"Elise...was human...once?" I stutter for I still can't believe what I saw in that vision.

My body feels cold again just like that time when I get caught by that woman's shadowy minion. But this feeling is making my heart feel heavier than that time.

"Oh~ so that Aura Sen...no," says Siofon, smiling from ear to ear. "It's actually turning into Aura-Metry. Yeah, that despair look on your face says it so. Hehehe~"

I still can't believe she's saying insensitive, vicious words in that girl's body. But what's terrifying me more is that all this time...the Regular Golems...

"The Golems...Were all of them human beings?..."

"Oh yeah! They were humans once; even the ones you killed at that forest. Well, don't feel bad since all of them live in despair in the afterlife!"

"Despair...you mean..."

"Unfair deaths they had? Being murdered? An incurable illness? Yes and yes! And you know what!? That's the main ingredient for my greatest creation, the Eis-Golem!!"

I know I've faced evil back in Branshire, but to think I can feel bottomless despair because of Siofon's victorious evil speech...makes my heart aching for some reason... though I know what it is.

"To think I'm able to become a Spectre once I was accidentally killed by a motorcar. Well, I gotta thank the driver for helping me become special

"I...I don't understand..."

"Right~ You see I was a passionate human scientist a few decades ago. I was so fascinated in researching the afterlife that I began to experiment my subjects to feel the liberation of being placed in limbo, a spot between life and death. Sadly enough, there was no one able to live that way. And what's upsetting me is that there was no one being able to feel they want to live and die at same time!"

I don't like where this is going, but Elise's strength is overpowering mine no matter how many tries I do to get her hands off of mine. Nevertheless, Siofon continues without noticing my efforts to push Elise off of me.

"Once I died, I reincarnated in Branshire's world as a Spectre!! An S-Rank am I!! Though I've got my Ice Magic, I still want to pursue my dreams in getting the right human to feel life and death simultaneously. And finally! I did it! Elise became my successful experiment for she needs to feel all the despair that she can't deny and yet she wants to reject it!! Even as my Eis-Golem, she's still thinking about her family despite having a hard-to-cure illness. And yet, she wants to die alone so that she doesn't make them remember her pathetic death!! I'm proud of you, Elise for feeling these measly conflicted emotions! Hahahaha!!!"

"You're...cruel..."

I sound fragile and I admit...I'm feeling all sorts of negative emotions Siofon is forcing me to feel them. And yet, I wanna tell her off that she's the real monster...

"Ha?"

"How could you...make her...like this? A literal cold monster without free will...without letting her to die?! Without... letting her decide...to see her family once more..."

I almost sniffle for I don't want to let myself being seen pathetically by this purely evil Spectre. For some stupid reason, I can't move for I've no idea if it's me being weaker than Elise's monstrous form or the despair spouted by Siofon made me give up fighting for my life...

"Heh~ so Branshire's Hero can feel worthless huh? To think your confident self back then was just a facade. In fact, you're too ignorant about what's going on around you! Hahahaha! Ha~ Tell me, Francis Goodlight. You couldn't save anyone. Not even your parents..."

"Wha...do you..."

"Of course you were a useless brat at that time, but eventually, if you had found out about the Golems being humans once before, you wouldn't get the credit for being a great Hero especially in Tolldon. Aw~ man~ all this talking is making me hungry. But it's good this conversation has made you feel despair. You'll taste even better when you're like that."

Siofon then lifts up her right hand, creating stormy icy snow from it. I feel my body is freezing slowly in semi-solid ice. I try to use my Fire Magic at full power for I couldn't care less about my school uniform not being Anti-Magic clothes. But...

It's not working. Darn it! Why's this happening!?

"You know what, Mister Hero. I'm changing my eating style. I'm gonna eat your head while you're still breathing."

She stops her Ice Magic when the rest of my body are frozen. My head isn't. Elise lets go off me once I'm really in frozen mode. She backs off a few steps, letting Siofon walking closer, and finally bends down without caring how that skirt looks on her right now.

"You know, Mister Hero~ It's ashamed your good looks is wasted at such a young age. Hey~ no hard feelings. I'm doing this for a fast promotion to number one. Any last words you wanna vent to me?"

