“Ugh. The weather is a nightmare today. My hair is going to get wet again.” Venus complained. The weather was bad. The sky could not even be seen beneath the mass of black clouds covering it.

“It looks like the gods are angry at us. I don’t have a good feeling about this.” Yuuki’s eyes were focused on the sky.

Their blue stood out to Maria. It might have been her imagination, but Maria was sure she saw magic swirl in the beast’s eyes.

“That’s a lot of magic. I’ve never seen this much magic gathering in the sky before.” Yuuki continued. He seemed to have been hypnotized by the swirling magic.

Maria could feel the magic but she had no idea what it meant. She only knew that it was because she had tricked the upper-realm woman into coming here.

“Should we take shelter inside the cave again? It won’t help us to get caught in the storm.” Maria observed. The storm gave her a bad feeling.

She did not want to step into it. It was like asking for trouble. A magic rain could mean anything.

“No. We should not wait around. I don’t like the looks of the sky and we don’t have any idea when it will clear out either. We will be sitting ducks in the cave.” Yuuki was not wrong.

But his refusal to even glance toward Kuro’s face made it difficult for Maria to guess his emotions. Her instincts told her that something was wrong with Yuuki.

“I agree as well. The sky feels unsettling. The magic is upsetting as well.” Kuro added. He looked uncomfortable.

Even Venus looked uncomfortable but did not complain. Venus was not as sensitive to magic as everyone else at the party. So the effect on her was not that great.

“Let’s go.” Yuuki’s voice was starting to sound odd to Maria as well. It was void of emotions and hollow. Still, it seemed to not be bothering the other two with Maria.

The forest had not changed in the night. The trees still felt odd and ever-changing. Kuro and Venus still made observations about them. Yuki still added his words to the mix.

But Maria was not sure why she felt like something had fundamentally changed in this continent. The continent was mourning again.

There was no beast to be seen anywhere in the path. Previously, beasts roamed around the forest without fear. Maria had seen a lot of those huge beasts on her way

“Don’t you think the rest is too quiet? It’s unsettling.” Maria spoke out aloud. She had intended to clue the other three in on her nervousness but she could not help herself.

Her senses were freaking out.

“Too quiet? Isn’t the forest always like this?” Kiro asked. Venus seemed to be agreeing with him. Yuuki was the only one to not say a word. The kid looked like he was in a trance.

“It is? Must be my imagination then. Let’s go.” Maria marched ahead.

She had yet to ingest the curse-breaking medicine she had been given. Maria did not want to waste it unnecessarily.

“According to legends, the pool should be somewhere around here.” Yuuki led the way. Maria was not sure if she believed him or not.

But she had no other lead on the pool location. She just knew that the pool was nearby and it existed. So, following Yuuki was her only option at the moment.

Still, she could not shake the feeling that she was being hunted by something huge. The surge of magic in the sky hid the other magical signatures around them.

“I think I see something. I’ll go ahead and take a look.” Kuro yelled as he separated from the group. Maria was too late to stop him, so she didn’t even try.

What was shocking was that Yuuki didn’t try to stop him either. Maria was becoming concerned with the dazed look in Yuuki’s eyes by the second.

“This is not good. Do you think we should go and chase him down?” Maria directed her question toward Yuuki. Venus had already run off toward the pond.

“Huh? Ah, sure.” There was no question about it now. There was something wrong with Yuuki.

“Hey, is everything alright with you? You seem to be a little out of it right now.” Maria questioned.

The tilt Yuuki gave with his head was unnatural. The calm expression on his face was not helping Maria’s nerves either. But before she could say anything else, Yuuki turned around and started walking toward the pond.

And Maria folded after him.

To say that she found a ‘pond’ would be an insult to the great water body in front of her. It was a lake with an expanse of blue everywhere.

“So much water. Do you think it is safe to drink? What about taking a bath?” Venus asked, ignoring the rain drenching them. Maria had no idea how she ignore the main problem.

Maria dipped her hand inside the lake to confirm her suspicions. Her hand touched the surface and sank into it without any resistance.

But the feeling of relief did not wash over her. The curse on her magic had not been broken.

“This is normal water. I doubt it had any magical properties.” Maria concluded. The water had a healthy shine, but it was normal water.

Kuro and Venus looked defeated but Yuuki looked indifferent. He approached the lake and conducted his one test.

“That’s true. It gives off a magical presence but it had no sustenance. Looks like our journey is not over yet.” Yuuki concluded as well. The teen stood up and turned around without any explanation.

Maria could just sigh at the other’s motion and decided to follow behind him.

But it was strange. The lake had no magic and yet it gave off a magical presence. Moreover, the presence was enough to fool even Yuuki’s nose.

On the other hand, the forest no longer held a presence of its own. It was almost as if the magical storm brewing over their head was sucking the magic dry from the forest.

Even the falling lightning was made up of concentrated magic.

“Wow. I’m so glad we decided to leave the cave at the right time. Looks like the lightning fell right on top of it.” Venus’s voice caused Maria to pause.

She could not have been that concerned if the lightning was not made up of magic. However, the circumstances changed everything.

“Should we check it out? It’s not like magic to interfere to randomly fall from the sky.” Kuro added.

Maria became even more concerned. Jamaica had a magic deficiency. Having so much magic gathered in one place cannot be good for this place.

But Maria still felt like she was missing something. The clouds were hiding something huge from them all.

It was the earth’s quaking that brought Maria out of her thoughts. It caused her to lose her balance and fall.

“An earthquake? It’s been years since we last had one. I don’t think this is a good sign.” Venus sounded shaky as she stood back up. Kuro looked pale as well.

“The last earthquake was said to accompany our misery. I’m afraid that this is not a good sign for us.” Kuro explained at Maria’s questionable look. Yuuki was still silent but with a distant look in his eyes.

But the merge of magic was getting worse in Yuuki’s core. Maria could feel something bad about to happen.

But before Maria could make any other decision, the sky split apart. The figure that descended was fast and Maria was sure no one else caught her moment.

“You should not have played with fire. Once you are aware of the changes, I can’t allow you to leave this place.” the goddess stood before Maria. She looked transparent to Maria’s eye. A mirage that only she could see.

Kuro and Venus passed right through her body. Yuuki hesitated but chose to side-step her. Maria could see fear in the beast’s eyes and she did not feel good about it.

When her eyes met Yuuki, she could read the ‘I’m sorry. I can’t go against her’ inside them. And Maria knew that she could not count on him to save her.

After all, Yuuki’s priority was Kuro. Maria was just an asset to him. He had no obligation to save Maria.

“Technically, I did not trick you. You said to think of any place I wanted to go.” Maria reminded the goddess.

She was playing with fire here. The goddess did not look like she enjoyed Maria’s prank. Nor did she look amused at having things pointed out to her.

“I also recall saying that you were not allowed to come back here. Every action had a consequence and now it’s time you face them.” the goddess replied.

The divine being’s hand moved and Maria had only a second to dodge the magical strike. The magic did not harm the land. It did not even leave a shred of evidence. But Maria knew she would have been gravely injured had she been hit.

She might have even died if she had not dodged that strike outright.

“Alright. Two can play this game.” Maria knew she was in over her head, but she had to fight back. she had to save herself.