In the corridor next to Room 024, Jennifer was furiously punishing the unconscious Jones. She delivered blow after blow, her breathing ragged and wild with rage.
THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!
"You rapist monster! You tortured Anni so much. All of this happened because of you, you old lusty creature!" Jennifer spat, her fists falling like hammers.
"Jennifer, stop now! You will kill him," Arthur tried desperately to intervene, his doctor's instincts screaming at him to prevent further violence. "And Johan, why do you block me via mana?"
But Johan had created a mana cage around Arthur with casual indifference, trapping the old doctor in a barrier of dark energy.
"Hmmm… Who wants a disturbance during their chilling time?" Johan asked lazily, lowering his hand and settling onto a nearby bench as if this were the most natural thing in the world.
"Your sister is killing, and you call it chillin. Johan… You two are not kids anymore," Arthur said, his voice thick with anger and disappointment.
"Oi! Ask the person who is killing," Johan replied with a smirk. "The people know her as the brand ambassador of justice."
Jennifer continued her assault, each blow releasing months of helpless rage on behalf of a girl who had suffered so much.
Suddenly, a mana ball of swirling silver light erupted from the floor near the wall, creating a shimmering portal. Johan's entire body stiffened. He felt a familiar, sharp aura—the scent of someone he loved deeply.
Freya stepped through the portal, her dark robes momentarily swallowed by the swirling light. She was alive, whole, and more beautiful than Johan remembered.
Jennifer stopped punching instantly, her fury replaced by a profound wave of relief and emotion upon seeing her friend and lover. She dropped her fists.
Freya rushed toward them. In Johan's mind, time snapped to a halt. The corridor blurred. His heart thundered in his chest. Is she coming for me? Does she love me? Will she finally see me?
Johan, typically the image of cool composure, reached out instinctively to hug her, his heart surging with unspoken affection and longing. His arm extended toward her, hope blooming in his chest.
But his delusion ended as abruptly as it began.
Freya rushed past him without a glance, her arms wrapping tightly around a stunned Arthur instead. She pulled the Arthur toward her, her expression filled with genuine concern and care.
Johan once loved Freya, but then she married Arthur. Johan still loves her.
"Arthur! You're hurt! Are you alright?" she cried, checking him carefully for wounds, her hands gentle on his damaged form.
Johan's arm, left awkwardly suspended in the air, slowly dropped back to his side. The sudden wave of hot disappointment crashed through him like cold water. His heart sank. He quickly disguised his disappointment with a forced smile, turning away slightly.
Jennifer, however, had witnessed that entire moment—the hope, the rejection, the mask that immediately followed.
"Johan, what just happened to you?" Jennifer asked, a sly, knowing smirk playing on her lips.
"Nothing, nothing, just pain in my hand," Johan replied curtly, rubbing his wrist to cover his embarrassment.
"Well! Well… At least I always catch you lying, Dr. Johan," a new voice drawled from the portal, filled with amusement.
CLOMP! CLOMP! CLOMP! CLOMP!
A man stepped through, his attire impossibly charming—a bespoke coat that seemed too clean for the chaos of the night. His presence commanded attention. This was Richard Jurin, the master of the New World Order, Barniglos branch. He moved with the confidence of someone accustomed to authority.
He offered a disarming, confident smile. "Hey, did you two remember me?"
"Oi! If I forget everything, I'll still remember your particular brand of annoyance," Johan said, his tone shifting back to his usual sarcasm as a shield against his vulnerability.
"Why do you come here?" Jennifer asked him, her eyes narrowing in suspicion, her protective instincts still activated from the night's horrors.
Richard shrugged casually. "To clean this mess. Freya told us everything. We are here to recover everything."
As he finished speaking, the corridor walls flickered with sudden light.
FWOOSH. FWOOSH. FWOOSH.
Multiple portals erupted silently across the corridor, and through them stepped nearly a dozen Order personnel. They wore ripped and bloodied shirts and vests, mimicking the appearance of police or emergency responders. Using their mana in careful, practised motions, they began to wake all of the possessed people throughout the hospital. Those who had collapsed earlier slowly began to stir, their eyes blinking in confusion, their minds returning to normal consciousness as the possessions were severed.