I stay silent. As much as I hate Siofon, I can't say despising words to her because...what right do I have...for my past actions have killed...people with me realising it by the time it's too late...

"Nothing huh? Then, I'm glad to have you as my greatest meal, Francis Goodlight~ hehehe~"

As her right hand reaches for my face, my last moments seem to be slowing down. No. I mean it feels like everything is moving slowly once my words in my head have said:

"Hey, God...If I survive this, do I deserve another chance...in being an actual...Hero?"

I shut my eyes tight for I don't wanna see my head being torn off...or so I think when I hear a familiar low-pitched voice.

"Man~ you defy my expectations, Plank."

I quickly open my eyes to see someone kick Elise's left cheek quite hard that a shocked Siofon lets go of my frozen body. She manages to maintain her balance, but then, another sudden kick has inflicted on her; this time, on her chest. That second kick has so much power that Elise's whole icy body flies backwards until she hits a part of the school building, sending shockwaves, which I can feel on my head.

I glance at Siofon looking shocked at a young woman with purple hair whom you know who it is. I guess it seems to stun her so much that she has forgotten to rip my head off and eat it. Before she can react, my whole frozen body has been carried away in a swift moment. It turns out the Demon Princess has managed to place me several steps away from the psycho Spectre. I lift my head a bit to see Siofon's face displaying all kinds of negative emotions, mainly anger; And yet, she tries to hide that anger by keeping a straight face as she asks an "obviously sounds upset" questions calmly to the woman next to me.

"Who the heck are you, lady?!"

"I thought you all should know me by now, Siofon."

"Wait...are you that Demon King's daughter? To think you're able to get inside this dimension..."

"Nelly!"

Wait...that voice!

"Francis! Are you alright?!...no, you're not! You're freezing!!"

Siofon sounds more irritated once she sees Suzuki dashing to my side.

"No...not you! I thought I sent you both far away from this place!"

I'm really confused on what's happening here that I've begin to ask questions.

"Suzuki, why are you here..."

"What else do you think?"

She then takes out a shiny silver rectangular paper, which somehow looks oddly familiar, out from her right pocket. She places it on my chest. A few moments later, it's dissolving the ice that's trapping my body. The ice is melting slowly, but it manages to work efficiently for I can slowly regaining my Fire Magic that's needed to help melt the ice slightly faster.

"After we examined that fake body of Ookami-san at the nearby morgue, Nelly tells me she smelled a Dark Aura along the hallway she was coming through. Turns out, the old lady's body is made up of prosthetics. Her outer appearance looks real, but her insides are made up of various metal-looking shapes..."

"Of course I've to use a Stop Watch item to freeze the time for a few minutes to examine the body properly."

"Wait, wait. You're saying that someone created that fake body..."

"And place it at a certain river, making it look like a drowning accident. Of course touching it feels real so the police officers can't tell the difference of it being a fake one. Luckily, Ayaka-san recognizes Ookami's face, calling Sensei to inform about it. I'm relieved that Ayaka-san isn't a strict police officer, letting us into the morgue without being seen by other officers."

Finally, the ice has been thawed from my body though I still can't move a muscle.

"I don't understand. Why this hassling plan..."

"It's to get both of us leave the school premises. That's when Siofon uses this dimension to trap you; except she didn't expect us soon. Glad Willow has enough energy to teleport us."

Willow... isn't that...

"Still!" Siofon exclaims, sounding like she's about to blow her head. "You two shouldn't be able to get inside here! Only Magic Users with at least A-Rank levels can find this dimension..."

"Is that so? I barely sense your Aura in this dimension. I'm glad it wasn't too weak for me to miss you, Siofon."

"Weak...you...calling me...that!?"

Oh no. She's pissed off. Just when I can move my right hand, I hear Elise's roar. I spot her getting out of the debris of the building's wall. When she stands up properly, Siofon orders her to attack the purple woman.

"Elise, attack that bitching purple thing! But this time...Berserk Mode!"

I don't want to believe what I'm seeing in front of me, but Elise's body grows another head taller than she already is. Her spikes get taller and bigger; and final transformation change is her whole icy body being a very dark blue. Her eyes and mouth are lighting up in a scary sapphire-like color.

