Choice

In another minute—no, thirty seconds at most—I won't be able to return to my normal form... Angel came to this realization, but the situation was urgent, and she could not spare the thought for it. At worst, at worst, she would die once more like during the Great Smog in Backlund...

Having made up her mind, she took out another "Betrayal" Charm. With her current spirituality, she could only use one more Advanced Charm strengthened with over a hundred milliliters of blood. After that, she might lose control from spiritual exhaustion, exposing her incomplete Mythical Creature Form.

This was the last chance. Aim for its head. It would be even better if she could Reenact the scene where the King of the North killed her... As she thought this, her purple eyes, devoid of whites, fixed on the Magic Mirror. Amid the whispers and howls once again flooding her mind, she steadied herself and prepared to activate the Charm in her hand.

"Wait."

Klein's voice came from beside Angel's ear. He fumbled for her wrist, stopping her, then turned his body sideways. With his eyes closed, he "looked" in this direction through his eyelids.

Even so, Angel's snake-haired form made his body stiffen, his expression tighten, and a streak of dark blood seep from the corner of his eye.

The venomous snakes atop Angel's head—some flicking scarlet tongues, others widening their single eyes—looked at Klein as if in self-defense, intensifying the sensation that his entire body was rigid and nearly turning to stone. Fortunately, Angel barely managed to control her form, making the snakes hang down like ordinary hair.

Klein had repeatedly entered and left the Gray Fog. The Spirit Body and mental state that had endured the trials of beings such as the Eternal Blazing Sun and the True