Looking at the shadowy figure standing at the center of the slowly opening gates.
Maki held her breath in nervousness and unease as she focused all of her attention on it, trying to determine who it was.
However, the combination of many factors such as the angle, the light of the sun, the light reflection from the marble floor, and finally the reflective doors of the palace made it hard for her to see anything.
*Creak*
Nevertheless, with the door continuing to open, Maki was soon able to get a much clearer picture of what the person in front of her looked like.
And as she did, She was immediately taken aback as she froze in place not knowing what to do.
'Why is it this guy again??!' Thought Maki after recognizing the man who was standing in front of her.
After all, she had a very deep impression of Lorien after seeing him a couple of times.
The first meeting was when he appeared to fight with Gojo, and the other was when he helped restore Rika's body.
Both of these events were major ones for everyone involved, so It would be weird for her to forget about him.
Moreover, there is another reason which is very simple and hard to avoid which is Lorien's looks.
After all, being so handsome, he was very memorable to people, especially those of the opposite sex.
Ultimately, be it a male or a female, people retain the memory of the opposite sex that they find attractive for quite a long time.
So, with just brief glance at Lorien, she instantly recognized him.
However, as she did, Maki fell into a momentary daze as a blush appeared on her face for a moment before quickly disappearing as she shook her head violently, restoring her focus.
'Hey! What am I thinking!!'
Slapping herself very lightly on the face to restore her calm state of mind, Maki finally started assessing the situation once more.
'This domain should be this guy's!'
Determining this, Maki felt a bit confused as to why he brought her here.
'Why did he bring me here? I have no relationship with him, moreover, I seem to be targeted as I am the only one who was brought here.'
Thinking of this, Maki's eyes narrowed slightly as a frown appeared on her face.
'This is really confusing...'
'Well, whatever, considering everything I know about him, I don't seem to be in danger, as for the reason he brought me here...Let's just ask him!'
Concluding this, Maki breathed a sigh of relief as she relaxed her hold on the staff at hand and started walking towards Lorien.
Seeing this, the latter smiled and spoke while waving his hand back and forth.
"Yoo! How are you doing?"
Hearing and seeing his action, Maki almost stumbled from the shock, feeling completely speechless.
'Why do I have such a strong sense of deja-vu when I look at this guy!'
'...Well, I wonder if he is related to Gojo-Sensei.'
Resisting the urge to facepalm, Maki kept her serious look as she immediately asked.
"I am doing fine, thank you, however, may I know why you brought me here?"
Hearing this, Lorien who was about to start a conversation suddenly froze in place, obviously getting his plans broken.
It's just that this only lasted for a moment as he then shook his head and responded jokingly.
"Hey, why are you in such a hurry? shouldn't you ask this question after you test the waters?"
However, all he got as a response was Maki's silence.
Seeing this, Lorien shook his head lightly as a bored look appeared on his face.
"No fun!" He said before continuing his speech with a laugh.
"Hahaha, well, it doesn't matter, let's not waste any more time and get straight to the subject, you want to know why I brought you here right?"
"Yes!"
"Well, I am quite interested in your situation, so I decided to help you become stronger, that way, I might be able to watch a good show!"
Hearing this, a frown appeared on Maki's face as irritation appeared on her face, after all, while she might accept help to become stronger in certain situations, she won't accept being treated with such disregard as she still has her pride.
However, while being angry she still knew better than to piss off the man in front of her, so, she immediately suppressed the rising negative emotions and responded snappily.
"I don't need help, Send me back!"
The moment she said this, the atmosphere instantly became silent as the smile on Lorien's face disappeared.
"Are you sure you don't want my help?"
"Yes."
"Hmmmm, quite dumb, however, as I am In a good mood, I'll give you one last chance." Said Lorien, a wicked smile appearing on his face as he continued his speech.
"One last time, do you really not want my help? and please note that this is the last time that I am willing to offer my help for free, If you want me to help next, you'll have to pay a price!"
Hearing this, Maki who was about to immediately refuse paused for a moment, deciding to think a bit longer about it.
However, as someone who has been trying to drive herself forward without needing anyone else's help all her life, getting help now is a very foreign concept to her.
Moreover, because of the information gap and not knowing much about Lorien, she didn't think he could help her much, after all, different from others, her power isn't relying on cursed energy, instead, it is more about improving her physical strength, martial arts, and getting more cursed tools.
So, after this brief moment, she took a deep breath and bowed slightly toward Lorien, and said.
"Thank you for your proposal, I really appreciate your help, however, I want to prove myself on my own!"
Saying this, Maki released the long breath she was holding as she then relaxed her body waiting to be sent back.
'Well, even though this guy brought me here very suddenly and against my will, his objective is to help me, so he still deserves some respect.'
'But, it doesn't matter now as I probably won't be seeing him again.'
However, different from what she expected, Lorien didn't immediately send her out after her response as he instead busted out laughing.
"HAHAHHAH, this is really much more interesting than I had previously expected!"
Saying this, Lorien's eyes narrowed as a teasing smile appeared on his face.
"Well, while your first two responses were a bit arrogant, you showed enough respect in your last answer, so, let me show you something interesting as a show of reciprocity!"
Declaring this, Lorien didn't wait for Maki to respond as he waved his hand toward her causing a multicolored light to shoot into her forehead.
"You..."
Her eyes widening in shock, Maki's heart dropped as she wasn't able to react to this sudden 'attack'.
'Hmm?! Why am I not hurt?' Though Maki as the pain she was expecting didn't arrive.
However, before she could fully understand her situation, her vision suddenly blacked as she then lost consciousness, falling to the ground with a *Thud*.
Seeing this, Lorien sat leisurely on the chair that had silently appeared behind him as he placed his chin on his left palm and waited for Maki to wake up.
"Tsk, Tsk, Tsk, I am really curious as to how her reaction will be after she gets a look at the future!"
"HHAHAHAH, I even took the pain to make the experience immersive!"
---Author---
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