Jinx

"It's Louisa. She betrayed us."

"What… do you… mean? She… betrayed… AARRGGHH!!" The pain, like thousands of needles poking every inch of my body, intensifies. "What's… going on?"

"Every cell in your body is corroding."

"Selina…?"

"I assume Selina broke the Summoning Contract between the two of you. And since you don't have any connection to this realm, it's rejecting you."

"Rejecting him? What do you mean?"

"You've heard about the Summoning Contract, correct? Well, that contract is more beneficial to the summon than it is to the summoner. Every realm exists on a different frequency. And so do races from the different realms. When someone like Haruki crosses into a new realm without going through a Realm Gate, then the realm will recognise him as a foreign object and proceed to eliminate him."

"Eliminate… him…"

"The process is gruesome. First, you will feel a needle-like pain throughout your body. The pain is enough to kill people instantly. But I'd say that spares them from what happens next."

"What happens next?"

"I'll save your mind from the horrific images I need to describe about the Extermination Process and just say that it's not something you'd want to experience."

Niklaus turns to me, his face drooped, "Haruki…"

"Don't worry… about me… Niklaus…"

"How can I not worry? You're going to die!"

"If that's my fate…"

Niklaus' sombre face transforms into an expression of fury. He grabs me – the pain still stabbing my body – and raises me to the sky. "How can you say that? How can you just accept your death that easily? What about returning to your realm? Or was that just something you can easily give up?"

"Give up…?" I place my hand on his, the pain swirling around it like a colony of ants, and say, "Do you think… I want to… give up? My home… My family… Everything… I don't want to… say goodbye… But… there's no other… choice."

"What if I performed the contract?"

"It won't work," says Selina. "You must have heard from Louisa, but you are incapable of using Summoning Magic. Let alone performing something as intricate as a Summoning Contract."

"Why? Why can I not do these things?"

"Because you are the Hero."

"What does being a 'Hero' have anything to do with Summoning Magic?"

"Beings born every few hundred years with rare magical abilities—that is what Heroes are. These abilities include Time and Space Magic, Necromancy, Energy Magic… and your Holy Magic. Of course, these are only a fraction of the many abilities considered 'rare'. But magic abilities with such rarities are different to other magical attributes. They are more complex and require intense training to master, which is why Heroes can only use the rare ability they were born with. Attempting to learn another magic ability will overload your brain and kill you… instantly. So, it's a matter of compatibility and fate."

"Fate?"

"Yes, fate. It was fated that you could only use Holy Magic."

"Then, Haruki will—"

"Just as it was fated that I could use Transmutagene Magic. Haruki," she says, taking my hand, "allow me the opportunity to save you."

"How…?"

"My magic allows me to alter the genetic makeup of any living or non-living object. It works similarly to Realm Gates. Only, my ability is far superior. If I alter your genetic makeup, I can attune your existence to Leagard's frequency, and you will be recognised as a dragon from Leagard."

"What if… I want to… go back?"

"To Ragnarök? Then you'd have to return through a Realm Gate. And even then, your visit can only be temporary."

"Then—"

"Before you refuse, allow me to say this. I don't want you to die. If you want, I can always change your genetic makeup to its original state. So, please, Haruki. Please allow me to save you."

She's being quite generous, despite being from an enemy organisation. My mind tells me not to trust her, but… "Fine… Selina, please… help me…"

"Thank you for trusting me. But I cannot perform the spell right now."

"You… can't?"

"Yes. I don't know why, but whenever I use magic on you, I end up spending four times the amount of mana. With my mana pool, I will end up killing myself before I can finish the spell."

"Then, what are we going to do?"

"Blue… Moon…"

Selina smiles and starts discussing her master plan. Hours pass, and the clock strikes midnight. Duke Reinhart steps into the courtyard, with Selina in tow. He peeks up at the massive moon and smiles. "What a beauty you are. Isn't that right, Selina?" Selina does not say anything. She looks at the moon, then looks down at Duke Reinhart. Not uttering a word. "What's this? Are you finally in the rebellious stages of your teenage life?" He raises his hand and slaps her across the face. Selina, stunned at her father's actions, cannot raise her gaze in defiance. She only looks up, holds back her tears, and bites her lip. "Do you not know who I am?" he asks. "I am your father. I am Duke Reinhart Til. And you will respect me!" He raises his hand again, but this time, Selina dodges his slap.

"You," she says, looking at him with defiant eyes, "are not my father! You are a piece of monstrous garbage in human skin."

