17

"Sir Leo and Lady Cecily?" A startled voice asked snapping Leo out of his daze as he turned to the source of the voices in the night, the twin maids Rem and Ram, both showing their surprise. "May we ask what brings you here Sir Leo? Is there something which you wish to meet with Miss Emilia about? Or is this about Subaru?" Rem worriedly asked as she approached.

"Hi!" Cecily cheerily replied as she stood up from Leo's lap, allowing him to stand up as well. "We're here to talk with Emilia! Not with the nasty-eyed guy!" she proclaimed to the slight shock of Rem.

"It seems that Barsuru's presence has managed to upset even a noble great spirit, how expected." Ram quipped with a sly smirk.

"That can't be the case! Subaru is a wonderful person who is capable of befriending many people! I'm sure that there is another reason for Lady Cecily's feelings." Rem instantly defended her hero only for Cecily to make a big X with her arms as Leo gently shook his head.

"Sorry, but Ram isn't far from the truth. Cecily has a bit of a grudge against him." Leo explained to Rem's shock, even Ram seemingly faintly taken back at the news.

"May I ask why that is the case, Lady Cecily?" Rem asked until an idea visibly dawned on her as her mood quickly sunk in realization. "Is it perhaps because of the things Subaru said that one time to you and Sir Leo?"

"Yeah, and then he immediately asks us to fight the White Whale! He even said that Master was his whole backup plan as well…"

'Something that I'm still wondering what he meant… unless it was just offering me up in sacrifice then but he didn't know that I could do that then.' Leo thought to himself.

"Sir Leo, is there something wrong? You're making quite the grim expression." Ram called out, pulling Leo from his thoughts.

"It's nothing, sorry for worrying you." Leo quickly replied, doing his best to smile back at the pair. 'It's not like those witches are for certain yet, I should just wait until I talk with Emilia.' He quickly thought to himself. "I'm guessing that you've come here for Emilia? I don't know how long it's been but she's been in there for a little while now…"

"Yes, and it should be time that her attempt at the trial is coming to an end." The pink maid answered until something caught her eye. "Speaking of, here she is now," she said as both she and Rem faced the entrance to the tomb, already bowing to the emerging figure of Emilia.

"Welcome back, Miss Emilia. Did you manage to complete the trial? Is the Sanctuary freed now?" Rem hopefully asked only for a concerned Emilia to shake her head.

"Not quite yet, it turns out there are actually three trials and I've only completed the first so far," Emilia answered with a frown before hastily turning to Leo. "Leo, is it true?!" she cried out seemingly horrified about something.

"I dunno, I don't read minds you know? You're gonna have to say a few things first…" Leo hesitantly replied as her behaviour was enough to begin to make him worried, with her clearly having become aware of something terrible.

"Echidna was with me during my trial, you know! She's the examiner! She said you… she said you've run into Pandora…" She hesitantly explained, her voice drifting off as she merely looked up pleadingly at him, silently begging for him to say no.

"Miss Emilia? Is something wrong? Who is this Pandora?" Rem asked in confusion.

"And did you just say Echidna?" Ram asked, openly displeased with what she had heard. 'Master Roswaal's teacher is the one behind the trials?'

"Sorry you two, but this is really~ important. Leo, I need to know!" Emilia quickly told the maids and she turned back, despite an uncommonly serious look her eyes remained pleading just as much as before.

"I've run into Pandora but I'm still struggling to believe that she's so horrible like how they make her sound. She even saved me a couple of times." Leo replied as dread spread across Emilia's face before She desperately shook her head in denial.

"I don't know why she might have saved you but Pandora is really~ really~ bad! She attacked my home and ruined everyone's lives! " Emilia said, desperately trying to stress herself to Leo. "She brought in a Sin Archbishop just to watch Father Geuse struggle against him! She tricked him into killing Mother Fortuna as he fell apart because of the black thing he took in to gain an authority to just try and protect us! She even brought over the black serpent as well to continue to ruin the forest, she hurt and killed so many people just to try and make me open the seal after I promised to never open it! She's a witch! She's a witch!" Emilia cried out as she tried to hold back her tears as her hands balled into fists.

"She really did all that?" Leo said in shock.

"She did! Leo, you mustn't get involved with her anymore! I don't know what she might do!" Emilia replied in blatant distress with rage managing to enter her voice.

"Ok, ok! Please calm down Emilia! If even you are reacting like this then she's bad news! I don't know how but I'll try to avoid her now!" Leo replied as he attempted to calm down the upset half-elf.

"That's good to hear…" Emilia said before taking a few breaths as she calmed down again. "Honestly I think it's troubling that she wants something to do with you now, you need to be careful in case she tries forcing you to do something."

"I can't believe that she's someone super horrible! She didn't look like it at all! Why did she even want that seal opened?" Cecily asked with a troubled look.

"And you mentioned she brought along an archbishop, you don't mean one of the witch's cult do you?" Leo asked, being faintly shocked when Emilia nodded in response.

"Yes. It didn't matter how much either Mother Fortuna or Father Geuse tried, they couldn't harm him at all and he wasn't even expending any effort…" Emilia answered with a sombre look before looking back up with a sense of realization. "Wait, didn't you and Rem fight someone like that?"

"Yes, Miss Emilia. The cultist introduced himself as the archbishop of greed, from the way you describe his powers he sounds to be the same person." Rem chimed in.

"He's the one Pandora saved me from, otherwise he could have kept torturing me… Wait, if he listens to Pandora then was everything that happened that day just a stunt to help paint her in a good light in my eyes?" Leo said in horror.

"That certainly might be the case, I'm sure she wouldn't care to kill everyone that day just to set up a situation to continue to win your trust like that…" Emilia thoughtfully answered. "But why did you come to the Sanctuary? Was it because of anything about Pandora?"

