Finally, the moment to confirm whether magic really existed within her had arrived.

She needed to move straight away, yet tension anchored her feet.

Taking a deep breath, she recalled the warmth of Ray’s hand clasping hers just moments before. The soothing sensation started from her fingertips and spread through her body, seemingly dissolving the tension.

Feeling a bit more at ease, Iva cautiously stepped into the middle of the circle.

“Do I just stand here?”

“Yes, please stand inside the star marking.”

The magic circle was simple.

Two overlapped triangles formed a large star, and a large circle connected its points.

Given its rudimentary appearance, Iva couldn’t help but worry whether the circle was trustworthy.

“I’ll begin now.”

Medi started reciting an unintelligible spell.

His mumbling was not only soft but also filled with indecipherable words.

“Ah!”

However, as the spell began, the seemingly crudely drawn magic circle started emitting a gentle white light, beginning from the star where Iva stood.

It was a light reminiscent of the white foam created when waves break at the shore.

The light surged magnificently in the sequence that Medi had drawn, and once the final large circle lit up in a brilliant white, the entire magic circle gleamed luminously.

“What is your name?”

Medi’s voice split into three parts, questioning Iva, yet it sounded like someone else entirely. Somewhat flustered yet maintaining composure, she spoke her name.

“My name is… Iva Blanche.”

The moment her name was spoken, the white light shuddered violently. The movement was so vast that for a moment she thought the ground shook, nearly losing her balance.

A tremendous wind surged from the magic circle as the light quivered intensely. The force was strong enough to whip Iva’s red hair towards the sky, and she lifted her arms to shield her face.

Worried she might miss witnessing the existence of magic, she stubbornly kept her eyes open.

Medi curled his hand into a circle and held it to her eye. His gesture resembled a child pretending to use a telescope, but Medi’s brown eyes shifted to a blue hue.

Concurrently, the white light transitioned to blue, and Medi shouted.

“Miss Iva! Look at your heart! There’s magic there!”

In haste, Iva lowered her head to look towards her heart.

Her body had become translucent, allowing her to see her heart pulsating within.

Also visible was a dark energy surrounding it, and instinctively, she knew.

“This… this is magic.”

Like a tangled skein of yarn, it was hard to tell where the dark energy began or ended. Moreover, it did not remain still, continuously moving and pulling at itself.

“Wait, something’s odd!”

“Huh? What’s odd?”

While Iva could not fully see her own body, to Medi, viewing from the outside, it was all too clear.

As Iva’s skin became increasingly transparent, a woman with short black hair, slightly shorter than Iva, appeared overlaid upon her. A deep wound was visible on the woman’s neck.

Locking eyes with the woman, Medi dropped her hand from her eye and covered her mouth.

“I—Iva, are you alright?”

“What’s happening?! Explain it to me, now!”

“There’s a wound at the back of your neck! A very deep one.”

Hearing about the wound at the back of her neck, Iva immediately recalled the moment of her execution in her past life.

“Medi!”

“Y-yes?!”

“Don’t panic, and look carefully! We need to find out what the magic on me is!”

Although the intensifying wind now made it difficult to keep her eyes open, Iva clenched her teeth tightly.

With that resolve, Medi brought her hand back to his eye and meticulously inspected Iva’s body.

A devastating wound and a heart wrapped in darkness. The severe magic caused him to involuntarily bite his lip.

“Ugh!”

Iva was doing the same, biting down hard.

Initially, the only ferocity in the magic circle was the wind, but as time progressed, it felt electric, like static electricity.

The intensity of the electricity, starting from the tips of her fingers and toes, grew so fierce that eventually, a groan escaped her lips.

Iva’s endurance was nearing its limit as the pain deepened.

“I’ve figured it out!”

With a loud stamp, Medi kicked the ground where the magic circle was drawn. Wet mud covered the circle, causing the blue light to weaken and vanish in an instant.

“Ugh.”

Iva, suddenly drained of strength, slumped down, and Medi rushed towards her, panting heavily.

“Miss Iva, are you alright? I’m so sorry. This is due to my inexperience.”

“No, it’s okay. But do you think you know what kind of magic it is?”

Even though Iva’s body was so numb it was shaking, she managed to feebly lift the corners of her mouth in an attempt to reassure Medi.

“Yes, I believe I know what kind of magic it is.”

“What magic is it?”

Aligning herself to the eye level of the seated Iva and bending one knee to the ground, Medi responded.

“The magic within you, Miss Iva, is dark magic.”