"Hey, Margaret. Anata's magic circle must have been activated. What are you seeing? I'll help you if you tell me."
His sister, Anata, created a magic circle in the underground of this bunker right before she betrayed him.
It was an untouchable magic circle. So he wondered how Margaret could activate it.
Her soul, the book written by Yuanna, and the magic circle. Is a combination of all three required?
'It could be Anata's plan to bring another soul through the dimensional door. I don't know what her plan is, but it's very interesting.'
With such a guess, he urged Margaret to answer again, but of course, she was still unconscious due to the severe poisoning.
Jenas bent down to hold her in his arms.
However, the silver snake, which had been hiding all that time and kept an eye on him, came out from Margaret's side as if it mustered up the courage.
-kwaaah!
Then it spewed fire at him.
The silver snake displayed sharp vigilance, not allowing anyone to lay hands on its master. Seeing it trying to protect its owner while shivering, it seemed the snake was forcing its courage.
Jenas stared at the snake in silence. It's an imprinted monster, so he can't borrow its body by controlling its mind like other monsters, but he can still threaten it.
As expected, when the snake saw his red eyes, it shuddered and hid itself again behind Margaret.
'Don't mess with me.'
Jenas smiled and picked Margaret up. Margaret's body was easily brought into his arms.
She's too light.
'Well, I bet she hasn't eaten anything.'
Jenas hummed as he climbed the stairs again, holding Margaret in his arms. The silver snake followed him timidly.
Margaret, who was being held by him, reached out and put her arms around his neck.
Jenas stopped on the spot without even him realizing it.
"Ha."
She then buried her cheek in his shoulder. Her hot breath penetrated the hem of his hood and brushed against his skin.
Jenas was taken aback, then sighed.
Instead of pushing away her arms around his neck, Jenas held her even tighter as if not wanting her to fall.
"No......"
She murmured and whined, exhaling hot gasps. Then she rubbed her cheek against the nape of his neck.
Jenas raised his eyebrows. He tilted his head and looked at Margaret's ruddy face.
He muttered in a low voice, "Margaret, this is a bit difficult."
But Margaret instead shook her head vigorously and hugged his neck tighter. She buried her face in his shoulder as she let out a groan of pain.
Her slender body trembled as if having a slight seizure.
"Don't go, please......"
Margaret groped desperately for his skin, still groaning in pain.
"You, do you know who I am?"
Margaret shook her head at his question. She didn't seem to be in the mood to figure it out. Is she even listening to his question properly?
Jenas looked at her with curious eyes.
With the eyes of a monster, he saw how Margaret and her friends went crazy because of the Tentathionem flower. And this was the first time he saw the pain before his eyes like this.
"It's serious."
Muttering that, Jenas saw Margaret gasping out of breath.
The touch of his body temperature and his skin seemed to calm her down a bit. She leaned her face against his chest and panted heavily.
Jenas took her in her arms and calmed her down, brushing against her back like comforting a child.
"What am I doing now?" he muttered dumbfoundedly, but his hand did not stop stroking Margaret.
Jenas seriously considered whether he should bring more Tentathionem because seeing Margaret's reaction was surprisingly pleasant.
"No. It's troublesome if Margaret ruins the experiment as the Saintess did just because of that."
He was on the brink of success, but the Return Gate opened and the experiment started over from scratch.
Meanwhile, he had collected mana from hundreds of people to succeed in the experiment and a lot of mana that could open the dimensional door.
With just one last shot, this sickening experiment would be over.
"So cooperate, Margaret."
Jenas smiled crookedly at Margaret whose face was distorted with pain.
After the experiment is over, I will claim the body of my second descendant and retrieve my pendant. Then I will gain enough power to occupy the dimension.
Wouldn't those hard years be compensated for only when I have that much ability?
"Well, whatever your soul is, it doesn't matter anymore. Thanks to that, I think it will be a more fun experiment."
As he said so, Jenas snapped his fingers on the bridge of Margaret's nose.
And then,
"Who are you."
He heard a voice he had never heard before. He then glanced up.
At the bunker entrance, at the end of the stairs, a silver-haired man and a black-haired man stood staring at him. They are Kayden and Enoch.
"Who the fuxk is he? Doesn't he look like that damn kid?"
The descendant he had been waiting for so long is extremely arrogant.
