So yes—Aphelia did crave brutal battlefields, to clash and feel power bite. But that never included the so‑called romantic slaughterhouse.

Right now, she was wedged between two people on a carriage bound for the Abyss camp. The air was stiff enough to crack.

Both women beside her shared red hair and red eyes. The left burned like wildfire—raw, bright, feral. The right flowed like wine—deep, still, serene.

They chatted easily over her. In the middle, Aphelia didn’t know where to cut in. The tangle between the three of them made words feel heavier than armor.

The two were Lilo, waiting here to receive them, and Violet, traveling with Aphelia.

It all began when they arrived at this heavily garrisoned town.

“Are we there?”

In a wash of blazing light, Aphelia rubbed her eyes and stepped out.

Headache first, thought second—that was her verdict on Merlin’s “teleportation array,” a circle wearing that name but clearly something else. It moved them, sure, and far better than common arrays. But the experience? She never wanted a second round.

If it rattled her body, it was worse for Violet—still only a Titleholder. Violet couldn’t feel Aether at all. Aphelia had to pull her through the transit, or she’d have drifted off and been lost.

To Violet, Aether was a wall—present, untouchable. She could only endure its battering. With Aphelia beside her, the damage stayed shallow.

Even so, they stumbled out of the circle dizzy, the world tilting. Their greeter hurried forward, reaching to steady them.

“Thank you… huh? Lilo?”

Aphelia blinked, surprise first, then a rising embarrassment she couldn’t place into words.

“It’s me. Your companion looks rough. Come with me—Master Merlin already made arrangements.”

There were no women among the guards, so Aphelia and Lilo lifted Violet together and moved out. Lilo didn’t ask questions about Violet. Maybe she chose not to. That mercy eased Aphelia’s awkwardness like cool water on a burn.

They got Violet onto a carriage. Lilo murmured into a communication spell, reported to someone, then the wheels rolled down an empty street.

“Curious, isn’t it? I was wondering why you came to Norton City. The living aren’t exactly welcome here…”

She turned back with a smile after her report.

“Ah… well, Master Merlin asked me to handle something. Anyway—‘the living shouldn’t come’… what do you mean?”

Heat climbed up Aphelia’s cheeks at that clumsy pivot, but the words were out. Hopefully Lilo wouldn’t press. Lilo only smiled and shook her head.

“Before coming, you must’ve heard—or seen—what the Abyss is, right?”

Aphelia nodded. Heard was too light a word. Merlin had borrowed the Mage Tower and the Aether’s might and dragged a slice of the Abyss before her eyes. The jagged, bottomless rift. The violent, bitter currents. And beneath it all—the World Will, hiding like a leviathan under ice.

And Merlin, who challenged that World Will with his own hands—his power still left welts in her memory.

“You’re not native to the Demon World, so the history may be unclear. But the scars the Abyss left? This town shows them plainly.”

Lilo lifted the curtain. She pointed at the silent, empty street; sorrow slipped through her gaze like rain down glass.

“This was where the first Abyssal Descent hit hardest.”

“Norton City used to be famous for ruins. Since the Demon World founded its capital, ancient sites kept surfacing here—artifacts, even divine legacies. Overnight, Norton became a name across the realm.”

“Every power wanted a piece. With the royal family behind it, the Mercenary Guild poured in and kept development… balanced, mostly. Not perfectly—there were incidents. Still, for a small town, Norton’s taxes nearly matched a rich provincial city like Blackhold. Its wealth spoke for itself.”

“But not every ruin is a blessing. Plenty of tragedies followed. Even horrors. Yet with the Royal Three Knights and the Knight Orders moving fast, and the bounties rich, the explorers never stopped. That hunger is what dragged the Abyss into daylight.”

She glanced at the charred buildings along the street—black ribs under a gray sky—and sighed.

“Records say the Abyss has been here since the Demon World’s dawn, a special region with a force that’s neither Arcane Power nor element. It spawned a warped monster society.”

“For reasons unknown, the Abyss fell asleep ages ago. The twisted things inside slept with it. With a careful pace, we would’ve found it with time to warn the world.”

“But with royal rewards and a fevered market, who follows rules and digs slow?”

Aphelia nodded. Profit makes people mad. She’d seen that madness. She’d ended it with a blade. She knew it too well.

And here, it had royal sanction. “Legitimate.” Who wouldn’t go crazy?

“So one day, a pack of second‑rate mercs hauled a Demigod‑grade spell scroll out of the black market. They blasted through the ancient layers stacked over the Abyss. And they woke what slept below.”

“That day, black fury fell from the sky. Snarling things crawled out. They stood outside our power systems. Their flesh was iron; common sorcery barely scratched them. Their strength dwarfed mortals. Below high tier, soldiers couldn’t hold a line. They moved like locusts and swallowed Norton City whole.”

“If the Three Knights hadn’t been present, the stationed Knight Orders wouldn’t have walked out. From that day on, Norton, gnawed by Abyssal power, turned into what you see.”

Lilo drew a long breath. The first Abyssal Descent caught the Demon World flat‑footed. Even the soil around here stayed tainted. It still hasn’t healed.

For a realm that worships strength, it was a stinging slap across the face.

“Lilo—since you said first Abyssal Descent… there was a second?”

Aphelia frowned after digesting the tale, urgency pricking like thorns. She already treated the Abyss seriously, especially its target—the World Will. But from Lilo’s tone, there was more coiled in that depth than she’d guessed. She needed facts before she walked in.

“Right. Since its appearance, there have been three Abyssal Descents.”

Lilo answered without reservation, as if Violet’s presence hadn’t put distance between them. That only thickened Aphelia’s guilt. She shifted her eyes aside and waited.

Lilo seemed not to notice. Her voice stayed steady.

“The first swept Norton. The destruction can’t be measured. The dead? Still unknown. The monsters took females of many races and birthed the first Abyssal Progeny…”

“They broke the world’s rules outright. Calling them people is wrong; calling them monsters flatters them. After the first Descent, the royal elite Knight Orders drove them into the Wendigo Mountains—that dreadful chasm—losing a third of their number to do it…”

A shrill whinny ripped the air ahead. Soldiers around the carriage swung down. Screams snapped off like twigs.

Strange howls rose outside. Aphelia didn’t hesitate. She kicked the carriage door wide. Pure‑white Aether Bracer Gauntlets slid over her forearms as she lunged out.

A shadow streaked at her the moment she appeared. A blood‑slick blade fell for her face. Worse—the ground where she should’ve landed puckered and rose into a squat creature lunging up with a spear.

In a breath, the world tightened into a kill box around Aphelia.