't matter how strong I was, I would've died without anyone even knowing I ever even existed."
She listened to him attentively, but it didn't look like he wanted to share any more.
Dejected, the woman finished her cigarette in silence.