"That's… yeah. She gave reasons that likely aren't true to convince me to convince you to open the seal in Elior Forest. Whatever she thinks is in it, she still wants it." Leo answered, opting to keep his troubles from the kind girl. 'It's already past the point that she can hope to do anything anyway… all I can do now is say goodbye…'

"I think you know what my stance is on that matter…"

"Yeah, and I'm not going to try and change it. You know what's going on better than I do." Leo replied with a small nod at the half-elf's statement. "I'll be leaving then, I ought to hurry."

"This late?" Emilia asked with a faint amount of shock as she looked up to see Leo's serious expression, able to tell that he meant what he said. "Is it because of Pandora? Is she expecting you or something?"

"Something like that," Leo said with an awkward expression, feeling Cecily tightening her grip on his hand, peering up at him with concern, resulting in him managing to give her a small reassuring smile in return.

"I see… I'm sorry that you came all the way out here for nothing, I hope that we get to meet again soon for better reasons as well!" Emilia said with a bright smile.

"I should be thanking you for the heads up before things started to get worse for me, and hopefully we'll meet again soon," Leo replied.

"Goodbye!" Cecily said with a small wave that Emilia happily returned before the two began to make their leave.

"Farewell, Sir Leo." Rem and Ram said as they gave formal bows before he managed to walk past them, yet only Rem held a troubled look in contrast to her uncaring sister, yet Leo only spared her a quick glance before pushing on, hurrying away, resulting in him failing to notice the mage that was hiding behind some of the stone structure of the tomb, merely looking on in interest at the retreating figure…

"Are you sure that you should have left so quickly? I understand that you would have a desire to escape the witch and the country before the news spreads too much, however, to leave in the middle of the night when you should start resting…" Kou said after a little while of the three hastily walking out of the Sanctuary as quickly as possible.

"Pandora will be expecting me here, and I want to avoid Subaru right now. He's bound to appear sooner or later if I'm hanging around Emilia. My only current regret is not asking where they took my ground dragon before leaving…" Leo answered almost with a grumble, the journey they were now taking on foot quickly becoming more and more notable from the considerably shorter distance they had travelled on their own, quickly making him greatly appreciate the ability of the draconic creatures.

"I'm sure that if we really need it, using Akra we should be able to run much faster than them!" Cecily pointed out.

"It's nice to know, but for long journeys you need stamina and I think land dragons have us beat there…" Leo sighed.

"Yeah…"

"So when do you plan on resting then? When do you believe to reach a place where the witch won't find you during the night? Please take into consideration that the Great Spirit and I are capable of remaining awake for the whole night to watch out for anything that might approach you. We do not require things like sleep. It would also be best advised that you keep all the food and supplies for yourself." Kou said.

"Thanks, I have a feeling that having someone keeping watch during the night is going to be incredibly important… but we're going to have to work something out for food…" Leo thought aloud as he reached into his pocket with his spare hand to pull out a handful of coins that he counted. "If we happen to get somewhere that doesn't recognize me then I still have enough to buy food for a little while, not that I know exactly how long it will last however…"

"Maybe we should learn to hunt? With magic, it should be super easy! Nothing can get away and preparing everything to eat is easy as well!" Cecily pointed out.

"You might not even need to hunt."

"Course I will… I don't have endless money and I need to eat unless Kararagi is closer than I think it is." Leo sighed before freezing up as the realization struck him, he slowly looked to his right to see a dreaded person beside him.

"Pandora…" Leo said. "Why are you here?"

"Because I asked you to request Emilia to open the seal for me, I would want to know how that went. Are you thinking of making your way to Kararagi?" The beautiful witch asked, not even showing a hint of whatever emotion currently lay behind her calm smile. "You did manage to ask her, didn't you?"

"Yes," Leo answered, trying to relax himself. "Sorry to say but she refused, and couldn't be persuaded otherwise."

"Oh? Did she say why?"

"No, she just got upset and wouldn't listen." Leo lied yet Pandora's eyes only narrowed whilst her small smile grew slightly to Leo's confusion and discomfort, unable to understand whatever was on her mind. "Sorry but I've tried, sadly it failed, can I go now?"

"She said something about me didn't she? Unless something happened then she shouldn't be able to recollect the events of that day and shouldn't know any better about the seal. She shouldn't have reason to so strongly refute." Pandora pointed out as she peered up at him with a piercing gaze.

"Something messed with her memories?" Leo said in confusion, "Why would… you didn't do it to her did you?"

"I did." Pandora instantly answered. "There were a few reasons, but with how bad things went before I knew that there wouldn't be a chance of convincing her otherwise later on with the memories she then had, so I sealed them away."

"It doesn't matter what you're trying to do! Messing with people's memories is wrong!" Cecily said yet the spirit only earned a glance from Pandora before she looked back at Leo, not caring at all for the Great Spirit.

"Did she not say anything?" Pandora asked, her eyes narrowing slightly as if to challenge him silently.

"No… was there something you wished for me to know?" Leo answered, the two not blinking as they locked eyes, neither showing signs of backing down. 'Please just leave it alone and not worry about your secrets! I just need to be let off the hook now and hopefully, she'll never find me again…'' Leo internally pleaded despite his front.

"No." Pandora calmly responded.

"Then can I leave? There's a news wave I've got to get ahead of."

"No."

"No? You know that we'll be getting nowhere if that's all you can say."

"You're leaving Lagunica to another country, and you might not even stay there. You're now a wanderer to the world, letting you leave now would make things much more difficult when I need your help again."

"You don't even sound like you're attempting to hide the fact you're just planning on using me now…" Leo blandly replied, completely unamused at the turn in the conversation. "I'm not one for being someone's tool, you can completely forget that!"

"I thought that we had already agreed that we can't allow the witch to return? You won't be spared. I only wish to ask for your assistance in that matter, afterwards you are free to do as you please with your life."

