Mirac's eyes widened, a transparent sphere of memories piercing through his mind. His vision blurred, as if the entire earth were shaking. He inhaled the scents of dirt, sweat, and leaves, his fingers touching familiar, soft flesh—Ai's thigh, as he found himself leaning against her chest in a position that felt oddly familiar. Startled, he widened his eyes.

With a groan, Mirac sat up, surveying his surroundings. Noah sat nearby, looking shocked and drenched, while Ai appeared tired. Mirac huffed, suddenly forgetting the events that occurred before. The book was nowhere in sight, and the amulet, or rather the card, was tightly held by Ai. As she crumbled it into pieces, Mirac's eyes widened in disbelief.

Ai glanced at Mirac, shaking her head. She sighed and turned to Noah, who was intensely gazing at the red-headed man. Mirac still needed some time to adjust.

"Just so you know, you nearly made my head explode by putting a hole right behind me. It could have been anywhere! While you had the luxury of saving Mirac, I lost the card. They took it with them!" she exclaimed, pointing at Noah's chest. Mirac sighed.

Raising his brows, Mirac awaited their explanations.

He found himself alone in the aftermath. The table lay in ruins, with shattered glass splattered across the carpet, and the lights still flickered above. The window stood broken, allowing a gentle breeze to infiltrate the room. Mirac coughed, struggling to rise. He could sense that Noah had recently made a hasty escape with his sister. The color of the sky and the approaching dusk told him all he needed to know. The clock, for some unknown reason, lay broken on the ground.

Mirac's recollections flooded back when the mysterious object connected with its intended recipient. Alice wore an evil grin, harboring a desire to claim Mirac's power for herself. However, a different pact unfolded. Mirac would offer something in return once the plan successfully materialized.

"Yes, Alice had my card the whole time. I had two decoy cards in total. Before losing my memory, I placed one in the book and another one in your pocket when you weren't looking. The thieves were aware that the card in the book was fake, as I deliberately let them confiscate it. They also knew you were holding two more cards—one of yours and one of mine. I replaced the latter with the fake card," he explained. "Hence, they would always keep an eye on you. Two cards with one stone. But the genuine one is in Alice's hand."

She pouted. “You let me protect a fake card the whole time? I thought you gave me the real card! You said you would trust me,” she exclaimed, raising her brows and crossing her arms. Noah laughed; for a moment, he almost had a heart attack. He looked at Mirac with an amused expression. It was a name he hadn't heard for a long time.

“Alice has the card, but she isn't the trigger for the end of our contract. I put another name in the contract, not hers. But I have no idea why they already have the card. This mustn't be possible. I think something happened to Alice or they confiscated the card sooner than expected,” he explained. “Now was not the right timing. Maybe he didn't get my plan? Now that I got my powers back, it would make things easier for us to fight. But also, they will know that all of this is acting. They don't follow a fully armored mouse into a hole but only a fully wounded one,” Mirac laughed. He looked up at the many people in black clothing that surrounded them. A female shadowy figure sat on top of a tree, watching the whole ordeal with more shadows coming in, ready to shoot arrows and swords.

“I was supposed to kill them all off here, right? With Ai also,” Noah said, grinning as he summoned his spear. He could summon multiple of them, shooting in random directions.

The female shadowy figure put back on her mask so only her purple eyes were showing. It was dangerous and mysterious. Suddenly, everyone of the figures dropped their weapons and summoned what seemed to be this veil of magic that nothing could surpass. Noah widened his eyes as he tried his best to pierce a hole through it, but something like blizzard and thunder-like light almost surrounded him from the veil and shot him down. He was even more shocked now.

He was shot down when the shadowy figure shot something at him right from her seat. Could she summon lightning? Noah coughed, landing on the ground, almost spitting blood. He grinned while looking at the blood. Even Ai was shocked.

“I miscalculated that a bit. Usually, when they go into defensive mode, they do waste a lot of energy. Someday, this defense of theirs will fall, and they can't use their cave of revenge or whatever they call them,” Mirac said.

Mirac nonchalantly shrugged. "I couldn't spill all the details; it'd be a lengthy tale," he explained, drawing his sword. The barrier loomed before them, saturated with both dark and fiery magic—Mirac's shield against the impending threat. The identities of the other shadowy figures eluded him, but rumors about the woman above lingered in his memory.

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Noah, fueled by the desire to pursue, made a move, but Mirac restrained him. "Hold back," he advised, pulling Noah back into position. Glancing at Ai, Mirac sensed her myriad of questions, yet also glimpsed a sense of relief that the ordeal had come to an end.

The shadowy threat dissipated one by one, leaving only the woman behind. Her voice echoed loudly and dripped with sarcasm as she looked down upon them.

"Pretty smart; I could piece together the situation by now. Killing half our troops wasn't an easy feat for you guys. But your little birdie seems to be in trouble," she remarked with a smirk.

