>>Hael

I walked to the end of the lab and stood in the empty space between two shelves.

I placed my hand on the wall, "Edro" I whispered the word and a door appeared there. With one hand clutching my mother's dress, I grabbed the knob with my free hand and opened the door to step inside the other part of my lab.

Closing the door behind me, I walked to the center of the spacious place, right where the magic artifact was placed. It was the size of an elephant all together, including the circular base.

At its core was a large, translucent sphere. The sphere, made from a blend of crystal and glass, was adorned with swirling patterns of blue and turquoise, resembling filigree. It's hollow from the inside and the glass and crystal are pretty much shaped like petals. Metallic bands surrounded the orb but all of it lay dull and at rest. The entire structure rested upon a pedestal, circular in shape. The platform had multiple tiers, each layer carved with ornate designs. The topmost layer cradled the sphere and currently, the orb was resting on it.

I didn't think I'd be using this for myself.

I turned to look at the slim stone podium that held the shape of a hand at the top part, carved right in the middle of its surface.

I put my hand on it, and as soon as I put my mana in the machine, it woke up. The sphere flew up a few inches and then stayed afloat there. A humming sound began to emanate from it, while It radiated a glow, casting a soft, azure light across the polished stone floor. Once working, The patterns shifted within the sphere, Encasing the luminous orb were curved bands of a metallic substance that gleamed in the dim light. These bands wrapped around the sphere, their surfaces etched with magic symbols. The bands contained the sphere and interacted with it.

This machine has far better functions for what I'm about to use it for.

I put my mana on the dress and extended it towards the orb. The sphere opened up like an inverted flower. It gobbled up the dress and closed as I retracted my hand.

I went and placed my hand on the stone podium again, then chanted a spell.

The sphere began to work, the bands began to move and I moved to grab a glass bottle from the shelves.

As soon as I grabbed one, I heard the main lab door being knocked

It was a single knock, so it meant it was archmage May. I placed the bottle in the middle of the circular platform, right under the orb which had a tiny opening.

Then I walked out of that part of the lab. As soon as I closed the door, it blended into the wall and disappeared.

"Come in," I said and the door opened.

"Apologies for intruding," May entered the lab, "But you have a guest and she's been very insistent. The other mages turned her away but I had a feeling you might want to meet her."

I folded my arms, "If it's you saying that. Fine."

She passed me a smile and stepped aside to show the 'guest' who was insisting on meeting me.

"H-hey," It was Lilia, "I came as soon as I regained my consciousness." She waved her hand at me awkwardly, while on the other hand she held the book she was originally supposed to give to me.

Right, we left it there.

Both of us forgot about it.

I used my magic to take the book from her, it floated out of her hand and came to me.

"I'm really-" I raised my hand to stop her

"May," I looked at the archmage, "You can leave us." I placed the book on the shelf.

"Sure," She passed me a smile and then left, closing the door behind us.

I then looked at Lilia, "I'm sorry," She immediately spurted out, "I'm so sorry," She stepped towards me, "I-" Then she noticed the glow coming from under her, which made her pause, "What are you doing?" She looked at me and noticed the same glow under me.

This requires more mana, but I'd rather not have this woman near me, so I used two teleportation circles at the same time.

The flash made her close her eyes and when she opened them, we were already in the middle of the forest.

It shocked her, "Why did you-?" She looked around, then her gaze landed on me, "Why did you bring me here?"

"You were saying something." I ignored her question

"Ah," Her gaze averted for a moment, "Look," Then she looked back at me, "I had no idea the princess was following me, if I knew I could have done something about it. Then she wouldn't have died, I-"

"So, you're responsible for this?" I cut her words and asked her a question.

>>Lilia

I knew I had done something unforgivable. I should have been alert. The Queen already warned me and yet I didn't take any precautions while I performed the task given to me.

"Yes... I'm sorry-" Suddenly, without warning, a fireball erupted around me.

!?!??!

It came around me in the form of a sphere, from all sides. At first it was big, then the next moment it trapped me inside of it, engulfing me in a searing blaze. The heat was instant and unbearable, a wave of agony that stole my breath away.

"Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!"

I screamed, a raw, primal sound that echoed through the forest. The flames licked at my skin, consuming my clothes and hair, turning everything to ash.

The pain was beyond anything I had ever experienced. It felt like my very soul was being burned alive, every nerve ending screaming in torment. My vision blurred, and my mind was filled with agony and fear. I could feel my skin blistering and charring, the fire reducing me to nothing more than a screaming mass of pain.

Just as I felt I could endure no more, the fire abruptly stopped.

???

The flames disappeared, leaving me gasping for breath, my body trembling from the shock. Through the haze of pain, I saw Hael standing there, his expression unreadable. He raised his hand, and a soothing warmth spread through me as he began to heal my burns. The agony lessened, my skin knitting back together but only to a certain extent, the pain receding to a dull throb.