Jenas smiled and arrogantly raised his chin. "Sorry if it doesn't live up to your expectations. This is my original appearance."
"What the hell, Jenas? What did you do with your body?" asked Kayden, frowning.
Meanwhile, Enoch glared fiercely at Jenas then drew his sword. "Is there any need to talk to a suspicious person? It'd be better to subdue him by force."
Even seeing the flash of a sharp blade, Jenas shrugged his shoulders with a relaxed face.
"I told you two that Margaret fooled you. Do you still believe Margaret? This is not the Margaret you know," said Jenas, pointing his chin at Margaret in his arms.
Seeing Margaret helplessly in Jenas' arms, Enoch's face distorted greatly.
Although Enoch was holding a sword, because Margaret was in Jenas' arms, he couldn't attack him recklessly.
Perhaps because of his broad shoulders, Enoch looked exceptionally huge and ferocious. His glittering gold eyes are more menacing than burning flames.
"Why are you the one to judge? We make the decisions," growled Enoch, holding back his anger.
Jenas admired for a moment as he looked at the man who showed off such a great sense of intimidation that even he who had lived for a long time faltered for a moment.
His purpose was to plant seeds of doubt, which didn't seem to work very well for these men.
'Other test subjects might get confused quickly.'
Jenas licked his lips with regret.
These men are crazy about Margaret. Normal conversation is impossible. I can tell that by just looking at their eyes.
'How interesting.'
As Jenas remembered, these two men in front of her had no interest in Margaret in the past.
But now they're crazy about her?
'No, she's not Margaret, she's another woman whose soul is unknown.'
Jenas looked down with interest once more at the red face of Margaret in her arms.
She tightly hugged his neck as if she would never let him go and rubbed her face against his shoulder like a cat.
Seeing that, Jenas shrugged his shoulders toward Enoch and Kayden. "Margaret must like me more than you."
Kayden grinned, looking as if he could tear Jenas to pieces at any moment. His red eyes, slightly sharper than Jenas', flashed dangerously.
"Damn, I'll only listen to what Margaret says no matter what. You bastard! Put Margaret down now!"
Jenas hugged Margaret and stroked her back as if to show them off. Then he grinned and burst into laughter.
"Oh, my. I'm very interested in Margaret, too."
"That insolent bastard.....!"
Kayden couldn't stand it and rushed towards Jenas. But Jenas evaded Kayden's attack by descending the stairs with a light movement.
Thanks to that, he returned to where the magic circle was drawn.
Jenas looked back once and clicked his tongue. Then he looked up at Kayden and Enoch standing warily at the top of the stairs.
"My descendant is quite rough-mouthed. I guess they don't teach etiquette to future generations. I didn't raise the Rohade family that way."
As soon as he finished his words, Enoch's sharp blade grazed his forearm.
Jenas narrowed his brows as he felt the pain in his forearm. It was a pain he had not felt in a long time.
"I won't delay any longer," muttered Jenas as he let out a sigh with an annoyed face.
He had already reached his limit to endure any more than this here. Without hesitation, he lightly snapped his fingers.
Then a fire broke out in front of Kayden and Enoch. Even the silver snake couldn't come here either.
However, the fire was caused by magic and it would obviously be extinguished soon, so he had to leave before the fire died out.
Jenas slowly laid Margaret back on Anata's magic circle.
He struggled, trying not to lose to the feeling he felt.
His feeling when he saw her was a bit strange.
This was the first time he had such direct contact with a test subject.
When he first created this island and voluntarily got stuck on it with the other wizards, there was something Anata had said to him.
"Don't meet the test subjects directly. Because if you psychologically sympathize with them or assimilate with them, then in that instant it's all over. Because you won't be able to kill them."
Anata who said such things sympathized with Yuanna and betrayed him, who had been cooperating with her. Because of that, he was stuck on the broken island for a thousand years.
I am different from Ananta. Unlike Anata, a thousand years was not easy for me.
"Margaret, I really have to let you go now."
As he forcibly removed Margaret's hand from him, she began having another seizure, bursting into tears. She couldn't even breathe properly with her red face.
But he could no longer help Margaret. Jenas, who had been completely drained of mana, quickly returned to the body of a child.
He sighed sadly. After a long time, he returned to his adult form and felt a little excited. Too bad it was only for a moment.
"I'm sorry, Margaret."
Jenas got up, leaving Margaret groaning in pain on the magic circle.