Wilted Flowers (Trigger Warning)

"Marilyn, what have you done? Why? After all we have done to seal Animarum, why do you use that power?" Jake asked calmly. He was being careful not to trigger her. At the moment, she was a time bomb that even both he and Reina couldn't stop.

"I—" Marilyn was lost for words. There was a hint of regret on her face, but she immediately wiped it away and looked at Reina with a cold expression.

As if knowing her line of thinking, Jake placed his body in front of Reina. "Stop. You can still stop now. Don't go further than this."

Marilyn suddenly averted her eyes when she saw Jake. She then looked at the beholder and activated her eyes' power.

An orange sphere suddenly surrounded the creature and pressured it, as if trying to squish it. However, it resisted the power of the chaos due to the level difference between it and the Chaos Princess. The power of chaos only managed to transmute a few tentacles from its body and turn them into grains of sand.

The beholder's giant eye reddened in anger, and it stared at her.

Jake, who had checked the monster's information with his [Akashic Eyes], knew well how dangerous its power was. He looked at Marilyn in worry and shouted, "Marilyn, avoid his gaze!"

However, his warning came too late as her figure was reflected in the creature's round eye. Suddenly, blood came out of her orifices, and she screamed in pain.

"Marilyn!" Jake shouted in panic, but he didn't carelessly approach her because he knew well what happened when the creature locked its eye upon someone.

[Corruptor Eye] was the name of the beholder's eye. Its power was one of the two properties that chaos power could do. If [Elder Eyes] could transmute anything into a random thing, [Corruptor Eyes] could erase living creatures' sanity, turning them into mindless beasts.

Jake really wanted to save her, but he knew the beholder had turned her into a mindless person. If he approached her, she would attack him mindlessly. The only way to save her was to kill the beholder, but he and Reina couldn't do it together.

Jake knew the best choice was to leave and report this to the teachers, but he couldn't bear to leave her alone in that state. It was all his fault that she fell into that state. At least, he needed to accompany her even at the cost of his life.

"Reina. Go and inform teachers about this. I will stay here."

"No! You can't defeat them alone!"

"I don't plan to defeat them. I am planning to keep their attention on mine until the teachers arrive."

Reina still hesitated. Jake was about to convince her, but something unexpected happened. People were approaching.

Three female students just arrived in curiosity after hearing a commotion, but they immediately regretted their action when they saw the giant beholder. They screamed in fear, attracting the monster's attention.

"Run!" Jake ordered.

When the monster turned around, they immediately ran for their lives. However, the beholder gazed upon them first, and they stopped and suddenly fought against each other.

Reina, who saw this, raged. She unleashed her aura and swung her sword, sending out a crescent beam that scratched the creature's giant eye.

Having lost its eye, the creature only turned berserk and started its rampage to the surroundings. It lashed out its whips, destroying everything that it touched.

Jake felt relieved because the creature could no longer use its eye power. With that, people who were affected by its power had been freed from the effect.

"Good job, Reina," Jake praised as he caught her. His second girlfriend had used all her mana to heavily injure the chaos creature. At that moment, he had a chance to bring it down in its weakened state. He and the crowd of first year students could work together to defeat it.

Jake thought the problem was over. He was about to ask for the crowd to defeat the monster together, but he saw Marilyn approaching him with a cold expression.

Jake realized her intention when she kept looking at Reina, who was in his clutch. "Marilyn, let's talk about this."

Marilyn stopped and stared at them. Her orange eyes shone, and Jake showed his back to her while protecting Reina. However, Marilyn didn't stop. She focused on a spot behind his head and activated her power.

Marilyn's eye power had no range limit. She could cast it everywhere as long as she could see it. With that, the orange sphere appeared behind him and exploded. After that, a fire twister appeared out of thin air and danced behind him.

The power of chaos was random, and it randomly spawned a fire twister. It was such a misfortune, and this misfortune cost Reina's life.

Reina, who had used all her power, was in a weak state. She couldn't even move. When the fire twister danced behind him, it hit her in an instant and burnt most of her body parts.