Silence quickly returned as Leo was at a loss of how to reply, merely opting to stay silent as Pandora waited for whatever answer he would come up with until he eventually huffed in response. "At this point, I'll work something out myself, or I'm sure to be aware and start doing something whenever she does break out." He said whilst moving on, leaving the witch behind as he brought Cecily along with him, the pair eagerly wishing to get away.

To their joy, Pandora didn't move nor say anything in response to their actions, merely watching them from behind with her never-changing faint smile, but not for long. "Leo and his spirit are still before me, they didn't walk away.' Pandora gently spoke, her voice enchanting as the wind carried on her words.

"Wha?" Leo said, the words automatically slipping out of his mouth in sheer bewilderment as he suddenly found himself standing face-to-face with Pandora once again. "Did you just…"

"You shouldn't do that!" Cecily proclaimed with a pout, "Let us go!"

"But I've already said before that letting you go would mean making it difficult to find you later when I need you. Sorry, but I can't let you leave so soon, if you need shelter from those that would hunt you I'm sure I can assist with that." Pandora said with pure indifference as Leo remained confused at her statement.

"Sorry, but I will be leaving, no matter what it takes. Thanks for the offer but I'll figure something out with my spirits." Leo harshly refuted the offer yet Pandora remained indifferent to the response.

"But you won't be able to leave, not unless I permit it." Pandora calmly pointed out. "But there is something else that I'd like to ask. What were you told, if not by Emilia then who, to make you hostile towards me? Before you were thankful and didn't mind my presence, yet now you wish to escape me."

Internally Leo groaned as he heard the witch, but there was nothing that he could do. There was no way that he could hope to deceive the witch that had caught him off guard, and neither was there any way of escaping her either from what he could only assume to be her authority that brought him back to her. 'At this rate, she can just bring me back wherever I happen to go, but she also keeps mentioning that if I leave then even she can't bring me back if that's to be believed…'

"There are a fair few people that have quite the dislike for you, Emilia is naturally included. I heard it all, and I'm not supporting you. So unless this has to be done the hard way, I'm leaving!" Leo proclaimed as Pandora looked towards the ground in thought.

"Mm, very well," Pandora replied as she looked back up at him, her mind made up. "If that is the case then I have nothing to do with you any more, you can leave."

"Really?" Cecily asked, sceptical of how easy it was to escape the witch.

"Mm, if there is no chance of swaying you, then I'll have to wait until another day when you might realize there is no other choice," Pandora replied with a small nod. "I'm sure that day will come soon enough, and I'll be waiting for it."

"You couldn't be any more wrong," Leo said before slowly taking his leave, keeping focused eyes on the witch yet she remained completely unmoving as she merely watched them take their leave yet again. 'And then she's going to abruptly warp us back isn't she?'

As they walked, however, they still didn't get shifted as Pandora seemingly remained true to her words of letting them go. As they walked, snow steadily began to fall to his confusion as he could only hold its hand out to catch a few flakes in his wonder. 'Snow? Is it supposed to be snowing? It wasn't cold enough moments before…'

Was it magic of some kind? But why?

"Leo! Behind you!" Kou suddenly shouted into his mind to the alarm of Leo as he quickly spun around and away from the petit witch that had been reaching out towards him and Cecily, having managed to somehow sneak up on their pair the moment they had taken their eyes off of her.

"What were you trying?!" Leo exclaimed.

"You have no intentions of letting us go at all! You're just killing anyone who doesn't side with you!" Cecily accused yet Pandora only gently shook her head in response to the spirit's words.

"No, I am unable to kill Leo and wouldn't harm either of you even if I could." Pandora calmly replied.

"Then just what the hell were you attempting…" Leo asked glaring.

"I wonder how you managed to notice me? You didn't happen to contract with another spirit as well that I don't know about?" Pandora asked in return, showing no signs of being willing to answer Leo's question.

"If you're not answering questions then neither am I. I've tried leaving, and you're not allowing it so now it's the hard way." Leo said, taking hold of his sword and drawing it, his tension towards Pandora not easing the slightest as he and Cecily readied themselves for battle whilst Pandora still remained indifferent, completely unbothered by the turn of events. With how she still maintained her small smile it only appeared that she was somehow amused at the situation that she was allowing to play out, not even feeling the faintest feeling of fear at the prospect of fighting against them.

"You won't be able to gain anything from this," Pandora said, yet neither side showed any sign of faltering.

'Unless Echidna's idea is right.' Leo mentally refuted.

"Jiwald!" Cecily shouted, a flash of light appearing at the tip of her pointed finger before a beam of light shot out towards Pandora, piercing through her heart with ease as her body dropped to the ground. "Huh? But that wasn't a fight at all… was she really a witch?"

"I am." A voice said to their surprise as Pandora was suddenly a little in the distance to their left, much to their shock at her sudden return to life whilst there wasn't even the slightest trace of her previous death. "And I meant it that it would be a waste to attempt to beat me."

"What?" Cecily said in confusion before hastily recollecting herself, "Al Jiwald!" She shouted out, her magic power now gathering in the palm of her hand before bursting forth as a massive laser of light that decimated everything before them, completely eliminating Pandora from sight and only leaving a carved-out path through the snow and dirt.

"I told you, it's futile," Pandora said, reappearing once more to the fear of Cecily and the frustration of Leo.

"How are you doing that!? Just what can authorities do…" Cecily fearfully asked, unsettled by how causally the witch came back from death like her attacks had no effect.

"Well mine brought me back from death so I guess this much isn't surprising…" Leo replied, "The question should be is there a limit."

"Right, she can't keep doing it forever!" Cecily quickly agreed as she held out her hand again, quickly firing off another laser from her finger, piercing Pandora's heart once more. Yet once the witch quickly reappeared somewhere nearby like she didn't care at all, resulting in her getting shot down again, and again, and again.

