The answer was easy, Elizabeth would go in parts, first part.

"How did you find us, Michael?" Ask the easiest question out first.

How had Michael Shepherd [The Sage] found Elizabeth this far away from the MPI. It wasn't like they broadcasted their position or anything like such. Michael was good, a very good spellcaster. He was one of the few that had managed to survive the mana corrosion that Nyx had left during the fight against Akira after all.

And he did that all by himself without any help from external aids like Elizabeth had done by summoning Nyx, or how Agatha did by using Mother…Or Rena and Rossie by the fact of being under Elizabeth's protection.

No, Michael did that by himself alone, a feat that was quite impressive, more so since most of the council that ruled the school ended up…unable to fulfill their job because of this same event.

"It was easy, these thing want to rejoin with their former partners." Michael said casting a spell with a flick of a finger, no [Idea] or anything, just a motion and a Magic Circle manifested in front of him and executed the spell.

It was but the fragment of an instant and soon enough threads of light formed in the eyes of everyone.

Golden Threads of light formed between Elizabeth, Rena, and Rossie, a three-way connection between the girls. Besides those, there were other threads connecting Elizabeth to Jenna, Elizabeth to Lily…And other ones that went outside of the room, not many came from Rossie and way less came from Rena.

But what Elizabeth found was that there was a gray thread that seemed to be barely be hanging on, one that joined Rena and Rossie….to Michael.

"Yeah, kind of pathetic, but this is the fruit of our years living together in Aetheria," Michael said pointing at the thread that was barely hanging for dear life, "Long time no see Rosy, Rena."

"My name is Rossaline, and only my loved ones may shorten it to Rossie." Rossie said narrowing her eyes at Michael.

"State the reason for your visit, Mage." Rena was colder too, but Elizabeth could see how Rena seemed to want to move backward and not forward, even though Rena should be able to deal with Michael easily enough.

He was weaker the last time she saw him… The last time she saw him he was barely holding it together too, since he had peeked…

Oh…he had peeked at the Gem, the thing that he was holding…The thing that came from Akira and was formed from fragments of Michael's Soul…

The….Goddamnit, the stupid and probably Sin Gem that Elizabeth needed…

"You…remember everything?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes, well no. Some of it was lost to time…so much time….wasted…" Michael said, shaking his head and scrubbing his eyes as if he had seen a ghost, "I still haven't found you, Elizabeth Starbright; at first, I thought that you were someone that Akira killed at the very start of the loop…But nowadays I think you probably were the Demon Queen or something…"

What? Elizabeth? A Demon Queen? No….at worst she would be a Dragon Queen…or Empress, but that was mostly semantic.

"I was not in Aetheria," Elizabeth merely stated, "I skipped that whole debacle…I did get offered to go there, but I refused. Asked for my memories and Soul to be purged and sent into the reincarnation cycle devoid of all my memories."

Not that worked as well as she had hoped, or well, as well as Alexanders had hoped. Elizabeth understood why that man had wished for that…to some degree. She wasn't sure if she could survive with all those memories, what she knew about what Alexanders went throught…was not nice.

"So you were smarter than most huh," Michael said sighing, "I knew I didn't forget you…Wish I had knew it before fully watching that thing's memories…"

The man said the last part laughing, it was the most hollow laugh Elizabeth had ever heard, "It matters not. I need your help, I need a Hero."

"Eli-Eli is not your Heroine," Rossie stated, "Nor is this a charity, scram Michael Shepherd, Eli-Eli is dealing with enough problems as it is."

"Leave…We have suffered enough from your kind as it is," Rena said as she stood with trembling hands, summoning a pair of katanas into her hands. As soon as the bladed weapon landed in her hands, the trembling disappeared.

With all the light in Rena's eyes.

"I will not take your woman from you both," Michael said, shaking his head, "Do you think I even crave the pleasure of the flesh at this point? It matters not! Nothing matters! Nothing at all!"

The blue-haired mage started expelling great amounts of Mana, unrefined mana, closer to what ambient mana should be. But that was…impossible; all the mana that was refined by a Mage was attuned to them, changed to accommodate the body it entered.

All the mana that Elizbeth expelled always had her own signature on it.

But Michael was doing just that, expelling mana that had no signature, at all, as if it was nothing. And the amount….the amount was great enough to almost dwarf Elizabeth's output. And this was the output of Elizabeth, a Dragon.

"Identify," Elizabeth intoned pointing the Skill at Michael.

"Hah….See, this is why I need you; all the others I went to never thought about doing that and merely started attacking…" Michael said as Elizabeth felt the mana open a path for her Skill to latch into him, "See….Observe, Evaluate, and then Analyze."

That…

How the hell had he ended up like that?

