"Wha-what was that?" Martha thought, her knees numb and unable to move. "I can't move my body at all…"
Martha had been sitting on the ground for a while now, and her eyes were fixed on the thousands of blood-like balls blobbing and floating in the air. Martha was no fool. She knew that even with just a single glace, those things are dangerous—her hunch was proven when one of the balls shot down towards Gleren. The way the ball made an impact just made Martha even more terrified. If a person got hit by that, surely they would be blown into pieces.
Martha was looking straight at the crimson spheres when suddenly her vision was blocked by a thick black wall. At first, it was like her surroundings had turned to night with how dark it was. But gradually she realized—this was a shadow made from Gleren's ability. The black wall encircles Martha. She saw Gleren move his hands as the process was happening, yet she didn't know what purpose it had for her. Does the cage mean that she could not escape? Or was it for her safety? The latter just doesn't make any sense. She tried to kill Gleren, so why would he be protecting her?
While Martha was drowning herself in such thoughts, the shadow became thinner, or rather, clearer, allowing her to see what was happening outside. From there, she saw Maria floating in the sky with her wide batwings flapping occasionally—the sight of her made Martha lose all her will to fight. Just then, at the corner of her eyes, she saw Gleren grinning. A grin that she had never seen from him since they met—it was a malicious grin. Drastically, his aura changed. And the place he was standing had begun to tremble.
His body suddenly oozed out black smoke—or was it shadow? Or the darkness itself? Martha could only gape at the sight—it was as if she were staring into an abyss.
"Just who on earth is he…?" she muttered to herself.
Standing still, Gleren exhaled, letting steam out of his mouth.
And after the long process of these changes, Gleren spoke—but the voice was not the usual flippant voice he had, "Oh, my. What a pleasant feeling this is!" rather it was extremely feminine. Seductive and sweet.
"I always dreamed of a day I would be able to get out of my seal—but not like this, though. I wanted to walk the earth while having my dear husband by my side. Oh, a date!" she went on. "Holding hands with my dear would be pleasant!"
It was a voice unfamiliar to Martha.
"Who was that…" but there was one thing she knew: this one who suddenly occupied Gleren's body was an extremely dangerous existence. And also, the weird feeling of Gleren's body emitting a sweet voice is kind of scaring her. "What… should I say to this?" she resigned herself, stopping any further strange thoughts.
"Now then," said the female voice from Gleren; her gleeful voice from the beginning was gone.
"Shall we dance?" she taunted, looking straight at Maria. It was Mahraj—Gleren's contracted one.
***
I was inside a room with a large monitor—or should I say a vision from inside? It's not like it was a screen or something like that, but it exactly looked the same. The fact that it made the surroundings of the outside world are seen here in real-time is the difference. Though the sight that I could freely see is the vision that my body holds—which was now occupied by Mahraj—
Here, I can also perceive sounds as if it were me who was hearing them firsthand.
"Now then, shall we dance?" Mahraj said in a provocative voice. In front, a little higher than us, Maria was staring down. She was grinning ear to ear as she heard Mahraj's voice.
"Who are you?" She asked, amused. "To think that an existence like yours is inside that man! Oh, my! How fortunate I was!" Maria said, spreading her arms wide delightedly as she floated freely in the air.
"Impudent brat," Mahraj spat. "A brat like you who just awoken is no much to me. How about you learn how to walk first?"
Marai smirked as she heard this: "Oh, my. As expected from an old lady. I will use you as a reference. Grandma."
A paused. A silence took over for a moment. And then, after a second, a change suddenly occurred in Mahraj's body. "You're dead!" she said in a low tone.
Wha-what's this? Women are scary…
***
Mahraj's body suddenly began to emit red light combined with black shading, coating it—making it look like dense red smoke. However, this thick-looking smoke was actually a manifestation of the holder's mana itself. It just showed how angry Mahraj was—being called old, that is.
Gleren's body, which was housed by Mahraj, encountered a drastic change; the hair grew long until the body's lower back. The eyes glowed a dim red, with slits appearing on the eyelids, making them seem like reptile eyes. Two horns protruded from the head. Three pairs of wings appeared from the back.
"Oh, my. How curious," Maria said nonchalantly. She shook her head, sounding a little bit disappointed. "But… who I actually want to fight is that man, though. He is strong, isn't he?"
"Hmph," Mahraj snorted, "the likes of you are no match for me—so much for my husband. Know your place."
"Fufu. Husband?" Maria tilted her head to the right. "So that man had a thing for old ladies, then?" It sounded like a genuine question—but of course, it was nothing but sarcasm.
A vein popped out of Gleren's forehead, showing Mahraj's emotion.
"You really are dead!"
Mahraj swung Gleren's arm, and a red light hurled towards Maria's direction. The light bent and shaped itself like a crescent moon before hitting its target. It directly hit Maria—smoke and fire raised from that direction.
"Hmm… Certainly, it was powerful. But is that it?" When the smoke cleared up, Maria emerged there completely unscathed. But as soon as the vision was clear, a number of dark feathers gathered around Mahraj, feeling the ground with the same number of Maria's blood spheres. Now the ground and the air were filled with black feathers and red spheres facing each other.
"A diversion, eh? A truly fitting strategy for an old woman like you."
Mahraj smiled; the cheek of the body she was using was twitching, and its eyes were cold too. "Say all of that while you can, brat. I will have the amusement later when I stomp on your head as you grovel to the ground."
"We really should hurry and try." Maria's eyes also gleamed, seemingly angered by Mahraj's remarks.
"A grandma like you…!"
"A brat like you…!"
Both raised their arms, ready to throw all the feathers and spheres at each other any moment now.