'Wow…'
It was all Pandora could think as she watched Regis fought the bandits by himself.
She had scratched everything that she had thought of earlier.
As she witnessed everything, she now knew that Regis wasn't as simple as he let himself out to be.
In fact, he was strong. Very strong.
From the moment he smashed the groin of the first bandit, to killing the others.
Pandora had witnessed all of it.
However, now that he was in a bind once again, she bit her lip.
"Is there really nothing I can do…?"
Tears welled up in her eyes as she saw the robed man casting a magic spell.
"If only I can do that too—"
However, she found herself seemingly falling into a trance before she could finish her words.
Her eyes unconsciously widened.
***
'Do I really have no choice…?'
Seeing the magic circle, Regis was now planning to use his demonic power.
After all, exposing himself to Pandora was way better than both of them dying right here.
The robed man soon finished his incantation as he chanted while tapping his staff on the ground.
[Low Rank Magic: Fireball]
A fireball the size of a basketball manifested in front of his magic circle before suddenly shooting out towards Regis.
"Haha! You're gonna die now, brat!"
The warrior laughed crazily, he couldn't accept the fact that he had been bested by a brat.
Regis raised his brows, "Huh? You know that you're going to die with me, right?"
"W-What are you talking about? My Boss has perfect control of his magic…"
The warrior couldn't finish his words as he looked at the fireball that was speeding towards them.
"So? Are you letting me go now or are we going to die together?"
However, the warrior tightened his hug.
"I trust my Boss!"
Hearing him, Regis was at a loss for words.
He didn't know if this warrior was really faithful, or was just stupid.
'Maybe both?'
The warrior spoke again, "You know when I was still a child, Boss was the only one who was kind to m—"
"Fuck you and your sad backstory." Regis cursed out loud.
He didn't have the time to listen to the warrior's pitiful experience as he got ready to utilize his demonic power.
Woooosh—!!!!
That was until a fireball flew past from the back of his head and clashed with the fireball from the robed man.
Regis's eyes widened in surprise as he glanced behind him.
There, he could see Pandora.
Her ruby-red eyes was unfocused, looking as if she was in a trance.
However, there were two things that he noticed.
One was the fact that she had her right hand reaching in front of her as traces of mana could be felt from it.
The other was the fact that tears of blood were falling from her eyes.
"G-G…o …b…r..o….ther…"
Pandora spoke with all her remaining strength as she slowly fell.
Fortunately, Regis instantly arrived in front of her and caught her in time before she hit the ground.
"O…h… y-y…ou..'re.. h…ere… al…read…"
"Shhhh, stop speaking."
Seeing his face up close, Pandora smiled widely as her eyes gradually closed.
The last thing she saw was Regis's eyes that seemed especially blood-red in that moment.
"What!?"
The warrior was shocked as he could feel nothing in his embrace.
"Wasn't he just he—"
Thud!
"That girl is special! Haha! Interesting! To be able to cast a magic spell without a medium and chant!! I'll take her and experime— Kurk!!!"
The robed man suddenly coughed blood as he was speaking.
"W-Wharr?"
The robed man felt confused.
Not until he looked down and saw the gaping hole in his chest.
His heart wasn't there anymore.
"Sss… shince… whennn…"
Thud!
Like the warrior, he fell to the ground too and died after a short moment.
Meanwhile, Regis laid Pandora's head on his lap as he caressed her head.
"Thank goodness…"
He sighed deeply as he felt her weak pulse.
Although she had extremely overexerted herself, her situation didn't seem life threatening.
"This wouldn't have happened if I have aura or mana…"
Regis said to himself as he stared at her face.
He regretted not being strong enough.
However, he was curious as to what Pandora did earlier.
"As the robed man unleashed his magic spell, Pandora's magic spell instantly met with his."
Regis then shook his head, he knew that this was not the appropriate time to be thinking about this.
Carrying Pandora in his arms, he stood up and took the bags of the bandits.
"Phew… in the end, I relied on my demonic power again…"
Regus muttered.
The corpses of the bandits behind him could be seen turning into black energy as it was absorbed into his body.
***
"Ugh…"
A groan could be heard as a pair of ruby-red eyes opened.
Pandora looked around and frowned, "Am I in a forest again? Am I dead??"
"Haha, no you're not."
She turned her head and saw Regis giggling.
Seeing her pout, he stopped giggling and nodded, "Yes, I decided to stay in the forest while you're unconscious."
"T-Then, the bandits…?"
"Oh, I killed them all thanks to your fireball."
Hearing him, Pandora smiled and was relieved.
Then, she perked up and said, "Oh, Brother! I think I have a special ability!!"
"Oh? Why don't we talk as we eat? Let me roast these first, these are your favorite, right?"
Seeing the skewered wild boar meat in his hands, Pandora's eyes shined.
She then watched as Regis squatted as he lit the bonfire with a snap of his finger, making her eyes widen in shock.
"B-Brother?"
Regis turned towards her and smiled, "I'm quite strong, you know?"
"Ehhhh?" Pandora felt speechless at the moment.
Awakening mana wasn't something that could be described by simply being strong.
Nevertheless, she only smiled and didn't speak about it anymore.
Just the fact that he was here with her was enough.
She then squatted beside Regis who was roasting the meat and asked, "But how did you kill the bandits?"
"Nothing, I just awakened aura."
Pandora only widened her eyes in response.
'Just what the hell is he?' She thought in shock as she smiled soon afterwards.
She felt more amazed as she spent time together with him.
Of course, what Regis said was a lie.
Though it was true that he had already awakened aira during the time Pandora was unconscious.
However, it didn't happen grandly nor anything that was attention-catching.
He simply felt enlightened as he was hunting.
That was all.
Now, the energies that intertwined in his heart were demonic power, aura, and mana.