They flew back into the abandoned parking building and found the familiar still curled up on the floor, staring at the pool of blood where Richelle had laid. Even when they made their approach, her gaze didn't move elsewhere. Marice didn't know whether the familiar was doing it on purpose or not, but it was clear that she was still shaken from what she had witnessed.

After all, from the perspective of any familiar, there could be no greater anguish from such a betrayal.

Marice crouched beside the familiar. "Hey, sulking here won't do you any good. Get up—you're going with us."

"Why?" Vivianne asked.

"Why not?" Katherine replied. "You saw what her master tried to do to her."

"It's not like it's our problem. And given the circumstances, she won't be of any help in finding her master."

"But that's just cruel..."

"She may look like us, but she's just a spider at the end of the day. Nobody's gonna shed a tear over something so insignificant."

"I don't know. I still feel bad about leaving her alone." Katherine crouched down. "How can we convince her, Marice? Some insect treats, maybe?"

Vivianne folded her arms. "Well, if anything else fails, just simply take her in by force. She's still technically an enemy."

Marice narrowed her eyes. "You hear that?" she told the unmoving familiar. "The grumpy old witch's gonna take you away if you keep being stubborn like that."

"What is she, a kid? And would you stop calling me that?"

"But seriously," she continued. "Do you expect things are just gonna fix itself if you're just gonna sit there forever? Are you just gonna let your master belittle you like that? We're willing to help here, but there's very little we can do if you aren't even willing to pick yourself up right now."

That last bit made the familiar a bit tense, causing her to shift slightly to her left. "You suck at pep talks, Marice," Katherine said.

"Yeah. Real helpful, Kath."

"Like I said," Vivianne chimed in, "either leave her here or drag her along with us. Trying to convince her is just a waste of time."

"Yeah, and your whining is certainly helping to speed things up here."

"Quit it with the niceties already. You won't get anything useful with her current mental state."

Growing more annoyed and impatient, Marice stood up and charged up a lightning spell in her right hand. "Then just shut it, will you? Just lemme do my thing."

"Wh-What's with you all of a sudden?"

She turned her attention back to the familiar, picking her up by the collar. "And as for you, I've had enough of your mopping. Get on your feet or I'll drill a hole between your eyes."

And surprisingly, her outburst worked as the familiar scrambled to get on her feet. Seeing how her body trembled under her gaze caused guilt to well up in Marice's chest, but she knew she had to play the part for now if they ever hoped to make any progress.

"See?" Vivianne said. "Was that so hard?"

Trying her best to ignore Vivianne, Marice faced Katherine. "Where is he right now?"

Katherine's visor lit up. "Let's see here..." Her eyes widened as she cocked her head. "Huh? Why there?"

"What's wrong?"

She then projected a holographic screen from the side of her visor, displaying the man's current location on a satellite map. "Lookit."

"In the middle of Laguna lake? What's that structure near that island anyway?"

"It's an offshore platform operated by a government agency. Mostly for monitoring and research purposes. Maybe he knows someone working there?"

"And he just left minutes ago. That at least confirms he's capable of sustained flight. Long-distance flight even."

"Shall we get going then?" Vivianne asked, summoning an oversized velvet cushion. "I need to ask him a few questions myself."

With the familiar in tow, the three of them flew over the lake and made their way to the platform. But before they could get close, a beacon purple beam of light erupted from the north section of the structure. They swooped down to the lake's surface and continued a slower approach until they reached the dry dock section, navigating through the containers lining up the area.

As the demonic ether in the air grew thicker and the spirits of the lake were thrown into disarray, Marice was overcome with a chilling sensation—one that she already experienced a long time ago. Her thoughts raced with a handful of theories as she led the others around a greenhouse, but when she took a peek at the source of the light pillar, the revelation struck her hard, squeezing the air out of her lungs.

Wait, that's—!

Standing before a familiar-looking magic circle, the young man extended his hand towards Richelle's floating body. "Walk among the living once more! Arise!"

With a flash of light, the ether that had scattered in the area congregated into the corpse, enveloping it within a bubble of pure energy. Not long after that, the ether-charged bubble burst in a myriad of colors, expanding like a blossoming flower.

