The sudden voice left the two girls present frozen for a moment.
Once they recovered, however, they both wore completely different expressions.
"What...?"
Mashu was unable to hide her surprise.
"This voice... Could it be...!?"
Olga Marie seemed to recognize it. She first looked startled, then revealed an expression of overwhelming joy—so intense it could almost be called tears of happiness.
And that was Olga Marie's final reaction.
The next second...
"Bang!"
With a gunshot-like report, a black-and-red magical bullet suddenly erupted behind Olga Marie and sank into her body.
"Gah...!"
Olga Marie only had time to let out a cry of pain before losing consciousness and collapsing backward.
The culprit behind everything reached out, caught the unconscious Olga Marie, and lowered her onto the ground.
Watching this unfold, Mashu was completely stunned.
"Sen... Senpai...!?"
The person who had attacked Olga Marie was none other than Luo Zhen.
Just as Olga Marie had nearly burst into tears of joy, Luo Zhen had fired the only spell he had learned besides Summoning Arts—Gandr—into her back.
Olga Marie had never imagined that Luo Zhen would attack her, so she had taken the full force of the blow.
However...
"Don't worry. I adjusted its power. She's only unconscious."
As he laid Olga Marie on the ground, Luo Zhen met Mashu's uncomprehending expression with a wry smile.
"It's better not to let someone with such a low tolerance for psychological stress know what's about to happen."
That was why Luo Zhen had knocked Olga Marie unconscious.
The sudden voice, however, mocked him instead.
"You're certainly gentle, Luo Zhen. You're supposed to hate that woman more than anyone, yet I thought you'd be delighted to savor the despair and pain on her face when she learned the truth."
As the voice faded, its owner appeared