<strong>Hotel Lunaris, Central City, Arcana World;</strong>
Claire and Mia were waiting in one of the rooms as they wait for Azzy. According to the hotel staff, both of them left in the morning and never returned, although they haven't officially checked out yet. The rooms were booked for several weeks in advance.
Both of them arrived at the hotel at around 2 p.m. and waited for an hour before they left for Heavenly Academy to search for Azzy.
Mia kept on telling her to message Azzy but Claire wanted to surprise him. As a result, she stubbornly searched for him for a couple of hours before returning to the hotel and learning that they haven't returned.
They toured around the city for the next couple of hours and returned only to hear that Azzy still hasn't returned. Claire then booked two rooms, paying a little bit extra to stay on the same floor as Azzy and Leah.
Hours passed away and her boyfriend is still yet to arrive. Her insecurity once again increased and she started becoming anxious. Seeing the look on her best friend, Mia no longer sat still.
She immediately took out her message card and sent audio to Azzy.
<strong>Play City, Tartalonia, World of Gaia;</strong>
With Leah tightly grabbing Azzy's arms, both of them were looking their way out of the underground labyrinth.
From time to time, ghosts and zombies popped up, scaring the hell out of the Camelot's princess. The sound effects around only scared her more.
For Azzy, watching her reactions appeared to be more fun. He couldn't help but wonder why she recommended this theme park in the first place when she is a bloody coward.
In the meantime, he also realized that the so-called ghosts in the labyrinth are different from malevolent spirits.
These are artificially created by some talented Arcana Master. While they appear to have an appearance of a human, Azzy remembered seeing a couple of them who were acting as zombies at the graveyard. It was then he realized that they were not real.
There are certain rules of horror themes like one shouldn't know what's going to happen next, one cannot see the ghost right at the beginning, and the viewer should believe in them. Only then, one can truly enjoy the feeling of getting spooked.
And when any of those three things happens, it loses its effectiveness against people with a strong mentality.
When Azzy realized that even the ghosts in the labyrinth aren't real, the fun was over for him. On the other hand, Leah couldn't realize the reality and because of her reactions, Azzy played along and urged her to finish the labyrinth.
As Leah continued to scream and even tear up, Azzy was grinning like a fool while they get deep into the labyrinth.
Just as they reached the center, all of a sudden, an envelope made of energy popped up before his eyes. It went straight into his forehead and disappeared, letting him hear an audio message from Mia.
Azzy stopped in his tracks with his face stiffened, "Claire was waiting for me since noon? That means if I had gone to the hotel right away, I would have met her, right?"
Realization dawned upon him and a considerable amount of guilt filled his heart upon imagining his girlfriend. Why he was here in the first place and what is he doing now? Azzy couldn't stand his own behavior.
"Hehehe hehe…" With a peal of hysterical laughter, a ghost in white robes and horns over its head flew towards him.
"Let's get out…" Leah continued to bury her head into his chest and scream the same thing she was screaming for the past half an hour.
However, this time, Azzy's response was different. The chains over his soul orb were broken altogether and soul energy surged into his right palm.
A sphere made of soul energy was shot from his palm. It struck the ghost and destroyed it right away. His voice turned cold once again, "I'm sorry Leah but this is the end of our date."
"Eh?" His words brought her senses back and she looked at his face. As she stepped away, Azzy said, "I can accept the defeat but cannot accept the fact that Claire gets disappointed. I'm returning to the hotel where she was waiting for me. I'll make it up to you somehow for leaving you behind but I need to go now."
After informing his decision to her, Azzy activated his soul skill: Eye of God. He discovered the exit in an instant. As he rushed away, Leah stared at his back, stunned at the spot.
She then grabbed her chest where it slightly hurts for some reason, "but I don't feel happy. No, it's more like all the fun had disappeared in an instant. Claire is really lucky to have this boy."
Letting out a sigh, Leah shook away her thoughts and followed him from behind.
<strong>Hotel Lunaris, Central City, Arcana World;</strong>
After Mia received the reply from Azzy, Claire and Mia came downstairs and waited in the hotel lobby.
Roughly about 30 minutes later, two streaks of flash stopped right at the entrance of the hotel, revealing Azzy and Leah.
Azzy then looked at her, "Don't leave anything. I want to put this matter behind me once I wake up tomorrow."
Leah forced out a smile as she patted his shoulder, "I already told you that I will take care of it. After all, I was the one who created this issue."
As Azzy nodded, Leah calmly stepped inside.
There, she saw the two girls. She greeted them right away. Claire was expecting Azzy but was surprised when she saw Leah instead.
A few minutes passed away. Claire's expression changed several times from surprise to anger, then, to frustration, and then disappointment, and finally returning to calmness.
Meanwhile, Azzy was waiting outside being all nervous. He wanted to enhance his senses and listen to their conversation but was too afraid to do it.
He might have faced Claire's illusion back during the trial of Demigod Amerys and he was always prepared for anything but he still doesn't want to break his relationship just over something like this.
After a while, Leah came outside. She looked very calm on the surface.
"What happened?" He asked anxiously, although his emotionless face made it appear like he doesn't care about the outcome.
Leah answered, "I did what I have to. The rest depends on your girlfriend's choice. Anyway, the royal knights might also be tired and hungry after secretly following us for a long time. I will have dinner outside. You go and spend time with your friends."
After saying what she wanted to, she brushed past him and continued to walk along the street.
On the other hand, Azzy became curious. He didn't place attention to her and climbed the steps before entering through the entrance.
When Azzy reunited with Claire, the latter just hugged him and told him that she understands his situation, making him wonder what Leah might have said to her. Azzy was curious but due to a worry about how Leah might have lied, he became afraid to ask her.
Whatever the case, Claire appeared to be happy and Mia doesn't seem like she was angry at him either. That was enough for him to put away his worries.
But, it didn't go as he thought. Claire was only smiling on the outside. As they directly went to the third floor where the restaurant is located, she couldn't help but remember Leah's last words before she left the hotel.
"I like Azzy but I'm not some cheap girl to break someone's love. It goes against my ethics. However, if you ever broke up with Azrael in the future, I will be in my right to try to claim him as mine. Even if you two marry in the future and then, get a divorce for some reason, I won't hesitate to propose to him if I'm single at that time. After all, I believe that he is the perfect guy to be my partner and he too deserves someone who could even live with him for ten millennia"
Leah said that to her after briefly telling her about the date challenge in which she agreed that Azzy is indeed devoted to his girlfriend.
At first, Claire was indeed angry at Azzy for taking her for granted but then, her opinion changed by the time Leah was done with her explanation. She now felt like Azzy was too gullible, and rather than complaining, she decided not only to improve her strength even higher but also to keep him close to her than before so that no girl even dared to even think about snatching him away from her.
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