What felt like several minutes passed by of Cecily constantly shooting down Pandora yet she never showed any sign of weakening. Her constant cool smile steadily got on the pair's nerves at how little she cared, whilst her lack of action further disturbed them with how evident it was that she didn't feel the slightest amount of danger from their assault.

"It doesn't seem like you making any kind of progress in this fight." Kou said, "There might be the possibility that like some divine blessings, authorities have no limitations on how much they can be used and she truly can keep doing this forever. Without attempting something differently you will only become steadily exhausted instead."

"But what else can we try? I've even tried hitting her with some of my strongest spells and nothing changed! I don't have spells for dealing with something like this." Cecily replied.

"Why not the soul-destroying sword that's in my hand?" Leo pointed out, quickly feeling the shock and sudden excitement from Cecily.

"Yeah! I'm sure that you can beat her with Zeam! And since she's so confident it should be easy to strike her down!"

"Be careful however, should she happen to recognize the blade then she might become less willing to allow you to get close to her," Kou said as Leo subtly nodded in response despite not being sure if the spirit could see such a response to his words. It wasn't as if it was the first time that he had heard such advice before, even the other witches had given him the same warning.

'Just what is she like when she's trying then? I don't think we want to see it…' He thought to himself before increasing his grip on his sword. "Akra!" He said, causing himself to be cloaked in a faint shimmering light as his magic empowered him. Wasting no more time he shot towards Pandora who still stood still, watching their attempts against her, allowing him to swing the blade at her, cutting her body clean in two.

"Did that do it?" Leo wondered as he quickly turned around to look at the ground where her body should have been lying, only to find yet again it had gone missing.

"Master, behind you!" Cecily shouted out, but it was too late. Before Leo could hope to act, he felt Pandora slamming her palm into his back sending him flying, crashing into a nearby tree before dropping to the floor as she watched him with indifference.

"If that is all you can muster then you cannot beat me. I don't see why you won't yield? What exactly has you feeling this strongly about me?" Pandora asked.

"You're seriously asking me that after I've told you that you're secrets got split? You ruin lives, I don't need mine getting any worse." Leo answered. "Dam it! Even Zeam doesn't work?! Then does that mean if Echidna is right, there's nothing capable of striking her down now? Unless my authority can do something…"

"Master! That's not right! Zeam can only cut people's souls when infused with mana! You need to pour your mana into your sword before you attack her!" Cecily hastily spoke to him through their connection to Leo's shock as he reexamined his blade whilst feeling the pains in his body fading away as Kou hovered alongside him, likely the source of his healing.

"Right, hopefully, she believes that the sword is useless against her now though," Leo replied to Cecily as he stood back up to meet the watching eyes of Pandora who was still waiting for him. Taking advantage of her patience for them, the two stood still as Leo attempted to guide some of his mana into his sword.

There was no need to confirm his success as the intrigued look on Pandora's face was enough to tell him everything as her gaze shifted towards his blade which now glowed with a soft blue light that flowed through it to its tip. Leo didn't know whether to be thankful at the fact that Pandora still didn't think much of Zeam or unnerved at how unthreatened she appeared.

Once more he readied himself before rushing towards the uncaring girl and striking at her again. However, much unlike their previous attempts to fell her, blood finally spilled into the air as Leo whilst a gasp and scream filled the air as Pandora fell to the ground bleeding profusely from the large chest wound she had suffered.

But her pain didn't last as she instantly disappeared and appeared a little distance away as if the world had corrected an error of something that shouldn't have been. But it couldn't change the memories and experiences of the battling three as Pandora looked at Leo with a shocked and pained expression.

"You finally lost your cool," Leo noted with a smirk, elated at finally managing to disturb the witch. "Are you still so sure that you can't die?"

Pandora remained silent to Leo's taunting however as she briefly remained stunned before recollecting herself, only now for the first time she was frowning, clearly upset with the development of events.

"Very well… You can leave. If you oppose me so then there is little I can do now. I hope that one day you realise how the world truly is and change your mind." Pandora said as she turned around, beginning to take her leave to Leo's slight shock at how quickly she had changed her mind. But perhaps it was natural if he guessed she had never known the possibility of death and was now scared upon being faced with it for the first time in however long her life was.

"Hold on," Leo called out, earning the attention of everyone. Cecily and Kou wondered what he was doing whilst Pandora glanced back in curiosity. "I know that you've ruined lives in some pretty horrible ways according to Emilia and some others, apparently there was a high chance that you were also going to ruin my life as well beyond what has already happened. Just what were you planning for me? What you were really planning for me."

"Does it matter that much Leo? Shouldn't we be taking the witch's leave with gratitude to escape her?" Kou urgently spoke to him, unable to work out what its contractor was truly after.

"She's scared of us, she doesn't want to deal with things that can kill her so we should be fine. If anything this is an opportunity to get rid of her." Leo replied to the spirit.

"That's right! She's a witch and letting her continue to go anywhere is dangerous, she might mess with us again otherwise!" Cecily cheered in response.

"Her authority doesn't seem offensive as well, so unless she has magic she hasn't shown all she had is some physical strength but she won't want to get close to me."

"So there is little she can do, " Kou finished for Leo, catching onto his way of thinking, "I am not against the death of a witch, and perhaps there may be some benefits if you can be shown as a slayer of a witch as well in regaining the favour of the people as well… so long as you remain wary that she may still attempt something with magic, I am willing to support your decision."

"Thanks, I just want to be certain of this first though."

"I truly did wish to do something about the witch of envy." Pandora eventually answered, "Although I admit the idea of besting her is an impossible one, the thought of keeping her at bay isn't. I thought that with your aid I could achieve the rest of my goals and wants, of course, I fully intended to make sure that your own desires were realised as well. It would be a mutual benefit to one another."

