Zeke had often considered what it would be like to meet his old acquaintances. His classmates, childhood friends, Markus, Lilly, Viola, and Sophia. He had imagined what he might say, what they might say, and how their relationship might have changed due to his actions. He had long since prepared answers for any such scenario.
And yet, now that he saw that familiar face right in front of him, his voice failed him. Emotions he had long believed buried stirred in his chest, tangling his thoughts and making him unable to speak.
Calm down. Now!
A pulse of Mind Mana reined in the worst of his feelings. His gaze cleared instantly. Now, after overcoming the initial shock, he began noticing a few details he had overlooked before.
Something wasn't right.
The woman in front of him appeared to be in her late twenties, a few years older than Sophia should have been. The curvature of her eyes was also slightly off, a bit narrower and more slanted than he remembered. It was not immediately obvious, but he had spent enough time with her to notice such small details.
This was not Sophia.
Damn. Akasha would have noticed immediately. He really had to step up his game now that he could no longer rely on the Spirit's keen eye. He had lost control of his feelings for nothing.
Meanwhile, the woman watched him silently, seemingly very interested in his reaction.
Zeke's voice turned cold. "Who are you?"
She answered in the same impassive tone. "Would you prefer I were her, or that I wasn't?"
Zeke increased the amount of Mind Mana flowing through his body. It doused the emotions that were about to rise again, making his face lose all expression.
"I asked who you were."
Despite his languid tone, a faint smile appeared on her face. It was as if she had gotten exactly what she wanted.
"My name is Helena. Helena Geistreich von Arkanheim."
"What is your relation to Sophia? Why do you have her face?"
Helena slowly shook her head. "We had a deal. I have shown my face and introduced myself. Now it is your turn to honor the agreement. Tell me why you were so cooperative throughout."
Zeke hesitated, but only for a moment. A deal was a deal, and he did not mind telling her this much. They would figure it out soon anyway.
"I didn't mind your probing because whatever you've learned about me will be useless to predict my actions in the future," he admitted. "Because I have stepped down as overall commander of my forces."
Helena fell silent, her eyes wavering.
"...That's impossible," she said at last. "You would not entrust your fate to anybody, and none of your subordinates is comparable to you in command ability."
Zeke tilted his head. "So your conclusion is that I am commanding the current battle myself? Right now? While talking to you?"
Helena froze. Now that he had pointed it out, she must have realized how outlandish such an assumption was. After all, he wasn't connected to a network of Mind Mages like she was. He would have to handle everything on his own.
"Who is it?"
Zeke shook his head. "It's your turn again. Why do you look exactly like Sophia?"
For the first time, his counterpart did not answer. She stared at him with cool eyes, her thoughts impossible to read.
Zeke did not push her. He had expected as much. Now that she knew he had stepped down as overall commander, there was no point in probing his mental framework anymore. They would not be able to predict his future actions anyway. Besides, Zeke guessed that she likely already had most of what she needed.
They had reached an impasse.
"Seems you've lost interest," Zeke said casually. "I'm a little hurt."
Helena did not respond.
Her entire demeanor had changed now that she no longer needed his answers. From an obedient conversationalist, she had turned as cold as a serpent. Even the gaze with which she looked at him had lost any trace of human emotion.
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Zeke did not have to ask what it meant. The time for words was over.
Slowly, he withdrew the Mind Mana from his body and felt his suppressed emotions return. The steady beating of his heart. The warm blood coursing through his veins. His coiled muscles filled with strength.
A slow smile spread across his face. "I've changed my mind. You're not going anywhere."
He did not wait for a response. He leaned forward, his toes pressing against the ground. Then he pushed. It seemed like a casual movement, but Zeke had put his entire strength into it.
The world blurred, and an instant later, he stood right in front of her. This was the full strength of his enhanced body. Almost as fast as teleportation, yet without a single trace of Mana, making it nearly impossible to predict.
Zeke's hand snapped up, reaching for Helena's throat. She still had not moved; her unfocused eyes weren't even tracking him. He was only a moment away from seizing her when a sudden sense of danger flashed through his mind.
He locked onto the source of that feeling. It was heading straight for his attacking hand. Zeke immediately changed his clawed hand into a fist and punched with all his strength. His punch met firm resistance, and the impact reverberated through his entire right arm.
