—Outer City, Inside Cabin Outhouse
After things calmed down, Arthur closed his eyes. He spreads his mana in waves as Azrael did but with the mana he currently has after using his magic to summon and maintain the Goddess of Health's heart, Arthur cannot use Detect to scan a large area. Instead, he uses it to scour the area around the outhouse. With The Goddess of Health, Laeh's heart, Arthur is granted a temporary natural healing factor on par with Azrael's, making it so he can use Detect without relying on mana to protect his brain, as Azrael does.
Nothing, he thinks as he detects no abnormal mana signatures in his immediate surroundings. He sighs, relieved. That's good. Honestly, Lady Laeh's heart consumes a considerable amount of mana. And I haven't mastered it yet, so its full power is not something I can use right now. Azrael said no being is faster at healing than Lady Laeh, not even the Primordial Gods. But with the power I draw from her heart... "I'm nowhere near the level of healing she's known for."
After a few minutes pass, Arthur notices someone entering his scope of detection. What's this massive presence? he thinks as he instinctively draws his most powerful card, the Jack of Hearts, from his pocket and nervously stalks the door. It's coming.
—Outer City, Outside Cabin Outhouse
Hmm? Is someone using Detection? Marchioness Atalante smiles as she approaches Arthur's scope of detection. This must be the 'Arthur' person Lord Azrael spoke about. Though he is still rough around the edges, I can sense the potential through his mana. As she enters his Detection, her eyebrows raise as she says, "What is this? This mana... it feels awfully similar to Pope Alexander's." Marchioness Atalante stops briefly. Pope Alexander has three... No, two children—the other died before he became an adult. She places her hand on her chin as she continues thinking. Or, at least that is what that suffocating pig has said. Lord Azrael could not have missed this detail, since he has met Pope Alexander. Is he hiding this fact? "Come to think of it, what was the boy's name?" I do not think I ever met him in person; however, I have heard of his genius. "A... Acheron...? Yes, his name is Acheron. Acheron Samael." When Marchioness Atalante says this, a thought runs through her mind—Wait, if Acheron is still alive, why did Pope Alexander say his genius son is dead?
She follows the mana to its source and it leads her to the outhouse. He is quite on guard. I see his senses are sharp. And it appears he is prepared to attack me. Marchioness Atalante smiles, "Should I tease him a bit?"
—Inside Cabin Outhouse
Marchioness Atalante walks closer to the outhouse's entrance. Sweat rolls down Arthur's cheek and his heart pounds crazily. She finally appears in front of the entrance, smiling creepily. Chills run down Arthur's spine as she pressures him with her mana. This... mana... He fights back against his nausea and the mana she uses to pressure him but ultimately fails on the latter battle. I don't think... I can hold... for much longer...
"What kind of man are you?" she asks pointing at Alora, who squirms from Marchioness Atalante's powerful mana. "Are you going to give up protecting that girl in your lap? If so, I will gladly dine on her suffering."
Marchioness Atalante increases the pressure she induces on Arthur and Alora but her provocation irritates Arthur. He uses the last bit of his mana and focuses it on masking Alora from the pressure. In doing this he cannot maintain Laeh's heart and it returns to the Queen of Hearts card. As he said before, he is not as proficient at healing as the Goddess of Health is, so he could not detoxify the poison before Marchioness Atalante arrived. This means the poison from the wiefern extract he was injected with still courses through the blood in his heart. Once his heart returns to his body, that poisoned blood courses through his system and numbs his body almost instantly. The poison, as Apostle said, is lethal when even injected in small amounts; however, his heart, which was healing in the Queen of Hearts card, has been detoxified of nearly all of the poison's most lethal features, such as the sponge-like syphoning the poison is known for.
So, what courses through Arthur's veins is a diluted version of the poison. That said, this diluted version of the poison, coupled with his lack of mana and the pressure Marchioness Atalante forces on him causes Arthur to slowly lose hold of his consciousness. This... is not... goo—
Marchioness Atalante snaps her fingers and joyfully says, "Well done, Arthur Pendragon." With sweat dripping down his face, droopy eyes and heavy breathing, Arthur looks at the marchioness confused. "Worry not, for I am not an enemy but a comrade in arms."
"What... are you... talking about?" he asks, panting.
"Lord Azrael has entrusted your safe-guarding to me, Marchioness Atalante Dukas. So, rest assured, I will see to it that you and your friend make it home alive."
Azrael? thinks Arthur, relieved. I... see... So, Azrael... sent... her...
He falls into Alora's chest, unconscious. Marchioness Atalante smiles, "You fought well, Acheron." I can see why Lord Azrael has trained you. And I see that he has trained you well.
After ten minutes pass, Azrael arrives at the cabin, panting. I used most of the nether energy I stored for the past two days. He coughs into his hand and blood splatters over it. It seems I underestimated the amount of nether energy Sever uses. It's taken a large toll on my body. He notices Marchioness Atalante's presence in the outhouse and smiles. It seems I didn't need to rush here after all.
Azrael rendezvous with Marchioness Atalante in the outhouse. The marchioness, after seeing Azrael apologises desperately as she confesses to testing Arthur. Azrael forgives her but she insists on receiving punishment, to which Azrael replies, "Okay, I will think of a suitable punishment. Within due time, I will inform you of your punishment." Though he said this to appease Marchioness Atalante's guilty conscience, Azrael felt this punishment was something he needed to deliver. Like a gut feeling, it is something Azrael could not shake off.
"So," he asks her, "you saw nothing out of the ordinary happening here?"
"With regards to? The girl?" He nods his head. "No, I did not. I used my magic and it appears she has not betrayed you, Lord Azrael. As for the boy," she says looking at Rasui's corpse, "I'm afraid we were too late to save him."
"I see." Azrael goes to Rasui's body and closes his eyes. After offering a prayer, he walks back to Marchioness Atalante and asks, "Do you think Amanda was lying to us?"
"I will have to say no to that also. I always have my magic active, so I can tell when someone is lying. Amanda Vlad was not lying, there is someone within Class 1A who has betrayed you... or rather, there is a student infiltrating my academy who has betrayed their fellow peers."
Azrael is conflicted. He did not want Amanda's words to be true. Despite only knowing the students in Class 1A for two months, he has grown attached to them. To him, who was suddenly sent to the Mortal Realm, this class has become a family he loves dearly. But as a Primordial God, who was betrayed many times before, he can not allow such evil to plague the united environment his class built.
"What are you going to—"
Marchioness Atalante and Azrael are overcome with shock when a mana presence within the outhouse spikes. This can't be, thinks Azrael as he and Marchioness Atalante turn to the source of this mana spike.
Before their eyes, the very person they both believed to be a corpse, rises like a zombie. The boy, whose body has started cooling, looks at Azrael and Marchioness Atalante, saying, "I'm... not dead?"
—The Beginning, Pearl Palace
"So," says the God within their throne, smiling, "it has finally begun."