Mirac's eyes widened in concern. San, his companion from when he first arrived in the forest, was adept at hiding behind trees and in shadows, emerging only when the time was right. There was no way he should be caught; he was a formidable figure. Mirac contemplated the possibility that someone stronger might have overpowered him.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_**

Meanwhile, somebody stumbled on the spot, coughing and spitting out leaves. He huffed as he sat up, surrounded by the sounds of beasts and barks. San threw a spear in his direction. The red-haired boy squealed, covering his face, but the spear missed him and instead struck the beastly boar behind him, killing it instantly.

San widened his eyes, pulling the guy closer to him. He pointed the spear toward the remaining bork, while Mirac stumbled back, simultaneously pointing a dagger at San and grabbing the items San had scattered around. San widened his eyes once again as he chased the guy, ensuring the spear remained lodged in the boar's mouth, rendering it unable to close unless it wanted to hurt itself.

He huffed as he looked at the giant boar, realizing he was in trouble. Glancing around, he saw Mirac already running in the dark towards a direction. San observed his surroundings and noticed his bag was missing, but some bandages confiscated from other participants were untouched. Mirac grabbed the quickest thing he could find.

“Hey… I’m just hiding here,” Mirac said. San widened his eyes as he looked up, wondering how Mirac managed to conceal himself. “It’s just a small power of mine. I can summon wings if I want to for a short while.”

“Give me back what you stole! Ahh, who am I kidding. You can have it. If it’s food you're searching for, there is plenty of it inside. Be careful; there might be poisonous things. I'm not a hermit,” San said, coughing. Out of nowhere, Mirac was surrounded by a strange warm light.

“As a thanks. I didn't expect you to be this cool,” Mirac said, slowly descending from the tree and placing his hand on San's thigh. San widened his eyes.

Mirac applied a slight burn to the wound, causing San to jump up and push Mirac against the trunk. Mirac pulled out his dagger, pointing it at San's throat, both of them eyeing each other with hostility.

“S-sorry… calm down. I will hold back on the fire a bit. It's been a long time since I had to use healing magic instead of fire,” Mirac reassured.

“It's fine. Just take the bag and fuck off,” San huffed, sweating as he grit his teeth. He could hardly stand, falling with his back against the tree. He examined his hands where his veins were showing. Mirac huffed as he cleaned himself up.

He placed his hand over the wound again, realizing there was much more to heal than the cut on San's thigh. San grabbed Mirac's wrist, almost crushing it, but he struggled even to lift his fingers. Mirac finished the healing, concentrating to prevent any fire from emerging. Mirac was sweating as his complexion became paler. He huffed as he fell beside San, coughing and gasping. San widened his eyes.

“H-hey… get up. Why are you being like that? If it's another of your tricks—gosh… You okay?” San said, realizing how the power in his body slowly came back.

He touched Mirac's forehead, sensing no fever, and tried to help him sit up. Finding water in the bag, he grabbed the bottle and placed it to Mirac's lips, making him cough immediately. The boy slowly opened his eyes.

*-*-*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_**_

Noah snapped his fingers in front of Mirac, bringing the boy back to reality. The woman stood before them, arms crossed, and Mirac gritted his teeth.

She suddenly disappeared, and Noah attempted to chase after her. Mirac tried to widen his wings, but he had exhausted too much energy for them to grow. He held Noah back once again, and Noah became tired of Mirac acting as if he had a leash on him.

“Fuck off, I'm going to serve her head on a silver platter. Unlike you, I'm all combat, not magic,” Noah declared. Mirac grabbed Noah's shoulder, summoning a small fire that made Noah squeal.

Ai widened her eyes at the two boys. She pointed a dagger at both of their throats, threatening to use it if they didn't stop immediately, especially at Mirac, who looked furious with veins popping out.

But Noah shuddered slightly, which he would never admit. He didn't look pleased but kept his mouth shut. Mirac's eyes looked a bit too intense in the moment, and the aura around him changed to a more serious tone.

"I also told you, I'm not a dog on a tight leash," Noah huffed, glancing at Mirac. The red-haired boy didn't seem to be listening. Ai took a deep breath in and out, also glancing at Mirac with a confused look.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Noah could hear everything from the tree above them, although he looked displeased about it and attempted to close his eyes, which proved to be impossible. Occasionally, he looked down at both of them, keeping an eye out for other participants or predators.

"We are going to part ways anyway. Ai, would you stay with me until then? You always do that. But you don't have to," Mirac said, finally turning to her. She huffed while shrugging her shoulders. She put a kiss on Mirac's lips, and he widened his eyes. Ai began to hug him tightly as they both lay beside the fire. Noah even widened his eyes as he sensed some type of weird chemistry between them but never figured out what it was. He faked a gag and turned away in disgust. Mirac pushed her away.