Zeke took a step back, opening the distance. He could not help but frown. His entire right arm had turned numb. It felt as if he had just punched a steel wall.
Then he saw it. From the sleeve of her right hand, a shape was peeking out. It was the head of a snake. Its entire body was silver, and its scales gleamed with a metallic luster.
It was this snake that had intercepted his punch.
Zeke's eyes sharpened. This was not some random animal companion, but a magical beast of considerable strength. It had taken no visible damage from his attack, and judging by the hardness of its scales, its body was likely on par with Zelkara.
As he watched, it emerged further from beneath Helena's robe. It slithered along her arm and eventually rose behind her shoulder, placing its scaly head next to hers. Its serpentine eyes were locked onto his, as if challenging him, daring him to try again.
This was rather troublesome.
The greatest weakness of a Mind Mage was their frail body, but if they had a magical beast guarding them, then it would be almost impossible to take advantage of it.
However, Zeke was not the rookie he had once been. He had fought his fair share of magical beasts, and even without Akasha, he knew the commonly shared weaknesses of most of them. Even when their bodies were strong, their minds were usually far easier to influence than those of humans.
Without losing eye contact with the beast, Zeke launched a mental spike. It was a rudimentary Mind Magic attack, meant to overload the consciousness of a less evolved being. Despite its simplicity, it usually worked wonders against creatures that lacked strong mental defenses.
However, to Zeke's surprise, the snake didn't even flinch. It was as if it had not felt anything at all.
Zeke's expression turned solemn. His gaze slid away from the snake and settled on the woman around whose neck it was draped. Helena still watched him with that same emotionless gaze. From beginning to end, her expression had not changed once. Yet Zeke knew it had been her who intercepted his attack.
Troublesome. Truly troublesome.
The bond they shared seemed to perfectly neutralize each other's weaknesses. It granted Helena strong physical protection, while the snake gained an impenetrable mental wall.
He knew what this was. She was a Bestiomancer, a specialized school of Mind Magic.
Zeke had heard of it, though this was the first time he had encountered one in person. It was said that it allowed man and beast to act as one, like a swordsman and his blade.
While Zeke was pondering this, another change took place. The air in the room suddenly grew heavy. It pressed against his skin, as if the walls were narrowing around him. The pressure was so stifling that he could barely extend his perception more than a step beyond his body.
He knew this feeling all too well: A Space-Locking formation had been activated.
Helena had either done it to prevent him from escaping or to remove the advantage of teleportation, or perhaps both. Whatever her intention, the move severely hampered his ability to fight.
Next, as if she was still not satisfied with the cards in her hand, two more serpentine heads emerged from beneath her robes.
The first had red scales and tiny horns, while the other appeared to be made of gold and had vacant, fully white eyes. They began to slither along her limbs, each taking a prearranged position.
The silver snake hovered over her right shoulder, the red one over her left. Meanwhile, the blind golden snake hovered overhead. Just like that, they formed a triangle around her face.
Zeke quietly watched it all unfold.
So this was what had given her the confidence to invite him. Three magical beasts, a space-locking formation, and the only exit lay behind her back.
The board had been arranged masterfully.
His Mind Magic was as good as useless in this fight, and with the space locked, one of his strongest weapons had also been taken away.
That left him with a single weapon.
Blood Magic.
But now that he was cut off from the outside, there was no way he could muster the same power as before. He was completely cut off from his tide, and the call of blood had faded into an almost nonexistent whisper.
There were also no other bodies nearby for him to draw from. The only blood available was the blood in his own body.
For all intents and purposes, this was the weakest Zeke could ever be. Every possible advantage had been stacked against him, every favorable condition stripped away. Meanwhile, his opponent stood on home ground, holding every advantage.
This was it.
Slowly, Zeke’s heavy expression eased. His tense shoulders loosened, and the darkness in his eyes gave way to a familiar spark.
"...Is that all?"
Helena still did not respond, but he could have sworn a hint of mockery flickered behind those emotionless eyes.
It did not matter what she thought. He had already decided that he would not let her leave. He would hold nothing back. Every last trump card would be played today.
He slid one foot back, bracing himself on the other. His hands rose into a loose guard as he lowered his center of gravity. His entire body was coiled like a spring, tension gathering for the instant it would be released.
"...Let me show you then," Zeke said softly, "what truly happens when a man is pushed to his limits."