"And how can I trust that? In fact, how would you know what I want?" Leo refuted, "If you don't know what I want then you can't include that in the deal, what if what I want is impossible?"

"Indeed, I don't know what it is that you truly desire, but I would always be able to help guide you along to that goal. I made something for that purpose. I'd be willing to procure you one to examine if you are willing to consider the offer that I make." Pandora said, now having fully turned around with her usual smile again, seeing hope in the situation once more.

"Sorry, but you're going to have to start earning my trust from the ground up again before I'll even consider that…" Leo said.

"I see, although I am glad to hear that it might be possible to continue to win over your trust one day." Pandora replied before her smile turned back into a frown, "But judging on your blade, I don't think you intend on giving the chance for that day to come."

It was enough for Leo to know that Pandora knew of his killing intent, but he couldn't be that surprised considering that he still had Zeam drawn and glowing with power, staying in the only state that could cause her genuine pain. Not waiting any longer he made up his mind, shooting forward with his magically enhanced abilities the gap between them closed almost in an instant.

Yet it still wasn't enough as the witch managed to gracefully sidestep his attack despite all the speed he possessed, resulting in him passing by her as he skidded to a stop, trying to turn around as quickly as possible.

"Leo and his spirits were never-" Pandora began to speak with her enchanting voice to the alarm of Leo and Cecily, knowing that they were about to be banished with the witch getting away, yet she never got to complete her sentence.

Instead of finishing her statement, an icicle quickly flew through the air, impaling her in the throat-cutting her words short and killing her on the spot, only for her to instantly reappear nearby once again.

"It seems that she needs to make a complete statement for her authority to work most of the time, should we wish to prevent her from making use of that power we need to prevent her from speaking" Kou spoke as it floated beside Leo.

"That was you? Nice one!" Leo quickly replied. "If you leave the offensive to me, could you focus on cutting her throat again? Possibly without killing her, or else she's just going to pop up elsewhere again and again."

"Master, I'll increase your senses so you can keep better track of her! Keep chasing her down and you'll beat her!" Cecily cheered before Leo quickly felt the glow of light on him increasing with the odd glitter as Cecily had already begun working her magic. True to her words, he instantly felt his senses honing as his awareness of the world around him sharpened, resulting in Pandora standing out to him even more despite her white clothing in the snow.

"Leo and his spirits-" Pandora tried to speak again, this time ready for the barrage of icicles that were sent forth from the small blue light that was Kou as Leo dashed in once more with incredible speed. Despite her efforts to avoid or stop the icicles she still found her throat being pierced deeply again, managing to ruin her voice once more.

Yet instead of dealing with the approaching Leo, she merely allowed one of the icicles to strike her in the chest, putting an end to her current life before she could be reached. It wasn't enough to stop Leo however as he was already looking for her presence yet again, wasting no time in redirecting himself to the witch's new location and guiding Kou's gaze to her in the process.

Thanks to the fast reactions of the pair, Pandora had little time to register what was already happening, only able to automatically acknowledge that there wouldn't be any time to say what she needed before it was too late. Only managed to move aside from the fast swing yet it still successfully managed to eat into her chest drawing more blood as she dropped to the ground in pain, clenching the wound.

There wasn't enough time however for Leo to swing at Pandora again however as the world suddenly corrected, instantly making her vanish and clearing up the red mess where she had been.

"Leo and his spirits were never-" Pandora was heard talking again with her enchanting voice as Leo was already turning in its direction.

"Kou!" He hastily called out, failing to use the correct communication in his haste.

There wasn't any need for a reply as another barrage of icicles flew through the air towards the lone figure, resulting in a kind of gargled scream of pain as Leo continued rushing towards her. Yet she had already slumped to the ground unlike before, not that Leo hesitated with the chance that was being provided.

'She's weakening?' Leo thought in the few short moments he had before he had closed the gap between them yet again.

Raising his sword high before striking down, Pandora had already done her best to move out of the way of the attack, trying to roll out of the way only for her arm to still get taken off with surprising ease causing her to suffer even more.

And yet before he could reattempt a finishing blow, streams of blue light began pouring out of her and rising into the air much to his confusion at the sight. "Leo! Stop, that isn't the witch!" Kou suddenly exclaimed. "That's the great spirit! We've been tricked!"

"What?!" Leo exclaimed, rapidly blinking a few times as he focused on the image of Pandora, with it suddenly becoming the alarming sight of a tearful, suffering Cecily. Whilst there was no blood, the deep wound into her neck and missing arm continued to pour out the blue energy that Leo could only assume to be mana as she was dying before him, because of him.

"CECILY! CECILY!" Leo shouted, his voice consumed with fear and horror, having wasted no time in crouching down and hugging the spirit close to him. Unable to reply, the dying spirit could only weakly reach out to him with her remaining hand that Leo immediately grasped hold of, his mind reeling in panic, frantically trying to think of what to do. "Kou!"

"She… can't be saved anymore…" The quasi spirit replied, the hesitancy in its voice giving it the most emotion he had ever heard in its voice.

"No… No!" Leo said in frustration as he held onto Cecily, clinging to her vanishing figure as if to keep her from leaving him until an idea came to his mind. Wasting no more time, he quickly shuffled over to the nearest tree and firmly gripped it, not hesitating to activate his authority without restraint as he rapidly drained it of all its life.

He didn't even stop at one as he quickly continued killing one tree to another, draining each one as quickly as possible whilst keeping watch on the fast-fading Cecily for however much time he had remaining. Only when the mana escaping her body started to come from her body completely ceasing to exist did he come rushing back to her side, cradling her as he started to push as much Od into her.

"Come on, please! Please live Cecily!" Leo pleaded as he kept his hand firmly on her chest, continuing to give her od.