As expected, Elise attacks; this time, several icy spikes are launched at the spot we're at. Before I can force myself to move, Demon Princess shoves Suzuki aside to the right; the next moment, she bridal-carries me, avoiding from being pierced by those spikes. She places me right next to Suzuki as we stay right next to a big tree.

"Plank, where's your sword?"

"At that bush way in front of us. What are you planning?"

"I plan to keep my promise to her brother."

Wait...how does she know...

But I get a feeling now's not the time to question her. She then ties her purple hair in a single tail with a string before she proceeds to get my sword. Elise tries every attack whether it's her smashes or spikes firing towards her, but the woman manages to avoid Elise's every single attack. Once she gets a hold of my sword, she takes off her left glove, slicing her left palm onto my sword's blade.

Now you wonder what kind of stupid being would do that... because there will be blood dripping out of that hand of hers; And it does drip out, but a moment later, she smears her blood onto my swo...rd...

"Wha...wha...why the heck you're dirtying my sword with your blood, woman?!"

"You'll see, Plank."

"Nelly, above you!", Suzuki shouts with a panicky tone.

Above the Demon Princess is Elise, standing on a thick tree branch. She gets into her attack formation as she bounces off it, her body about to squash the purple woman; as expected, she manages to avoid Elise's stealthy attack by rolling three times to her right like a wooden log.

She immediately proceeds to give slashes onto Elise's icy body. She attacks quite fast in that school uniform. Eventually, I tell her it's no use for all of us can see the slashes she inflicts on Elise are disappearing.

"Haha! To think you're still slashing after seeing they're disappearing! That's stupid! Hurry up and kill her, Elise!"

"That'll be the last time you'll call her name, Hypocrite."

"What did...you just called me!?"

Elise's left fist nearly punch Purple Lady's right arm. Just when I can finally get up, I notice Suzuki looking confused as she asks me:

"Francis, aren't the slashes getting deeper?"

"What? I told her it's no...use..."

I stop talking for I watch my sword being able to give Elise physical damage...

"But how?", I utter in disbelief as I continue watching Purple Lady who stops attacking for a few moments.

"This is for Hugh, Elise," she proclaims in the calmest voice I've ever heard from her.

She proceeds to attack, only this time, her moves become around twice faster. That worries Siofon for she sees Elise's slashes aren't patching up as they should be.

In a panicked voice, Siofon tells Elise to use Ice Storm at full power on Demon Princess. Elise obeys her command, releasing a strong gush of icy wind. I shield Suzuki from it as much as I can handle. I can't guarantee any positive effect if this kind of magic inflicts a non-Magic User like Suzuki.

I get a bit worried for the woman may not handle... speaking of her, I was so sure she was blown away by the Ice Storm; turns out, she evades with ease. Her final move is her doing a powerful jump, her hands clasp together against my sword, which somehow glows bright purple. I hear Elise's icy body beginning to crack when the loudest comes from my sword thrusting towards her chest. Seeing that obvious position gives me solemn thoughts: The Demon Princess has pierced her heart with my sword.

It doesn't take long before Elise loses consciousness, the lighting of her sapphire eyes and mouth fades out completely. Her body falls backwards and down to the ground, creating a huge shockwave around her. It's been confirmed that Elise is dead, seeing she hasn't move at all despite Siofon commanding her several times to get up.

"It's no use, Siofon. The poison has released her from your selfish commands. Now, what shall I do..."

"Wait, wait! Why are you fighting against me?! Aren't you one of us? Seeing that you obviously used Dark Magic on Elise, shouldn't we band together to kill this Hero? Because the prophecy says this Hero will evolve to become more powerful someday..."

Prophecy...Me evolving...

"You're right," the Demon Princess says nonchalantly. "Plank will become the strongest man I'll have to face..."

"Yes, yes!," Siofon exclaims frantically, thinking she has won Purple Lady's heart to her side. "That's why..."

"That's why I'm gonna help him to kill me someday."

While the wind blows a strong breeze around us, there is silence. Suzuki also looks shocked hearing that sentence. In fact, I've no idea why she needs me to do that to her someday. Because it's crazy for a being's demands to be killed...I...I don't know for I can't say a single word to defy her death wish. Literally...All I can focus are her purple eyes telling me she's not joking...at all.