They met in Michaela’s tower at the top of AB-0 shortly thereafter. Alisson stared at Michaela as she turned into a humanoid shape before his eyes.

  On the way up here, Alisson, over his initial euphoria at seeing her alright again, had noticed a change within Celis. She looked as though she was hiding something terrible. Something in her eyes. A great pain. He wanted answers.

  “So, what did you to her?” Alisson flicked his eyes to Celis.

  Michaela met his question with a smile. “Alisson. Let me preface this by saying that we did not help Celis purely for your benefit. The success of our experiment on a real Nekomata, influenced by Sidonia, has confirmed something extremely important for us all.”

  Alisson furrowed his brow, and Michaela continued, “You are aware that we Angels, in lieu of great physical strength, use divine shells. These shells surround our bodies and amplify our strength and protection, among other things…Not too dissimilar to that slime we have found to be attached to you.”

  Alisson frowned. “It is not a parasite. It is a tool that I am willingly employing.”

  “We assumed as much, yes, which is why we didn’t remove it when we found it. Your readings are, quite extraordinary…Our techs had to work quickly to analyze you as in the time that you were unconscious. But enough of that…These shells…”

  “You put one on Celis.” Alisson put in.

  Michaela nodded. “Yes. It took a great deal of energy, supplemented mostly from the cross that you have been carrying, but yes, we were able to successfully attach a shell to her. This level of success was warranted only because her shell was designed to do one thing…”

  Alisson could more or less guess, but let Michaela continue, “…Block mana. What surrounds Celis now is a cloak that cuts off mana circulation. When this was donned on her, and she awoke, free of Sidonia’s influence, well, I suppose you can guess what this confirmed.”

  Alisson’s eyes widened. He hadn’t even considered it, but it made logical sense.

  “Sidonia’s influence…It’s based on magic. Mana.”

  Michaela nodded. “Which means that it is not almighty.”

  For a moment, Michaela remained smiling cheerfully at Alisson, and he raised an eyebrow in confusion. “What is it? Is something on my face?”

  “Yes actually…” She giggled. “Joy, life, hope. It’s all on your face. All because of her.” Michaela motioned to Celis, and Alisson blushed. “It’s just heartwarming seeing such a radical transformation…Though I’m sure to you, it feels like nothing has changed. Back to normal. Right?”

  Alisson cleared his throat, seeing Celis glance at him smugly out of the corner of his eye, “Let’s stay on topic.”

  “Yes, of course. So then. If Sidonia’s influence is based on mana…What exactly does that mean that you, Alisson, have the power to do? Think about what you told me you were ordered to scout, on that mission that Sidonia gave to you, to go into Freigat.”

  Alisson thought for a moment.

  The structure in Freigat…It wasn’t just any old building. He had learned that it was the control room for magic. He couldn’t enter the structure however…It required multiple keys, one of which, had been hidden in the middle of the Deadzone, hence his detour there.

  That key, that black cylinder of dubious origin, he had given it to Sidonia upon his return, thinking that it hadn’t been important enough to warrant holding onto and concealing. He had guessed that this control room was merely a way for Sidonia to give another advantage to the Nekomata in their war of survival against the humans.

  Since Nekomata, and Sidonia in general, were magically inept, removing magic from the world entirely would only benefit them, by starving out the humans in Andestine of their greatest strengths.

  But now…If Sidonia’s influence was based on mana…There was no way in hell she would ever want to let that control room fall into the hands of her enemies.

  “I see…” Alisson had been busy in thought. “We’ll turn off the magic system from that control room in Freigat, and in doing so, liberate the Nekomata from Sidonia’s influence. She would lose her grip on her own nation.”

  With these revelations, Alisson now had a new lens to view his plans and the world at large. His objectives had shifted around a little, and would require some further thought.

  “So, Celis’s shell, the way you’ve been talking…”

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  “Yes, Alisson. We’re not sure how long it will last or how effective it will be. It’s certainly not a permanent solution.”

  To ensure that Celis’s safety, Alisson would need to remove Sidonia’s ability to hurt her. It was settled. Alisson would get rid of magic as a concept.

  “While we are on the subject, there’s one last thing I want to tell you from the results of our examining of the both of you. Alisson. We were worried that you had truly fallen to Sidonia’s influence, but under scrutiny, it appears it was not the case. Rather, your person gives off faint, but detectable, mana of its own.”

  Alisson was both angry and surprised. Angry, because his own demeanor and rage of the months earlier had been entirely his doing, not fueled by Sidonia’s meddling.

  “What mana do you speak of…Is it from my slime?”

  “No. From you. You’re like a little version of Sidonia. If this mana that exudes from you grows, then you may very well be able to control Nekomata the same way that Sidonia does at some point.”

  Alisson’s eyes widened, and it suddenly clicked for him.