At first, there was no evident sign of change until the flood of mana began to slow, instead gradually vanishing as it began to add to her body, reconstructing her missing limb and healing the cut into her throat much to Leo's relief. "Thank god…" Leo sighed in relief, unable to hold back a smile from the sheer joy at the sight of the recovering spirit.

"Incredible… I wouldn't have thought it possible but you managed to prevent a great spirits demise…" Kou said as it hovered close to Cecily's sleeping form as the last of her wounds finally closed up, having been fully restored.

"Hearing that makes me all the more thankful that my authority is what it is."

"But the issue at hand isn't over."

"Oh, I know…" Leo replied, all the elation leaving his voice as he practically growled in resonance despite using the telepathic spirit tongue. Managing to hold the resting Cecily to his chest as he steadily stood up, Leo's expression had already clouded over. "Should I be thanking you for not interrupting then? Or cursing you to damnation for tricking me like that…" Leo growled as he turned around to see Pandora standing there, watching with a troubled expression.

"Leo and his spirits aren't here, they didn't leave the Sanctuary grounds immediately," Pandora said to herself, her voice enchanting as usual when she used her authority and yet her words failed to take effect to her alarm. 'It can't be the case, they shouldn't be so much more powerful that they can resist my authority! Unless… the sword has successfully been chipping away at my soul? So until I properly recover, my authority is…"

"I'm guessing you can't get rid of us anymore?" Leo questioned the witch who was becoming increasingly troubled. "You nearly tricked me into killing her."

"You were the one to make the attempt on my life, I merely acted in self-defence." Pandora refuted, regaining her composure.

"Then keep it to me, the one who's the threat," Leo argued back as Zeam suddenly began to shine with a bright light before bursting into glittering, golden flame to Pandora's and Kou's shock. "All you've done is sealed your fate."

"Leo! You're-" Kou tried to say before Leo interrupted him.

"I know, but if this sword wants mana to strike her down for good, then I'll give it all it wants!"

"You're going as far as putting your Od into the blade," Pandora observed. "But after saving a great spirit from the brink of death, do you think that even you can maintain that for long?"

"It'll be enough," Leo replied despite already beginning to feel drained despite all the trees he had drained for Od before. But it didn't matter, he was certain that it would only take one good slash to finish her now and his wrath refused to acknowledge a different way.

He didn't say anymore as he began rushing forward towards Pandora whilst holding the resting Cecily with one arm as the other brandished his blade. Despite his lack of ability to use Akra via the spiritual arts with Cecily, greatly reducing his speed, Pandora looked more serious than ever before, completely recognizing Leo as a threat.

It still didn't take long for him to close the gap as the witch prepared herself for the attack. Despite precise and skilled swings, she managed to keep carefully avoiding each attack before gracefully jumping back, carefully examining her foe as he was already closing the gap yet again.

'Illusions won't help if there's nothing to easily trick him with, he wouldn't allow me to do it again…' Pandora thought to herself as she continued to keep away from his onslaught. 'No option but to fight back.' She thought bitterly, knowing that she lacked battle experience or fighting technique.

As Leo swung his sword, she managed to slip past him only for him to spin around to continue the assault, making her nearly trip as she continued to back off. The only reason she was keeping up with his superior battle prowess was purely from her physical enhancements from circulating her mana through her body.

Seeing an opportunity, Leo didn't hesitate to take advantage of it, lunging forward with a stab only for Pandora to barely manage to push the blade aside and grip his outstretched arm, pulling him forward to trip him up. Quickly reacting, Leo pointed his blade to the ground, using it to support himself as he turned around, regaining his footing in the same fluid movement.

She couldn't tell how much strength he had remaining, but Pandora knew that the question wouldn't matter if he was determined enough to begin using his Authority without restraint. Even as she merely pushed against the flat end of the blade, it still managed to cut her slightly whilst the flames had scorched her. She hated to admit it, but in a worst-case scenario, there was little to no hope for her to win as the faintest cut from the blade caused damage to her soul. 'I'm going to need another way to make him surrender…' She thought to herself as she watched him standing before her.

'I wonder how well she would work… I might be able to achieve better results that way.' Pandora then thought as her gaze lay upon the resting Cecily in his arm with a faint smile.

"What are you smiling about now?" Leo complained, readying himself for whatever she was thinking of.

"Nothing, but this hasn't happened to me in a long, long time," Pandora replied with a gentle shake of her head, before steadily walking towards him despite the glaring danger of Zeam. Leo once again prepared himself for whatever she was planning as he held out Zeam between them to make sure to keep something between them.

Yet to his shock, Pandora simply tried reaching out as if to take the sword from him, quickly making him respond by slashing her only to get shocked again. Pandora only briefly flickered before abruptly shifting, the witch now lurching forwards towards him after he had opened himself.

With her gripping hold of Cecily with both arms and her enhanced strength, Leo was unable to prevent her from taking the spirit away from him. "What are you doing!" Leo yelled with a burning fury but she had already managed to gracefully slip away from him.

"Just trying to assure my survival, you can't blame someone for simply trying to live can you?" Pandora replied as she quickly pressed her fingers into Cecily's chest with an open hand, mimicking having a hand blade that would pierce her chest. "You shouldn't come any closer if you care for her."

"You're pulling such a cliche villain act now…" Leo grumbled in discontent. "But what's stopping me from healing her?"

"Because you surely don't have enough strength to do it again immediately, and if she's harmed severely enough you won't have the time. Not to mention that you need a body to revive, but spirits don't leave one behind when they die." Pandora answered with a cool smile that was quickly becoming chilling to look at.

"And how will this save you? If you kill her then I'm only going to be even more determined." Leo spoke now through gritted teeth, trying to hold back his fury and desperation.