I looked at him, confusion and betrayal warring within me. "Why?" I managed to gasp, my voice hoarse from screaming.

But before I could say more, the fire erupted around me again. The fresh agony was just as unbearable as before, and I screamed anew, my body convulsing in the flames. My whole body was charred to coal, burned to the very core, but then he let me go again and healed me, only to burn me again.

The cycle repeated, each time the fire consuming me, each time Hael healing me only to burn me again. The pain was relentless, a never-ending torment that left me teetering on the edge of madness.

The seconds I got to gather myself during the healing were only barely enough for me to notice the hate Hael held in his expressions. His eyes looked at me like he was looking at the worst scum of the world.

Each time the fire stopped, I could barely think, my mind a haze of pain, crucifying agony and confusion. "Please," I begged, my voice breaking. "Stop..." The broken voice couldn't even be called a whisper.

But Hael's face remained impassive, his eyes cold as he continued the cycle. Burn, heal, burn again. The forest around us seemed indifferent to my suffering, the trees standing silent and still as witnesses to my torment.

He brought me here so no one will be able to tell what happened to me.

No one will know how he tortured me

In those moments of healing, I tried to gather my thoughts, to understand why this was happening. But the pain was too overwhelming, leaving little room for anything else and with each time, I was losing my mind.

Each time the fire returned, it shattered any coherence I had managed to grasp, reducing me once more to a being of pure agony.

>>Hael

I felt a zap in my head which made me flinch. My magic stopped and Lilia fell to the ground, a charred body that was barely alive but I didn't care about her anymore.

The zap I felt told me something went wrong with Amber.

I looked around, then closed my eyes, but I couldn't sense anything. I opened my eyes.

This can't be right. If Amber is in trouble I would know. Something has happened to her, but I can't tell what.

I looked at Lilia. She was like a malnourished badly burnt corpse now. Barely breathing, laying on the ground.

Should I kill her?

Or Should I let her die on her own?

I folded my arms

Hmmm

She did leave me to my death when I was a kid. I smirked. Well, if she's lucky enough, maybe someone will save her too.

I looked around the forest, the sun had almost set and I noticed the most ominous presence I have felt so far in my life. This part of the forest is thick, it was already dark here and I saw the animals surrounding us, slowly lurking towards us.

Corrupted animals

Hmmm

This clearing is safe, but it seems a large portion of miasma has spread in the forest.

In the far corner of the forest, I noticed the cloud of miasma, and in there, was a pair of hollow eyes. Since a big part of the forest is filled with darkness, even in daylight, it's a perfect place for that monster to hide in. Because sunlight can't penetrate miasma.

I glanced at Lilia one last time

Guess, she's not going to be lucky, but at least the monster will make a nice stack of her bones.

I conjured my magic, making a teleportation circle, and then I made my way out of there.

****

>>Amber

I opened my eyes to complete emptiness.

At first glance I had no idea what had happened or where I was. I shot my eyes around as I lay on the ground.

???

But the confusion didn't go away. I sat up, my world spun when I did that and for a moment I was about to fall down on the other side.

But I got a hold of myself and looked around again only to fall deeper into confusion.

I was in empty space.

As far as the eyes could look, there was only white. To my left, to my right, above and even below me, there was nothing else but whiteness.

I stood up on the white floor that seemed to blend into everything around it.

"Where am I?" I frowned, then I remembered what had happened, "Ah shit," I shook my head, "The temple did something."

"Oh no. They've pulled a lot of shit." A voice that came out of nowhere scared the shit out of me, making me jump. "But this time they genuinely wanted you to help Illaris."

!!!!

I jumped at the voice and turned around to look who was talking.

There stood a pale figure.

A woman

"Hi," she waved at me as she passed me a smile, "I know this is sudden and all. But I can explain. I couldn't have talked to you otherwise. There had to be a trigger that pulled you here, into the deepest part of your subconscious world."

"Wait, what?" I looked at her in confusion. My deepest subconscious?!? And who the hell is this lady? I've never seen her in my life before.

She had dark purple hair, and deep purple eyes.

"I know, but it can happen. You're here after all." She looked around, "Really clean I have to say... A bit too clean. It's all white... But then again you are a transmigrator. Transmigrators tend to have more space in their subconscious." She sighed, "Sorry, we had to pull you back. I know you loved the other world more, but honestly we had no choice, something had to be done-"

"Wait!" I raised both my hands to stop her because she just kept going. Fortunately, she did stop talking and looked at me in confusion.

"Is something wrong?"

"Something wrong?!" I brought my hands down, "Lady, who even are you!!?"

"Oh!" She wacked the side of her head softly, in a playful manner,, "How stupid of me to not start from there." She shook her head at herself.

"It's nice to meet you Amber," She extended her hand towards me, "I'm Rosie, the real saint." She smiled, "The original one."