Teil Ein.

“Heck… I feel tired…”

Muttered Engel as he sat on the sofa in Mr. Cole’s office.

“I had never thought you’d be saying those words…” Said Mr. Cole while looking at him from his desk. He was quite startled due to what had happened outside but thinking Engel was the one there, everything would be fine. Of course , he had to calm down all the students in the academy while issuing a command using [Cuatro], the AI.

“Well… There’s a first for everyone after all.” Replied Engel as he avoided the topic.

(Of course I can’t tell him about [Mind]’s drawback. I’m using up my existential force after all. I can’t simply use it up and faint. I’d probably die if I did after all…) Thought Engel as he recalled what Radat and Gramps had told him about [Mind].

Right now, they were all alone in the office, as Frederica had gone to recover Schwartz’ body and to manage the [Triskelion]. Ártemize was helping him to finish the task they had to do before the explosion and then go to treat the ones who needed it; after all, she was the only one able to heal injuries besides Engel, and to a better extent using only [Divine Element].

He had also decided to heal Asher himself afterwards.

[I got them.]

Informed Ártemize through [Wake Up Call] to Engel. That meant she had found the people she wanted to bring to him. As he received the contact, Engel gave a positive response and deployed his dimensional grasp. When he detected the Arche, he teleported her along with the 4 individuals along her. He thought their auras were quite strange but it didn’t matter until they were more near- After all, the drawback caused by [Mind] even clouded his perceptions besides [Mind].

As Engel stood up, 5 people suddenly appeared in front of him and Mr. Cole.

““““Woah!!!””””

Four people voiced.

“Ártemize, you can go to treat everyone’s wounds. I’ll clear up everything here.”

Said Engel as if all the tiredness was gone, which wasn’t the case.

“Alright.” Said the Arche and Engel teleported her to the [Triskelion].

“And so, who are you?”

Suddenly voiced someone, not desiring to go by the branches. It was the popular Lene who could barely control her excitement.

“I am- Oh I see… My face is covered. Wait a minute.”

Said Engel, who in the previous clash with Schwartz had lost his blue ribbon- Besides that in all these years he hadn’t cut his hair so he had it waist-length.

In a moment, he detected it, as it had some [Mind] infused and teleported it over. He slowly wore it and showed his face to the four “travelers” in the room.

““““What The Hell?!””””

Said all of them at the same time.

Teil Zwei.

(What… The hell is going on here?!)

Shouted the otherworldly Engel as he also said it outloud without noticing.

Just now he had found himself not only in a parallel world where he bumped into their parallel versions, but also another one just like him, but with some discrepancies appeared.

He has long white hair, green and yellow heterochromatic eyes and not to mention that he looks 5 years older than him.

He thinks he has a high tolerance for unexpected but this was beyond it.

“As you can see, my face is the same as the two who are over there, and believe me I am as shocked as you are… But we have to move on.

I’ll properly listen to what you are doing here or the reason you ended up here- And we’ll know how to deal with it, and you. After all, crossing dimensions is no little thing.”

Said the white haired Engel with a strong voice.

There was also a momentarily exchange of sights with the man in the desk but everyone except the timid Engel.

“By the way, I’m sorry but any of you will be getting out of here unless we clear all the doubts.”

Voiced the man in the desk. To the otherworldly Engel and Lene he looked quite similar to Ms. Cole from their world. To the “normal” Lene and Engel, he was similar to the Lady Vice-Principal from their Academy.

“Wait- Isn’t this the same as imprisonment?!” Voiced the popular Lene.

“Sorry, but actually they are right.” Retorted the otherworldly Lene.

“Yeah. What we do mean is that you are not from this timeline. You do not belong to this place and it can potentially harm our time. Is like a doctor entering into the area of burned people with a 3rd-4th grade of damage… It could be fatal.”

“The problem is that you’re too near to your world. That is dangerous. Would you be… I don’t know- In a world with magic and swords as its man there would be no problem at all.”

Added the white-haired Engel to the desk’s man words.

These things were already mentioned to the otherworldly versions by Ms. Cole and they knew that being out would be not beneficial to this world.

“But making you guilty or make you feel uncomfortable is not our objective. So, let’s talk. Take a seat and tell us what you’ve come to do.”

Said the white haired Engel as he gave a half-smile, which was characteristic of him. The two Lene knew that.

Teil Drei.

“So, kids, what do brings you here?”

Asked Mr. Cole, the man in the desk.

“We came here by accident. We were trying a new magic and boom, we arrived here.”

Voiced the otherworldly Engel as he took the initiative to reply.

“I see… We appreciate you’re cooperative, but I lies are not something allowed right now.”

Said Engel, who actually was analyzing them all with his [Demonic Eye] and noticed how he lied and said the truth at the same time.

“It seems you do were trying a new magic… But you did plan to come here. Am I right?”

Confronted Engel as he looked down on them. Even if what he did scared them, he planned to make them say only the truth and to corner them. He wanted to make clear who is leading the conversation- And that is him.

