Chapter 304.2

Eventually, the older woman closed her eyes. A look of calm washed over her before she decided to open them again. Everything in her mind had seemed to fall into place, like all the cogs in her clock were right where they belonged.

"Jin."

"Yes?"

"20 years ago," Alber said, "a magic similar to the kind that summoned the larks was performed. And you were involved in it."

Eugene frowned. "Sorry?" she asked. "But you said that the magic was sealed."

"It was."

"You said that it wasn't complete... was that the magic that you almost finished?"

"No." Alber shook her head. "There's barely any record of the magic that I created. What I sealed was the ancient magic piece that had already been sealed, that's what people know about." She sighed. "Now I understand why I couldn't trace Mara. It was hiding itself with magic. I think it took the sealed magic that my tribe had been protecting." She had thought it was strange, but she didn't know why.

Whenever she looked into the future, she would use different variations of events so that she could uncover different timelines and possibilities. In order to do so, she had to experiment with her magic endlessly and she would often need documents to support what she was doing.

From time to time, she would ask Sang-je to let her use the sealed magic of her tribe, but she didn't always get it. When she asked why, he would tell her that he was worried she was up to some funny business.

It's because he didn't have the magic to begin with, she thought to herself.

There were many places where the magic was hidden, and they were all far apart from each other. There was magic that connected all of them together. If there was even an attempt at entering one of the places, then the other places would automatically close so no one could go in for quite some time. That meant that Mara had only entered one place.

She remembered the specific magic that she had never gotten ahold of, they were all from the same place. Unfortunately, the forbidden magic had also been hidden there.

What was the monster trying to do with Mara?"

If Mara stole the magic, that meant it knew where the hiding place was. That place had only ever been known by Alber's tribe and Sang-je. There was no way that her tribe would have revealed its location so it must have all been Sang-je's doing.

The monster must have planned to do something, and it must have failed. The relationship between Mara and Sang-je must have soured and the former must have taken the magic and ran away.

Eugene broke the older woman's thoughts. "Then was all the magic taken by Mara?"

"Probably not. There were many places where the magic was kept—" Alber cut herself off. "Jin, there isn't much time left. I'll tell you what you need to know."

Already? Eugene looked disappointed. She had grown fond of the older woman and she liked having a wise mentor to look up to.

"Like I said before, larks can't activate magic by themselves. Even if Mara, a lark, took it, he wouldn't be able to use it."

He could learn theory, but he wouldn't be able to activate it. The magic required the use of the world's energy, and larks were not part of this world. Even for Sang-je to use divine power, he required help from a human. It was the priests that activated the magic, not him.

"But Mara was using magic to hide himself," Alber said. "He's definitely getting help from a human. Perhaps... the gypsies. Maybe they are helping. They're descendants of the ancient tribe, so they would know how to activate magic."

"Sorry?" Eugene was stunned.

"I think Sang-je knows about that as well," the older woman continued. "You said he was going after the gypsies, right? He's probably trying to get information on where Mara is from them. Perhaps the goal is to kill all the gypsies. Mara wouldn't be able to hide if he lost all his support."

"Oh."

Aldrit probably doesn't know about that either, Eugene thought. For a moment, she doubted him, but she realized she couldn't. She trusted his stern personality. He had even looked guilty when they evacuated to the Hwansu's territory during the active season. There was no chance that he knew his tribe was helping a lark.

"I don't know when Mara took the magic, but it must have been a long time ago. I don't know what he did with the magic, but he seems to have gotten it into the hands of those who believe that he is God."

Alber assumed that the magic was being completed as it was passed down to different people. The curious and inquiring minds of intellects always made the impossible seem possible, just like how the ancient tribe had managed to summon all those larks into the world.

"You said that you were kidnapped by someone from Mara's group," she said. "The person must have done it for religious purposes. He must have thought that the magic was some kind of special ritual, like a way to summon God."

Eugene nodded. She was enthralled by how Alber spoke as if she already knew the answer to everything.

"You were a sacrifice that was supposed to summon God," the older woman continued. "People think that Anikas are the closest beings to God. That person probably thought that God was Mara. He was probably trying to bring Mara into your body."

"But... he failed."

"Of course he did. Summoning God? It's absurd to even think that's possible," Alber said. "God exists everywhere and nowhere. God isn't a physical object. That magic was just about bringing one being from another world."

"Then why did it exchange with me?"

"I don't know the magic, so I can't give you a definite answer... but perhaps it was the name."

Eugene frowned. "The name?" she asked. "Because we have the same name? Just because of that?"

"Your name is your core," Alber told her. "It defines you as a person. When the magic was activated, the soul detached from the body. An empty body pulls a soul very strongly. In a situation where two worlds are connected, the soul can lose its way and go to the body where its name is being called."