Before the black spot could do anything, Volya mumbles,

"I should take her away from Romain... Her magic is too dangerous for Romain now..."

As the black spot started to materialize, Volya's eyes changed from blue to yellow. He points his finger at the black spot and says,

"We need some s.p.a.ce together..."

A magic circle immediately created between him and the black spot. A surge of mana immediately comes out from Volya's hand and he says,

"Let's move out from here..."

And with that, both of them moved to an area not far from their location. A gra.s.s field at the end of the forest. Volya immediately falls on his knee and his eyes back to normal. He panting quite hard and then looks at the dumbfounded Gracia.

The moment Gracia notice Volya's intention, she smirks and says,

"My... you want me... to spare your friend's life..."

"..."

"And yet... You kill my mother..."

Volya looks at Gracia and then tries to stand up. He then looks at 'Gracia' and says,

"Gracia..."

"What is it... Murderer..."

"I will tell you something... I'm not the one who kills your mother..."

"So... you still try... To deny it..."

"Yes... I will never kill your mother or do any harm to you, Gracia..."

'Gracia' eyes become emptier and looks at Volya as she tilts her head. When she does that, Volya could see st.i.tches from Gracia's neck. Before he could ask something, Gracia said,

"Is that so..."

"Huh?"

"Then... Why did... I see you... Come to my place... And burn my home?"

"..."

"Then... Why did you... come and burn... my mother's garden?"

"Gracia..."

"Why did you... Why did you... TAKE AWAY MY HAPPINESS?!"

A surge of mana immediately comes out from Gracia's body and a black spike immediately comes out from the ground and flies towards Volya. Volya eyes immediately changed to yellow colour, snaps his finger, and says,

"Stone s.h.i.+eld"

The ground in front of Volya starts to raise and make a s.h.i.+eld to protect him from the attack. The black spike stabs the ground as soon it hits the stone s.h.i.+eld. Before Volya could react, Gracia starts to swing her staff. From the staff, Volya could see a black blade coming through the staff. When he looks at it, the staff becomes a scythe.

Gracia immediately swings her staff and it cuts through the s.h.i.+eld. Volya leaps away to safety, only to see Gracia using a black flame. He then points at Gracia with a blue magic crest. He then says,

"Air s.h.i.+eld"

A condensed air stand between him and Gracia. The black flame flies away at him and it immediately blows up in front of him. The explosion caused Volya to be thrown away from it. As Volya rolls on the ground, he notices another black spike coming at him. He uses wind magic to push him away to safety.

Volya takes a moment to observe Gracia. He knows that he almost reaches his limit after using three consecutive magic spells, but Gracia is still fine.

He mumbles,

"How... How did she couldn't... Huh?"

He suddenly remembers Gracia's mother's work. A Philosopher's Stone. A magic artefact that could enhance the mana pool and mana usage of the user. When he looks at Gracia, he notices a bright red stone embedded in her chest. From the stone, he could feel the surge of mana from there and a black mist from it.

He takes a breather and then stands up and tries to observe the situation more. Gracia's action becomes more erratic knowing Volya still stands up there. At that instance, Volya could see a black spirit holding Gracia's hand.

Before he could observe it more, he leaps away from Gracia's black spike. He continues to leap away from every Gracia's attack. He looks at his own body and he could see scratch all over his body. Blood spilt to the ground as he continues to defend himself from Gracia's attack.

He then mumbles,

"That black spirit... It's... Identical to the one that stands behind him... Don't say..."

Gracia suddenly stops attacking and says,

"Mother... Your killer is trapped now... Let's feast on his dead body shall we?"

When Volya hear Gracia calls the black spirit as her mother, he speculates that the black spirit is the one who stirs Gracia's mind. And maybe it's the one who stirred the mind of others.

He then checks his own body and mana pool. From there he knows that he could at least use three or four consecutive magics. After that, he couldn't move at all for around a week. If he failed to free Gracia from her chain, then it's dead-end for him.

He prepared his mind and body as he tried to stand up. He takes a deep breath and notices Gracia is smiling at him. A smile of someone that joyous to know that they could finish their prey.

Before he could do anything, Gracia already swings her staff. The black spike scatters around the area and closes any gap for Volya to run away. From there he knows, it does or dies for him.

As he gathers his breath, he could feel a black spike coming at him. He immediately moves his hand and summons a winds.h.i.+eld to protect him. He then mumbles,

"Three left..."

