The mist couldn’t defend herself. Since Marie genuinely believed with all her heart that this man was the most powerful, he was simply too strong for her.
Something about the whole thing bothered the mist, though. “You’re really going to let your older brother invade your personal space like this?!”
As Marie had rightly stated, this was her sole domain. Most people wouldn’t want to invite anyone into the deepest, most private part of themselves. But Marie… Not only had she created a version of her brother inside her own personal domain, she’d let him waltz right into this room.
“Are you obsessed with your older brother or something?!” the mist blurted as she scrambled to escape the bat that brother brandished.
“So what if I am?” Marie shrugged, not looking the least bit sheepish. “I adore my Big Bro!” Her inner self was completely true to her own nature, so she felt no embarrassment. “Now, off with you! Get out of my room already.”
Losing all interest in further conversation, she yawned and promptly curled up in her bed, ready to drift back to sleep.
“I cannot accept this! There’s no way you’re my descendant!” the mist howled at the top of her lungs, just as Marie’s older brother swung his bat hard at her. The irresistible attack booted her out of Marie’s mind.
“You rotten wench!” the man cried. “Don’t you dare think for even a moment that this is over!”
In the next instant, the mist—fully expelled from Marie’s mind—was thrust back into reality. The ordeal had worn her thin, leaving her exhausted.
“I never anticipated this outcome,” she murmured to herself.
Marie had looked so vulnerable in her sleep. This had been the best chance the mist would ever have to take over her body. Yet Marie’s mental protections were so overwhelmingly powerful that the mist hadn’t stood a chance.
“Damn it! Why did this happen? This should’ve been my moment. Never before has a descendant of mine laid hands on the Saint’s necklace imbued with my bitterness!” That was the mist’s true identity; the necklace harbored the grudge of Marie’s ancestor. “No. No, I won’t squander this prime opportunity because of that wicked little witch.”
The mist lamented her failed attempt. Actually, she might’ve preferred outright failing over being forcefully thrown out, as she had been.
“She’s the perfect candidate, with the right attributes and power. Her appearance is perhaps a bit immature for my liking, but other than that, I couldn’t hope for better. How unfair that her personality’s so distasteful that I can’t use her.” The mist glowered at her would-be victim’s sleeping form—at least until a new presence caught her attention. At the edge of the room, a sphere simply floated in the air.
“What’s this?” murmured the mist. The sphere’s singular red eye flashed eerily. It was watching her. Sensing danger, the mist’s first instinct was to flee. However, a barrier had already been cast over the window, trapping her.
“Such impudence. Fine, I’ll simply return to the necklace here in the—” She cut herself off as she dropped her gaze and realized the necklace was no longer tucked inside the desk drawer. Panic set in. She whipped her head around trying to spot the object, the room blurring, only to see it floating next to the sphere.
“Is this what you are searching for?” the sphere asked.
“It speaks?” the mist said to herself in disbelief. “Could it be a Lost Item, then? Strange. I’ve never heard of one so technologically advanced.”
Faced with the mist’s shocked mumbling, the sphere remained perfectly composed. “You are right to be wary of me. That said, I find you to be an incredibly curious phenomenon. I shall capture you and use you as a research subject.”
“Ha! As if I’d let you take me so easily! I have a duty I must carry out, so I can’t allow myself to—” The mist broke off, trying to find another route to flee the room, but magical barriers blocked every corner. As a last resort, she tried to squeeze beneath the small gap between the bottom of the door and the floor.
Before she could do so, the sphere made its move. “It is my first time encountering an astral spirit like you. It is a relief that magic works so effectively against you.” A vacuum-like object appeared seemingly out of nowhere and sucked in the mist, sealing her in a transparent bag. Try as she might to tear her newfound cage open and take flight, it was impervious to her attempts. “Let me out of here!”
“I cannot. You are an incredibly precious research sample. Besides, there are questions I have to ask you.” The sphere’s gaze wandered back to Marie. “I will thoroughly investigate why you targeted Marie specifically.”
When his eye returned to the mist and focused on her, she shrank back, terrified. “St-stop this. I have my own priorities—and my own duty I must accomplish! I don’t have time to waste as your test subject!”
“Indeed, I would like to hear much more about that as well.”
“I can’t believe that witch has a minion like this under her thumb, too!” The mist glared at Marie, who was still fast asleep, her stomach exposed and a tendril of drool running down her chin.
“Big Bro,” Marie whined, “I can’t eat any more…” She must’ve been dreaming about delicious food.
The misty figure’s glare intensified. “I can’t believe I lost to this spoiled brat!” she hissed, humiliated.