The second female lead Dual Cultivates

Maria was late to the execution and it was her own fault. The scene she saw looked right out of her nightmare but Maria powered through it. The time for reflection and remembrance would come, but not right now. It was not time yet for her to act on her feelings.

It was time to be tactical and make sure she took down the dictator as soon as possible. The spell he had cast was already powering up but it felt wrong to the female. It was pulsing with an unknown energy and was not even discriminating between humans and demons.

Maria knew there had to be something wrong with this spell. The way it was behaving was not natural. While Maria was not an expert in magic theory, she could tell that the original spell had been tampered with. She carefully navigated the spell, making sure to not step on any of the triggers as she ventured deeper into the magic circle.

The main culprit was in the center of the ring, his hand holding Trisha tightly while Kagemori seemed to be doing it out with someone remarkably different. That magic in the few felt strangely familiar and artificial as well.

[The user is alerted that a chimera is in the vicinity. The user is asked to be careful]

Maria almost groaned at the news. Of course, it was a chimera again. Why had Maria thought that she would not see this creature again? Her luck was not that good. She knew from experience that a chimera was strong and not to be taken lightly. She had almost been done in by one not so long ago.

But Kagemori was holding on her own with one in front of her and it gave Maria hope that things would be handled. She just needed to get Trisha and the magical circle would be done.

But saying that and doing that were two entirely different things. Even with the element of surprise on her side, Maria found it remarkably difficult to approach the pair without giving her position away.

Then there was also the fact that the circle was zapping her of her powers as well. It was highly corrosive and had made Maria lose her train of thoughts more than once. She had to actively shield against it or be threatened to be swept away in the flow of the things.

"Shhh. Let me help out. I'll draw away his attention and his fire. You focus on getting Trisha out of his grasp" Maria heard Lady Elma's words in her ears. But when she turned around, there was no one there.

Either Lady Elma had been too quick for Maroa to see or she had used her magic to communicate her message. Both conditions were plausible and neither mattered to Maria. As long as she could get an opening, things were bound to turn around.

"Cease your foolishness Rosewell. Forcing the node open would be playing right into Albest's hands. Have you not wondered why they are helping you? You're not naive enough to think it's because you both share the same idea, right?" Lady Elma stepped ahead, her eyes hard.

Every eye in the arena turned to her, willing to listen to what she had to say. Even Maria felt her eyes drawn to the raw power she emitted and she had to admit that Lady Elma was the real deal.

"Of course, it's the keeper herself. Tell me, why are you interfering now when things have already gone south? You're not naive enough to think that it would make things alright" Rosewell barked, his tone harsh.

The disrespect he held for the lady shined through his eyes and bled into his words. He was not a happy camper and Maria inches closer to him as he raged.

"Don't think that I'm the same as that fool of the king. He had an opportunity to get rid of the demons but he chickened out at the last second. And for what? A demon that looked like his own daughter? What a pathetic man" Maria took in a sharp breath as she heard that curse.

The man really was ruthless, willing to drag the dead into his schemes as well. Had Maria not been ready to hold herself back, she might have done something bad to stop the slander.

But she had control over herself and it allowed Maria to be able to keep herself hidden. Meanwhile, the other two verbally duked it out and even Kagemori kept the chimera at bay.

This was the chance Maria had been looking for all this time. The time to leap across and smash her fist into Rosewell's smug face was finally here. He was distracted and would make for an easy target.

Ana Maria could even see how he would react to a scare if she were to carry out her plan. The way he would dodge out of the way, the position Trisha would be released in. Maria almost felt like she was living the moment before she snapped out of it.

But she had full confidence in her ability and with the way her ability was aiding her, Maria knew she would be successful. The man never saw her coming and Maria knew she had taken him by surprise. He released Trisha and positioned himself in a way to save his face.

But he was not Maria's target. She quickly changed ways mid-charge and caught Trisha. The unconscious girl was still pulsing with magic. She was so far gone that even removing her from the circle was not going to have any effect on the casted magic.

Well, there went their plan 1. It was of no use any longer and that meant they would have to think of something else in the meantime.

However, Maria had a risky plan 2 she had not run by anyone. It was either ingenious or utter failure and she would not know what it was till she tried it out.

"Whatever you are planning won't work. She's too deeply connected to have the magic leave her now" Rosewell called as he saw Maria fish Trisha out of the circle. He looked quite smug for someone who had just lost their hostage and Maria gritted her teeth to stop herself from reacting back.

Let him say what he wanted to for now. Maria would be satisfied to have the last laugh. But she couldn't help but snap back one last time.

"That's what you think" and Maria snapped her most powerful chain on Trisha's arm, stopping all the flow of magic inside the circle. The man finally looked enraged, his eyes flashing red as he watched the ones before him.