“It cured my curse too,” Ment said, his voice cool as stone in shade.

“Uh…” Lev paused, the words gritting like sand in gears. “Yes. That’s the pivot. Your curse went inert, and our smoke stopped settling like silt in a river.”

“This new method hits fast, costs nothing, and is easy. No coin, no tools—just a breath of mana, like a spark to tinder.”

“It replaced Mystic Return Smoke in a blink, and spread through Jaha Town like wildfire. A few hours, and every alley carried it.”

“By our original plan, we’d need four days to settle the Cross over Jaha Town, like frost laying evenly on tiles. At this pace, ten days, maybe a month—maybe never.”

Lev finished and lowered his head, his silence pooling like a dark puddle.

“So we got preempted,” Ment said, calm as rain on glass, eyes on the crowd below blooming with smiles.

Lev held his tongue; he was only the messenger. Orders had to fall from Ment like thunder.

Time dripped away, a clock like a steady leak. The rooftop lay quiet as fresh snow.

After a long moment, Ment let out a heavy breath, a cloud uncoiling like smoke. He turned and looked at Lev. “Do you think Healing Magic can cure my curse?”

“No.” Lev didn’t even blink, the answer sharp as a knife’s edge. “Healing Magic is strong, but it’s still just magic. It can’t counter Authority-level power, like a reed against a storm.”

“So?”

“So I think this wasn’t Healing Magic. It was an Authority-level power like yours. Only that could erase your curse, like fire meeting fire.”

“Mm. You’re right.” Ment nodded, chin dipping like a hawk’s. “Then who did it?”

Lev thought a long while, thoughts circling like crows. He shook his head. “No clue. I’m sorry.”

“Not on you.” Ment nodded again. “I don’t see who either. But it’s not Nirael.”

“Nirael carries my curse. If she used Authority to heal, I’d siphon the energy like a thief in the night. I didn’t absorb anything, and her power can’t erase my curse.”

“Then…” Lev’s eyes flickered, a hunch glinting like a fish.

“Looks like a third Dark Deity’s stepped onto the board,” Ment said, pacing the rooftop like a cat along a ridge. “Only Authority checks Authority. The mage who erased my curse is either a believer of some unknown Dark Deity, or she’s a Dark Deity herself. I lean to the first. I know almost all Dark Deities in this world. Aside from Purification, only one could fix this—and she’s dead.”

“What should we do? If the smoke can’t settle, we won’t handle Nirael’s worms and rats. They self-heal and split like weeds, and common strikes won’t stop them.” Lev’s brow tightened, a cord pulled taut. “I can’t march troops to ban it either. They wave the same banner we do—the Independents.”

“Don’t rush.” Ment stepped beside him and set a hand on his shoulder, the touch steady as a weight. “We analyze first.”

“First, we need this Dark Deity’s stance. Is she here for herself, to seize the energy from me and Nirael like a hawk diving for prey? Or is she Nirael’s ally, a second blade on the same hilt?”

—

In the inn’s basement, the air was damp as earth after rain. Lucimia and Desty sat at a wooden table, and a map of Jaha Town lay spread like a woven net.

A mouse sprang from the corner and landed on the table, fur twitching like grass. It was Nirael—she couldn’t stand the stillness of stone, so she rode a mouse to move again.

The mouse’s head bobbed, tail flicking like a reed in wind. “Lucimia, your method’s spreading fast. Many already know it, and they’re using it.”

“Mm.” Lucimia’s gaze was calm as deep water. “Ment’s side must’ve noticed too. Only Authority Power can erase an Authority curse. They know a third Dark Deity’s in town.”

“So, what do we do next?” Desty asked, her voice tight as a drawn bowstring.

Lucimia thought a moment, her silence like a held breath, then spoke slowly. “Once they learn a third Dark Deity’s here, the first thing they’ll do is analyze my stance.”

“Analyze your stance?” Desty and Nirael asked together, a twin echo like two bells.

“Yes.” Lucimia explained, words smooth as silk. “Put yourself in Ment’s shoes. A sudden foe appears, and two thoughts rise like twin waves. One: am I here for myself, to seize both your energies? Two: am I your ally, a knife in his ribs?”

“Why analyze your stance at all?” Desty frowned, heat flaring like a spark. “Just treat you as the enemy and fight.”

“You’re not wrong. But Ment has three constraints.” Lucimia raised three fingers, pale as petals. “First, his true body isn’t here. Second, curses need time, like sand in an hourglass. Third, he must split his focus to face Nirael, and it’s hard to turn and fight an unknown Dark Deity at once.”

“When he sees his curse erased with ease, he’ll fear me like shadow fears dawn. That means my Authority naturally counters his. He must learn my stance. If it’s the first, he might seek cooperation—join with me against Nirael, promise a fifty–fifty split of her energy, even give me more to tempt me.”

“There’s one point that helps me make him believe I’m not your ally.”

“What?” Nirael asked, whiskers quivering like fine wires.

“You—someone Ment already cursed,” Lucimia said.

—

“What? You mean she may want to seize your energy and Nirael’s? So she’s acting for herself?” Lev’s surprise snapped like a twig.

“Exactly.” Ment’s eyes narrowed, cold as winter stars. “If she can erase my curse with ease, she can erase Nirael’s just as easily. Without Nirael’s curse, with her time acceleration, Nirael would be terrifying—like a river in flood. But the Dark Deity didn’t do that. So it’s likely personal.”

“I see.” Lev sighed at Ment’s insight, breath flowing like steam. “Then we can seek her out, cooperate, cut down Nirael, and split the energy.”

“Ideal, yes.” Ment lowered his gaze, weight pressing like a millstone. “But, Lev—remember, we’re analyzing.”

Lev felt pressure settle on him like a heavy cloak. His heart jittered like a trapped bird. “Sorry. I don’t fully get what you mean.”

“Analysis means we cover every path,” Ment said, voice steady as a drumbeat. “We make bold hypotheses. Suppose the other side dug a pit, and they’re luring us to jump. What if she deliberately didn’t erase Nirael’s curse?”

“But…” Prompted by Ment, Lev’s thoughts fanned out like a deck of cards. “If this third Dark Deity truly is Nirael’s ally, she doesn’t need tricks. Erase Nirael’s curse, and they’d strike us cleanly, like a blade to the throat. Why take the hard road when the easy one lies open?”