“So, can you please not lie and tell us exactly what you want to do?”

Repeated Engel while giving total limits to the talk.

“Tch”

Clicked his tongue the otherworldly Engel as he was reluctant to talk.

“Alright. I won’t lie to you. I’ll say what are we doing here.” Said the otherworldly Lene with a serious gaze.

(Actually I don’t know why did he want to hide this information- After all what we’ll affect this side even if we don’t… At least omit information rather than lie...) She thought while minding what to say.

It was lucky to her that Engel didn’t have the [Mind Reading] ability Krestin has.

“We came here in order to look for people called [Gods of War] that have a tyrannical reign in this realm.” Replied the otherworldly Lene.

The white-haired made eye contact again with Mr. Cole but this time only the Lene who was talking noticed it.

“Is that all? You didn’t need to approach this people, make contact or do anything to them?” Asked Mr. Cole. The otherworldly Lene made a complicated expression and replied.

“There were no more instructions than these. Ms. Cole, our superior, decided to test whether communication was possible after the dimensional transference so she would try to send instructions after we arrived. We haven’t received anything yet so we will have to wait 24 hours after transference, if anything arrives yet, we’ll be leaving this dimension.”

(If possible…)

Explained Lene as she also thought that the return of anything sent was only proved on animal so far. They were after all the first human mission to travel.

(She doesn’t seem to be lying but… I feel something off. Maybe it’s not them but the situation… I’m not so sure, I can’t think straight after all. For now, I’ll believe them as per she hasn’t lied so far…)

Thought Engel as he made a thinking face.

“Alright. You haven’t lied and what you’ve said this far is enough. I just hope you go back safely. And now- It’s your turn.” Added Engel while moving his gaze from the otherworldly versions to the “normal” versions.

The timid Engel straightened up his back and the popular Lene looked very serious.

“You shall begin.” Added Mr. Cole and Lene was the one to talk in behalf of the two.

Teil Vier.

(What do I do?! What do I do?! this is so hilarant!) Thought the popular Lene as she was almost unable to calm down.

“We-Well… We came here in order to stop these [Gods of War] from their evil reign. A god visited us and gave us means to finish them.” Said Lene while barely unable to maintain her poker face.

Of course, Engel knew that she was actually overjoyed from this situation.

“I see… And which articles are those?” Asked Engel.

“Sorry, but I can’t show them to you.” Replied the popular Lene. She didn’t want to show her only card in the play to someone who she didn’t know was ally or enemy. Just because she did look like her adventure partner wouldn’t make him less suspicious.

“I see. Indeed… Me too; I wouldn’t show you my magic so easily.

Alright, let’s make a trade. We’ll show you four, intel about your targets and you, the one who is talking, will show us your weapons.”

Proposed Engel as he seems to have some plan in his head.

(Wha?! So easy?! This smells fishy… What’s actually going on right now?... Should I yield or not…)

The popular Lene was lost about what to do. She doubted whether the intel she was going to receive was real or not, as well as if she should believe in him at all. Could she actually show her trump cards? She was not allowed to tell lies at all but she considered that holding information about anything was not considered a lie, so while going in a roundabout way was the safest method, which was suddenly discarded by a simple proposal.

While feeling thrilled and cornered at the same time, she achieved a single conclusion.

“Fine. We’ll trade the information we only need and that’s all.”

Replied the popular Lene whose desire for excitement had won over her.

“Alright, I shall tell you.

The [Gods of War] are 5 participants of a tournament, in which they gained enormous power…”

And so explained the white-haired Engel.

Of course he omitted many data and only told the basic. That these 5 people were powerful, unbeatable, with great presence and overall- That they were misunderstood.

That as powerful as they are, people feared them, complots were made around then and that at the very end of the stick, they still had to protect these people from anything that were to harm them.

The otherworldly versions weren’t completely fooled as they had various questions they were not allowed to ask, and the other two had no choice to take to heart those words. After all, they were here to “finish” the [Gods of War].

That’s because every little intel, even if it was fake, led them to their goal.

If it was real then good for them; If it was fake then they would have a template of questions/theories or predictions to begin with.

“I see… So that’s the case. I don’t know whether I should believe you, as our objective seems over if what you say is true… But I made a deal with you, so I have to comply to the terms.”

Replied the popular Lene as she decided in her heart to investigate this matter later.

“Engel, take the box out.”

Lene asked as she decided to show only the seemingly inoffensive [Pandora’s Box] given to Engel and saving for herself [Dainsleif].

“Ri-Right…” Said the timid Engel as he extended his hand. Then in front of it a small black hole appeared and he took out a rubik-like silver cube with technological patterns and a moon carved in one of its faces.

“This is it- [Pandora’s Box]. Eng-... This Engel here is the only one who knows how to use it.”