"I'm… What?"

Before he raises his hand again, Niklaus and I step into the courtyard. "That's far enough, Duke Reinhart."

The pain subsided for now. But I feel weak. If it comes down to it, I'll have to leave the fighting to you, Niklaus.

"Niklaus Borneheimer. Haruki. I see. You two brainwashed my sweet Selina. You turned her against me!"

"We did no such thing, Duke Reinhart. The only person responsible for turning Selina against you is you."

"Shut up!" He raises his hands, but Niklaus gives him no chance to utter any more words. Like a beautiful dance, he draws his sword and slices through the duke's neck, effortlessly.

"I thought scum deserved to live despite their misdeeds. But you, Duke Reinhart, are someone who deserves only death." The Duke's head slides from his body, and like his body, it falls to the ground with a thud. Niklaus walks to Selina, "Are you okay?"

"I—"

"Niklaus!" I yell. There are presences all around us. They're all… human.

"Niklaus Borneheimer, Haruki Ryu, and Selina Drias. We are the Illuminati. Submit your—ARGH!!"

All the presences I felt disappears one after the other. Along with their disappearing life signatures, they all scream their final scream. In no less than a minute, every life signature surrounding us is gone.

"That was quite the workout."

"This voice…? Hafiz?"

"What's good, Haruki?"

"Haruki, who is this?"

"Oh, right. I did not introduce myself to you, Hero Niklaus Borneheimer. My name is Hafiz—a high-ranking member of a certain organisation. I came in hopes that Haruki's broken heart could be fixed by finding a place where he can now belong. But…" he looks at me, then laughs. "Who would have guessed your love for that traitor only amounted to that? Guess I'd just be wasting my time."

His presence starts fading away, into the darkness. "Hafiz, wait! What do you know about Louisa? Why did she betray us?"

"Answers are best earned, not received. Haruki, I hope the next time we meet, you will accept my offer."

"He's… gone."

"He was not an acquaintance, I presume?"

"No. He's an enemy."

"Well, your enemy helped us out."

"He's an… odd enemy. Anyway, let's get this spell over with and get out of this town."

"Right."

When the moon reached its peak, Selina performed a spell on me. She called it Augment. I could feel her mana enter my body during the process. It was for a short duration, but I could feel her pain and suffering, like the spell linked our memories. After the spell, she looked at me, frightened. When I asked her why she wore such an expression, she brushed it off with a smile. I don't know what she saw but whatever it was, it doesn't seem like something she will openly speak about anytime soon.

"ALL ABOARD!!"

"Looks like we made it just in time."

"Yeah. We'd have been here earlier if Selina didn't need to take so much clothing with her."

"Guys can be so insensitive. Of course, I need a change of clothes every day. I can't stand being in the same clothes every day like you both." Niklaus chuckles. "What? Did I say something funny?"

"No, I was just thinking your behaviour regarding clothes is exactly like…"

"Like Louisa, right?"

He looks at me with pained eyes. "Yeah."

I turn my gaze to the sky outside the running train. As I stare at the cloudless blue sky, my eyes catch sight of a bird. "Hey, Niklaus. Is that bird…?"

Niklaus looks outside and his eyes widen. "That's a Grand Order messenger owl." He hails the bird, and it makes its way to our car. After we inspect the bird, Niklaus says, "There's a Memory Orb attached to its leg."

"A memory orb?"

"It's a device that stores visual and audio messages. These are rare, even for our organisation. If someone sent a message through a memory orb, then it can only be from Raizo." Niklaus crushes the small marble and a small cloud of light bursts from it and an image appears.

"Raizo?"

"It's not the real Raizo. Only a hologram of him."

'Niklaus, Haruki, we were attacked by an enemy organisation.'

"Attacked?"

'I know this message will come as a surprise to you both, but Mico is no more. We were completely overpowered. What's worse is that among the enemies we faced, Louisa was there. I don't know what happened in Til, but one thing is clear—Louisa is a traitor. I will brief you on our plans for the future. But first, I need you to assist Ivy. We haven't heard back from her yet. I want you both to assist her in her mission and report to the capital city of the Sakura Kingdom, where we will base our operations in the foreseeable future. Niklaus, Haruki, please, take care of yourselves out there."

"Mico was attacked? And Raizo… lost? This all seems unbelievable."

"Well, you'd do best to believe it. Look." Selina shows us the front page of the news article we were handed.

Mico, the City of Death, reads the headline. "Just what is going on in this kingdom?"