Jennifer looked at Richard with hardened suspicion. "Are you still in the Order?"
Richard's confident smile never wavered. "Always in the Order, but now I am the master"
Freya stepped forward, her expression warm and grateful. "Johan, Jennifer, you two did a great job tonight. Thank you for saving Anni, Arthur, and everybody."
Richard asked them directly, cutting through the exhaustion and emotional turmoil of the night. "Will you rejoin the Order?"
They thought for a short time, exchanging a glance that spoke volumes. Then, together, they replied with a gentle smile, "Yes, we are back to the Order."
It was a choice that carried weight—a return to duty, to responsibility, to something larger than themselves.
Johan and Jennifer walked out of the hospital as the morning light began to break across the city skyline, painting it in muted shades of pink and orange. The night was finally ending. They sat side by side on a wooden bench outside the hospital, positioned along the edge of the footpath, watching the sunrise. The air was cool and quiet, a stark contrast to the violence and chaos they had just survived.
"Are we going home on foot?" Jennifer asked Johan, shivering slightly in the morning breeze, her exhaustion finally catching up with her.
"Wait for the carriage," Johan replied, closing his eyes briefly, his body finally acknowledging the injuries and strain. "Now relax."
Jennifer fidgeted, tapping her fingers on the bench in a nervous rhythm. "But I have a question in my mind."
"Ask away, Doctor," Johan said without opening his eyes.
Jennifer leaned in, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "I was possessed multiple times by their powers tonight. Even I felt the residual effect of Arthur's Timeless Dimension. Why are you completely immune to all of them?"
Johan opened one eye, giving her his signature half-smirk. "I… think I am special."
Jennifer's expression turned sceptical immediately. "Did you practice your powers in all those years?"
"No! No! No!" Johan replied quickly, raising his hands in mock innocence, but his tone already betrayed him.
"Johan…" Her voice was laced with anger and disappointment.
Johan sighed, his evasion dissolving under the weight of her stare. "Okay! Okay! I… may have used subtle applications. To help patients. Terminal cases, severe trauma where conventional medicine failed. Jennifer's eyes widened in shock and concern. "How dare you do this? If Richard knows this, the Order can arrest you! It's the first law: No direct mana application on humans." She whipped the words out, looking frantically around for eavesdroppers, her voice dropping to barely a whisper.
The Order strictly forbade the use of Mana on humans—it was one of their core laws, upheld to prevent the misuse of supernatural power.
"Oi! Arthur uses chrono-mana to slow time in his operating theatre for impossible surgeries," Johan revealed, his tone shifting to something more serious. "It's part of the cover. But we use our powers in the medical sector; Richard uses his powers to flirt with girls. And… welcome, Dr. Jennifer, just now you also used your power to cure Anni."
The hypocrisy hung in the air between them.
Jennifer stared at him, her expression cycling through shock, anger, and reluctant understanding. "What? You all are psychos!"
"I just improved my profession," Johan said with a shrug, then he looked up the road with calculated casualness. "Look, there is a carriage coming."
A black carriage pulled by a single horse appeared from around the corner, moving steadily toward them.
Jennifer stood and called to it. "Hey! Hey!"
The carriage stopped right in front of them. The coachman, a kindly-looking elderly man with weathered features, peered down from his seat. "Yes, madam, where do you want to go?"
"45 Street, Jardin Paisible," Jennifer replied, gesturing for Johan to join her.
The coachman's eyes widened as he took in their appearances. "Oh my god! Are you injured? There is a hospital nearby, and I can take you there."
"No, I am a doctor. I'm coming back from the hospital," Jennifer quickly fabricated, her mind working fast. "There was an accident, so they called us in."
"Oh! That's why you are going to Jardin Paisible, to call Dr. Johan," the coachman said, putting the pieces together in his mind.
Johan, who just stood up, said, "Ah! By the way, I am Dr. Johan."
The coachman's face lit up with awe and recognition. "Wow! You are the miracle doctor! The great healer! It is a pleasure for me to give you a ride." He bowed slightly from his seat, clearly honoured to serve such a renowned physician.
Johan settled into the plush seat next to Jennifer. The carriage resumed its smooth journey, the rising sun now directly ahead of them, lighting their path home.
