"I say, don't act like you didn't see it."

"That shooting star... It seems to have fallen near us."

Scarlett pulled on the reins of the horse beneath her and looked towards the distant place that was burning bright red and emitting blue smoke.

Diana sat casually on the ground next to her, sorting through her loot, a total of forty-nine badges.

Fifty bullets fired and forty-nine badges obtained. It sounds good, but in reality, Scarlett still got a little more than Diana. But Diana had her concerns, so she didn't dare to really collect fifty badges.

Diana didn't seem to be in a good mood at the moment, silently wiping her firearms.

"There are no shooting stars in this world."

"They're all just tricks for children."

Diana said coldly.

"But you saw it too, didn't you? That kind of terrifying power, could it be magic?"

"Could it be the tricks those lackeys you hired pulled off?"

Scarlett shuddered at the thought of that kind of magic falling on her.

"I don't think it's possible... but let's go check it out anyway."

Diana opened the shotgun's magazine, loading in her last bullet.

This shot was meant for Turing, Diana thought.

------------------------

"Ouch... It hurts."

"Mammon, you really didn't hold back, even though I'm not that young anymore."

Samael stood up casually from the spreading lava, his flawless body almost unscathed.

Looking at the burnt red wilderness around him, Samael sighed and transformed back into Turing's appearance.

"In the end, Dickens managed to escape."

"What should I say? Is this the destiny of us flower bearers?"

"We have to die with regrets."

Samael tapped his pocket on his waist, only to find that his clothes had all been burned to ash.

Including the badges he had collected, there was no trace left now that they were burned. Even the hunting rifle Merka had given him had been completely incinerated.

"No way... I really screwed up the mission Merka gave me."

"What should I do now?"

"And because of the backdrop, my magic is really running low. I must start avoiding encounters with people from now on."

"Should I go to meet Merka?"

"Or... wait a minute, I have a good plan."

------------------------

"This is unbelievable..."

"Even if it was a shooting star, I've never heard of one causing such a devastating impact over such a large area."

Diana and Scarlett stood before the vast expanse of scorched earth, momentarily stunned.

It wasn't until the gray, decaying red heat wave came rushing toward them that Scarlett suddenly realized the terrifying miracle she was facing.

"Great minds think alike."

A woman in armor sat gracefully on a nearby stone, smiling at the two tense faces in front of her.

"I was also drawn here by this strange phenomenon of the world, but it's impossible for me to believe that it's caused by human magic."

"Manchester..." Scarlett said the woman's name with a serious expression and exchanged a glance with Diana.

Watching the childish behavior of the two right in front of her eyes, Manchester sneered disdainfully. "Don't worry, Lord Oedipus said he can't be bothered with your little tricks."

"Tell me what you and your little gang know."

"Otherwise, it's not worth it, but it's up to you."

Manchester raised an eyebrow, smiled casually, and intimidated Diana and Scarlett greatly.

——————————————————————————

"I should be safe here..."

Merka, out of breath and exhausted, leaned against a large tree and slowly sat down.

"Cough... Ever since the tragedy in Red Port, this is the first time Merka has excessively used magic. His face looked terrible, and even his cough had a hint of bloodiness.

"It's been so long, Samael should have gathered a lot of medals by now."

"Now, as long as we meet up with her and destroy the machine together, victory will be ours in this competition..."

In a daze, Merka seemed to hear a voice.

"Hmm?"

Merka lay on the ground, placed his ear against the ground, and carefully listened to the source of the sound.

"Is it a cry for help?"

Merka hesitated for a moment, but his kind heart quickly decided to follow the sound and find out what was going on.

"This is..." Merka pushed aside the grass and crossed over obstacles, and a huge pit appeared before his eyes.

Two girls had fallen into the pit, seemingly calling for other companions. Judging from their attire, Merka could determine that they were ordinary people who had come to participate in the competition.

Although their throats were hoarse from yelling, they didn't want to miss the opportunity to showcase themselves in front of the nobles and resisted using magic to climb out of the pit.

The cruel chill of spring had already frosted their hair ends. Merka looked around and discovered traces of traps that had been set here before.

"So that's it. This is the trap that Mulan and the others were talking about?"

"But it seems like it only caught others and not Turing."

"If they want to catch Turing and detect her in time, there should be some surveillance devices nearby..."

Merka fumbled around in nearby bushes for a while and found a hidden camera.

"I see. Relying on Turing's strong desire to win, they were sure she wouldn't use magic to escape the trap, and then they planned to hit her when she was down."

"Indeed clever."

"Wait, if that's the case..."

"Have they already captured many people?"

Merka looked at the already showing pale sky and made a decision.

"Forget it, relying on Sister Samael isn't foolproof."

"Let's seek external help instead. I accept whatever consequences come."

The ghostly black figure appeared ominously before Merka even pronounced the word, its enchanting form concealing its gender.

"As long as you hold that key, I can peer into your mind," it said.

"Everything you want to ask, I already know," it continued.

"My answer is...yes."