After returning to real world, Manasvi stood inside the mansion.
Her clothes — the ones belonging to Asuko Yamamoto — were slightly burned from the explosion inside the mirror dimension.
She looked down at them briefly.
Should I leave now…
Or should I collect some books from the underground library first?
Before she could decide—
Her body suddenly shuddered violently.
A dangerous presence approached.
Manasvi quickly moved toward the window.
When she looked outside, her eyes widened.
There were forty spirits floating in the air above the mansion.
But something felt horribly wrong.
Manasvi could sense souls.
And every single one of those spirits…
Was far stronger than her.
Her heart skipped a beat.
They're coming to destroy this place.
Suddenly the forty spirits stopped moving.
It was as if they sensed something dangerous nearby.
Something capable of erasing them completely.
But they didn't retreat.
Instead, they all raised their hands at the same time.
Their spiritual energy began merging together.
A gigantic sphere of spiritual energy formed above them.
An attack capable of ignoring durability and directly destroying the soul.
Manasvi reacted immediately.
She opened a portal.
The Mirror Dimension appeared in front of the spirits.
And something emerged from inside it.
Flaemero's soul.
The moment it appeared, the spiritual attack lost stability.
Flaemero's soul disrupted their energy and forced the attack to collapse.
Then something unexpected happened.
The forty spirits suddenly began burning.
Flaemero had placed a soul-burning curse on them.
But instead of being destroyed…
The spirits began absorbing the curse.
Their power started increasing.
Growing stronger.
More unstable.
Manasvi's expression changed.
This is bad.
I have to run.
She immediately rushed toward the underground library.
As she ran through the mansion halls, screams began echoing above her.
Staff members and guards were panicking.
When she reached the library, she quickly grabbed several important books.
Without hesitation she threw them into her Mirror Dimension for storage.
Then she raised her hand and whispered a single word.
"Sky."
In the next moment—
Millions of lightning bolts erupted across the mansion grounds.
The sky above the mansion turned into a storm of destruction.
The lightning attacks distracted the spirits.
Manasvi turned around.
"I'll just—"
SLURP.
SLURP.
She froze.
Someone was behind her.
Drinking something.
Manasvi slowly turned around.
Standing there was a boy.
He was casually drinking a cup of Moonbucks.
He wore a simple purple T-shirt and blue jeans.
His face looked like that of an ordinary Indian teenager.
But his eyes were wrong.
Completely black.
As he raised his head—
A faint purple pupil appeared within the darkness.
And he looked directly at Manasvi
He was Nikhil
Nikhil looked at Manasvi with a frightening smile.
"Oh my… what are you doing here, Code 29?"
His voice sounded casual.
"Didn't you betray the Forest Organization?"
Manasvi's eyes widened.
Her body immediately began sweating.
She couldn't understand why, but the mere presence of the boy made her tremble uncontrollably.
Standing in front of her was a boy whose appearance could easily belong to a fashion model.
But something about him was deeply unnatural.
His sclera was black, and inside it was a purple pupil glowing faintly.
Nikhil casually threw away the empty Moonbucks cup.
He smiled again.
"You're so scared that you can't even think properly."
Manasvi forced her voice out.
"H-how… how do you know me?"
Nikhil tilted his head slightly.
"Uhhh… I get confused sometimes."
"The past, the present, the future… they all feel the same to me."
He shrugged.
"So isn't it obvious?"
"I can just read your past."
Nikhil stepped a little closer.
"And it looks like we're walking on the same path."
"We both want to destroy our Forest, don't we?"
He raised his hand toward her.
"Let's be friends."
"We're on the same side after all."
Manasvi's instincts were screaming at her.
Her body was in full survival mode.
Yet she slowly reached forward and shook his hand.
The moment their hands touched—
A single page of paper appeared in Nikhil's other hand.
He handed it to her.
"If you ever want to summon me," Nikhil said casually, "you can use this."
"It contains my sacred prayer."
He turned away slightly.
"So we'll meet again, friend."
Then—
He disappeared.
As if he had never existed.
Manasvi blinked.
The library was gone.
The mansion was gone.
She was suddenly lying on a bed.
Her bed.
Inside her secret base in Paris.
Her body felt completely drained.
She collapsed onto the mattress.
She didn't even have the strength to stand.
Only one thought remained in her mind.
What the hell was that…?
Somewhere Else
Michael was talking with Franklin.
They were discussing the strange events involving John.
Then suddenly—
Both of them froze.
They sensed something.
"Manasvi…" Michael whispered.
Franklin frowned.
"She's in her room."
Michael's eyes narrowed.
"That's impossible."
"She should be with Flaemero right now."
But the truth was far stranger.
The secret base in France…
Had somehow appeared in Beverly Hills.
As if the two locations had been swapped.