"That's right," Auril said, calm as a still lake. "It's all Olivya's plan. But there's one thing you don't know—she has two plans."

"The first plan failed. Now it's the second. I, and Rexi, are the keystones of that second plan."

Auril looked to Lucimia, a trace of admiration like dawn light. "You're a lot like Olivya. You're the crucial hinge in the plan to drive out the Dark Deity."

"Me? Like her?" Lucimia shot back, heat rising like sparks. "No. We think differently. I want my own life, not to be some sacrifice."

"At the very least, your minds work alike. From scraps and threads, you map out the shape of things."

Auril paused, then went on. "Half your guesses are right."

"Want to know what happened among the four of us, what we did? Come to a Duel. It was your suggestion."

"If you want me to just tell you, you can withdraw the challenge."

"But I don't want to tell you, and I won't withdraw. So—let's Duel."

As his words fell like stones into a pond, a longsword sigil rose on both their hands.

Lucimia glanced at the mark. Inside, no ripple. She already planned to use a Duel to pull answers.

Auril said, voice low, steady as iron. "No need for cumbersome formats, rules, or content."

"We only need the outcome. If I win, you stop probing who Yuna's parents are."

"If I lose, I tell you everything—your doubts, Olivya's plan, and Yuna's birth parents."

"I thought you'd say, if I lost, I'd follow your plan without question. March to banish the Dark Deity."

Auril just shook his head, a slow rain-soaked refusal. "No need."

"Why?" Lucimia frowned, her mood knotted like cords.

"Because you will. Inevitably."

"..."

Inevitably? The word grated on Lucimia, like sand in the gears.

"What's the Duel about?" she asked.

"Simple. Still guessing," Auril said. "I planned to stop you from seizing Temporal Authority after your Duel with Anliena."

"But since you guessed my background, I had to improvise."

Auril drew a breath, like bracing before a storm. "The question is this—what exactly made Rexi lose control?"

Lucimia blinked, caught off guard.

"No time limit. If you want to answer, pour mana into the sword sigil on your hand, then speak. As for rules? Simple—no Authority Power."

He finished, then vanished at once. Not even a shadow remained.

"...What even is that."

Lucimia stood there, stunned, thoughts drifting like smoke. She folded away her Dark Deity form and returned to her usual self.

"The exact reason Rexi lost control? How would I know?"

"Tch."

Lucimia dropped into a chair with impatience, let out a sigh like wind through reeds.

She'd thought the first task would be simple, not a knot pulling in so much.

She found Yuna's words were wrong.

Rexi used the Duel's Authority Power to gain memories.

Then Olivya altered Yuna's memory through Rexi, blocking Lucimia from probing her parents.

The four of them bound into a web.

But Lucimia wouldn't give up. Yuna did so much for her. She had to do something in return.

Helping Yuna find her birth parents was right. Otherwise, it felt cruelly unfair.

"The exact reason Rexi lost control..." Lucimia murmured, her voice a thread.

Her first thought: Rexi and her father sought Authority Power to fight the Dark Deity, so they came to the Duel grounds.

She didn't know if Rexi's father used connections or resources to find Memory Power holders.

Or he couldn't, and struck a deal with Auril to find them.

Either way, a deal was made. Only the timing differed.

The likely terms: Auril cheated, letting Rexi gain Memory Power.

In return, she had to do something—and that pushed her into losing control.

Think it through.

No matter how strong they were, without Blessings, talents, or Authority Power, it felt implausible.

To find every memory wielder and win every match.

So, first pass: Rexi altered Yuna's memory. But just that shouldn't trigger a breakdown, Lucimia felt.

At most, heavy corruption. Not a full loss of control.

If one mind edit breaks you, it isn't worthy of being called Authority Power.

Even Lucimia's Devouring hits deep layers, used multiple times—she still hasn't lost control.

Then she must've done more.

But what? No thread to pull. No direction. How does she even think?

If the Duel stands, it means she can guess it, eventually...

"What could it be...?"

Lucimia paced the room, steps like pendulums.

"...So annoying. I can't pin it down."

She raked her fingers through her hair, a storm in her scalp.

"...Calm down. Sort the info. Losing control has two paths: too many uses of an Authority, or few uses that cut very deep."

Lucimia sat again. Her toes tapped, chair rocked. Eyes closed, she thought hard, like weighing stones.

"As of now, I only know Rexi altered Yuna's memory. So—did Rexi change anyone else's?"

"From leaving home to now, no one I met needed that kind of edit. Nirael shouldn't be altered; her motives are solid, and Ment is real. So maybe only Yuna was changed."

"Since a Duel must leave each participant a chance to win, I should be able to infer a rough answer from what I have."

"And..." Lucimia checked the longsword on her hand.

She noticed the sigil was dim. Unlike the glowing blades that lit the ground when she entered the Lowegar Kingdom.

Plus, Auril had been waiting on her guesses before. This time he left, telling her to contact him once she figured it out.

"Does that mean this time I can investigate? I need key pieces. Then, with what I have, I can infer why Rexi snapped."

As Lucimia muttered to herself, the door suddenly swung open—

"Lose control? What control? Did I lose it? I feel fine."

Rexi stood in the doorway, perfect timing like a bell.

Lucimia looked her way. The girl's lips had a crumb of food. A cup of wine dangled from her hand.

"..."