  “…There is an old legend we have. Sidonia’s first and only lover, long ago, had the name of Meowskers. Stupid, I know, but that was the name. He was said to be her other, that he was a check to Sidonia, that the two worked in tandem to lead the Nekomata. This legend…this history…It’s been suppressed by Sidonia herself – For why would she want people to know that there existed a counterbalance to her rule? If I’m exhibiting this kind of power…My only guess would be that some Nekomata are born to be counterbalances every generation…And that Sidonia has had these Nekomata quietly killed before their powers mature. It gives a reason to why she wanted to get rid of me beforehand, alongside Celis and her past.”

  The three sat in silence.

  “That’s a really stupid name.” Celis commented.

  Alisson shook his head. “If this is indeed true, then we have a little bit more of the picture. Ultimately, I don’t think it matters. I would imagine that it takes millennia for this power to mature.”

  “Regardless, you have your objective, Alisson.”

  “Yes.” He looked up to Michaela. “I will seek out the rest of the keys to open the control room in Freigat, shut down Sidonia’s influence, and defeat her. However…This shutdown would no doubt harm your abilities as Angels, wouldn’t it?”

  The Seraph nodded. “This is a complicated question. As the highest ranking Angel, I must say that no, magic does not power our divinity, our halos, our wings….We believe our powers to have come from the heavens, but if they truly disappear with a flip of a switch…Then I’m afraid that we didn’t need them to begin with. We are divine in our own right. Without the need of these powers. The shell that was made around Celis was done so with prayers with your cross, we believe that the souls of those you have fallen have given their own energy, separate to mana, to her shell, for example. If this is all mana…Then we don’t need it. We must endeavor to find true divinity.”

  Alisson smirked. “Very well. I’m sure taking away such a large part of humanity’s power will no doubt cause chaos in the world.”

  “Man will grow and stand on his own legs. I have faith of that.”

  Alisson sighed in relief. He had feared the Angels would be opposed to shutting down the magic in the world as it may completely declaw them and render them powerless as a society. It seemed Michaela was at the very least confident that wouldn’t happen.

  Thus, the question now remained.

  “If Sidonia brings either of us before her person, and focuses her influence on us…”

  “Yes, a shell probably won’t save you from her focused efforts. You shouldn’t try approaching her until after the magic system is disabled. That includes you, Alisson, even though you have so far been untouched by her influence, you have said that in the past you were highly susceptible…There’s nothing saying you can’t be broken too.”

  Alisson nodded.

  With that, Alisson’s mind was more or less settled. The clouds of darkness that shrouded Sidonia were gone. Now all that was left was to beat her.

  “If we’re going to fight her while this whole magic outage is in effect…Then shouldn’t we only focus on getting weapons that don’t rely on mana?” Celis posed the question.

  Alisson frowned. It was true. Boons like the Moonlight Cannon were completely useless if there was no mana in the air.

  “You’re right. We should exclude all magical-related techniques from our preparations. Firo.”

  “Yes master?! Finally bringing me up!?”

  “You’ll live without mana?”

  “Of course! I eat physical things! Not air! I am physical!”

  At least one of his tools would be useful.

  “To that end, Alisson…” Michaela spoke up. “The last purpose of your visit still remains; We wanted to make you a real Angel. To turn your diligent efforts, stored in that cross given to you, into wings and a shell of your own.”

  Alisson was dubious. If the Angel’s powers were truly based on mana, then this was a useless boon come the fight with his sister and Sidonia.

  “This act, of giving wings to non-Angels, is it precedented?”

  Michaela nodded. “Yes, though it usually is bestowed on those who have,” She paused, finding words as to not offend Alisson, “…shown to be more committed to our texts. In doing so, they gather the divinity to become Angels perpetually…Our techs believe that we may still grant you these boons due to your existing strength and the energy you have already gathered from the lives you have taken…But it will be a temporary enhancement, one you can only use in bursts, not something that will be available all the time. One that you yourself will be able to call upon; unlike when we branded wings upon you for a short time.”

  Alisson nodded in understanding. It was a good thing that it wasn’t permanent anyway. He didn’t want to return to his army with a halo above his head.

  “Well, I’m sure this has been a very eventful day for us all. You should get some rest Alisson, we’ll be very busy tomorrow.”

  Alisson took Michaela up on her offer. Him and Celis were escorted to a private room. It had a high-rise view outlooking the lands around AB-0. It was certainly a step up in hospitality. It appeared that being made into a proper Angel and being fully liberated of his ailments granted him a more luxurious accommodation.

  Instead of descending on her meal as she was wont to do, Celis was unsteady on her legs, and fell into Alisson’s embrace. When Alisson looked into her eyes, asking what was wrong, he saw that she cried now not tears of joy, but of pain. She was scared, and scarred.

  Alisson realized that he had completely forgotten of her unease earlier in the day. It appeared that there was still something he didn’t know. He urged Celis on to tell him.

  ***