Xixin sat down next to Hamilton. His friend looked much healthier than he had predicted. He reclaimed that spark in his eyes, and his complexion was by no means pale or waxen. His hand reached towards Xixin.

" Xixin" he said in his brittle voice."I'm sorry. I've ruined everything."

Xixin held the trembling hand of Hamilton. He smiled at his friend.

" My fault too, Hamilton. I should have stopped the contest. "

" You stopped me. You were right to have scribe the runes. I don't know how worse it could have got had I been unrestrained."

Xixin's eyes drooped down." Hamilton, this ruined everything. Hundred of hunters are out there demanding to punish you. Summoners are being incriminated. All the works over the years have evaporated in just one day. The contest, it worked against us."

Hamilton shook his head. "I know. But what's done is done. We must focus on another matter, friend. Focus on the real enemies. That creature, Maria, she is beyond us. I don't know what she is, but she is extremely dangerous. However, what worries me the most, friend, is that student of yours, Wander."

______________________________________________________________________________

Wander's mother was a women with a bland face with no resemblance whatsoever to her demonized son. Her hair was let down, covering one of her eyes. Nonetheless, she looked unexpectedly energetic during Alicia and Jake's visit, and that surprised them a great deal. She eargerly invited them in, led them to the living room and offered them tea. Jake did not dare touch her set of porcelain cups and spoons lest he broke it. He enjoyed watching Alicia nonchalantly use them, and being skillful at that.

" Mrs., Uhm, I'm sorry about your son" said Jake, trying his best not to look at the broadsword hung above the woman and worry about her head.

" What's there to be sorry about? He made his own choice." She raised her eyebrows." I'm just glad that no one in this family was hurt by him."

The two young hunters stared at the woman, then glanced at each other in confusion.

" Mrs., what kind of son was Wander?" asked Jake.

" Hmm, what kind of son?" She sipped her tea." Well, distant, aloof, reserved, I guess. But he's not always like that. When he was smaller, he was really a problem child. He would break things, hit me and his dad, and disobey our requests. Hah, fun time! Time when he still acted his age."

" Uhm, okay?" said Jake, forcing a smile.

" Oh, sorry, I come across as too nonchalant right? Ha-ha, you must excuse me. We've failed to connect ourselves to him for years. He never opened up to us, and just did what we told him, like a machine. Oh, more like a shadow."

The woman's attitude started to instill discomfort in the two.

" Did he... do anything you would consider...evil?" asked Alicia.

" Uhm, not really. I mean, he was still just a child when he pushed his younger sister down the stair. The boy must have been jealous of our love for the girl." she laughed.

Alicia and Jake both shuddered at the words of the woman. The former tightened her grips on her clothes, while the latter cleared his throat.

" You seem quite... relaxed. Even after what happened?"

" Hah, is that so? Maybe I am?" She grinned." Okay, this sounds terrible, but I'm glad he's gone."

"What?" Both Alicia and Jake asked with their brows furrowed.

" I mean, who knows that a child you picked up in the forest can grow up to be a demon. Just like in a cheap horror movie. How hilarious is that?"

" He is not your blood son?" Jake asked, feeling his mouth go dry.

" Yes, isn't it obvious? My husband and I found him in the forest sixteen years ago. Back then we still don't have our baby girl, so we adopted him. Biggest mistake ever."

The young hunters stared to feel extremely uncomfortable.

"You know, I think it's better this way. Wander, now I think about it, has never seemed to be one of us. One of the hunters, that is. Maybe from the very beginning he has already belonged to the demon race. He can be himself now, and that's a good thing. Right?"

______________________________________________________________________________

Hamilton coughed." Maria, if that's even her name, she fooled us all. She brainwashed me, directed the massacre, activated the contraption. All of that to keep us too occupied, to divert out attention from her real target: Wander."

" He's just a nobody, isn't he? Why must she—"

" Xixin, don't you see? She could have brainwashed dozen hunters and forced them to demonize, but she didn't. She only needed one: Wander. Xixin, that boy must play a very vital role in the scheme of Maria. We must reclaim him at all cost if we want to thwart her plan. Worst case scenario, her plan is also Samundo's plan, and we are losing hard."

" No, it can't be. This is too coincidental. Our contest went down the moment Maria decided to set her plan in motion? And Samundo must choose now to return?"

" You told me that something big was going down, didn't you? That every event in the world, chaotic as they seem, is transpiring in harmony towards a single point. I trust you now, Xixin. I was the one who suggested the contest, and after everything, I doubt it was even my own will to make that decision. Nothing is coincidental anymore. A chaotic convergence is engulfing this world. We must act now, or else it'll be too late."

______________________________________________________________________________

Jake and Alicia left Wander's house. Jake looked back once, and saw Wander's mother go back to her chores.

" I don't even know what to tell Aria and Hiatus anymore." said Jake." This changes everything."

" Yeah, it does." said Alicia.

The two strolled casually towards the institution. Mirilad loomed in the distance, reminding them of all the mysteries they had uncovered and ones they had not. Jake glanced at Alicia, and noticed she had turned pale.

" Alicia?" asked he.

" Sixteen." Alicia murmured.

" Yes?"

" Wander was found in the forest sixteen years ago, right?"

" Yeah?"

" What happened sixteen years ago in New York?"

______________________________________________________________________________

"I will contact the council to urge them to hunt down Wander. Rest some more, Hamilton. It's going to be fine."

"I hope so." Hamilton felt drowsy." Xixin, my wife and my children, are they here?"

" Soon. Don't worry." Xixin said, smiling, clenching his fists.

" Oh, and the ticket money, you can keep all." Hamilton grinned.

"After I cover the cost, there won't be much left. Make that 9 to 1, okay? Now, sleep well, old friend."

After Xixin left, Hamilton could feel all of his strength vanish. He could not resist closing his eyes. His head ached again.

The images of his wife, his children and his students flashed through his mind. He wondered if he had disappointed them, then he told himself he had.

He could see himself in his youth once more, standing next to Xixin, dreaming of a world where Summoners and Hunters could move forward, hand in hand.

" Such a time. So long ago."

The dream was left unfinished, and he felt empty. He really needed a rest. A long one.

______________________________________________________________________________

Jake invoked his memory. The result struck horror in his heart, and he could feel the whole world darken.

Sixteen years ago, in New York, the final battle with Samundo took place. He was defeated, then vanished.

" It can't be, no, that's impossible." Jake trembled.

" How did the demon lord return to life? What made him come back?" Jake still remembered the questions.

Jake recalled Hiatus telling him that Wander said no summoner was involved in his turn.

" It's not a lie," Jake said as he fell to his knees." There has been no manipulation since the beginning. He turned by his own will."

Alicia could not hear him anymore. She herself was overwhelmed by all the revelations.

" No manipulation. No lie." Jake said, feeling like laughing." It has happened right under our nose: the resurrection of Demon Lord Samundo."