Aiken

"Long time no see, my lovely fourth candidate," the young man said to Norm with a wide grin.

At the sight of the man, tears streamed down Norm's eyes as she lost feeling in her limbs, making her succumb to the pressure. Looking above, the man could not help but look at Angela's body with greed in his eyes.

' Maybe she will work too,' he thought.

"Anyways where are my manners, my name is Aiken!" he introduced as he performed a bow. "You have grown a bit taller since the last time I saw you. Oh my, how children grow up so fast,".

"Aaa," Kevin cried out as he slowly lifted himself from the ground, even despite the force placed on him. He deactivated his tiger form, to save mana in the meantime.

Seeing this Aiken let out a weak laugh before saying, " Luckily, I am not here to embark on a murder spree".

Norm slightly flinched at the words he spoke, it brought back unpleasant memories for her.

"What do you want?" Lilith chimed in. Although she was severely injured moments ago, she now stood up fine as though nothing had happened to her. Even Norm could not help but gasp, leaving her in bewilderment as to how she healed. But despite her physical appearance, Lilith barely had any mana.

"It's quite simple, I am here for the fourth conduit...." Aiken then paused while displaying a frightening smile. "And also Angela Frost,".

"Huh, why?" Lilith asked while raising her guard, it seemed as if everyone was out for Angela.

"I'm running out of time, I need anyone that shows potential,".

"And why does that have to be Angela?" Lilith questioned, while already under the assumption he was an enemy.

"That is none of your concern!" Aiken responded coldly, sending a shiver down Lilith's spine.

"Then we have a problem because she is not going anywhere!" Kevin yelled. At this point, Haku's village was probably his only lead in finding his memory, he had to play his part in protecting it.

Hearing this Aiken let out a stressed sigh as he slowly removed the eye patch, revealing an eyeball with an odd-looking pupil. To Kevin's surprise, his formally covered eye had a pupil similar to a star shape. Kevin was fast to inwardly mock his eyeballs until he heard gasps from not only Lilith but from Norm. At the sight of the eye, they both began to sweat as though the cold weather was non-existent.

"If... you plan to fight, then let's get it over with fast," Aiken said with a smirk.

Kevin was rather happy to oblige until Lilith grabbed his shoulder, preventing him from moving any further.

"I-It can't be... the T-Tsujigen of force!" Lilith blurted out.

'Tsuji- what?' Being oblivious to the ways of the world, Kevin was once again left at a loss.

Eventually, the mysterious force holding Norm down diminished allowing her to move. She then took a deep breath, gathering enough willpower to form her next sentence.

"We need to work together! If not to win, then to at least survive," Norm said which greatly shocked the duo.

"What?"

If even Norm, the arrogant queen was suggesting a team-up, then the man before them must be the real deal.

"Kevin!" Lilith suddenly whispered into his ears. "I barely have any mana left. We might just need to focus on retreating,".

Kevin nodded in agreement, they could not keep fighting forever and the villagers were bound to end things and arrive at the castle. If possible, the villagers should avoid coming to the castle, seeing as there is now an enemy that can make even Norm shiver in fear. Things could get very bloody if they were to join which would go against his goals. However, thanks to his mysterious tattoo, he was able to snatch some mana from Norm allowing him to continue with the fight.

"Lilith, among us you barely have any magic left. Take Angela away and inform the villagers to leave,".

"What about you?" She asked while still shaking.

" I will fight alongside Norm until everyone is safe," Lilith wanted to argue but even she had to argue that his orders were logical. Considering everyone's safety, it would be the best course of action.

"Fine... but I will be back! Don't die," Lilith said before leaving to retreat with Angela. She had to use every bit of her remaining mana to retrieve Angela from the ceiling.

"Done planning? It's nice and all but I'm taking that girl," Aiken said as he stretched out his hand towards Lilith.

Swoosh! An ice shard was sent flying to his hand but was crushed by an unknown force before making contact. Aiken sighed as he ultimately decided to let Lilith and Angela go, after all, if Norm could prove her strength right here, he would not need Angela. Just as he wanted, Norm was focused on killing him along with Kevin who just planned to stall for time.

"I do not like you but if we want to survive for a tomorrow, we have to work together!" Norm said. Norm's first thought of Kevin was a useless weakling, but after their fight, she now saw what a great asset he could be.

"The feeling is mutual!" Kevin replied with a grin.

He would have never thought that instead of defeating her, he would be working with her instead.

'How life puts us in an odd position,' Kevin sighed.

[Deviant element: Zero point]

[Lightning magic: Tiger form]

Moving together, lightning surrounded Kevin as he ran to the right holding Asura while the air became extremely cold as Norm ran to the left. Aiken seeing them power up like dragon ball characters wanted to laugh. How could he not, do two grains of salt change the result of soup?

"Come at me then!" Aiken taunted.