Said the popular Lene as she held the box in front of the white-haired Engel. In that moment, the timid Engel also averted his eyes in order to avoid the reality that- He definitely didn’t know how [Pandora’s Box] work at all.

Suddenly, as Engel tried to analyze the box started to shine and make gear-like sounds.

“What the-?”

[God of War, Found~ Commencing~ Extraction~!!!]

As the white haired Engel was taken aback with the sudden sounds, a robotic-like annoying voice rang from it.

Suddenly, the cube opened in half and started to suck out energy from the white haired Engel.

“Wha-What the hell?! This cube is sucking-Guh!!” Said the white haired Engel as he fell in his knees.

The popular Lene, noticing that there was something wrong let go of the cube.

“I-It is not m-me!! Wha-What’s going on?! ENGEL?!”

Said Lene as she directed her gaze towards the timid Engel.

“I-I don’t know! I-It acted on it’s own! Mo-Moreover, I-I don’t know how that thing even works!!”

Shouted the timid Engel as he shouted in distress.

Up to this moment, the other pair of parallels hadn’t moved an inch or said anything besides getting surprised due to the sudden occurrence.

Teil Fünf.

(Wha-What the fuck is this thing?!)

Shouted Engel in his mind as he tried to analyze the cube that was sucking out his energy. Not only his magic, but also his [Spirit] and [Mind]. If he let it go like this, it would be deadly for him. To begin with, his [Mind] was still low so he was concerned how much time it would take to drain it all.

(The numbers are going down quite fast… I need to do something…)

Thought Engel as he analyzed what the cube was. The results were-

[Pandora’s Box - Object Level 9]

[An item that sucks out the energy from the presetted objective upon certain distance. Upholds till 3 presetted objectives.]

“I-I need to destroy…”

Muttered Engel as he tried to walk with great efforts. At this moment he could not hear what the “normal” pair said, nor what the other were doing.

As he was trying to figure how to destroy the cube, he sense something from it.

“This is… This is [Mind]?!”

Shouted Engel without noticing it. His thoughts were leaking as he was more focused on what to do than what to say.

(What do I do?! I can’t destroy it with my Quality and I can’t stop it from draining me… What do I-)

Suddenly, as an energy vortex was being formed inside the room, he called out to the otherworldly pair.

“Yo-You! On the back! Do something for me!” Said Engel to the parallel pair.

“Let me tell you that e-”

“Make your conditions clear for later! Just help me right now!!”

“Alright- What do you want us to do?” Asked then Lene, substituting the parallel Engel who tried to negotiate in this circumstance.

“I-Ice… Create Ice. Freeze the room, make a blizzard- Wha-Whatever is fine! Just make this room colder!”

“Alright”

Then, the otherworldly Lene started to Chantlessly create a snowstorm inside the room.

“You too! Help!” Shouted Lene to the black-haired Engel.

“Right…” He reluctantly yielded and started to drop the temperature of the room.

Right in this moment, as his strength was being sucked in great tides, he was unable to use [Cryoflare] or his [Ice Magic]. He was holding on due to his great pool of mana and spirit, as well as that the cube didn’t suck that much [Mind].

Just as he felt that the room started to lower in temperature, he slowly and lethargically started to take off his clothing, trying to recover all the [Mind] possible from around. He had to hold as long as the Cube absorbed from him.

(Until it’s satisfied, I have to hold on!) Shouted Engel in his mind as he started to meditated.

He let go all of his [Mana] and [Spirit], barely holding with his self-recovery and the small mind that was being sucked out.

When his [Mind] was in the double digits, it stopped.

Engel was sat on a meditating posture with a great concentration as the parallels maintained the temperature low for him.

As in a lone world for himself, feeling the ice, the coldness, the power coming from the magically created ice, something was born in his mind.

He didn’t know what it was, he didn’t know what he should do; he only followed his instincts and- Moved his lips, produced sound and… Talked.

“[The snow is deep on the ground.

Always the light falls

Softly down on the hair of my beloved.

This is a good world.

The war has failed.

God shall not forget us.

Who made the snow waits where love is.

Only a few go mad.

The sky moves in its whiteness

Like the withered hand of an old king.

God shall not forget us.

Who made the sky knows of our love.

The snow is beautiful on the ground.

And always the lights of heaven glow

Softly down on the hair of my beloved.]

Then, Engel shed a tear.

He didn’t know why, but he did. It was if it was a cry from his soul.

Even though there was a storm inside the room, and even Mr. Cole was protected with a barrier as well as the “normal” parallels, they all could listen to Engel’s words.

Those words which resounded in their souls, made the timid Engel and the black-haired Engel to feel melancholy in their hearts.

In this very moment, was when Engel’s Quality was raised to [2], which led to the cube fill it’s share and stop draining Engel after a couple of minutes after.

Disclaimer: I do not own the poetry used above; Text from Kenneth Patchen, “The Snow Is Deep on the Ground” from Collected Poems. Copyright 1943 by Kenneth Patchen.