A few minutes after Tenko threw Rei out of town, Rei landed in the foliage, his life ebbing away. Tenko, however, had a reason for throwing him there: he had spotted Aria's camp nearby. Aria, seeing the unconscious Rei, took him in. She prepared several holy magic recovery formations, placed Rei on them, and activated the magic. Rei's injuries slowly began to heal, though he remained unconscious.
Meanwhile, Tenko, having confirmed Hanna was no longer in the earth cage, used a wind bomb to leap and head towards Rei. As he sought signs of Hanna, he was struck by a fireball, which threw him back. Tenko used a wind blast to stabilize himself and saw some hunters attacking him. He chose not to fight, prioritizing Rei's well-being, and simply avoided them.
Back at Aria's camp, where she was healing Rei, she heard footsteps and saw Hanna approaching. "A Mystic Church Paladin?" Aria mused. "You seem impressive." Hanna remained silent, her expression hostile. "What's with that expression? I just want to talk," Aria said, then suddenly conjured an attacking magic formation: Lightning Strike. Hanna swiftly sliced with her sword, creating an inferno to block it. Aria wasn't finished; she used another magic formation, Earth Spike Enhanced Form, causing an earth spike to rise behind Hanna, but Hanna easily dodged.
"You are way too strong! How about we become friends?" Aria suggested, then slyly used her Blizzard magic formation. Hanna countered with a heat wave from her sword, stopping the blizzard. As Hanna drew closer, Aria noticed her continuous chanting. "I see," Aria said. "You are continuously chanting magic incantations. By this, you can use magic with your sword. Incredible! This is certainly a unique technique you made." Aria realized Hanna's constant chanting made her a formidable opponent, unlike typical mages who needed incantations to activate magic, or those using magic formations who could activate them with minimal mana.
Aria smiled. "I would not cross there if I were you." Suddenly, Hanna was struck by lightning from the ground. "These are some of the landmines I created using my magic," Aria explained. "It still needs a magician to step on it to activate, however, it is pretty handy." Hanna backed away and sliced through the air with her sword, causing an inferno. Aria was prepared, using the magic formation: Earth Dome to create a barricade. Hanna continuously attacked with her inferno, while Aria inside used another magic formation, Bright, to light up the dome. Aria then heard the sounds of Hanna's inferno and realized she needed a way to shake her off. Aria looked at her available magic formations and sighed. "I only have five attack magic formations and three support magic formations. I should have made more attack magic formations. There is no way I can defeat her with this."
While Aria was contemplating, Hanna's inferno attack was suddenly interrupted by a wind blast. Tenko had arrived! Tenko used an earth spell to create an earth claw and attacked Hanna, but she countered with her inferno. Tenko, however, cut through her inferno with his earth claw. Hanna prepared to attack with her sword, but suddenly, holy magic enveloped her, and earth covered her legs. Eugene, holding Bart, declared, "You are going down!" Tenko attacked with his claw. Hanna, her entire body covered in flames, prepared to unleash her strongest attack. Eugene was ready to exert every force and attack with Holy Judgment. Bart was ready to attack with his strongest technique, Earth Tomb. Aria was ready to emerge from the dome and use her strongest attack magic formation.
But at that moment, Athena awoke. She used her power to create a whirlwind that engulfed Hanna, and Aria's earth dome was destroyed. Everyone was sent flying except Hanna. Hanna moved swiftly towards Rei, her sword descending towards his chest. However, Rei woke up just in time and stopped it with his hand. "Go away, or I will make you," he rasped, his eyes clearly showing he couldn't endure another blow. Tenko appeared behind Hanna and attacked with his earth claw, but Hanna dodged. Suddenly, a man appeared and said, "Hanna, we have to go! The officials are going to arrive." Athena, knowing Hanna couldn't defeat Rei in his current state, made her leave by making the officials come there and the man informing her. Hanna glanced at Rei, who, still lying there, held his hands up, his eyes filled with anger. Then Hanna left. Rei sighed and thought, "I need to protect her next time at all costs," before falling unconscious.
Rei found himself back in his mind realm. The Chaos Entity was still imprisoned, the sky purple, the ground violet. Looking at Chaos, Rei asked, "So it was you. Were you born with those burns, or did you get those from Tenko?" Behind Rei, Athena stood, her body and face covered in burns, her expression contorted with anger and humiliation. "So now you could see anyone within your mind realm without the need to turn around," she sneered.
Rei turned. "After all, it's my mind," he replied. "I knew something was wrong when Levi's group didn't come in time. By the way, what's your name?"
"My name is Athena, the god of wisdom, and the one who will kill you," she declared.
"Kill me, really?" Rei scoffed. "God of wisdom? Are you kidding me? You can't match my wisdom, and you still call yourself the god of wisdom? Better hang that title and give it to me." Athena used her divine powers to create a huge spike, but Rei simply waved his hand, and it vanished. "You have gotten used to your mind realm very quickly," Athena observed.
"Not at all," Rei replied. "I still have much to learn."
"But you will not be alive to learn that," Athena said, disappearing and then reappearing, holding the ground in her hand.
"You are strong, I have to say that," Rei admitted. "However, you overlooked one thing: my mind is not just capable of this. Look around you." Athena saw five pillars, and her eyes widened. The pillars were Rei's fingers, holding her. "It's impossible! No one's mind is capable of that!" she exclaimed.
"That's true," Rei said, holding her firmly, "but what if my mind realm is different?" Rei's mind realm appeared much larger than it originally was, not because his mind was stronger, but because he had shrunk it to an abysmal size for anyone who entered it, making them think it was vast when he increased its size. Athena, unaware of this trick, tried to grow larger, but Rei grew at the same rate, making her believe her power wasn't working. Athena, now convinced her power was failing, said, "I will deal with you another time," and with that, she disappeared, leaving the mind realm.