-Gloriana Mengral's point of view.
In the blink of an eye, Gloriana opened her eyes and looked around, observing Julian moving quickly as lightning crackled in the air with his agile movements.
He was punching and throwing kicks, spinning at precise moments.
Gloriana, seeing him, remembered something important to avoid. However, she refrained from acting, as Asher was not there, and fear came over her as she did not see him on the spot.
If he wasn't here, then he was in the middle of the fog, and possibly... he had lost his personality, becoming someone completely different.
With that thought in mind, he shouted loudly to Julian, coming to his senses.
"Where's Asher?"
Soon, Julian's lightning magic and quick movements came to a screeching halt. He turned his head and looked at Gloriana, his eyes widened with relief to see that she was fine and nothing serious had happened to her.
He rushed over to her and responded as quickly as possible, making her understand the situation.
"Grey and Emilia went into the fog to look for Luna, Freddy and Asher. They weren't here when we arrived."
"W-what... Asher went into the fog?"
Her voice sounded laden with nervousness, as her face paled and her eyes widened in shock. His thoughts were like a whirlwind, jumbled, unable to process all that was happening.
Julian looked at Gloriana, unable to say anything else, observing her state after hearing what had happened.
However, he saw her sweating, her hands shaking, as if she was in shock or terrified of something really serious.
"Something's wrong, isn't it?"
Unable to keep quiet, Julian tried to ask her, knowing that Gloriana had the answer and he needed to know it too.
"Julian... I don't think Asher is the same anymore."
Her voice echoed.
The fog has mental attacks.
It could alter Asher's personality, turning him into a psychopath, crazy, someone completely different from who they knew.
The scariest thing was happening now, because Asher had entered the fog before they arrived.
Gloriana looked in the direction of the fog. She felt that something bad would happen if they did not act immediately.
Keeping silent, she listened to the words of Eliza, who was over her shoulder, watching what had happened and feeling sorry for her contractor.
"You can save him temporarily."
As if those words brought her out of her daze, Gloriana turned and looked at Eliza, who was looking straight into her eyes, with a serious and somber expression.
However, those words were enough to ease Gloriana's shock.
Then, she immediately asked, wanting to know the solution to Asher's problem, even if it was temporary.
"How?"
"It's easy and quick: just inject your mana into his head and you can get him back."
"Really... seriously?"
"Yes, but the biggest problem is.... how will they stop him from letting you inject him with your mana? He's someone different now, he won't give it up easily. Besides, he's stronger than all of you put together."
Those words, sincere and direct, touched Gloriana instantly, as her face paled again.
However...
"We must try."
Although she didn't know exactly what lay beyond the mist, nor why the others didn't return or even give signs, something big must be going on inside, where everyone else was busy doing something difficult, while she and Julian remained outside, without even entering the forest.
With those thoughts, Gloriana looked quickly at Julian, and he looked at her as well. With just a glance, Julian nodded, knowing what the next step was.
In an instant, they were both up.
Swhoss.
With the mana in their legs, they ran as fast as they could into the forest, heading deep into the mist, while Eliza followed closely behind them, thinking to herself.
"Oh, it looks like there's an infinite loop ahead.... Just because I like you I'll help you this time with some clues."
After a few minutes, Gloriana and Julian noticed something strange as they kept running.
However, the environment around them did not change, even though they had been running for more than five minutes at a speed of at least 50 kilometers per hour without stopping.
Julian, who reacted quickly, noticed something unusual in the environment around them.
Everything was the same, and no matter how much they ran, nothing changed.
It was then.
A muffled sound.
Julian stopped, letting Gloriana continue running, and looked back.
Soon he saw Gloriana emerge from behind, and his assumption was confirmed.
Seeing Julian in front, Gloriana stopped abruptly and nervously spoke.
"What's going on, how come...?"
"We're not moving forward. We're stuck in an infinite loop."
"What...?"
She reacted in surprise, but frowned at the thought of being stuck in a loop at the worst possible moment.
Soon, Eliza's voice echoed in her head.
"To get out of the loop, use your mind."
"..."
"What do you mean?"
"As you know, because of the contract I can't help you directly, but I'll give you a hint: use your mind to get out of the infinite loop."
Gloriana understood.
However, her thoughts were slow at the moment, so she shared the information with Julian.
"To get out, you have to use your mind - do you have any ideas, Julian?"
"Uh... To get out using the mind...? I think I have a rough idea, but..."
He closed his eyes immediately, trying to concentrate, speeding up his thoughts.
A specialty of Julian's was his quick mental processes at times like this.
Soon, his mind was filled with hundreds of ideas looking for a way out of the infinite loop.
It was then.
He opened his eyes.
With Gloriana's words about "the mind," he devised a plan, though he wasn't sure.
"Concentrate and push your mind to the max. Maybe we can get out."
Gloriana followed Julian's direction, concentrating as hard as she could and strengthening her mind.
Then, as if everything clicked, they decided to move forward slowly.
"It works!"
Gloriana shouted, and they both moved as fast as they could, trying to catch up with the rest of the group.
Although they didn't know exactly what was happening, the situation seemed dire.
That's why their steps quickened.
Although they were quite far away from the rest, their thoughts were focused on one thing.
"To get the original Asher back, we must stop him as soon as possible and inject my mana into his head."
This would trigger a healing reaction in his mind, bringing back the original Asher immediately.
He had not thought of such a thing before.
Light magic has such an advanced healing effect that it can even revive the dead.
Then it should also be able to heal Asher's mind. However, she wasn't entirely sure if she needed more control over her affinity or if she should become stronger.
Eliza, who was reading Gloriana's thoughts, answered.
"You need both."
"How much exactly?"
"In human terms, you must be a third circle and fully master your light magic. Only then can you strengthen Asher's mind."
"Okay, that's enough."
It was just what Gloriana needed to hear to ease her nervousness.
She was tired, and her nerves, thoughts and fears were slowly beginning to calm down.
However, she knew something serious was near.
It was then.
A rumbling.
The ground shook.
The mana was intense.
As if waves of mana, two of high intensity, were crashing into each other in desperate combat, increasing with each blow, strengthening both parties.
Soon, Gloriana and Julian looked ahead.
Two dark manas were clashing, and with each clash, the ground rumbled.
However, it was not the only thing.
The strength of both combatants seemed to increase with each passing second.
Gloriana and Julian turned their gaze to the others, who seemed to be together, and then they saw it.
"What... a mana beast, what's something like that doing here?"
The beast was about to intervene in the combat going on in front of them.
It was like watching two monsters fighting in an evenly matched combat.
Gloriana averted her gaze from the beast and focused on Luna and Freddy, who were lying on the ground with severe wounds all over their bodies, as if they had fought against someone or something extremely powerful.
However, Gloriana turned her attention back to the battle.
It was Asher versus... Asher.
"Why are there two Asher?"
She wondered, as she watched the two of them with a psychopathic grin, enjoying the combat.
It was then.
Raaaaawr-rrrrrRRRRRREEEEEEGGHH!!!
The mana beast lunged at one of the fighting Asher, as if it was helping the other.
It seemed to be on the side of the original Asher, trying to take out the... Asher doppelganger.
"A double."
Gloriana understood.
The original was next to the mana beast, while Asher's double was on the other side of the battlefield.
So... the target to defeat first was the doppelganger?