His scarlet eyes widened in disbelief... but then narrowed sharply.
"What did you say...?" Noah inquired coldly to the many-eyed woman before him, holding back the swirling energy on his palm from bursting...!
Her grin stretched from ear to ear, "Oh, nothing much. Just that some of my children... might've made quick work of your precious girlfriend~."
"You wouldn't dare...!" Noah growled, his voice trembling with restrained fury...!
It took everything in him to not just blast apart the monster woman before him, but...
'Mortal, stop! This isn't her main body...!'Evangeline warned sharply, though her tone held no calmness yet, 'do not waste my power on a mere replica of the entity...!'
"Is that so...?" Noah muttered coldly.
Her warning did put a halt on his rage, but even so his glare never lost its intensity...!
However—
"HeHeHe~!"
The spider-woman only laughed hysterically at seeing him struggle to contain his emotions...!
"Oh, I would, you know. I would gobble up that pretty, little head~. After all, I've already consumed those two boys... and they are nourishing me quite nicely~."
She licked her lips, all while rubbing her 'human' stomach in mock satisfaction.
"So... why not add another one to my belly~?"
"—! You damn bitch...!"
The spiritual energy in Noah's hand flared with violent intensity—! His rage returned with equal ferocity!
His anger did not just influence his spiritual energy, but even the air around him shivered violently, as more power leaked from him—!
However—
'Noah!! Calm down!!!'
Evangeline's voice cut through his boiling fury like cold water!
'Do not fall for her mind games!'she continued quickly, firmly. 'Why did she warn you that she would attack your mortal friend? Because she wants to provoke you, mortal!'
"Ugh...!"
His ghost companion's reasoning struck him, suppressing his emotions from flaring further.
Eventually...
Noah clicked his tongue in annoyance... as he forced himself to stand down. Slowly, he let the growing energy fade from his palm.
And then—without another word—Noah rose into the air...!
He shot the grinning spider-woman an intense, sharp glare... before turning around mid-air—
And blasted down the dark corridor at high speed!
Behind him, the spider-woman's grin stretched even wider... before her entire form unraveled, melting into a tide of skittering spiders that scattered into the shadows.
< | X | >
Noah's figure soared through the dark corridor at high speed—! Passing through every obstacle using his ghost's phasing ability!
And as he rushed through the abandoned hospital's endless hallways—
"—Please be safe, please be safe, please be safe—"
He kept chanting under his breath—a desperate prayer that the upperclassman he had just begun to warm up to had not fallen prey to those demon spiders...!
'Mortal...' Evangeline murmured gently, sensing the panic leaking through him, doing her best to steady him as she continued lending her power to fuel his desperate dash.
Eventually—
They arrived at the place.
The fancy-yet-abandoned office room that Noah and his upperclassman had checked earlier... the very spot where he had left her behind.
He immediately dropped down from the air and scanned the entire room—
But she wasn't there.
"...Senior?"
Silence.
There was no response to his call.
The stillness of the air, however, made his heartbeat spike—his concern twisting into rising worry...!
"Senior...? Where are you...?!" Noah hurried deeper into the room, frantically scanning through the whole place once more..!
"Senior...?!" He checked every corner, every crevice, every space, and even under the furniture—even the toppled ones—
Yet she was nowhere to be found.
"Sophia...?!" His voice echoed sharply through the empty office—calling her name—!
His desperation grew heavier, as he couldn't hold back the dreadful thought of what those spiders might've already done to her...!
"Sophia—!"
"Right here, Junior~!"
"WHOAH—!?!"
Sophia suddenly popped up right behind him—! Scaring the living soul out of him—!
Literally!
The shock slammed through him so hard—
"—Kyaah?!"
—That Evangeline was literally ejected out of his body!
And because his ghost companion had slipped out from within him, naturally... Noah's appearance reverted back to his original one.
His hair instantly shifted from midnight black back to its natural blonde, and his glowing scarlet eyes faded into his usual deep blue...!
"M-mortal!!" Evangeline squeaked, hovering beside him in ghostly form after being launched out so abruptly. "What the heck?! Why did you suddenly kick me out?!"
However, even as she kept on yelling right beside his ear, Noah was barely listening. Instead, he was too focused on staring at the sight of his upperclassman.
The same bespectacled young woman, holding her flashlight—which now clearly illuminated her mischievous grin.
He also just realized that, without Evangeline's power, he had completely lost his ghostly night vision... meaning he had to rely on a normal flashlight again, like an actual human should.
Meanwhile, Sophia herself... just tilted her head innocently, "Eh? Did I scare you, Junior~?"
Noah just... palmed his face.
Not from being annoyed, but... from sheer relief—
"Thank fucking god..." he muttered with gratitude, breathing a heavy sigh that she was alright.
Sophia, however, looked somewhat confused at his reaction.
"N-Noah? Are you okay...?"
"Sigh... yeah, I'm fine... wait a minute—"
His relief then shifted into his own confusion.
"Where the hell did you come from???"
Sophia blinked at his baffled expression… before her mischievous grin returned.
"My~, are you curious~?"
She leaned in a little, her grin turning smug.
"Do you wanna knooow~?"
He didn't even bother answering—he just stared at her with the most exhausted, deadpan look he'd ever given anyone in his life.
Seeing his annoyance, Sophia let out a small laugh, waving her hand lightly. "Okay, okay~! No need to glare at me like that~."
She straightened herself, her grin softening into something more normal—more genuine.
"The thing is... I actually found something interesting while you were gone."
"...Huh?"
She turned around and gestured for him to follow. "Come here, Junior~."
Noah raised an eyebrow at her... but ultimately, he complied, trailing behind her toward the main table in the center of the office.
Then—
"Get under here."
"Wha—w-why?"
But she didn't answer.
Instead, Sophia crouched down and slipped beneath the table with practiced ease, forcing him to follow her whether he wanted to or not.
"Uh, senior, seriously… what are you—"
Clack—!
His words stopped the moment he saw it—
Sophia had lifted one of the floor tiles, revealing a dark, rectangular seam beneath it...!
"I found a secret entrance~!"