"Professor Bakar?"
The woman repeated, then shook her head, "No, I'm not here for revenge."
The woman's expression was calm, even gentle, her deep gray eyes watching William, without Victor's long-suppressed resentment, nor Lanlock's uncontrollable murderous intent.
"I am different from them, Richard."
Her voice was clear and steady, like a slow and unhurried stream, "As you said, the one who gave me this wound was Professor Bakar, the one who ended my long journey of mistakes in my past life was also him, my death, the end of my life—has nothing to do with you." She repeated, "I am not here for revenge."
The Thunderbird wings behind William flapped slightly, and his face showed no expression either, only speaking lightly, "But you, appearing here at this time—already cannot be separated from revenge, as it's not normal for the dead to crawl out of their graves for idle chat without reason, Lady Morgana."
"Indeed not."
Isadora nodded gently, her braided hair swaying slightly with the movement, "When I awoke, I found myself in the present world, I thought I was a ghost, but they were there too." She turned her gaze, looking at Lanlock trembling with Norbert, looking at Victor being hit by the truck, and the goblin and troll on the battlefield beneath her—
"So, I quickly realized that we are different from ghosts, especially since having been struck by the Killing Curse, my soul shouldn't have remained, thus I was puzzled, why..."
"Why do you all exist?"
William continued the conversation, twirling the redwood magic wand in his palm.
"Yes."
Isadora nodded again, with a tone of inquiry, "Why do we, who should be completely dead, reappear in this strange form? Is there some force maintaining this state that defies the laws of the world? Of course, even more importantly... why us?"
William didn't answer, only quietly listening.
"I spent a long time observing, collecting pieces of information."
Isadora continued, unbothered by William's silence, "I discovered a pattern, these people, all personally died by your hand, and it was firsthand—their souls are filled with overwhelming hatred towards you, but I am different, my end has nothing to do with you—"
She floated a small distance closer, but still stopped at a relatively safe distance.
"I am not here to oppose you, William Richard."
Isadora's voice became earnest, "On the contrary, I think we might be able to cooperate. Clearly, you are the center of all this, the 'cause', while perhaps I am the only 'effect' among all the samples that still retains enough sanity and curiosity to explore. I want to understand the truth behind this—"
She watched William's expression, trying to find a hint of relaxation or curiosity.
"Think about it."
She began to slow her speech, as if presenting a research blueprint to a potential collaborator, "Your research on Ancient Magic, on the Secret Vault, on emotional energy has reached its pinnacle, but what about time? Time is one of the most mysterious domains in the world so far—
"But now, a group of creations born from temporal anomalies is right in front of you, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We can find out the answers together, not only resolving the issues with these entities but possibly even allowing you to grasp the mysteries of time. Isn't this more valuable than simply 'eliminating' us again?
"Moreover," the woman added, "I do not believe you can eliminate us."
Isadora's words were clear in logic and extremely enticing, she positioned herself very low, placing William as the explorer and potential beneficiary, the expression in her gray eyes appeared sincere and focused, as if she really were just a scholar driven by academic curiosity, who accidentally found the only person who might understand and help her.
Looking at Isadora, William's expression slowly turned from initial indifference to contemplative, his brows furrowing slightly as if seriously considering this proposal, he slightly relaxed his grip on the wand, the flapping of the Thunderbird wings behind him also slowed.
"Cooperation?"
William repeated, the tone without discernible emotion, but at least seemingly without the intention to act.
Seeing the change, Isadora relaxed inwardly, knowing the bait she cast was enticing enough, especially to a Wizard like William, evidently filled with a desire to explore magic. She prepared to continue, to further describe the potential methods of cooperation, to drop her guard...
However—
"Beep beep beep—!!"
A piercing truck horn suddenly blared in the air just behind the woman. Another giant truck, silver-white, semi-transparent, solid in texture, with the logo "Dayun Trucks" flashing on its cab, seemed to be hurled out from another dimension, charging fiercely at Isadora's back with the force to crush everything—
"!"
The shock on the woman's face flashed, and it was just this moment of panic that caused a crack in the fortress in her mind, and in the next moment, William's "big hand" decisively reached in, stirring deeply, and the unconcealed use of Legilimency instantly darkened the woman's expression.
"Ah, it seems, madam, you are somewhat incongruous in spirit and mouth—"
William's lips curled slightly, looking at the woman, likely agitated by the collapse of her deceptive facade, and now looking as grim and ghastly as a demon, he chuckled, "Your 'affection' for me is truly astounding, but sorry, I must decline—"
"Stubborn fool."
The woman's voice lost its gentle tone, now carrying a hollow echo, "You have forsaken the only path of cooperation between us."
"Wow, really a pity, I actually triggered the Bad ending."
William's smile grew more radiant, but in the woman's eyes, it was full of mockery, "But I've always been this way, giving the middle finger to paths less traveled."
The battle erupted completely the instant the talks broke down.
"Confringo!"
The woman swung a wand that she had somehow grasped, sending a purplish-red charm striking straight at William, who erected a shield, but the test-like Defense Spell was mercilessly shattered by the charm; fortunately, William dodged while defending, evading the astonishingly fierce attack.
"Ancient Magic, it's not just your exclusive skill anymore, thank you for the idea." Isadora's voice turned somewhat deep, "It's a shame, really, if I had learned to enhance spells with Ancient Magic back then, maybe, it wouldn't have been me who died on that day."
"Ah, you're welcome."
William responded instinctively, though his brows furrowed slightly—now indeed a Boss fight triggered, though with this abnormal state, invulnerable to Basic Attacks, skill damage, with a seemingly thick health bar, strong desire and ability to attack, even wielding fast and slow attacks...
It's certainly a junk boss, right?
Damn Miyazaki and his old tricks...