After half an hour, they reached the imposing yet quaint gate of Jardin Paisible. Jennifer stepped down first, her legs unsteady after the long night. Johan followed, dropping to the ground with a tired grunt.
"How much to pay?" Johan asked the coachman, reaching for his wallet.
"No! No! No! The ride is free," the coachman insisted, waving his hand with genuine warmth. "My son was one of your patients. My son… he was lost. Addicted to drugs at a young age and went to jail multiple times. I took him to multiple doctors, but nothing worked. But you were our last hope. After your therapy, he fully changed, and he has never taken drugs again. Now he is living a normal life, working in a bakery on Harvester Street. You gave him his life back."
Jennifer paused, the coachman's words hitting something deep within her. The reminder of why he did what he did, why he broke the Order's laws.
"I took my payment already, so I can't take any other benefit from you," Johan said gently, holding out a handful of currency notes anyway.
"The price is 20 Aether. Why do you give me 35 Aether?" the coachman asked, puzzled by the excessive generosity.
"Just take this. I don't have change," Johan replied, pushing the extra money into the driver's hand and stepping back toward the gate.
The carriage began to move, but the coachman was overwhelmed. Tears came from his eyes. "What a kind man he is!" he marvelled at the generosity of the great Dr. Johan, his voice breaking with emotion.
Johan opened the lock of the gate, and as he pushed it open, Jennifer asked him, "Can Oneirons transform into a beast?"
"No," Johan replied, his voice taking on a more serious tone as they entered the grounds of Jardin Paisible. "Oneiros is a Groken word which means 'Sleep Magician.' Their inherent ability is sleep Mana. I think that creature... he was a Skinwalker."
Jennifer's face grew pale as the realisation hit her. "That means multiple races are using their powers to harm humans." She paused, her mind working through the implications. "Wait. I guess Skinwalkers are from the World of Life."
"That means many races from other worlds are working together for something," Johan said grimly, locking the gate behind them. The weight of this revelation settled over them like a heavy cloak. "For Satrin."
"Don't say that name ever in the home!" Jennifer snapped, shuddering visibly as if the name itself carried malevolent power. "Go take a bath with holy water immediately."
Johan looked at her with amusement despite his exhaustion. "Since when do you believe in that? Did you get these superstitions from Scarlett?"
"Shut up, or I will immerse you in the Blood River," Jennifer warned him, her tone suggesting she was only half-joking.
"At least that breaks my sleep," Johan said, yawning widely. "Aaah..."
Johan entered his room and jumped into bed, the exhaustion finally overwhelming him completely. "Aaaa… Heavenly."
"Have you changed your suit?" Jennifer asked, appearing in his doorway.
"I threw it away because it was torn and there was blood on it," Johan replied, already pulling the blankets over himself.
"Okay, may I use your bathroom?" Jennifer asked. "I can't go to my room. The kids can see me like this. They will be scared by seeing blood on me. Even Joseph will know we went there. I will also dump my suit outside."
"Yes! Yes!" Johan allowed her, waving a dismissive hand.
Just as Jennifer turned to leave the room, Johan's voice stopped her, his tone shifting to something heavy and serious. "What happened with Anni… it is all because the Lord of Knowledge is gone."
Jennifer froze, her hand hovering over the doorknob. She turned back slowly, her entire body tensing. "H-how? Why do you say that?"
Johan stared at the ceiling, his eyes haunted by knowledge and burden. "Most of the races from the Knowledge World despise humans. The Lord of Knowledge was the only one holding them back, the only one who saved humanity from them. But yet… he is also the one who destroyed the other two worlds."
"Don't speak of him like that," Jennifer said, her voice trembling with disappointment and hurt. The weight of their shared past pressed down on her. "He is our brother. Now he is Joseph, not the Lord of Knowledge."
"Yes, you are right," Johan said, his eyes finally closing. "He will still be Joseph, our little brother. He will always be our brother. Mother gave him a new life to change. To become something different from what he was."
The hope in his voice was fragile, desperate, but present.
On the nearby stairs, partially concealed in the shadows, Joseph stood. He had listened to everything—every word, every revelation, every confession.
His entire body trembled as the truth crashed down upon him like a tidal wave.
"What am I?" Joseph whispered to the darkness, his voice small and lost.