He then makes a stance to dash at Gracia. From the ground, a yellow magic circle is created below Volya's shoes. As the yellow magic circle is gone, Volya crosses his hand and starts to dash at Gracia. Volya then mumbles as he runs to Gracia,

"Two left..."

Gracia that notices that starts to create more black spike and throws it at Volya. The winds.h.i.+eld could hold most of the black spike, but little by little the winds.h.i.+eld starts to crack.

When the distance between him and Gracia becomes half of it, the winds.h.i.+eld starts to shatter and some of the black spikes scratch Volya's body. But, he ignores the injury as he continues to dash.

Gracia that notices Volya become closer, starts to swing her staff again. This time, a black flame starts to gather on her staff and she throws the fire to Volya.

Volya notices that and a bright red magic circle created in front of him. The magic circle immediately vanished and Volya moved his hand. From his hand flame starts to gather and he throws it at the black flame.

The flame hits each other and creates a big explosion. Gracia is quite surprised to see that and then smiles as she knows that the explosion is near Volya. But before she walks, Volya jumps out from the smoke and pins Gracia to the ground.

Volya is already full of bruises and scratches all over his body, but he ignores that as he could see the black ent.i.ty starts to panic. A big black magic circle created under Gracia and a lot of black spikes and black mist gather around them.

The black mist starts to suffocate Volya, while one black spike pierces through Volya near his shoulder. Volya starts to scream in agony, but he immediately focused on Gracia.

Gracia screams full of hatred in front of Volya,

"So... You are trying to kill me now!"

"No! I will not kill you!"

"Liar! You will burn me... With your fire magic... Like what happens to my mother!"

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Volya clicked his tongue and then he could feel other black spikes pierce his other shoulder. He then says,

"No... I will not kill you... I will... Save you..."

"Huh?! Save me..."

"I will save you from this monster... clutch! From the chain... THAT HOLDING YOU!"

A white magic circle created on Volya's hand and he then continues,

"O Lady of fate... Please listen... my prayer... Let thy hand... free... the chain... of darkness..."

Volya's eye colour comes back to normal and at the same time, the magic circle vanished. He then touches Gracia chest and shouts,

"Fate Breaker!"

A white hand materialized from Volya's back and it tried to get rid of the black ent.i.ty. There is a struggle from the black ent.i.ty, and Volya could see Gracia screams in agony.

The black ent.i.ty retaliates and sends another black spike to pierce Volya's body. The last attack hurt Volya and he started to lose consciousness from the blood loss and lack of oxygen. But, he tried his best to stay awake as he must save her.

The white hand little by little drags the black ent.i.ty away and it succeeds in doing so. As the black ent.i.ty already has gone from Gracia body. The black mist and black spike start to vanish.

Gracia opens her eyes and notices Volya that pins him down. She then says,

"Volya... Portar..."

"Gracia..."

"..."

"I made... a promise... to... your mother..."

"Eh?"

"I will... find you... and protect... you..."

"What..."

"And... I will tell you... her last... word..."

Volya then touches Gracia's cheek. He knows that his mana is already depleted, but he knows that this is the only way to convince Gracia. Gracia closes her eyes as Volya touches her cheek.

As Gracia opens her eyes, she could see her mother. Her mother is smiling at her and then she hugs her. Her mother then whispers her last wish to Gracia,

"Forgive your mother... As I selfishly put the stone on you..."

Gracia, already full of emotion, can't say anything to her mother and starts to cry. Her mother then continues,

"But... I think... That stone could become my gift... Stay strong, my daughter... I will pray for your future..."

Her mother then wipe Gracia's tear and continues,

"So, continue smiling at everyone..."

As she finished saying that, Gracia's mind started to fade again. As she opened her eyes, she could see the clear blue sky above. The bird is flying around the sky as they play around with the other. She also could see and feel the tranquillity of the forest around her.

And then she notices battered Volya. He smiles at Gracia and says,

"Welcome back... Gracia..."

"Volya..."

"It's good... you are back... and... I'm sorry..."

"I'm... I'm..." says Gracia as she trembles and cries again

"I… never… kill your… mother…"

"Please… stop talking... your wound is…" said Gracia as she tried to stop Volya bleeding

"And… I am not… a liar… I will never… lie…"

"Please… Volya, stop…"

"If only... I come... faster... or... find you... faster... you... will not..."

Volya starts to lose his consciousness and falls on Gracia that shouts out his name.