And in the wake of the prismatic petals dancing in the wind, Richelle opened her eyes. She slowly righted herself midair, her feet almost touching the ground.

"Adrian, I'm sorry."

He closed his eyes, lowering his hand. "Don't do that again."

"O-Okay..."

When Richelle finally got on her feet, the magic circle beneath her faded along with the pillar of light, the spell culminating in a shower of light that mimicked the starry sky. As she stared at the spectacle above them, Adrian walked up to her side. "Feel anything different?"

As Richelle started flexing her arm, Marice couldn't help but leap out of their hiding spot, prompting Vivianne and Katherine to follow suit. Meanwhile, Adrian stepped in front of Richelle and brandished his folding knife. "So you ladies followed us," he said.

"Y-You revived her," Marice said. "You know how to cast the ultimate healing spell...!"

He and Richelle exchanged looks for a moment. "And what of it?"

She took a shaky step forward. "I've been studying necromancy just so that I can learn to cast that one particular spell. What's the secret? Do you need a special catalyst to pull it off? A certain physical or spiritual state while casting it? I need to know!"

Taken aback with her barrage of questions, Adrian rubbed the back of his head. "You're asking the wrong person. I'm not a necromancer."

"What the hell did you just do to her then?"

He shrugged. "I'm sure you've already figured it out. I'm just borrowing my powers here."

"How noble for a demon," Vivianne said, folding her arms. "But still, you do realize the danger you're in, right? We need to get that demon out of your body before it's too late."

"That ship sailed a long time ago."

"What do you mean?" Katherine asked.

He shook his head. "Don't worry. I'm pretty good at staying out of trouble. Living a normal life is already stressful enough as it is."

Vivianne's eyebrows crossed. "Are you saying you don't want it to be exorcised? You will eventually become a demon yourself if you don't do something about it."

"I'm sure it's not something you should be concerned about. Again, I'd rather not get myself involved with anything that will be an inconvenience down the line."

"But apparently, being turned into a demon is a non-issue to you? You're ridiculous!" She turned to Marice. "What do you make out of this nonsense?"

Marice then activated her Stellar Glare, focusing on Adrian's spiritual aura. "He's still in full control. Those words are definitely his own."

"So we're just going to let them be? Might as well leave a ticking time bomb just because it hasn't exploded yet."

"Well, that's his problem. And besides, we don't have the authority to do anything to him anyway."

"Unfortunately for him, such laws don't apply to demons." She summoned her ether gem, forming her scepter. "Fine, I'll do it myself!"

As Vivianne and Adrian readied themselves, Katherine and Richelle stepped between the two. "Let's not be hasty now, Vivianne!" the former said, frantically waving her hands. "Let's just talk this out!"

Richelle nodded. "They're not bad people. Maybe we should give them a chance?"

He looked at Marice and her friends with scrutinizing eyes before letting out an exasperated sigh. "So all it takes is imported chocolate for them to reel you in. Aren't you already past the age for that to work?"

Her cheeks flared pink. "It's not that! I just don't think they're working with the people chasing you."

"And why's that?"

"Robot lady and her scary-looking friend just arrived from abroad yesterday. That's what I heard from the people at the police station last night."

"But they are working with the police. Getting them involved will only make things more complicated."

"Like I said," Marice interjected, "we're just glorified volunteers in this one case they need solving. We aren't even affiliated to any local guilds right now."

"You're working on what case exactly?"

"Something about a super powerful demon hiding in the capital."

He paused. "And you suspect I have something to do with that?"

She shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. That entirely depends on what information you'll give us. But the sooner we get answers, the better."

He looked at Richelle again, who gave him a knowing nod. "Okay, I get it. I'll have to ask a favor of my own though."

"Go ahead."

He placed a hand on Richelle's head. "It's nothing big really. I just want you to take care of this runt for me."

"What?!" Richelle cried, facing him. "No!"

"What happened to your 'We can trust them' attitude earlier?"

She grumbled, balling her hands. "We've talked about this! I don't wanna get cooped up in a dumb shelter all day! And what about my grandma?!"

"I wasn't planning on that. You two are going with Miss Alcantara."

"Huh?!"

Marice put a hand on her waist. "So you want to use my mother as a deterrent."

Adrian glanced to the side. "Well, if you put it that way..."

