Freya wanted to understand how he could endure all of that in silence.
It looked agonizing, yet he remained as if nothing were wrong.
She once again noticed how Evo loved to act strong and proud.
A young man with an indomitable spirit, someone who would never bow to anyone or ask for help.
She herself had proven that earlier, when even with her crushing him into the ground,
he refused to look away from her or show fear.
He kept his gaze locked onto hers, radiating an air of dignity even in that situation.
– You proud idiot!
Freya said it while watching him continue asking questions and exchanging ideas with his companions.
She saw how he always asked for his copies' opinions.
It showed just how important they were to him. He listened to everything they said with full attention.
His trust in them was unshakable.
Freya, looking at the copies, couldn't help but smile, happy to know he trusted them that much.
Ravina, in her personal space, also watched that admirable scene amidst the chaos with affection.
– Eylam shows so much consideration for the two of us.
Ravina sighed as she looked at the stars above the shattered ceiling.
– Tomorrow we need to apologize to him properly.
While both drifted into those thoughts, the interrogation's final moments were nearing their end.
Noticing that he was about to ask the last question, they turned their attention toward his words.
– Very well, I'll ask you the final question!
– What is the true ob—
As we know, Evo never finished that question, for he was already at his limit.
His soul creaked, filled with pain from the strain of the spell.
He collapsed to his knees, supporting himself with both hands on the ground.
Rivers of blood poured from his mouth as his body began to fragment.
Ravina and Freya panicked at the sight, screaming as they flew toward him, along with their copies.
– Ev!
– Eylam!
The two copies managed to hold him, while the originals couldn't touch him, forced to watch in anguish.
Freya was one step away from breaking into tears, consumed by despair at being unable to do anything.
– Goddess, please help him!
She roared at the sky as her breath grew heavy.
– Calm yourself, Freya! I warned you.
– These are only memories. There is nothing you can do.
Freya trembled, kneeling beside Evo as her copy mirrored her despair.
Seriously. His condition was horrifying.
One of the worst things that could happen to anyone was to have their soul wounded and overloaded the way Evo's was.
Freya didn't know that it was his soul that was crumbling, worn down after being forced relentlessly while he cast the spell "The Word."
But that didn't change her anguish.
– Then… I-I have to leave him like this?
She asked while trying to touch his face, cracked and breaking.
She was met with the sensation of someone hugging her from behind.
It was her friend, her sister, her partner.
Ravina had come to comfort her with a warm embrace.
She knew that scene was hurting Freya deeply—hurting herself as well. But she held firm for her friend's sake.
– Calm down, Freya. I know this hurts, but…
– If he's out there with us, in the real world, then he survived this.
Ravina, struggling not to cry, tightened the embrace and finished:
– We need to be strong for him now.
Freya looked sideways at Ravina and saw she also felt powerless, yet stayed strong.
– I know, but…
She looked at Evo and at Elizabeth's copy beside him, desperately trying to heal him.
– But he's suffering…
Her voice cracked as she lowered her face.
Freya and Ravina were strong women—capable of enduring anything. At times they even seemed cold or indifferent.
But one thing that broke them, that drove them to despair, was seeing someone so important to them in such a pitiful state.
Evo wasn't just anyone. He was the brazen young man who barged into their lives with arrogance and pride.
He had become the most important person to them.
If their old selves—before meeting him—saw what they had become over a mere student, they would have mocked mercilessly.
This only proved how extraordinary Evo was, having managed to become someone precious to two women who once cared only for themselves.
The fear of losing him crept into their hearts.
– Yes, he is suffering.
Ravina didn't deny it, nor try to comfort her with lies.
– But you know he's strong. He won't let this break him.
Little did they know they would soon regret saying that.
Freya calmed slightly and stayed there, kneeling beside Evo, who was receiving first aid from Instructor Elizabeth.
– It's not working!
– It only stopped the corrosion!
Elizabeth's copy warned, alarmed.
Freya and Ravina, realizing how dangerous that ability truly was, made a decision.
