Lucian dusted his shoulders off, frowning at Tuleam's sight.

  "Sir Manalok. I'd be most pleased if you could give me a quick report on what happened while I was unconscious."

  Tuleam pinched his glabella, grunting. "You were under a curse that amplified pain. I dispelled it, then took it upon myself to bring you to safety."

  Lina poked her finger in his chest angrily. "You're leaving out the part where you abandoned everyone else in a spatial seal!"

  "Cut me some slack, will you?" Tuleam pushed her away with irritation. "I am a researcher who restores old objects, not a rough, barbaric fighter like everyone in your brother's team! I knew right away that I should have left all of you on your own while I stayed in the comfort of the manor. Trust me, I will not repeat this mistake!"

  Lucian raised his hand, stopping him. "While I'm glad you've acted toward my safety, you already know what I think. We're going back to rescue them. Once again, this is an order, Sir Manalok. You do not have a choice."

  Tuleam cursed and kicked a pebble away. "I had picked on that much, thank you, your Highness."

  "Lina, if I understood correctly, you can communicate with Milena, right?" Lucian grabbed the young woman's shoulders.

  Lina nodded tensely, showing her wristband. "Yes. Do you want me to call—"

  "No." Lucian shook his head. "I want you to return to Satidipug and stay out of sight. Our enemies are stronger than us. We can't afford to have a liability around." He raised a finger to stop her from protesting. "This is not negotiable. Sir Manalok, follow me. You should have an idea or two about what to do about this seal, right?"

  Tuleam brushed his seaweed-like hair back, grumbling. "Of course I do. Damn it. I hate this damned country."

  Lucian grinned as he rose in the air, a shining crown appearing on his head. "Your patriotism will be rewarded, Sir Manalok. I'll make sure of it."

  "Tch. What a treat..." Tuleam flew up and followed the Prince back to the Retni's Plains. Lina looked at them, flying away with her hands clenched tightly.

  "Milady, they are not wrong. You cannot help anyway—"

  Lina clenched her right hand tightly, shutting Tiamanes up. She drew a long, deep breath before running in the direction the other two flew to.

  'I might lose them if I don't hurry. If only I was a little stronger...!' Lina pushed through her empty Aura Core and kept running. She could reinforce herself with Mana, too, but it was extremely inefficient, and she'd rather save her Mana for later.

  The forest neighboring the plains was burning, black smoke billowing into the sky. Lina froze in her steps, her eyes stopping on a strange phenomenon in the air. She rubbed her eyes confusedly.

  'Is this the spatial seal?' It looked like a blurry filter had been cast into reality, raised high and circling the forest like a large wall.

  "The Retni's Plains are certainly beyond this spatial seal. The Prince and the researcher should be on the lookout for ways to break the seal apart and free your brother's comrades." Despite being forcefully shut down earlier, Tiamanes' voice was calm and composed.

  Lina chewed on her nail. "Tiamanes, what do you know about this thing? This seal. How do I help break it?"

  Tiamanes cleared his throat. "At first glance, the spatial seal appears to be covering the entirety of the Retni's Plains and a part of the neighboring forest. Such a large domain requires mediums to be maintained efficiently. Statues, monoliths, magic stones, and beacons... They should have been installed with great hurry, so I don't believe they'll be hard to find."

  "Alright. Guide me, Tiamanes." Lina shot forward, running beside the spatial seal and looking for anything unusual. The forest was oddly silent. No birds were singing, no wind was blowing through the leaves, and no insects were chattering. Only a deafening silence that made her heartbeat thump even louder in her ears.

  "Milady."

  Lina stopped in place at Tiamanes' voice. She looked around, her eyes widening, when she saw a wood sculpture loosely planted into the ground. It was a faceless woman opening her arms broadly as if to offer a hug. The wood was light brown, maybe oak. It looked rustic.

  "Is that it?"

  "Yes. You just need to break it apart, and it will—"

  Lina did not hesitate for a single second to cast a Rift Shred that turned the statue into sawdust.

  "Alright, done!" She felt a wave of relief push through her nervosity and anxiousness. She looked back at the spatial seal, only to find it as blurry and as real as ever.

  "Shit, Tiamanes, I thought breaking the statue would solve the problem!"

  Tiamanes sighed. "Had you let me finish, you would have learned that breaking the statue reduces the stability of the seal and increases the chance of the caster losing control over the spell or ritual. Space is very hard to deal with unless you're at a very high level, no matter what sort of energy you use."

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  "Damn it, maybe you should have told me that earlier!" Lina grumbled as she resumed her sprint through the forest, searching for more statues.

  Tiamanes clicked his tongue. "I tried Milady. I tried..."

  A hot wind suddenly blew past her with a deafening sound. The shockwave sent her flying into the trees, her body landing on the branches. Lina coughed heavily, struggling to catch her breath. An enormous beam of flames had destroyed a large part of the forest. She had almost been caught up in it.

  "Milady, it's dangerous—"

  BOOM!!!

  Tuleam was swung into the sky, a whip wrapped around his ankle. Lina hid in the leaves, watching with terrified awe. A skinny woman with revealing clothes was screaming manically as she lashed at Tuleam again and again, the latter barely managing to protect himself with a magic shield. Aura was exploding violently with each lash, destroying more and more parts of the forest.

  "Mother, I am tired of this!" Nora shrieked. "Why must we help these perverted bastards?!?" A strange energy enveloped her, and she suddenly disappeared from her spot just in time to avoid another of Lucian's magic beams. The prince stood with difficulty, two whip wounds digging into his face.

