“We’re back!” Izuna yelled as she opened the door hastily.

Gevanni broods with straight-shooting eyes and doesn't notice Izuna but notwithstanding what he’s seeing in the pretentiousness of him. If that is the case, Izuna should visually perceive Lumoireux but she couldn’t. 

Upon realizing the oddity in that event, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost… Maybe… Maybe... You’re meeting with Echidna, right now!? Uweeeeheeeeeeeuuu~” Izuna teasingly expressed. 

Gevanni shows no signs of any reaction. The way he looked, he might be battling a confounded nuisance against Lumoireux. For a sentient grimoire who lived since the beginning of time, why would they let an ordinary human who only lived a tiny percentage of their life, command them as they please? 

“Is there something wrong?” Belmare asked as he opened a flask of brine and let the Guard Drakes smell it. Its scent is imbued in saltiness that comes with sweet and fine woody undertones. 

Inside Belmare’s perplexed mind, he tried to know who Echidna was and why that name resembled a witch. There’s no way witches could survive in this era. 

Vetocia, a country where most witches and warlocks used to live was sunken for almost a hundred years. Even if they do survive, they won’t be functioning under a magic anomaly or due to witch hunts. 

Izuna waved her hand in front of Gevanni. It didn’t work so she had to move really close to him to see if he will react this time. 

Izuna’s cheeks reddened and pulled back. However, she’s persistent to take this chance to poke Gevanni’s cheeks. “Ah! He’s sleeping with eyes open!”

Belmare chuckled as soon as he saw Gevanni. “It’s hard to believe this is the same person who caused all that ruckus in that throne room.” He then closed the door.

Izuna sat beside Gevanni and bounced a bit to the cushion. She noticed there’s a foul miasma from the grimoire that just disappeared. It appears that lu went overboard this time by telling Gevanni the truth. This is what Izuna hated to do—If Gevanni was forced to learn everything and Apocope’s true past, his mind wouldn't be able to handle all the irregularities and supernatural that is locked inside Apocope’s vessels.

“Alright. Onwards to our production site.” Belmare declared as the armored carriage moved.

Throughout the trip, it was filled with awkward silence. Belmare is not the one who usually starts with a conversation and if he does, it’ll be all about business. To him, despite Izuna being the voice of reason sometimes, her child-like manners are still prominent—hence, the hesitance. Before he could mutter any word, Izuna let out the longest “Woah” he ever heard. 

Izuna couldn’t help but open the door and jumped onto the roof of the carriage. After hooting, the Snow owls flew in formation from a distance. 

The view is truly fantastical. In the sunlight, the mountain peaks are a celebration of greys, from sweet blue-slate to silver-white. The parts where the sunset shines basked the mountaintops with golden-pink that slowly gradients to rose-like colors. The rocky sides of the mountains where no lights are reflected are emphasized by the moon’s faint bluish-light. It was the time where day, sunset, and night happen at the same time. This phenomenon only occurs for an hour every 16th hour of the 32-hour day. 

The stone bridge strode over the river with a welcoming arch of stone bricks. The waters were shallow and fields of Lavenders growing underneath are clearly visible. 

This female knight who wears an intimidating yet imposing golden cuirass with black features—despite the overall structure of the armor, her black unitard with golden lines that reveals her seductive collarbones and well-toned back is paired with an asymmetrical pointy skirt that evokes a strong stature and royal feminine appearance. 

She stands menacingly from afar as her peach-orange hair gently swayed is no other than Princess Marielle herself. She is a little short compared to the average citizens of Evanslei which is 5’11 ft tall. Despite her shortness, she is the most formidable knight that exists—Possessing Tears of God's plate (ranked 1st amongst the strongest mercenaries and given the title of Great Hero).

The armored carriage stopped as soon as it saw Princess Marielle. “What’s happening, Izuna?” Belmare voiced his concern.

“Hero candidates… No, specifically, you, Izuna.” Princess Marielle directed as Izuna hopped from the roof. “Eventually we will explore the magic anomalies. I can sense that you once belonged to this world. For sure you know how those anomalies work.”

The way Princess Marielle acts made Izuna come to her senses. This is no time to joke around.

“That’s right. Whenever this world summons beings from another world too much, it is natural for nature to produce these monstrosities,” Izuna explained straightforwardly. “No, more like defending itself from parasites…” Izuna paused. “It’ll consume anything and everything,” she continued once imagery from the past sparked into her mind.

“I ask you of this...” Even if Princess Marielle’s intention is to ask peacefully, her motives scream that there is more to that. As the Queen's right hand and a true loyalist to her Queen who is known around the world greatly for solving numerous world-ending events, Princess Marielle must not ever show her true intentions. 

“If you were once in this world…” She added but she was interrupted by Belmare.

“This is quite unexpected, Princess. I thought you were on an expedition to investigate the magic anomaly at the northeast?” Belmare asked.

“I already took care of that. Besides, there is more important to do here.” Princess Marielle said with great confidence despite she’s the only sole survivor from that magic anomaly expedition.

The amount of the corpses with Palladium plates (ranked as the 3rd strongest mercenary) pulled by horses that Izuna and Gevanni once passed during the time they were walking around the town—disguised as rashed individuals who harm themselves by making their own magic to prevent the citizens of Evanslei from panicking—only means that these magic anomalies are far more dangerous than resuming war against another country. 

Without hesitation, Princess Marielle removed her gauntlet and threw her leather gloves to Izuna. An unpreventable conflict where a maiden would sacrifice anything for their mother's love. Both Princess Marielle and Izuna know that this is no ordinary duel. 

It’s a declaration of war.