Nicholas cursed under his breath and threw a spear out of mana towards Athanasia before he flew away. He could take care of Athanasia but with Lucas, that's another story.

Before the spear could hit Athanasia, she dodged and caught it before it hits the guard who is still standing behind them. She almost got dragged at the force but she used her mana to stop it and fast forward to throw it back to Nicholas.

"Oh, you're good..." Lucas muttered, watching the spear gets thrown back to Nicholas. The spear then turns into rope and tired Nicholas up, stopping him from getting away.

"What do you even think of me?" Athanasia scoffed as she tore the skirt of her dress. "Stop watching and let's catch that guy!"

Athanasia ran first using speed and jumped high to Nicholas's level. She used her mana to stop time except for her and Lucas.

"Nice," Lucas sang as he follows Athanasia who gently landed on the ground with Nicholas. "I don't know why am I here to save you, it seemed like you got this by yourself."

"Oh, shut up," Athanasia said, rolling her eyes. "Just take this old man from Ijekiel's body."

"Yes, ma'am."

Lucas snapped his fingers and teleported them into a shed. He tied Nicholas in a chair while he and Athanasia stood in front of the man.

Athanasia resumed the time and Nicholas found consciousness. His eyes widened in surprise seeing him tied in a chair. "The hell is this?!" He yelled, he looked up to face the two. "Untie me!!"

"Ugh, with Whitey's face, I don't think I could take this seriously..." Lucas groaned, looking away.

"How about I cover your eyes?" Athanasia sarcastically said. "Even though Ijekiel's face is not important now but to separate his body from Nicholas."

"Oh, that's a great idea!"

"Really, you..."

Lucas raised his hands in defense, sensing a dark aura from the princess. "Alright, alright!" He immediately said and walked towards Nicholas.

"W-What are you doing?!" Nicholas yelled, moving around hoping for the rope to magically break. His eyes widened when Lucas was already standing in front of him but his eyes never met his.

"Say goodbye to the physical world," Lucas sang and flicked his forehead.

Ijekiel's body froze, the purple eyes slowly turned to gold, Ijekiel's normal eye color. His eyes widened when he saw Lucas and Athanasia in front of him.

"Huh, where was..." Ijekiel lose consciousness before he could finish his sentence.

"Kiel!" Athanasia called and was about to run towards the silver-head but Lucas stopped her. "The hell, Lucas?!"

"Don't come close..." Lucas muttered, his brows furrowed. "It's weird..."

"Huh?" Athanasia frowned, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I was planning to pull out Nicholas from Whitey and I thought that I did it but... It seemed like Whitey don't want to let go of Nicholas's soul..." Lucas said as he leaned close, he held Ijekiel's face up in one hand to examine him. "What's making him hold on to the old man?"

"Ijekiel would never that!" Athanasia defended.

Lucas stood straight and faced Athanasia. "But there's got to be something why did he not want to let go of Nicholas's soul... Maybe something connected to his desire..."

"Desire?"

They both turned their heads as they heard Ijekiel groan as he held his head up.

"Don't undo the rope yet..." Lucas whispered, pulling Athanasia close behind him. Athanasia just nodded in response.

Ijekiel's eyes brightened as he saw Athanasia's face. "Athy!" He called but then he paused when he saw who's in front of Athanasia, staring at him in caution.

It was Lucas.

What is Lucas doing with Athanasia?

He pursed his lips, he let out a scoff. "So it's true?"

"What truth?" Lucas frowned.

"Athanasia, I did everything for you!" Ijekiel ignored Lucas's question, his eyes focused on the worried princess.

"Ijekiel I-"

"Yet you still chose that lowly attendant over me?! What did I do wrong?! Is my love for you not enough?!" Ijekiel cut Athanasia off, tears are starting to escape from his eyes.

"Lowly attendant?" Lucas let out a dramatic gasp. "Now listen here you-"

"Lucas we don't have time for that!" Athanasia scolded the magician who just huffed and looked away to stop his annoyance.

"What did he have that I don't?!" Ijekiel continued, ignoring the two's bickering. "If you could tell me then I'll do better than him!"

Athanasia felt her heart break as she listen to Ijekiel's cries especially when he's showing his face breaking apart. Athanasia could only look away in pain.

"Athanasia tell me!"

"Ijekiel there's nothing wrong, you are better before than you are now," Athanasia said, finally facing the young master of Alpheus. "You were perfect before, but when you held your hands out to Nicholas, I... I don't even know you anymore..."

Ijekiel paused, his eyes widened. He remembered how he stares at himself in the mirror after accepting Nicholas in his body.

He was hideous.

Staring at himself makes him want to throw up. That he...

Right... What did Athanasia react when she saw me like this? He questioned, his dark and blurry vision began to clear, and there he saw Athanasia crying, she looked in pain while staring at him.

So this is what he was lacking.

He was too greedy for her love that he ended up making her cry.

He promised himself to punish those who made Athanasia cry but in the end, hes the reason why she cried.

And this was his punishment, Athanasia's love going to someone else.

He felt his cheeks getting held up, he saw Athanasia smiling at him.

"Ijekiel, let's go back. Your father's also waiting for you..." She whispered.

Ijekiel cried again but this time it's a relief and sadness. "Yeah... I want to go back..."

"I cannot accept this!!!"

The room rumbled. Athanasia's eyes widened seeing Ijekiel's golden eyes turning back to purple ones. He got out of the rope and attacked Athanasia causing the shed to collapse.

Athanasia coughed, she looked up and saw Lucas hugging her close with his arm and the other holding on to Ijekiel's fist. Lucas let out a cough of blood, chuckling deeply. "I see you've gotten pretty strong old man."

"I see you've gotten pretty weak magician." Ijekiel grinned, his voice changed. It was Nicholas

"What?!" Athanasia exclaimed. "I-I thought!"

"Remember what I told you earlier, Whitey didn't want to let go of Nicholas's soul, and when he was about to, Nicholas held on and forced himself to come back," Lucas exclaimed.

"This time I won't hold back!" Nicholas held his fist up, attacking again.

As soon as his fist was about to hit Lucas, the latter immediately teleported themselves far away from Obelia.

"Where are we?!" Athanasia asked, looking around.

"Somewhere far away..." Lucas muttered, panting. "Damn that old man, he got me good."

"Your arm!" Athanasia exclaimed, noticing Lucas's arm that protected them is bleeding. "I-It's bleeding!!"

"I'm fine... I just need a minute to heal..."

"And before that comes, I'll kill you two right here, right now!" Nicholas appeared, flying towards them.

"Really..." Lucas spits out blood. He stood straight and tied his hair up. "You're such a hassle..."

"Need a hand?" Athanasia asked, snapping her fingers to make a rapier out of mana. "Ah, nevermind, you really need a hand."

Lucas lets out a chuckle. "You really have to hurt me like that?"

"Oh, did it hurt you?" Athanasia scoffed before giving her feet mana to boost herself up towards Nicholas.

"Oi, wait up!!"

-

7 chapters to go

sorry for the late update, I was too focused on my school works because next week is the last week before our Christmas break (hooray~) and I wanted to finish it all as soon as possible because im tired af!

Anywaysss I'll be back on dec20 because I will be an exam on 16-17 and participating in a contest on 18-19. Yeah, I'm pretty busy this month T~T (someone help-)

So that's all! Thank you for waiting for this chapter! I'll be back soon!!