  Tuleam screamed painfully as Nora stabbed him in the back. She smiled sadistically as his blood covered her face.

  '...That part there, it's a little strange. It looks like teleportation, but it isn't.' Tiamanes was relaying the fight to Lina directly into her mind. The fighters were moving too rapidly for her, making it impossible to follow the combat.

  A large magic circle suddenly appeared around Nora, and she froze, chains holding her in place. Tuleam pressed one hand against his wound while using the other to cast another spell. Lightning bolts shot out of a new magic circle and shocked the slaver, burning her hair off and charring her skin.

  Lucian slammed his hands together and shouted something. His Mana exploded like a wave, making shadows rush at Nora to try and swallow her.

  "MOTHER, AGAIN!" She screamed.

  Lucian's shadows all bloated into one spot before returning to the ground, failing to find purchase. Lucian's eyes widened. "What—?!"

  Nora reappeared in front of him, unharmed. She stroked with her knife, but Lucian managed to avoid it barely. A flash of Aura pierced through the sky, distorting reality.

  'Time,' suddenly said Tiamanes. 'She's playing with time! She's not teleporting around; she's rewinding her time to heal from her wounds and get advantageous placement! By the Original, coupled with her rank Six Aura, she's absurdly powerful!'

  Lina gulped heavily. 'That sounds like something a God would do, not a human!'

  Tiamanes grunted. 'I can't agree more. Time is even tricker than space, even the Original could barely manipulate it.'

  'Wait, who could what?' Lina's eyes kept on widening.

  "Mother, once more!" Nora cried when Lucian's crown suddenly changed color. It was a bright, dawn-like orange, but it turned into a deep, twilight purple. Nora's mouth opened in shock as Lucian shot a massive beam of orange light right in her chest.

  "Time! It was time, Sir Manalok! Once again, you were correct!" Lucian shouted happily.

  Tuleam groaned as he applied first aid on his back. "I am always correct, Your Highness. Now, finish her before she rewinds again and—"

  A burning hot hand grabbed Lina's throat, violently pulling her out of the tree she was hiding in.

  'I don't want to tell you I told you so, but I did, Milady.' Tiamanes sighed dejectedly. The words were stuck in Lina's throat as she felt pain shoot through her body. A smoldering, melting mass of flesh was staring at her crazily, one eye hanging off and the other bloodshot.

  "Ag-urgh, l-looks like I-I found a l-little b-bird," stammered Nora. Her tongue looked like coal and smelled like burnt hair.

  "Lina!" Lucian and Tuleam shouted at the same time, moving instantly before Nora. The latter tightly clenched Lina's throat, hiding behind her.

  "D-don't get c-closer!" She warned. Her voice sounded like her throat had been going through a cheese grate.

  "Damn it, why didn't you listen, you fool!" Tuleam spat furiously as half a dozen magic circles appeared behind him, brimming with power. Nora pointed at Lucian with a trembling, burnt finger.

  "G-get r-rid of that c-crown, or the b-bird g-gets it!"

  Lucian took a step back with a difficult expression. The crown on his head flickered, menacing to go out at any moment. Instinctively, Nora clenched Lina's neck tighter, using her Saint-level strength.

  The pain became so great for Lina that she momentarily lost consciousness. Something shot through her veins and into her chest, where her Mana Heart was lying in wait.

  The Wormhole.

  Lucian, Tuleam, and Nora's eyes all went wide as a distortion formed around Lina, a ripple into reality. Light bent and the environment shifted like a heat mirage as her arms appeared stretched and her face duplicated. A thin, shimmering black shell with streaks of violet suddenly pulled and made her fold inward.

  Lina reappeared behind Lucian and Tuleam, her body unfolding itself as ripples of reality announced her arrival.

  Nora chuckled in disbelief. "What the fuck—"

  A massive blast of orange light swallowed Nora, destroying anything that was left of her charred body. Lina fell to her knees, gasping heavily. She clenched at her chest, where three circles of runes spun around a Wormhole.

  Lucian dismissed his spell and confirmed Nora's death. The spatial seal trembled and began crumbling; with the main caster gone, it would disappear by itself. The Prince sighed and leaned on his knees for an instant, exhausted.

  "A Saint working for the Mother...Fallen Mother should be the right term. Why the hell was a Fallen Mother's priest working with the Thorn's Church?" He muttered aloud, watching the spatial seal fall off piece by piece. He shook his head and turned to Lina, grabbing her shoulder.

  "In other circumstances, I'd congratulate you on breaking through to the Third Circle, but..." His expression darkened. Lina flinched and suddenly pulled out of that feeling of wonder and amazement she felt. She swallowed with difficulty, reeling back away from Lucian.

  The latter silently stared at her before shrugging and patting her back. "...But oh well. You're not dead, so I guess it's fine. You'll have to call me Big Bro, though. And explain to me what the hell you did to escape from that freak's arms."

  Lina laughed nervously. "Y- yeah, sure, I can do that, Lucian—"

  "Big Bro Lucian," he corrected. "Hey, technically, we're battle-brother and sister now, even though the only thing you did was get captured and almost ruin all our efforts!"

  Tuleam groaned. "And what about me, your Highness? Am I also your battle brother?"

  The Prince looked at him and grimaced. "Uhh, I fear you might be a little too old for that. Maybe...uncle? No, I can't consider you brother of His Majesty, now, can I? Sorry, I don't think I'll be able to...?"

  The researcher sighed in relief. "Ah, thank god. Now, you won't have an excuse to pull me back into the fight, right?"

  "About that..."

  "I was stabbed, you damn brat! Stabbed!"