Honestly, Aili did have some talent for magic. Under Lucimia’s coaching, she became a first-tier mage in a few hours. Not genius, but far from bad. Plenty of beginners can’t even finish the crude Magic Array for the Fireball Spell.

She stood outside the wooden cabin. She raised her hand, palm toward a distant mound of snow. She closed her eyes, breath frosting the air, and felt for her mana.

Villagers saw Aili standing there like a statue. Curiosity rippled through them like wind over wheat; they craned their necks to see what she’d do.

Feel. Draw. Guide. Feed. Mana flowed into the heart of the array. A pinch of fire budded in Aili’s palm, a flower of ember in winter air.

“It’s real!” Aili’s eyes lit like dawn on ice.

“Whoa! Magic!” The village boiled over with noise.

“No way, Aili learned magic!”

“Good, good!”

Their praise bubbled through her chest. Joy rushed in first; control slipped second. The tiny flame shrank, flickering like a timid firefly.

“Don’t drift. Keep feeding mana. Shape it into a sphere,” Lucimia reminded from behind.

“Ah—oh, okay!”

Aili poured in mana again. The flame swelled with each breath, began to spin, and the Fireball Spell quickened like an egg about to hatch.

Then she let it go.

Bang!

The fireball hit the snowpile and vanished in a hiss of steam.

“So strong!” The villagers burst into applause.

Aili’s magic was weak by any standard, but it was enough. In a village with no mage at all, one mage was a badge of pride. Like Aili said—at least lighting a fire just got a lot easier.

“Mm. Well done,” Lucimia said, praise soft as falling ash.

She fished in her Storage Ring and chose a hairpin she’d taken from home. Pale violet, set with two tiny gemstones that caught the light like dew.

Lucimia walked up, held it out, and said, “Take this as a gift for learning magic.”

“Wow—” Aili gasped at the fine workmanship and the twin sparkles. “Th-this is too pretty. It must be expensive, right? I can’t. You already taught me.”

Lucimia only smiled. She said nothing. She lifted the pin, combed Aili’s long hair with her fingers, and set it in place.

Then she took out a small mirror.

“See? Beautiful.”

The girl in the glass startled even Aili; her eyes went round as moons.

“Th-this…”

“All right. That’s that. It’s a gift, so take it. No refusals.”

“Uwu… thank you, sis!”

“No need.”

—

Grinning, Aili danced among the villagers, showing off the hairpin that caught firelight like twin stars. The crowd’s praise turned her cheeks rose-red.

The village chief and her parents, hearing Aili had magic talent, finally agreed to send her to the Magic Academy next month. The timing fit; the Academy’s intake was next month.

Lucimia sat on a rooftop the lamps couldn’t reach. Shadow cloaked her like night water. Chin on hand, face blank, she watched the joy below as if from behind glass.

She couldn’t name her mood. Couldn’t name her state. She only knew the stain was always there now, an unseen seep. Olivya, steeped in malice, could hurt her already. She had only one Temporal Authority so far; Yuna felt farther than the horizon. Not a single Magic Array of Elyssus had been erased. Its resistance grew like roots. It had been silent for so long—was it brewing something? In theory, locked by the Fuzzy Orb, it shouldn’t stir any waves. But fear still throbbed under her ribs. Worry pooled and wouldn’t drain.

In a place like that, she realized she was getting worse.

“…So, if I only spend and don’t absorb, the pollution comes faster? But if I absorb energy, the pollution just comes later…”

Spend or absorb, both roads ran downhill. What Dark Deity? Even Ment’s Curse Authority looked like child’s play. Authority Power itself felt like the true curse.

“Tsk… weird. Why’s my calf so itchy, bugs?” Lucimia scratched through cloth. The itch faded in a moment, like a ripple swallowed by night.

—

Desty stared into the bonfire, thoughts scattering like sparks. The villagers’ warmth and laughter met her hands like boiling water—she didn’t know where to put them.

She was thinking. Thinking what justice was.

At first, she swore you never abandon anyone. Now, she’d chosen a justice that sacrifices the innocent few.

She’d convinced herself—until this moment. Now doubt whispered like smoke at the back of her throat.

Maybe the so-called Dark Deity really touched her. Maybe she was going mad, doing things like this.

Then the thought flipped. In this world, maybe the ones who never go mad are the strangest of all.

A hand tapped her shoulder.

Desty turned. Lucimia stood behind her, face dim as a storm cloud.

“Come with me,” Lucimia said, simple as a knife.

“Okay.” Desty nodded.

They walked to the village’s edge, back to the road they’d taken in, facing the forest like a wall of ink.

Lucimia said nothing. She stared at the black trees, listening to wind crawl through needles.

After a long stillness, she spoke. “Rats are coming.”

“Rats…”

“Mm.” Lucimia turned, eyes on Desty.

“A few hours, give or take.”

“Mm… then…”

“Time to find the Cross.”

“Alright.”

Their words were light as falling leaves. Neither touched what they didn’t want to face.

“You found it?”

“I have a guess. But I’ll Devour the village chief’s memories first,” Lucimia said. She triggered her Disguise Power. In a blink, both their forms shrank into flies.

They zipped into the chief’s house. He sat in warm light with a few old acquaintances, drinking and tearing into meat.

Lucimia let her shadow seep out. The Fuzzy Orb slid down the wall like spilled ink, crossed the floor, climbed the chief’s body, then skimmed his head. Once it Devoured the precise content, the chief’s memories poured into Lucimia’s mind.

She saw two mages meeting the chief. Both with blue hair, one male, one female. Masks and cloaks hid their faces.

“Relax. With this thing, the beasts won’t attack anymore.”

“Really? Do we need to pay—”

“No, no. Just don’t tell anyone what it is. Say it out loud and it won’t work.”

“Alright, I understand. By the way, what is it?”

“Oh, the thing? It’s—”

The next instant, her mind jolted. White fog rolled in, blank as winter. A pair of hollow, oversized eyes stared straight into Lucimia.

“Haha. Found you.”

“Urgh!”

Shock hit first. Lucimia flared her Devouring Authority to shield herself, then snapped into Reversion. The motions linked like a single breath.

White light flooded her vision. When it cleared, she and Desty were standing outside the village again.