At Bevi’s words, Lucimia snapped awake, as if winter melt crashed down her spine.

“He killed everyone in the city?!” Lucimia asked, shock ringing like a struck bell in a quiet hall.

The logic locked into place like biting gears. Dead don’t draw energy; they’re dry wells. If Ment slaughtered the city first, the rat swarm had nothing to siphon. An energy-starved Nirael would sit in Ment’s tightening fist.

If the city was dead, it explained why she couldn’t Devour their memories. They’d been puppets from the start, faces like wooden masks on strings. Not like Gendi—he’d kept a self, and only later did the seed take root.

Left too long in the dark, even Devouring can’t catch a spark. The Authority Power over souls would find only mist; no wonder their spirits looked like wandering wraiths.

Irritation pricked like a thorn under the nail—how did I miss that? Did I refuse to think the worst? Or am I just bone-tired, wanting to end this fast and leave?

Impatience spread like a stain in water. Because of the valley, I kept watching for snares set for me, counting knives in the dark, and forgot the whole chessboard.

This isn’t caution anymore—it’s paranoia. Caution scans the horizon; paranoia stares at a single thorn.

And yet… she didn’t quite hate it. On thin ice, paranoia keeps you from falling through.

After seeing Bevi, the impatience in her chest swelled like a storm front rolling over pines.

Seeing Lucimia sink into thought, Bevi explained, voice low as dusk wind: “Yes and no. He planted a puppet curse in everyone. They’re dead, but not fully. A sliver of awareness remains, just enough to keep the city pretending to run. It’s all to trick you—make you think the rats Devoured the city’s energy. With Nirael cut off, Ment becomes a mountain you can’t move. Unless you step in yourself. But I can see your state—if you join that fight, you know what happens.”

“What about Rexi? Why can’t I Devour her memories?” Lucimia asked, eyes sharp as flint. “Is she dead too? She should be a Dark Deity, right?”

“Rexi… she isn’t dead. Her Authority Power is peculiar. No comment,” Bevi said, words like stones he wouldn’t turn over. “Because she’s alive, I leaked her position to the guards. Drove her out of the city. Her Authority Power isn’t for fighting. If she clashes head-on, she dies.”

“Why not just tell her?”

“I did. She wouldn’t listen, so I did it this way.” Bat-Bevi shrugged, wings like folded blades.

“Then why help her?” Lucimia asked, curiosity flickering like candlelight.

“Because Rexi is the daughter of Erwei City’s lord. He did me a kindness. I promised to protect her. But the current lord isn’t the one I swore to.” His voice went gray as old ash.

“No wonder…” Lucimia murmured, a puzzle clicking into place. That explained the Storage Ring; she’d suspected a noble house, maybe even royal blood.

“What about Duke Eugene? The wanted poster says she killed his son. Isn’t the duke the city lord?”

“He is a duke, but not Erwei City’s lord,” Bevi said, words swift as dry leaves. “His son studied at the academy here. Rexi did too. Something happened. Rexi killed him.”

“What happened?” Lucimia asked, gaze steady as a drawn bow.

“Hold on…” Bevi’s tone snagged like cloth on a thorn. “Why keep asking that? Shouldn’t Nirael’s plan worry you more? Erwei City can’t absorb energy. You’re not concerned?”

Lucimia blinked, then smiled, light as frost catching dawn—yet cold.

“Heh. You seem to have misunderstood something.”

Calm as still water, she said, “Nirael and I have no bond. We aren’t friends. I don’t care to save the world. We cooperated for profit. I kill Ment; she pays in information. That’s all.”

“Now you’ve shown me your reach for intel. I don’t need Nirael anymore. She even threatened me—said if I didn’t help, she’d join Ment and kill me first. Later, someone important to me died because of that. I’ve helped her enough. Not taking revenge is already mercy. The rest—she can figure out herself.”

“You…” Bevi staggered in his own mind, like a lantern blown by wind. He’d thought Lucimia was Nirael’s rock-solid ally, faith shining behind the blade. He hadn’t expected a ledger of interests, not vows.

“How are you sure my intel has what you want? Look—I couldn’t even collect the truth about you two. How would I collect what you really need?”

“I can look myself. If not…” Lucimia’s eyes traced Bevi like a knife testing grain.

“Since you came to me with all this, you must already have a way. If not, I’ll hear whatever way you make now,” she said, hands opening like an empty scale.

“You…” Bevi stared, stunned into silence. After a long beat, he managed, “Looks like… you’ve been polluted badly.”

“Hmph.” Lucimia’s snort cut like sleet. Black shadow unfurled from her hand, a night-blooming flower.

At the same heartbeat, Bat-Bevi swelled. His wings snapped wide, red light pulsing along the membranes like burning veins. He beat them hard—and shot backward like a bullet.

“Running?” Lucimia tapped the ground with a toe and surged after him, her Flight Spell flaring bright as a comet tail.

“Sorry. I’m not letting you Devour my memories,” Bevi called, voice shredded by wind. “If I do have intel you need, and you walk away now, Nirael fails. The Empire falls into Ment’s hands. I break the old lord’s vow. Rexi dies unguarded.”

“Oh.” Lucimia’s answer was cool as hoarfrost. “You think you can get away?”

“I think…” Bevi’s words jammed in his throat like a stone.

He thought it through. He really might not escape.

This human girl’s spellwork was too high, too clean. She used the Flight Spell like breathing, threading the dense forest as if it were open sky.

That kind of control is a razor’s edge. Worse—she attacked while flying.

Whoosh! An ice arrow hissed in. Bevi twisted aside; the shaft skimmed his wing, and cold sweat washed him like sleet.

It didn’t stop. Snow and Frost on the ground stirred like a shaken hive. They knit into arrow after arrow and loosed in a volley at his path.

Arrow-rain roared like a winter squall. Dodging grew knife-hard. Bevi threw up spells to shield himself, but there was too much snow. The ground turned into a line of anti-air towers, launching shards at the bat in the sky without rest.