Marinus sighed as he watched Ashley wave her wand. She pointed it at Marinus.
"Dragon Flare!"
As she shouted, the red crest of a bird appeared in the air at the top of her wand. From the crest, flames burst out towards Marinus.
"Don't you remember, Ashley? My gift."
Marinus slid his finger downwards. The flames, which were only two metres away, fanned outwards. Ashley skipped backwards while clicking her tongue.
"You mean your Reflection. Being able to turn yourself into a north pole and selecting something else into the same pole. Your range is a 5-metre radius. I'm in your range."
"No, no, it's much more than that. I call it Reflection but its true nature lies elsewhere. I can't be touched within a 10-metre diameter of myself. I can turn myself and one other thing into similarities if you want a summary without all the science. Since you'll be joining us, I'll tell you the truth of my Magic Seal."
Ashley flicked her wand once more. A symbol of a mountain appeared.
"Earth Pillar!"
A mound of hardened rock pierced toward Marinus. He activated his Reflection. Suddenly, the rock dissipated into dust.
"Huh...?!"
"Depending on how much mana I put into my Reflection, I can increase the magnetic field of each pole, meaning that I can cause everything to vibrate at the speed of sound if need be."
Ashley scoffed.
"That's not how a magnetic field works."
"That's how MY magnetic field works. Well, I can't exactly use this to kill you since we need you, Ashley. Just come quietly."
Marinus said. Ashley lowered her wand and exhaled. She smiled at the man. Marinus tilted his head in confusion.
"I'm not going to attack you."
"Hah? You won't be able to escape otherwise."
"No, your ability is specialised in killing. You can't attract, you can only repel. If I don't do anything, you won't be able to attack me. That's the sort of power you have."
"Tch, I guess being in a team wasn't for nothing."
The man cursed. Although he did so, a thin smile appeared on his lips. Ashley felt uncomfortable. Suddenly, she turned around.
"You guessed right!"
"Janet! Shit...!"
Janet's hand flickered through the air. Ashley whipped her wand out. It was too late. Janet was a second faster.
"Haha! Get ready, Ashley! I win!"
As she sounded that, something dropped down from the rooftop, landing in the alleyway. It was someone who was pure white.
At the same time, Ayato peeked into the alleyway, having run here after sensing the mana.
"Get back here! You'll get caught in it too!"
Akari pulled him back.
The white woman touched the floor and exhaled cold air.
"Incubation."
The two escapees were frozen in an instant. The woman in the white dress exhaled the freezing air. Ice had spread from the place where she was standing, expanding out to the walls of the alleyway.
The ice had avoided Ashley and stopped before Ayato as if it had a mind of its own.
"What the...?"
Just like the two escapees, Ayato was frozen. Not his body, but his mind. He was unsure how the woman had frozen the two of them so effectively yet quickly. Even for a Magic Seal, that was out of this world.
"Who're you?!"
Ashley raised her wand.
"Relax,"
The woman breathed.
"If I was after you too, I would've frozen you. Though, this is subpar work."
She sighed, looking at the two escapees trapped in the ice.
'It happened so fast that Marinus wasn't able to Reflect it...'
Ashley thought, slowly lowering her wand.
"You were seconds slow, Ayato Kyouya."
The white woman said with a smile on her face. Ayato and Akari walked into the alleyway. The boy finally had a good look at the woman's face.
"Haukea Crystal. I never thought you would join us to protect the girl."
Akari said to the woman. Haukea grimaced.
"I just happened to be in the area."
"Your abilities... They're not normal ice abilities, are they?"
Ayato asked her, looking at the walls and Haukea. She smiled and winked.
"Correct. Normal ice magic and other ice Magic Seals use the spell as the catalyst. That means whenever the spell is cast, the temperature is set. However, with my Magic Seal, Niflheim, I use myself as the catalyst."
Hearing this, Ashley became perturbed. As a witch, she understood much about magic.
"Wait, but that means..."
"Ice Magic is an unstable type of magic, meaning that depending on the temperature, it becomes even more dangerous. With my Niflheim, I can use magic at Absolute Zero."
Haukea explained. It was dangerous. Even with a magician's body, moving at a low temperature would be difficult. That was the reason why she was continuously exhaling and standing still.
"Hm?"
Ayato noticed something. A man walked toward the two frozen in ice. The boy blinked again and rubbed his eyes.
"Am I seeing things?"
"..."
Ashley was wondering what the boy was staring at so confused. Her eyes opened wide.
"Eunithus!"
The purple-haired man touched the two frozen in ice. Without turning, Haukea used Niflheim. From her heel, spikes of ice raced backwards toward the two. They crashed into the wall.
"That was fast, but not fast enough to catch me."
On top of the building, the man named Eunithus appeared. He was smiling, looking down at the four of them. Janet and Marinus were still frozen beside him.
Haukea glanced at the man.
'That must be the last escapee. I didn't read his file. His ability... I forgot. But, since he managed to get up there with the other two and because he snuck between us, his Magic Seal must be teleportation.'
The woman surmised.
That was the only explanation for how he was able to move so fast. However, powerful Magic Seals couldn't be summed up in a single word.
"Eunithus!"
"I heard you the first time, Ashley. Honestly, all you do is bark."
Eunithus sighed, insulting the girl without batting an eye. Tightly clenching her wand, Ashley pointed it at Eunithus.
"Zephyrus!"
She shot a gust of wind toward Eunithus. He easily avoided it with his teleportation. The man still had an unwavering smile on his face.
"Hehe, you never learn, Ashley."
From behind him, Ayato appeared. He had quickly scaled the building, silently, he shot his fist toward him.
"Woah!"
Eunithus had barely dodged it. He went in to tap Ayato but he parried his hand away by slapping it. They both went in for another. As soon as Ayato's fist made contact with Eunithus' face, he tapped the boy.
"Ack!"
Ayato was teleported to the ground, completely missing his swing.
"Huh? This place is..."
"Sorry, we don't have time to play with you. Come and visit us, Ashley. We'll come and get you. You'll want to come with us, trust me."
With that conclusion, Eunithus disappeared without another word.