Even though I was called ''The Great Sage'', I had my fair share of experiences with women.


    There was Emilia, then Karlia... and then Lilith.


    As a result, I couldn''t empathize with the Pope who spoke.


    I only wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery that gnawed at me.


    "Can we get to the point, please? You''re starting to dissipate." Imented, noticing the Pope''s body slowly turning into light.


    "A-ah, that''s true. I guess I got a little carried away. Haha!"


    ''A little...?'' I found his statement questionable, but let him go on.


    "My name is Morgan, a member of the Apostles of Aether."


    Finally, I was getting answers.


    "In our time, a great darkness emerged... and my friends and I had to stop it."


    "The Nether?"


    Morgan nodded with a smile when I said this.


    "Looks like Merlin already told you. The Nether is a threat that will consume this world, and will go further to wreak more havoc."


    "Further? Wreak more havoc? I don''t understand..." I suspected he was leaning at something, but I couldn''t believe what was appearing in my heart.


    "Nether isn''t after the branch, that is our world... he is after the stem itself, all the way to the root."


    "What?"


    "Nether seeks to consume Aether. Those two were never meant to coexist. Just as existence and non-existence, or matter and non matter should, never converge."


    I was confounded, but it slowly made some sense... just a bit if sense.


    "So you''re saying... our world is a branch? A branch of what? What is this root? What exactly is Nether? What is Aether?" I needed a breakdown of everything.


    "Ah, I''m not good at exnations. This is why Merlin should have been the one to do this. Haa, this is... oh no, it''s toote. I''m disappearing already." Morgan spoke in a deted tone.


    Something about the whole thing made me suspect that the guy never intended on giving me too many details.


    And so, as I watched him tone into nothing but white smoke and glimmering light, he made a final statement.


    "Be wary of Ciel."


    And then, he vanished.


    As the particles of light that danced before me, I grew confounded once more.


    ''Who is this Ciel...?'' Rather than having the answers I sought, I now had more questions.


    The Apostles of Aether, and the Ciel person must have been in conflict since ages past. To understand, perhaps I had to look through other myths and stories... tales that went far beyond just the Arcanas.


    ''Haa... this is bothersome.''


    The darkness around me began to crack, indicating I was going to be let out of the area pretty soon.


    I would be reuniting with Maria... which was a different problem on its own.


    "This is gonna be awkward."


    External light seeped in from the cracks appearing around me, and slowly, the confined space I was in broke apart.


    As though I was wrapped in a dark sphere, the veil slowly lofted, and I could see an empty room around me.


    No pews. No cathedral. No altar. Just an empty room.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "J-Jared... you''re back!"


    A shaky, yet relieved tone rang out, causing me to sharply nce in the direction.


    Not only did I hear Maria''s panicky voice call out for me, but I was also sensing the energy of another.


    >WHOOOSHHH<


    In a sh, I appeared in front of Maria, blocking her from the hooded enemy that stood a small distance from her.


    He had a long ck hooded coat, and I could feel a dangerous aura from him.


    ''This energy... it''s not Mana!'' The hooded man was emitting almost the same kind of power as someone I knew and despised.


    "Legris Damien?!" A whisper escaped my lips as I watched him with caution stered on my face.


    The moment I said that, he smiled.


    "Jared... that''s a disappointing thing to say." The person chuckled slightly.


    ''A-ah...?!''


    The closer I looked—beyond the energy he emitted, the stranger looked no older than me.


    Sure, he was tall, and had dangerous features, but in the end, he was a young man—barely an adult yet.


    ''Who is he? What''s he doing here? Someone like this is also a part of the Nether Cult?''


    "J-Jared... that is... Stefa—"


    "I''m Stefan Netherlore. Surely you remember me now?" The boy removed his hood, revealing his pitch ck hair and deep blue eyes.


    His handsome features were now more mature than I remembered, but the moment I saw the face, I recollected the boy I knew back at Ainrk.


    "Stefan? What in the world—?!"


    "Don''t look so surprised. That expression doesn''t suit you."


    My surprise slowly morphed into anger as I red at him.


    "What are you doing with the Nether Cult, Stefan?!"


    Usually, I would be happy to see an old friend again, but he was currently with the enemy. I hadn''t seen him in so long, so there was no way I could let my guard down now.


    Why and how he became a member of such an organization... I had to know!


    "That''s none of your business. It seems I was a bitte, though. You retrieved the Arcana. Looks like my hunch, and Legris'' theory was correct."


    My eyes bulged the moment he mentioned Legris Damien.


    ''Just how close are the two of them? If I capture Stefan here, will I be able to get my hands on more information? He feels almost the same as Legris. That means they''re connected, right?''


    I observed him with my gaze, and he didn''t seem extremely powerful. Besides...


    ''Stefan falls under Maria in terms of talent. Even if he trained his ass off, there''s no way he could be as strong as Kuzon or me.''


    I wasn''t going to assume, and I was going to be careful, but it would be foolish to let him out of my grasp.


    The possibilities of using him against the organization was endless.


    Plus—


    ''I''ll be saving him from the Nether Cult!''


    —I wasn''t one to waste an opportunity.