Java: protected access across packages

I would like to understand what's happening in the example below (where a protected member is being accessed from outside the package through a subclass).

I know for classes outside the package, the subclass can see the protected member only through inheritance.

There are two packages: package1 and package2.

1. package1: ProtectedClass.java

   package org.test.package1;
   
   public class ProtectedClass {
   
       protected void foo () {
           System.out.println("foo");
       }
   }
   

2. package2: ExtendsprotectedClass.java

   package org.test.package2;
   
   import org.test.package1.ProtectedClass;
   
   public class ExtendsprotectedClass  extends ProtectedClass {
   
       public void boo() {
           foo(); // This works, 
                  // since protected method is visible through inheritance
       }
   
       public static void main(String[] args) {
           ExtendsprotectedClass epc = new ExtendsprotectedClass();
           epc.foo(); // Why is this working? 
                      // Since it is accessed through a reference,
                      // foo() should not be visible, right?
       }
   }
   

3. package2: UsesExtendedClass.java

   package org.test.package2;
   
   public class UsesExtendedClass {
   
       public static void main(String[] args) {
           ExtendsprotectedClass epc = new ExtendsprotectedClass();
           epc.foo(); // CompilationError: 
                      // The method foo() from the type ProtectedClass
                      // is not visible
       }
   }
   

It is understood that the boo() method in ExtendsprotectedClass can access foo(), since protected members can be accessed through inheritance only.

My question is, why is the foo() method working fine when accessed through a reference in the main() method of ExtendsprotectedClass but will not work when accessed through the epc reference in UsesExtendedClass?