"I know that you can't keep the sword in that state for much longer, I just have to stall like this until I'm safe again, you're only option is to otherwise kill the both of us," Pandora said. "However, I'm willing to offer you a chance."

"Huh? Why?"

"Mutual benefit. More accurately I offer a contract between the pair of us. A soul-bound contract that neither of us will be able to act against, of course, we will both be able to say and discuss the terms."

"Leo! You must be extremely careful! She speaks the truth, but it means that whatever tricks she is attempting you will never be free of them!" Kou immediately interjected, its voice carrying a sense of alarm despite the constant monotone voice the spirit usually held.

"Let's listen to her first… I might not have much of a choice or at least can judge around what she wants right? Can't we both judge it before making a decision? If we just say no now then Cecily might…"

"Very well, so long as you don't agree to it there shouldn't be any immediate danger to anyone just listening to whatever she proposes…"

"What are you asking for…" Leo finally asked.

"My initial offer is this, that we travel together. We won't harm each other, nor will I harm your allies and we will stay together, at least to say we won't leave the other behind. Also, you won't reveal your sword is capable of killing me, nor will you allow it to be taken from you." Pandora said, taking both Leo and Kou by surprise as the human looked completely bewildered and speechless.

"But why would you want that?" Leo questioned. "I mean, I understand the not wanting to fight again and making sure no one else can use the sword on top of that to secure your life, but the travelling? You want to come with?"

"That's right. There are some things that I hope might be gained by travelling with you, I won't do anything to hinder your travelling." Pandora replied.

"Am I missing something or are we losing nothing whilst she's limiting herself harshly just to come with us for some reason?" Leo asked Kou.

"It is most certainly strange, but you currently do not stand to lose anything with the current proposition, yet it isn't without loopholes for her to exploit against you. She merely must stay with us and not attack us directly, yet she might prepare things to indirectly cause troubles for our lives."

"You won't act to cause any problems? And you'll truthfully answer anything we ask you?" Leo asked.

"I won't cause problems, and we will mutually tell one another exclusively the truth yet we may refrain from answering something if we wish."

"But if we refuse to answer then we at least have to say why."

"Very well." Pandora said, still looking as calm as ever, "Do we have a contract? One we shall never go against until we mutually agree on it?"

"Personally, I think that I'm winning the most here, aside from being unable to deal with her later and having to put up with her, I'm not actually losing anything am I, Kou?" Leo telepathically asked his spirit.

"I struggle to believe that a witch would be willing to enter such a contract, yet I am unable to figure out the catch that might be coming with it. Whilst you may be unable to deal with the witch, at the minimum she is unable to do anything to us either. My only fear is that she is planning something by being with us."

"She's only going to tell the truth about that once we have the contract that makes her…"

"Excuse me, I assume that you're in the middle of a conversation with your spirit, but it isn't like you have much time I imagine, how much Od do you still have?" Pandora interjected, still casually pressing her hand to where Cecily's heart would be if she even had one.

"Her pressuring for this contract makes me wary…" Kou said.

"I know… but it's also the only thing I can think of to save Cecily and make sure that she isn't in trouble, and I'm not going to just sacrifice her…" Leo replied with gritted teeth. He was completely frustrated at how much he was at Pandora's mercy when it came to Cecily, and the months of constant companionship with her wasn't something he could just throw away, especially if it would leave him down one of two precious remaining friends in his effective exile.

"Fine, I accept." Leo finally answered, the exhaustion of his od depletion getting to him.

"And so do I," Pandora replied. Upon the two agreeing there was suddenly a flash of light from their hands that immediately caught Leo's attention as he looked down on it, watching an intricate circular rune of a six-sided circle inscribed itself onto his hand to his shock. "The contract has now been made, I look forward to travelling with you," Pandora replied as the rune stopped shining, revealing that it had now become a tattoo on the back of his right hand whilst Pandora lifted her own revealing she now had one just like his.

"Do you mind giving Cecily back now?" Leo asked.

"Do you first not wish to recover yourself? I imagine after healing the great spirit and maintaining that heightened state of your sword you would require recuperation." Pandora replied to Leo's disgruntlement, although he at least was slightly soothed by how she was no longer threatening her, instead carefully holding her in both her arms.

"I have to agree in this case Leo, after expending so much Od in such a little time, no matter what the reasons were, you have me incredibly worried. She can no longer cause us harm so Lady Cecily is safe with her despite her nature." Kou chimed in, which after a few strained moments resulted in Leo sighing as he gave into their words, moving to the nearest tree and causing it to rod away as he drained the life from it.

"So why did you want to start travelling with us then?" Leo asked as he continued to recuperate himself, only just realizing how truly drained he had been. It was almost surprising that he had still been managing to move so easily once the feeling set in, but it was something that he choked up to willpower.

"Because despite my somewhat forceful methods, I wish to regain your trust at some point."

"I don't think you're ever going to get it again. You've already put on quite the show of your true nature by trying to kill Cecily then."

"Can I point out that it was you who started the violence? I merely wished to talk about the situation whilst you instantly believed the words of Emilia without proof. When it was clear that I couldn't get you to help me and was willing to let you go on your way, you insisted on killing me, I only acted in self-defence, and even then it wasn't my intention to let her die."

"Then what would you have done? You're telling me it was all one big bluff?"

"No, I could have killed her like I nearly tricked you into doing, however, I wouldn't have left it that way. Do you forget my authority?" Pandora asked as Leo only looked back at her with a questioning gaze. "I kept trying to make it so that you were still at the Sanctuary, which would have made it so that our meeting wouldn't have happened. Had you allowed that, then Cecily's wounds would have been undone, and all the consequences and everything that happened would have been undone. I could have even undone her death, so to me, there was never a lasting threat to her."

