The moment Liu and Bel noticed the girl standing beside Samael...
It was an absolute shock.
Neither of them had sensed her approach.
Neither.
Liu reacted immediately.
Her sword sliced through the air toward the stranger's neck.
At the same time, Bel stepped forward and swung his black staff, releasing its destructive vibrations.
Both attacks arrived simultaneously.
Precise.
Lethal.
But the purple-haired girl merely moved her hand slowly.
Her sword remained sheathed.
The violet blade collided with Liu's sword—
CLANG!
And in the same motion...
Bel's invisible vibrations were simply cut in half.
As if they had never existed.
The impact forced Liu and Bel several steps backward.
Both widened their eyes.
Because she had stopped both attacks absurdly easily.
Without effort.
Without even drawing her sword.
Samael did not move.
Strangely...
He felt no hostility coming from her.
The girl simply looked away from them and calmly walked until she stopped beside Cyrene.
— We were already reaching a peaceful conclusion. Why did you do that, Acheron? — Cyrene asked with a small sigh.
And then...
The name was finally revealed.
Acheron.
Liu kept her sword raised.
But at that moment, she had already realized one thing.
The difference between them was absurd.
That girl was a Master.
No.
Something worse.
If Acheron truly was a native American...
Then she had grown up surrounded by Nightmare Creatures far beyond human imagination.
No one survived in that hell while being weak.
— I sensed something interesting about him, — Acheron replied calmly.
Her violet eyes returned to Samael.
— So I needed to confirm it.
She pointed slightly at him.
— That boy encountered one of the Cursed.
Cyrene's eyes widened slightly.
Then she glanced at Samael again.
— Ah...
Her expression finally seemed to understand his strange behavior.
— So that's why he's acting like this.
Samael remained silent.
Distracted.
As though part of his mind was still trapped within the impossible vision from the previous night.
Cyrene turned back to Acheron.
— And the others?
— They're nearby. Nothing happened to them, — Acheron replied calmly.
Liu finally spoke.
— Who exactly is she?
Cyrene answered immediately.
— This is Acheron. One of my companions.
She cast a small tired glance at the purple-haired girl.
— And... I apologize for her behavior. Acheron is a little strange.
— How many of you are there? — Liu asked without fully lowering her guard.
— Currently? Four, — Acheron answered before Cyrene could speak.
Then her violet eyes met Liu's directly.
— And that's enough of this excessive caution.
Her presence seemed to weigh down the surroundings at that moment.
— Do you really think that if I wanted to hurt you... you would still be standing here?
Silence filled the area.
Because everyone present knew the answer.
No.
They wouldn't.
After a few seconds, Liu slowly lowered her sword.
Bel did the same.
Acheron merely looked away, clearly losing interest in the topic.
Then Bel asked:
— How did you survive all these years?
There was genuine curiosity in his voice.
Because it directly contradicted everything humanity believed it knew.
According to historical records...
America had completely fallen sixteen years ago after the opening of a Category Five Gate.
There should not have been any living humans left on the continent.
Cyrene remained silent for several seconds before replying.
— Some people survived.
Her voice became quieter.
— Small groups gathered into colonies scattered throughout the continent.
The wind drifted through the skeletons spread across the ruined city as she spoke.
— There were seven major colonies.
Liu's eyes narrowed slightly.
— Seven?
Cyrene nodded.
— Each one was protected by a Saint.
That made Liu's heart accelerate.
Seven Saints.
Seven entire colonies of Awakened surviving inside America.
If that was true...
The impact on humanity would be enormous.
But then...
Cyrene continued.
— There were.
A single word.
And the atmosphere immediately became heavier.
Colder.
Bel finally asked:
— What happened?
Cyrene lowered her eyes slightly.
For the first time, her smile disappeared completely.
— The colonies began falling one by one.
Her voice remained calm.
But there was sadness in it.
An old, exhausted sadness.
— The Nightmare Creatures became stronger.
— And even the Saints started dying.
Silence spread once more.
Even Acheron seemed quieter now.
More distant.
— Not even our colony managed to endure, — Cyrene murmured.
Her expression became melancholic.
Heavy.
— A Cursed Creature appeared alongside a horde.
— Our colony fell six months ago.
Liu's eyes trembled slightly.
Cyrene then raised her gaze once more.
And calmly said:
— At present... only four native Americans remain.
Bel had already satisfied part of his curiosity.
And Liu...
Honestly didn't know what to say after that revelation.
The atmosphere grew heavier.
More suffocating.
Then silence slowly settled among the five of them.
Only the wind moved through the skeletons scattered across the ruined city.
Liu used that moment to glance at Samael from the corner of her eye.
He still seemed distant.
Distracted.
As though part of his mind remained trapped in that impossible vision.
So he really encountered a Cursed being...
The mere fact that Samael could still walk normally already seemed impressive to Liu.
She couldn't even imagine what someone felt after gazing upon an existence of that level.
After several seconds of silence, she finally asked:
— How can we cure him?
Cyrene and Acheron both seemed to understand exactly what had happened to Samael.
So perhaps they knew a way to help him.
But Acheron merely gave Samael a brief glance before answering:
— Cure?
Her tone sounded almost confused.
Then she looked away again.
— In a few days, he'll recover on his own.
The answer came absurdly casually.
As if it were something completely ordinary.
Liu remained silent for several moments.
Because to her, that sounded ridiculous.
Samael was clearly injured.
Even without severe external wounds... something was wrong with him.
Something deep.
Yet Acheron genuinely did not seem to consider it important.
Bel stood quietly beside them.
Internally, however, he remained deeply disturbed.
Since the beginning of this conversation...
He had been unable to sense any soul essence coming from either Cyrene or Acheron.
Nothing.
It was as though both of them were ordinary humans.
Completely normal.
But that simply made no sense.
Especially after his brief exchange with Acheron.
Bel could still feel the chill in his hands as he remembered her sheathed sword slicing through his destructive vibrations as though they were smoke.
That woman was monstrously powerful.
Far above them.
Perhaps even above most human Masters.
And yet...
Her spiritual presence was empty.
Nonexistent.
Which only made Acheron seem even stranger.
More dangerous.
As though she were something Bel simply could not comprehend.