Power coiled around Gwen, swirling like a maelstrom.
Yet I sensed no magic.
It bore an uncanny resemblance to miasma instead.
At such overwhelming concentration, any human would rot to the merely drawing near.
Before long, Gwen began to levitate ever so slightly.
Scattering sand beneath her, she offered a bewitching smile.
"I'll have to show you something special, Harvelt."
"That won't be necessary."
I invoked my sorcery.
Vines surged up from the desert floor, reaching to bind Gwen, only to be repelled at the last instant.
The vines crumbled from their tips onward.
"Oh my, how dangerous. I very nearly died just then."
Gwen made a gesture of clutching her chest in relief, yet her face brimmed with cold amusement.
Contrary to her words, she hadn't been rattled in the slightest.
The power swirling around her had decomposed the vines' magic, rendering the spell null and void.
I could confirm the moment the spell formula was stripped away upon contact.
An ordinary spell would be destroyed without question.
Fortunately, the oath-bound sorcery still held, but I would need to think of a different approach to attack.
"My preparations are complete. Now, behold!"
When Gwen raised both hands, the sand swelled up on either side of her.
From there emerged two men.
One had chestnut short hair and wore glasses.
His plain clothes were unremarkable, with nothing distinctive about his appearance.
However, the eyes fixed on us burned with obsession.
The bespectacled man took a step forward and raised his hand.
"Well, long time no see! I missed you! Put on a little meat, haven't you? Looking more like a man."
"..."
I remained silent.
No words came to mind.
I shifted my gaze to the other man.
This one had neat blond hair and was dressed in refined noble attire.
Clashing grotesquely with his handsome features was a smile of pure malice.
His green eyes made no effort to hide their sadistic pleasure.
"Dwight Harvelt. What a familiar face. It takes me back ten years."
"..."
I still could not speak.
The scene before me was unbelievable.
Appearing at Gwen's sides were the inventor John Doe and the former Four Heavenly King Balk.
"What a coincidence—I've invited people so deeply connected to you, Harvelt! What a moving reunion. I'm just so kind!"
"What is this? Have the dead been resurrected?"
"Have you forgotten? This is your spiritual world. I dug through Harvelt's memories and selected these two for you."
Gwen explains with gleeful enthusiasm.
Hearing that, I grasp the general mechanism.
She must have restored them from my memories.
Though limited to the spiritual world, she had executed a pseudo-resurrection.
It was an ability that defied all reason, but I was beyond surprise now.
Gwen was a creature from the outside world.
She wasn't an entity that could be understood by forcing her into existing magical frameworks.
"However, they aren't fakes made of memories alone. Both of them are the genuine article, without a doubt."
"Impossible. I killed both of them."
When I denied it, Bulk shook his head with theatrical flair.
He spoke to me in a tone of gentle admonition.
"Everything has its exceptions. I should have taught you that by now."
"As for Bulk, I had to extract just his spirit from the soul imprisoned in the research institute. It was troublesome avoiding detection by the Director, but I managed it in the end. Honestly, though, the cost wasn't worth the effort."
It must have happened while I was walking through the desert.
The research institute must be in an uproar by now.
Bulk's soul undergoing a change—surely the staff would be aware.
According to Gwen, the Director had actually resisted.
I wondered about her safety.
I could only hope she was unharmed.
"By the way, John protected the spirit left behind in the corpse. It seems only the dominant personality was killed by Harvelt."
"That's right. I thought I would go mad, but I couldn't die. I'm convinced I survived for this very moment."
John spoke with an ironic smile.
He had a split personality.
Once, I fought a desperate battle with him in the Land of Mana and Craft.
In the end, I killed John, but it seemed I had failed to take out one of the personalities back then.
From Gwen's words, it was clear John's soul had indeed been obliterated.
However, his spirit alone had remained in the corpse.
As someone who primarily perceives magic and souls, I was unable to pick up on that trace.
There was little reason for Gwen to lie here.
He was probably stating only the facts about the whole affair.
Currently, in addition to Gwen, John and Balk had invaded my spirit, and they appeared to be forming bodies based on my memories.
(They're doing whatever they want...)
Gwen was even more prepared than I had thought.
Seeing me step into the spiritual world, he must have arranged this immediately.
His flippant attitude was conspicuous, but in reality, he harbored cunning thoughts.
Truly an unfathomable opponent.
"Well then, I'll go watch from over there. I'm a little tired."
"Wait."
As Gwen turned on his heel, I prepared to launch a spell at him.
John stood in my path.
"I'm not letting you go. I'm your first opponent."
John buried one hand in the sand.
What he pulled up was a black, gun-like object.
A thing absent from my memory.
Some sort of sorcery, perhaps?
(Living John shouldn't have possessed any special ability.)
He had come at us with extraordinary ingenuity and the technology of the Magia Nation.
He didn't wield the power to create weapons.
If that was the case, then Gwen must have bestowed power upon him beforehand during his resurrection.
John leveled the gun at me.
"Gotta pay you back for killing me. That's why I came back to life."
"As for me, I've been killed twice. Since I was also forced into great suffering afterwards, I have the right to retaliate. Don't you agree?"
Balk declared in a booming voice.
He maintained a calm exterior on the surface, but his gaze was dominated by a thirst for vengeance.
Far off in the distance, Gwen watched the scene with idle amusement.
It seemed he intended to leave my fight to these two.
(Annoying, but I have no choice but to defeat them...)
An unexpected rematch, but the task remained the same.
It just meant a bit more trouble.
Just fight steady and sure.
With my resolve set, I repositioned my staff and magic sword.