"You're lying, or something… you're saying that you never intended to harm us after that? And even then so easily overlook killing us like that… also what about when you were reaching for us from behind? We were leaving quietly then!" Leo said, now walking back over after having drained a few trees and hastily accepting Cecily as Pandora held her out to him.

"The reason why I reached for you was to erase your memories. I hope that by making you forget a few things I would have an easier time gaining your trust. As for how you feel about killing people, my apologies. When you regularly use a power that can overcome death your perception of it begins to change. I admit, I don't think much of it anymore, only in our fight did I nearly experience something that would have lasted."

"And you care so much about gaining my trust that you would sacrifice so much being bound to me like this? Aren't you upset with me after I weakened your authority and soul so much?" He asked, raising his hand with his own dimly glowing mark of the contract they had made.

"I wouldn't think that I have lost as much as you make it out to be, I merely spend time with you whilst calling a truce between us. As for my authority, I'm sure that with enough time my soul will be able to cover something. Or if you are feeling guilty then you might be capable of restoring me with ease." Pandora said, a more sly smile appearing before quickly returning to her usual passive one. "Apologies for the misunderstandings, perhaps things could have gone better for both of us but because of this contract, you should know that every word I spoke is true. I look forward to our future travels."

"Right…" Leo quietly replied, taking a moment to absorb everything and its implications. 'Even if that's all true, Emilia and the witches wouldn't make up the same lie together. She definitely did horrible things in the past, bad enough to earn the disdain of the other witches… I'm not helping her unless it's the only thing that will save us.' He thought to himself.

"I could stay here asking you questions forever about all sorts of things now that you can't lie but I'm not sure how much it would change things anymore… I'll at least save it for the road then." Leo eventually said.

"Perhaps you would be willing to answer some of my questions in turn? I admit to curiosity about another world."

"Sure, that knowledge wouldn't mean much here anyway."

"Are you sure you are willing to so easily get along with a witch Leo?" Kou asked.

"It's not getting along with her, more like tolerating her. It's not like there is anything else I can do now. The only thing I can do now is plan how to kill her in case we need to in the future."

"But your contract forbids it, you can't even so much as tell people to give them the sword."

"Don't need to, not that I'll be easy but if there is someone like Reinhard who I can hint things to or is smart enough, he could easily take the sword from me and do the deed just fine. The issue is how hard it might be for them to work it all out…"

"At least there is hope, I applaud you for so quickly thinking of a way to handle her if needed."

"Do you already wish to continue travelling, or do you wish to rest after everything that happened? You're goal currently is Kararagi, is it not?" Pandora interrupted the two. "I also understand that your spirit needs rest as well, even if you healed it, I would know that a damaged soul isn't something you easily get over."

"And yet you're talking just fine? unless this is a subtle request to set up camp first and begin journeying tomorrow?" Leo replied with a grin. "But fine, there's no good pushing ourselves."

"I can remain watch whilst you all rest then," Kou said floating alongside them.

"Thanks, and goodnight Kou," Leo replied to the spirit as he settled down with Cecily in his arms, only taking the time to cover themselves up with his coat. The moment that he did so, the wave of exhaustion came at him all at once as his eyelids became too weighty to resist, quickly lulling him to slumber.

"It seems that he was even more exhausted than I was, I wonder if stems from his use of Od despite recuperating it afterwards?" Pandora wondered aloud as she watched him before turning her attention to Kou who continued to hover in the air nearby. "What do you think?" she asked the spirit.

"You know how to commune with spirits properly," Kou noted, any surprise that it may have had not been evident. "And you still do not sleep despite your argument before, is there something you are attempting to accomplish?"

"You sound suspicious of me despite witnessing the contract made with your contractor. From now on I am completely unable to do you any harm, so I don't see why you are so concerned. I am merely interested in how quickly he contracted with another spirit." Pandora replied, walking over to the spirit that remained in place, remaining completely unreadable to all.

"I do not know what you expect. His spiritual affinity is far beyond many others of this world, he earned the respect of a great spirit before me and holds the capability to live a life far longer than any other human could hope to live. Aside from you." Kou replied.

"So you saw him as an easy way to achieve the status of a great spirit then?"

"That was an initial reason, but my respect for him is genuine too."

"You realize the chance that he may be able to make you a great spirit far quicker than any degree of spiritual affinity ever could, don't you?" Pandora said whilst gently reaching out for the spirit so that it was floating just above her cupped hands as if she was holding it. "If one is creative enough, the power of an authority can do many things otherwise impossible. Just as I learned there was more than meets the eye to my authority, I am certain the same is the case for you contractors, perhaps we ought to encourage him to experiment some more as I once did?"

"I do not understand your reason for bringing such a point up. Even if the pursuit of becoming a great spirit was my sole motivation for this contact, such a possibility wouldn't change the fact that I would still need to contract with him to receive such an honour." Kou replied to the witch. "Are you wishing for him to use his abilities more? Is there something you are after with this?"

"Not at all, I merely wonder how he will grow and what the extent of my gift to him will be," Pandora replied with a sly smile. "You don't remember my weakness to the life sword, Zeam. You were not paying attention, instead focused only on fighting me. You don't remember our talk just now." Pandora whispered aloud, her voice possessing an enchanting ring to it as the spirit in her hands briefly jolted under the effects of her authority to her satisfaction. Even if she couldn't lie to Leo, and nor could she harm the team, it meant nothing about non-harmful effects and lies towards his spirits and her successful actions proved what manoeuvrability she still had.

It completed the last of her need to cover up her sole weakness, and there was nothing that she needed to worry about anymore. It was only with that comforting thought in mind that she took back her hands from the quasi-spirit that was likely coming back to reality from being affected by her, before walking over to another nearby tree.

Upon laying down with all the grace and beauty in the world she sat down resting against the tree, closing her eyes as she fell asleep all whilst Kou remained briefly confused, looking around with a sense of loss…