"As long as you won't hold us accountable if she ever gets taken again, sure. Anyone desperate enough to get their hands on her will find a way. And I hate to break it to you, but my mom isn't really invincible either."

"I highly doubt they will try again with the two of you around. The only reason they nabbed her was to lure me out."

"Lure you out?" She looked over her shoulder as she heard an approaching VTOL aircraft. "Looks like the cavalry's here. How about we continue this later?"

"So does that mean we got a done deal here?"

Marice smiled as she offered up her hand to him. "What? You heard what I said."

He returned the smile, giving her hand a firm shake. "Thanks. Looks like I'm getting some proper shut-eye tonight."

But just as they retracted their hands, Marice felt a spine-numbing chill embracing her body. Adrian picked up on it as well and opened his mouth to speak, but not a single word escaped his lips. Seeing the terror reflected in his eyes, she leaped back on instinct and reached for her homunculus bottles in her jacket, but she was already too late.

Adrian had brandished his knife and lunged after her, jamming the blade into Marice's shoulder. Pain exploded throughout her torso and left arm, but it didn't stop Marice from summoning her golems, using the warrior golem to counterattack with its sword.

Adrian simply dissolved into his shadow to avoid the horizontal sweep, reappearing a few feet away from her. "C-Cristina!" he cried. "What are you doing?!"

His shadow morphed into a vestige of a grinning woman. "I could ask the same thing to you. We could've disposed of her right there, but you just had to interfere!"

Katherine rushed to Marice's aid, fishing out a bottled potion from her leg compartment. "Be careful, Vivianne! She's the wraith who attacked us this morning!"

Vivianne encased the pair in a barrier and placed herself in front of them. "How's Marice?"

"C-Could've been worse," Marice replied as her vision started to swim.

"Shut up! Don't you dare die while I'm giving her a good walloping!"

The wraith perked up, her head turning upside down. "Shall we test your luck then?"

Adrian pulled out a butterfly knife and flung it towards Vivianne. The witch deflected it with a barrier, but her barrier's shadow suddenly expanded beneath her feet, manifesting into a ghastly long-haired woman. In a panic, Vivianne recalled the barrier, but the wraith had already materialized into her physical form, grabbing her by the neck.

"You mages are so slow." Her free hand morphed into a giant pair of scissors. "What a shame."

Just as she was about to bisect Vivianne from the waist, a spear phased through her head and struck the ground behind them. With an amused look on her face, she looked up to the police aircraft hovering nearby, but the momentary distraction allowed Sina to teleport next to the spear and flung an enchanted blade at her right arm.

The wraith growled in pain as her entire arm became a flickering shadow, forcing her to drop Vivianne and regain some distance from the priestess. But before she could make her next move, Mariella appeared beside her in a blink of an eye, holding her afflicted arm.

She attempted to struggle free, but Mariella's iron grip didn't budge in the slightest. "S-Since when did you...?!"

"Cristina, that's enough!" Adrian shouted. "Are you just gonna let your pride ruin everything you've worked for?! The sacrifices of everyone who stood by your side until the very end?!"

"Then stop holding me back and let me finish them all at once!"

"If you want to die that badly, then fine!" He turned towards Liza and her armored squad mates disembarking the aircraft and spread his arms. "If she makes another move, don't hesitate to shoot me!"

"Are you out of your mind?!"

"You're as good as dead if you make your move anyway."

"Tch, I had enough of your—"

Her Stellar Glare glowing with burning intensity, Mariella yanked the struggling wraith to grab her attention. "You better listen to him. For his sake, and yours."

"What are you even...?!"

"I think I know what's going on with you two." She smiled. "That unassuming baggage you're desperately trying to hide."

"Baggage?" Vivianne uttered.

Growing more flustered, the wraith could only look away from Mariella's gaze. "Damn those accursed eyes! I should've finished the two of you earlier!"

And to everybody's surprise, Mariella released the wraith from her grip. "Miss Mariella!" Sina cried, readying her spear.

"It's fine," the witch replied, her eyes reverting back to normal. "Us screaming at each other isn't gonna help anyone, right?"

As their eyes met again, the wraith glared at her. "You... what the hell are you?"

"Oh, just a witch who has too much time on her hands," she replied before sprinting to her daughter's side.