"Careful."
Unlike Shane, who was busy admiring the spectacle, Ultear was visibly on edge. The crystal spheres around her were already floating, and her gaze swept the cavern like a hawk's.
"If this really is a Super Magic someone sealed away on purpose, then even after all these years, there's no guarantee there isn't a guardian. Or some kind of automatic defense mechanism that triggers on its own."
"We're not here to wreck anything. We're just looking," Shane said with a shrug. Then, as if something occurred to him, he glanced sideways at her. "But you—you're not planning to do anything reckless, are you?"
He hadn't forgotten what she used to be like—someone who didn't mind getting her hands dirty if it meant reaching her goal.
If she did something stupid at a moment like this and set off a restriction, both of them would be in deep trouble.
"Didn't I already tell you?" Ultear flicked him a bland look. "I don't even know what this magic actually does. I wouldn't know what to do with it even if I wanted to."
Shane narrowed his eyes and studied her for a few seconds. "This thing feels… weird. The more beautiful something is, the more likely it's hiding a bone-deep kind of danger."
"Do not cause trouble."
"I know."
Ultear answered casually, but even though she didn't have much hope left, she still stepped forward. She stopped in front of the giant tree and slowly lifted her pale hand.
"Hey—" Shane reflexively started to stop her.
"Relax," Ultear said without turning around. Her fingertips lightly touched the glowing bark. "The seal is old, but there should be residual information imprinted in it—some trace of what it's sealing. I'll try to decode it. Maybe we'll get something useful."
Shane frowned, but he didn't yank her back.
Faced with an ancient Super Magic like this, he—half-trained mage that he was—didn't exactly have professional advice to offer. His instincts screamed bad idea, but she had that look: the kind that wouldn't stop until she hit a wall.
He sighed.
"Fine. I'll watch from here. If anything feels wrong, I'm grabbing you and running."
He backed up to the tunnel entrance, ready to flare Lancer's wings at any moment.
Seconds ticked by.
The cavern was so quiet they could hear the soft rustle of leaves overhead.
Things went unexpectedly smoothly. No sudden changes. No guardians leaping out. No traps snapping shut.
After a short while, Ultear slowly lifted her hand away from the trunk. The faint glow of magic around her fingers faded.
She turned to face Shane.
"I have bad news and good news—"
"…That kind of joke really does survive everywhere," Shane muttered, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Don't play games. What's the bad news?"
Ultear ignored him like she hadn't heard a thing, her eyes slightly unfocused as she stared ahead.
"The good news is I decoded the information."
"It's called Nirvana."
"It's a Super Magic that can swap light and darkness."
Whether it's a person or an animal—if they're standing on the edge, wavering between good and evil, Nirvana can turn the light in their heart into darkness… or darkness into light. It flips them into the opposite of who they were.
If you weren't going to let me choose which one to hear first, then don't ask, Shane grumbled internally.
At the same time, his mind snapped back to the crazed boar.
"Swapping light and dark… becoming the opposite," he said slowly. "So that boar went berserk because it was affected by Nirvana."
Meaning it was originally a gentle beast—and Nirvana inverted its nature?
Ultear nodded. "Exactly."
"Then what's the bad news?"
"The bad news is… it does nothing for my wish."
Her face remained blank as she took a step forward.
"And I got hit."
"Huh?"
Shane's brain stalled for a second, producing only that one dumb syllable.
Before he could process it, Ultear continued.
"Nirvana's power was stronger than I expected. The magic leaking from the seal affected me. My temperament is about to completely change."
She sounded absurdly calm as she spoke—calm enough to throw a couple of lazy practice punches at the air.
"Use the method you're best at, and 'wake me up.'"
Shane's eye twitched at her provocative little fist.
He really wanted to say that what he was best at was forging steel, not fistfights.
But he didn't have time to joke.
As soon as her last word fell, the black-haired girl lowered her head. The cold, rational aura that usually clung to her was twisting—mutating at a frightening speed.
Watching her fall into that sudden stillness, Shane couldn't help feeling uneasy.
Nirvana's effect was to swap good and evil—to overturn the mind.
And honestly, if he had to name someone who lived on the boundary between the two, drowning in contradictions and inner struggle…
Ultear would be the first person that came to mind.
Shane scratched his head, and his thoughts started to drift despite himself.
If someone like Ultear—normally sharp-tongued, unpleasant, icy—got flipped…
What would she become?
A saint who couldn't bear to step on an ant? Or… a clingy, over-the-top bundle of sunshine?
And—if she usually hated him and rolled her eyes at him, then after the swap…
His brain conjured an image:
Ultear, cheeks flushed, tugging on his sleeve, voice sweet enough to rot teeth—"Shane~ I like you the most!"—then melting against him like she had no bones—
"—Gah!"
Shane jolted so hard he sucked in a sharp breath. Goosebumps erupted across his skin.
That mental image was pure cursed horror.
Even a dragon suddenly bursting out of the ground would've done less damage to his sanity.
Absolutely impossible.
Right then, the girl who'd been keeping her head down slowly lifted it.
Shane snapped his focus back, watching her warily.
There was no shy blush. No soft, warm smile.
On that pale, pretty face was something blunt and unmistakable—naked malice.
"Phew…"
To his own surprise, Shane let out a long breath, his shoulders loosening.
Thank god. Not the weird, stomach-cramping "unexpected moe" scenario.
Compared to that nightmare, this straightforward hostility was almost… familiar. Comforting, in a way.
He rolled his neck. If she was asking for a "physical wake-up call," then fine. He'd oblige.
Warm, winter-sunlight magic flickered.
The deep red bow appeared in his hand.
"Tch."
The moment she saw it, Ultear's mouth twisted. She clicked her tongue with blatant irritation—like a delinquent girl on a Shibuya street corner who'd just been insulted.
"Not this again…"
She tilted her head, hair falling loose, her voice stripped of its usual composure.
"Do you seriously enjoy picking fights with me that much?"
"…Huh?"
~~~
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