Status Name Michael Shepherd Health: 100% Title Sage Mana: 100% Passive Title Survivor Stamina: 100% The One Who Cheated Death Grade: S Awakened - Saviour Level 200 Job: Strength 300 Sage Constitution 300 Job Skills: 10 Agility 300 General Skills: 10 Dexterity 300 Title Skills 5 Intelligence 992   Wisdom 992 Charisma 50

Skills

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Job

General

Titles

Aegis's Shield: X Sage's Intuition:X Ritual Magic: X -Rend, Reality! -Shatter, Synapses! -Banishment This World! Mana Manipulator. Magic Circle Manipulation. Soulscape Dominion Spell Repository Spell Skill: Shift Magic Eyes: Record Library of Lives Sage's Perception:X Sage's Privacy: X Speed Reading: X Speed Writing: X Analysis: 100 Runescript: 500 Ancient Languages: X Runescript: 200 Sage's Body: 100 Observe, Evaluate, Analyze. Arcane Knowledge: X Rune Knowledge: X Wisdom: X Perpetual Knowledge:X Knowledge Vault: X

"...First, calm down," Elizabeth said, turning her attention to Rossie and Rena, "He didn't come to fight us, and I would never allow him to remain with us if you didn't want him around."

That was 100% the truth, Elizabeth… didn't hate Michael, it was more like he was a school classmate, a seasonal friend-like entity, she would have probably enjoyed speaking with him, debating about magic with him.

And maybe even thought about going out on dates with him…if she had lived a normal school life that is. But as it was, Elizabeth did not. So right now, to her? Michael was just someone who was powerful and unstable. And while Elizabeth did like crazy, she didn't even want for Crazy to be sticked in her.

She wouldn't mind sticking it herself in crazy tough…not in Michael Crazy, maybe in Rossie crazy, or Rena crazy.

"But Eli-Eli…he will sweet talk you into taking him in…" Rossie said in a defeated tone, "Just look at him…he is….the type you like…"

"Yes…" Rena said looking down, "He is your type…even if he is a disgusting MALE…"

Her type?

But he wasn't an overly musculuous buffed-out guy who was around 1,8m to 1,9m tall. If anything he looked more like a twink or an idol type, that was Mother's type, not Elizabeth's type.

"And what is my type according to you two?" Elizabeth asked as Michael started to rein in his mana outburst. Why was he paying more attention now?

"The broken type," "The tortured type," Both Rossie and Rena answered almost at the same time, "Like us / Like us."

Well…Elizabeth did not have a good way to defend herself.

"I am definitely broken and tortured," Michael said from the end of the room, "I have relived the memories of over twelve thousand years of deaths, trust me. You can't get more broken and tortured than this."

"My Soul was fragmented beyond repair!" Rossie chimed in, puffing her chest out.

"My Body was soiled and deflowered in every hole possible and a few extras that weren't there before!" Rena jumped out with some seriously wrong statements there.

"Okay stop!" Elizabeth said raising her voice to be heard, not that it was needed, since some Mana was all it took to relay her Idea, "First…I do not have a kink for tortured or broken people! That was my Mother, not me!"

"True," Jenna said nodding, "To both statements, Catherine did indeed have a thing for broken girls, and Elizabeth does seem to be attracted to the same archetype…"

"That!" Elizabeth stammered, "Is not true! I like Rossie because of how much she cared for me!"

"Aww…" Rossie said in the statement.

"Also, she may have slowly cooked me into craving her affection by subtle mental manipulation and social engineering, but that is beside the point!" Elizabeth added so everyone could know how much she loved Rossie, enough to look past her previous mistakes at least! "As for Rena, I loved her not because of her background, but because I learned to love how shy and cute she was, because she did her best even though it would be easier to just surrender!"

"I did my best," Rena said nodding.

"As for Michael…" Elizabeth said, turning to the former [Hero's Party Member], "He isn't my type, both physically or mentally. I may have entertained the idea of going out with him if life had moved as normal…and if I didn't fall in love with Rossie, but as it is. He isn't neither my type nor am I interested in him, since neither of my girlfriends wants to look at you that way. I will not look at you that way either."

"...Well, my plan doesn't hinge in you loving or being interested in me either," Michael said sighing, "It would make it easier…but at least this way I will not have to act differently."

What was even his plan? What did he want from Elizabeth?

"What is that you have come here for then?" Elizabeth asked, "I will admit that I can see a time when I would have been interested in you, but surely you didn't come for that?"

"You can?!?!?" Rossie asked surprised.

"You would?!?!? To a MALE?!?!?!?" Rena also seemed surprised, "After what they do?!?!?"

….Well, Elizabeth may really need to look into getting some extra therapy for Rena later…That surely couldn't be healthy.

