“Alright, Cleo. I can walk.”

Cleo just finished fixing me up. I believe she used her own mana to do so. I can't help wondering how she got so good at “Real Magic”, but I won't dwell on it too much. “Come on. Let's go see...”

I hear footsteps. Primo. He runs over here and he seems panicked. “What's wrong. Primo?”

“You guys! You have to... you have to hurry!”

I repeat: “What's wrong--”

“It's Trace and Emerald. They're in trouble! The King's... got some kind of trick!”

When I hear this, of course I feel worried. We make our way to the elevator to the roof. When we finally get up there, I can't believe what I'm seeing. Trace and Emerald, are both on the ground... and King is standing there.

My mind freezes. I try to form words, but I can't speak. King... this guy is...

Is he even human...?

The dark energy surrounding him changes the world around us. It becomes like the night, and it feels as if there's some kind of weight pushing down on us. The very air around us hurts... If a normal person were to wander too close to King as he is right now, they certainly would have died horribly.

“Trace, Emerald, what's going on!?” No response. They are just as scared as the rest of us. No one says anything... I am losing the ability to think and see straight, myself... and still, the air is changing. Becoming corrupted. Twisted. I feel an even more hideous aura approaching... King is powering up, using a power other than mana... Wait, is this King? For me to have only just noticed this presence, it's as if he's been replaced by someone, or something else. I have no idea what it is... but I know I should be scared. The feeling is comparable to being stared down by a dragon...

Then, out of nowhere, a blur passes my vision, ramming into “King”. Coming to a stop, I can see this blur is a woman. A young looking woman with black bobbed hair and purple eyes, wearing a brown pea coat. She turns her head, looking back at us. “Stand back.” She begins to chant.

There is a strong feeling in the air that I can't describe, but it feels a little familiar... Symbols start to appear on and around the woman and “King” seems to be in some sort of pain. Then, she shouts: “Hateful creature of the Abyss that should not be! Return to that from whence you came!”

A painful sound comes from “King”. It resembles the cry of a dragon. The aura disappears, and King collapses.

Yes, in an instant, without me doing anything about it or even understanding it, the world returns to the way it was.

...what the hell just happened?

Pulling me out of my thoughts, the woman approaches us.

She looks at all of us, seemingly puzzled. She then points her finger at me. “Azul Ryukawa?”

“Huh?”

“Is it you?” I was confused at first, but now, I understand what she's asking.

“Uh, yeah,” I respond. She nods.

“Baek Hanson?”

“Uh huh.”

“Cleo Arkald?”

“Yes.”

“Trace Prince?”

“Yo.”

“Emerald Crux?”

“Here I am.”

Suddenly, she seems a little disappointed. “I take it they were failures. The Armis, I mean.”

Primo shakes his head. “No, not all of them. Only the Third, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Savior...”

She looks sad. “Are they all dead?”

“No. The Eighth is still alive, and so is the Savior.”

“I guess that's good.” She now speaks to the rest of us. “I'm sorry I didn't explain it before. Me and Alex aren't exactly Real Magi... we do have magical talent, and are capable of Conversion, but our immense power comes from somewhere else. I put you in danger without thinking about that.” What is she talking about?

“Uh, excuse me, but who are you?” I think it was a perfectly legitimate question, but she spun around to face me, looking slightly offended.

“I thought it was obvious.” The woman puts on a smile. “I'm the one who set all this up. I found the Thirteen Blades, created the Armis, brought you together to fight Shadowhand. It's me, Echo Strife.”