Lucas walked through the portal and quickly noticed a new presence in the castle. He looked at Araniel and asked.


    "We have guests?"


    "Not guests. New servant." Araniel happily eximed. She gave a look to Sthiel, who nodded and went to call for Jacob.


    Lucas raised his brow, wondering who was the new servant. Were the girls reviving the dead without him?


    The portal closed behind Lucas, and he heard footstepsing toward them. Then Jacob appeared before him, looking a little nervous. "Pleased to meet you." Jacob lowered his head.


    Lucas''s eyes widened in shock as he looked at the red-haired hero. He could sense a massive amount of holy magic,parable to that of a Nephilim. He took a step toward the hero and asked while looking straight into his eyes, "Is he a hero?" the question wasn''t for Jacob; it was for Araniel.


    "Yessir!~" Araniel yfully yelled. "I kidnapped... Uh..." she nervously scratched her chin, "I rescued him from the Holy kingdom!~."


    Jacob lifted his head proudly and said. "I''m here because I want to serve you, so please let me stay!"


    Lucas stared at Araniel while cing his palm on his forehead in disbelief. "Seriously... Hero?"


    "Yup," Araniel replied with a big smile. "He seemed to have the right spirit for serving Eden."


    Lucas sighed and turned back to Jacob. "Well then, we''ll see how things go, but that holy scent is killing me!"


    Jacob looked around and instinctively sniffed his own shoulder but couldn''t smell anything. "H-Holy scent?"


    Suddenly, Sthiel gave him an idea. "How about we rece his holy mana with our cursed mana?"


    "Is that possible?" Lucas asked with a confused expression.


    "Sweetie, you have no idea what''s possible"


    Lucas quickly blinked a couple of times as he stared at Sthiel. ''Sweetie? Seriously?'' he thought to himself. He shook the thought off and asked. "So, how do we do that?"


    "Take my hand," Sthieltold Lucas said while extending her hand toward him. Then she extended another hand to Jacob. "You too, hero."


    "Alright." Jacob nodded and quickly took her hand.


    Meanwhile, Lucas was a little more reluctant, but in the end, he also gave her his hand. The moment he held her hand, Lucas felt as if his cursed mana was slowly being drained from his body. "Interesting..." Lucas mumbled as he saw Jacob''s eyes change color.


    "Oh no..." Jacob eximed as his sword manifested in his palm, piercing Sthiel''s heart. The blood sshed on Jacob''s face, but the girl stood as if this wound was nothing. He quickly made the sword disappear as he feared for Sthiel''s life.


    Sthiel smiled and winked at Jacob, who was worried about her wound. "Don''t worry!~."


    Lucas was also a little worried, as both cursed and holy mana was deadly to angels. He raised his brows at Sthiel, but she just shrugged it off while saying.


    "I will exinter, my king."


    "Uh. Okay."


    In a couple of minutes, Sthiel released their hands. "Done!~" she eximed while cing her hand on the open wound and closing it.


    "How did you..."


    "Survive it?" Sthiel finished Lucas''s question.


    "Yes.


    "I have seven hearts."<novelnext></novelnext>


    Lucas''s jaw dropped when he heard that. "Seven... Do I also have seven hearts?"


    "No, your anatomy is still simr to that of a human," Araniel said as she ced he hand on Lucas''s shoulder. "However, you should evolve with time."


    Lucas nodded and then gazed at Jacob. He had many questions about this hero. Especially, ''Why Jacob was so different from Darwin, who was even weaker than Sarah.'' He gestured for Jacob to get closer.


    "Y-Yes?"


    "Show me that sword of yours," Lucas ordered.


    "Y-Okay." Jacob bowed.


    Jacob raised his hand, and the jewel that was merged into the palm started to glow. The holy sword had transformed before Jacob''s eyes into a dark and menacing sword. The de was now red and was glowing brightly with a ck me. There was a ck crystal embedded in the hilt that seemed to be the source of this power. The sword radiated an aura of darkness and power, making Jacob feel uneasy.


    "Holy shit!" Even Jacob was taken aback by the sword''s sudden change of appearance. "What''s this?!"


    Lucas watched the sword carefully while saying. "This is... Awesome."


    "T-Thanks."


    "Swing it at her." he pointed at Sthiel.


    "EH?!" Sthiel quickly jumped back. She pointed her finger at Araniel and yelled, "Swing it at her; I am already injured. See?" she pointed at her own chest, but the wound was gone. Then awkwardly scratched her head. "W-Was injured..."


    "Do it," Lucas ordered Jacob again.


    "Do it." Araniel also added.


    Jacob quickly pulled out his sword and swung it at Sthiel. The de cut through the air, creating a massive ck circle. The de was strong enough to cut through anything. However, the only thing it managed to cut was a shield that was hovering in front of Sthiel.


    "Why me?!" Sthiel yelled while throwing a hand up. The ck circle easily passed through the shield and hit the wall behind her.


    Lucas sighed. "For calling me sweetie."


    Sthiel crossed her arms on her chest as her jaw dropped. She looked at Lucas with a stunned expression for a moment and eximed, "JERK!" her wings manifested, and she flew into the castle. She only pretended to be angry, so she could take some time off, readingics.


    Lucas sighed and asked while looking at Jacob, "Was I too harsh at her?"


    "Eh... You are really asking me?" Jacob pointed at himself.


    "Forget it." Lucas gestured his hand and pointed at himself. "Swing at me."


    "A-Are you sure?"


    "Yup, go for it." Lucas cracked his knuckles and released mana as dark as night. It engulfed his body, creating mana armor. "Don''t hold back."


    "Uh... What if I identally hurt you? Or worse..." Jacob''s face turned pale, remembering what happened to Darwin.


    "Well, then it would be on me."


    Jacob hesitated for a second but eventually decided to follow Lucas''s orders. He ced his hand on his sword and swung it.


    A ck circle formed in front of Lucas. Lucas''s mana armor was being cut thousand times per second, but there was no sign of damage. The circle was slowly approaching Lucas''s head, but he didn''t even flinch. Suddenly, the circle stopped in its track.


    "What...?" Jacob was shocked. "That thing isn''t working anymore."