"If you aren't one of us you loss most of my interest Elizabeth Starbright, I am….[Old]," Michael said in a tired tone, "The only people who could understand me hate me for my gender it seems…not that changing it would be hard but I assume…"

"My only type is Elizabeth," Rossie stated firmly, "And maybe Rena as of late…"

"I'll shove a sword into your fake slit if you attempt to do that to me," Rena said with obvious disgust in her face, Rena? That can't be healthy. Seriously.

"No, I didn't come for love or pleasure, Elizabeth Starbright," Michael said, "I came because I need you to release me from this cursed object."

And with a swift movement of his hand, there it was…A [Gem] or well, that seemed to be one anyway.

"I want you to take this away from me, to cleanse my Soul and send me away. I'll attempt to bargain with whatever Goddess of Reincarnation that I find for a deal similar to the one you took…I assume that is the usual fare, but since I am somewhat more powerful than before I died…" Michael said with a self-deprecating laugh, "I assume I'll be enticing as a [Hero] myself."

"You will not get pity out of us, Michael Shepherd," Rossie stated plainly, "Even your death….will not absolve you of your crimes."

"...It seems you are having a misunderstanding Rossaline Singh," Michael said turning his attention to Rossie, "I desire nothing like absolution…I have paid for my crimes, just as you have…as Watanabe Rena has, if there is anyone who hasn't paid for their crimes is Akira."

"...Our…crimes?" Rena asked, "WE ARE VICTIMS!"

"SO WAS I!" Michael screamed back, the mana presence once more washing down from the ceiling, forcing Rena and Rossie against the floor, Elizabeth was able to remain standing because of her fortitude, but even that was a stretch.

Jenna and Lily? They merely teleported to the sofa and watched, same as Aura who seemed detached from the spectacle and merely gave a silent thumbs up to Elizabeth.

"You think I enjoyed it?!?!? You think it was all fun and giggles for me?!?!?" Michael screamed as holoscreens appeared behind him, "I cried bloody tears trying to learn magic in a hostile environment! I had to carve my own Magic Circuits from scratch! And if that wasn't enough, after enough cycles of the loop blurred and instincts formed, Akira started seeing me more as a convenient tool that needed to be controlled!"

The videos first showed Michael crying in an enclosed cell as he tried to get the mana to form a cycle and videos of him burning his own hands while casting [Fire Ball]. Videos of him suffocating from a badly set up [Wind Burst]...

Videos of him dying to botched spells…Why…It was so easy to set up the Spell Nodes though…

"I learned, learned fast. But the faster I learned, the faster the instincts ot engraved in my Soul…the fastest Akira would chain me down," The videos of Michael shifted, all returning to the start of the summoning, where Akira used his [Skill] to mind control the other [Heroes]. "And while Akira spent time enjoying and satiating his lust…I was sent as an errand boy to get him new toys…"

"Disgusting…" Rena spat on the floor.

"Don't act innocent, do you think Akira mind controlled you all in all the cycles? These are from the latest iterations." Michael said shaking his head, "In some he allowed us all to go out of control."

Michael shifted the images of Rena standing in the middle of a harem of men…That one actually made Rena gag and puke…

Images of Rossie standing in a mixed-gender orgy….So jealous…

"That is….weird." Rossie said looking at her image.

"And I was no exception…even if I was more…calm," Michael stated as the image shifted to himself, wearing a crown and with two women at his side, "I may have taken control of a smaller kingdom….or two…"

….Okay, that was just outright adorable.

"But at the end of the day, only Akira kept his memories, so while he left us to our desires in earlier loops, by later ones he stopped seeing us as people too." Michael shook his head, "And that means that he started using us as pawns too…I was starting to be used as a disposable mana canon…And by the end my Soul started to notice the discrepancy between the body and Soul, and reflecting such change."

The images shifted to one of him being summoned as an old man instead of a fifteen-year-old. The bodies of Rossie and Rena in the summoning were those of older women too, and of course Akira stood there with a fully developed body too.

"So my [Wish] is simple, take this cursed gem, kill me like you did to Akira, and grant this old man's soul the release it craves," Michael stated, even while he claimed himself to be an old man, his body still seemed the young and capable one.

But…what was Elizabeth supposed to do?

"Mistress, in case you haven't noticed because of the pressure, that is a [Gem of Sloth]." Aura said helpfully from the side.

Of course, Elizabeth knew that, like Michael said…In all the tales that Mother had told her, it was always like this…What the [Hero] needed was delivered at the right moment and time…And if Elizabeth was to guess, whatever extra [Elemental Gem] she got would be also what she needed to finish the fusion of another Gem besides the [Gem of Sloth].

But….would this justify killing Michael?

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