– We can't let him use that ability carelessly again!
Determined, the two decided they would forbid Evo from using that spell, even if they had to seal it themselves.
Evo was stubborn and would surely try to stop them, but this was no longer open for discussion.
They would not let this happen again.
As Freya and Ravina watched everything unfold, they noticed a strange movement from the man lying behind their copies.
In his hand, he held a small orb filled with liquid.
Both narrowed their eyes.
– What is that bastard holding?
Freya stood and approached the enemy, who was piercing the orb with his claws.
Once she examined the substance, realization struck instantly.
– How did they get this!?
She exclaimed, alarmed.
Ravina, seeing her friend distressed, came closer and analyzed the liquid the man was now smearing onto his claws.
– This is poison! But what kind?
She asked, adjusting her glasses. Freya answered as a status screen similar to Evo's appeared before her.
"Poison Analysis" – Activated
Analyzing…
Result: Paralyzing Venom of the Abyssal Serpent / Also known as the Serpent of the Desert Depths
Effect: Temporary Paralysis – Efficiency: Mythic
This was one of Freya's abilities.
As an Apostle, she received missions from the Goddess and, in return, earned rewards—skills, spells, and magic.
Having lived for millennia, her arsenal was vast.
And it was during those missions that she obtained her second element:
The Poison Element.
– Paralyzing Venom of the Abyssal Serpent.
Freya said as Ravina looked genuinely shocked that they had such a substance.
– How did they get a venom like that?
– Abyssal Serpents are nearly impossible to find.
Freya nodded.
– Exactly.
– And I doubt it came from the black market. No one would be stupid enough to sell something this valuable in secret.
– They'd sell it openly!
– In public places, where nobles would pay fortunes for an almost impossible-to-obtain rarity.
– And if that had happened, we would have known.
Ravina completed her reasoning.
Both had contacts in such shops across every kingdom, especially the human one.
If something that valuable hit the market, they would know immediately.
They truly had no idea how that venom ended up in the enemy's hands.
Then, after making sure his claws were thoroughly coated, the man slashed Ravina's and Freya's copies, who were too focused on Evo to react.
The originals immediately noticed another inconsistency.
– Even if we were 100% focused on Evo, our danger sense would warn us about anything threatening us.
– Even the smallest threat!
Freya pointed out.
Their danger sense was passive.
If even a feather drifted toward them with the risk of scratching them, they would be alerted long before it got close.
So being caught by such a foolish, pathetic attack was illogical. Unrealistic.
– And when Evo collapsed, we would've killed the enemy instantly.
– We wouldn't leave him alive near Evo in that state.
Ravina added.
They would never keep that enemy alive, especially after he was no longer needed.
A few seconds later, what they had been denying finally happened.
– Well… I guess it's my turn now.
A voice echoed nearby—calm, apathetic.
Freya and Ravina looked at each other as something clicked inside their minds.
They knew whose voice it was. They didn't even need to look.
A weight filled their chests.
– Ravina… it can't be, right?
Freya asked, hoping for a denial.
But Ravina, staring in the voice's direction, answered only with silence, biting her lip.
The silence was enough.
There was no denying it anymore. The fragile hope they had shattered.
Freya turned her attention to the tall, grizzled man approaching their paralyzed copies while unsheathing his sword.
The original Freya stared at him with a deadly, cold, hateful gaze.
Freya was a very emotional woman: when happy, she spread joy; when sad, she dragged everyone down with her; when enraged, her fury overflowed to all around her.
Her emotions were so intense and raw that they passively affected others without her realizing.
She stared at that man with a ferocious desire to kill him right there.
One of the things she despised most was betrayal. She couldn't stand it—just like Evo.
She knew she couldn't do anything, so she trembled with rage, fists clenched.
– Kalistro!
Her voice came out dangerously.
Overflowing with hostility toward the man she trusted to educate her students—
the same man she defended when her dear Evo tried to warn her.
She had even hurt Evo while defending him.
She was deeply disappointed in him… and in herself.
For not believing Evo when he told her the truth.