Jake was pushed out by the fire twister, and he fell on his stomach. However, he suddenly got up and turned around. "Reina, are you...."

Jake was searching for Reina, but he found nothing. The fire twister had disappeared and for some reason, Reina was nowhere to be seen too.

"R-Reina?" Jake called for her name weakly. He could guess what happened, but he still couldn't believe it happened to him. He had gotten his first lover today and on the same day, he had lost her forever.

Jake wanted to convince himself this was just a nightmare, but the pain on his back felt real. The gust of wind that passed by felt real, and the murmur of the crowd sounded too real for it to be a dream.

"Mom, did you cast a nightmare for me?"

His mother's voice suddenly echoed in his head. "I am sorry for your loss, son."

"No way. Why didn't you save us?"

"You know well I can only save you when you face enemies 30 levels above you. Otherwise, I can't save your life even if I want to. I am sorry, son. She would be a good wife for you."

As his mother's voice faded in his mind, the crowd's voices entered his ears.

"No way! Did her highness just kill someone?" Marilyn's friend asked in surprise.

"Reina, nooo! Your highness, you are a monster!" Olympia, one of Reina's best friends, happened to see Reina's last moment.

"Hey, someone report this to the teachers!"

All of them were talking about her, but Marilyn didn't seem to be bothered. She approached Jake and hugged him from behind. "Hehe, the thieving cat has been rid of. Now, I can be your sole girlfriend," she said in relief and happiness. There was really no hint of regret after killing someone.

Jake got rid of her arms from his body and turned around. He looked at her in disappointment and said, "Marilyn, what have you done? Don't you realize that you have killed someone innocent?"

Marilyn shoved him and shouted, "Shut up! Shut up all of you! I don't know. I don't care anymore. I just want to live my life happily before I die! Why! Why? Why...."

Tears flowed down her eyes as he looked at him with a sad expression. "Why did you have to do that to me, Jake? I love you. I love you as much as I love my mother. Why? Why are you on her side even after she dies?"

Jake only shook his head repeatedly. "Marilyn... You have lost it. I can't believe this is the real you. Who are you?"

Marilyn widened her eyes when Jake said that. She was quiet for a moment before she burst out laughing from the bottom of her lungs.

People only watched her in horror. She was even more terrifying than the rampaging beholder who was destroying the garden's property.

Marilyn eventually stopped laughing and said, "I see. So, you hate me now. Why am I even alive?"

Jake was still mad at her, but he still considered every moment he had gone through with her. That was why he was trying to stop her from what she was going to do.

Jake used [Repulsion Force] and propelled himself forward. He was trying to reach her first. However, he was too late.

Marilyn conjured a mirror with her magic, and she looked at her reflection inside it. At the same time, her orange eyes shone, and at the same second, her head suddenly turned into pink petals. The petals danced in the air before slowly falling to the ground, and her headless body staggered before slowly falling too.

"No!!!" Jake shouted. He immediately caught her headless body before it fell to the ground, but it was useless. He lost Marilyn because of his own choice. He also lost Reina. He couldn't save people he cared for just like how he couldn't save Feng Qiu'er's life.

Jake felt useless, but for some reason, he didn't feel sad about the death of Marilyn and Reina. He looked at the headless body, confirming his own feelings, and it was true. He felt pity and regret, but he didn't feel sad, as if those two were strangers to him.

"What is wrong with me?"

Jake fell on his knees as he realized he lost the feeling of love toward Marilyn. He didn't even feel mad anymore toward her. It was as if she was a stranger.

"What is happening to me?"

As Jake fell into confusion, the beholder suddenly turned into small pieces after a pink-haired girl slashed it repeatedly.

The pink-haired girl was Ayla. She killed the beholder easily. After that, she approached him and hugged him from behind. "I am late again, Junior. But don't worry. We can still save both of them."

Jake didn't believe his words. After all, they had lost their lives. It was not like she could turn back time to save them. Still, he looked at her with a begging expression. "Please tell me you know a way to save them. I will do anything to save them."

Mircalla smiled softly. "I can't save them, but Atun can do it."