“So that’s it. She’s really swayed by Aphelia’s wind.”

Violet, standing guard at Aphelia’s side, spoke. As they turned, one wine-dark eye flushed into blood-crimson, like wine turning to flame.

She reached into empty air like plucking silk from water, and drew out a strip of scarlet Aether. With a playful smile, she swallowed it like ember into her body.

Raz nodded, pointing at the floating Aether, his finger a compass in mist.

“Arcane Power has transmuted into Aether, yet it keeps Aphelia’s scent. Anyone who can see it can tell her power nudged Violet forward.”

A prickle of unease creased Aphelia’s brow; she stepped ahead through air that felt like thick glass.

Pure-white Aether spilled from her palm like noon sun across frost, and the faint resistance melted away like snow in spring.

“Is she building her Domain, starting her ascent to True God? To build a Domain, you have to sunder your soul. At this pace—did you help her?”

Aphelia’s gaze cut deeper than theirs, like a blade through fog. Those drifting scarlet threads already cradle a Domain’s seed.

“It wasn’t us. Honestly, we don’t have that kind of craft.”

“To be blunt, Lady Aphelia, I don’t cultivate by later-era methods. What you call a Domain, we see as Aether made concrete. Splitting soul and purifying blood must be self-done.”

Raz shook his head, rain off a leaf, admitting he couldn’t see a Domain like Aphelia could. Helping Lilo build one was beyond him.

While they spoke, Violet edged forward, eager as a cat testing a curtain of still water. Fresh crimson rose in her eyes; a mocking smile curved like a crescent.

She bled out blood-red Aether with care, trying to slice the budding Domain before Aphelia could stop her. Scarlet met scarlet like flint meeting steel.

In a blink, the air-borne Aether caught like tinder, sudden as lightning on dry grass. Violet jolted, and threw up Aether in reflex like a shield.

That motion hit the powder keg like a spark. Blazing flame burst in her face, and the blood-red Aether only fed the wildfire.

Violet cried out and stumbled back, wind in her lungs and fire at her heels. The flames chased her like hounds across snow.

“Cut the link, now!”

Pure-white Aether poured from Aphelia like a river of light, and she lunged. The fire matched her speed like a racing storm, already licking Violet’s arm, about to engulf her whole.

“Blood Sorcery—”

Her eyes flooded full crimson, and a red armor flared across her body like molten steel. It didn’t fully seat; it blocked the blaze, then shed away like a husk.

The crimson plate began to dissolve at once, and the burning fire shifted hue like an angry sky, ready to explode in the next breath.

Heat swept the whole armor in a heartbeat, but Violet had slipped free, outside the burn. She severed the Aether link and pulled back like a fish from net.

Seeing the opening, Aphelia didn’t waste the tide. Pure-white Aether wrapped the blaze like snowfall on coals, and under her control the near-explosion softened into ash.

She let out a long breath and slumped to the ground, a willow easing in wind.

If not for Violet’s Aether armor cutting that blood-red tether, the fire would’ve eaten her whole and left ruin upon ruin.

“…Unbelievable. It can already counterattack foreign Aether on its own.”

Violet panted, staring at the fading red armor in the air, fear a cold hand on her neck.

The one who moved a moment ago clearly wasn’t her true self; that was a shadow behind the glass.

Mockery rippled up from her mind-sea like a chill whisper. Irritated, she blocked the voice and managed a wry smile.

“Of course. What do you think a Domain is? It’s part of a True God’s will. If you trespass, prepare to take a god’s fire.”

Aphelia’s words carried heat like iron from forge. She eyed Violet’s playful tongue, then let the flame in her chest settle to ember.

She stepped out of the Domain’s veil, and pure-white Aether flowed to Violet’s arm like gentle rain, ready to read her wounds.

Raz finally moved, tools in hand, stepping forward like a doctor into storm.

“Let us handle the treatment. Your Aether leans on time’s fabric; better we mend this with our craft.”

Aphelia’s gaze flicked to the instrument, weighing it like a hawk. She stepped aside and let Raz work.

“I should—”

The device clasped her arm like a cool brace. Violet started to speak, but Aphelia’s calm was a still lake. She quieted, and let the tool treat the burns.

“Easy. This is quick. An Aether wound is no mountain. If you force another Aether in, you might spark a clash.”

Raz adjusted the settings, the soft whirr of gears like crickets. He removed the tool and signaled done with a wave.

“Of course, Lady Aphelia, your Aether seems highly compatible with hers. I may have misjudged.”

“Compatible, huh? That evolved power… I haven’t had much chance to feel its tide…”

Her words cut off. A tremor in the air brushed Aphelia’s senses like a distant drum. She snapped toward the scarlet egg, eyes sharp as knives.

“Did you hear that?”

Raz and Violet both shook their heads, blank as a calm pond. No ripple, no sound.

Aphelia frowned, weight in her gaze like storm clouds. At her level, only a True God could lay a convincing illusion.

But was it really that coincidental?

“Lady Aphelia, are you planning to leave? At this density of Aether, those beneath your height still get pulled like boats by a current.”

Raz took a step closer, posture steady as a pillar.

She hesitated, listening to the quiet like a hunter in snow. No tremor returned. She accepted the thought of a trick of sense.

She nodded, and let Raz lead. They left the vast lab, footsteps soft on stone. The tremor never came back.

The heavy door fell shut with a dull thud, like a cliff face sealing. The cavernous lab sank back into silence.

Inside that wavering scarlet Aether, a faint figure seemed to watch through red mist, a lantern behind fog, gazing after their retreat.

“Lady Aphelia, according to Master Merlin’s brief, you’re headed to seek the World Will in the Abyss, correct?”

They settled again at the table. The broken vat and delicate machines had vanished like stars at dawn. White-robed folk had changed into attendants, arranging tea and cakes like petals on porcelain.

One figure sat out of tune, napping in a corner like a cat in sun. It caught Aphelia’s eye like a stray note.

“Ah, that’s right… I’d love to wait for Lilo to wake, but the clock bites. Time is tight.”

Fresh from sleep, Aphelia felt weariness like sand in her bones. With their hospitality laid out, she didn’t refuse. Pure-white Aether quietly scanned the pastries like light on water. All clear.

Noticing her glance, Raz sighed, a reed in wind, and apologized. He motioned for the attendants to wake the sleeper by the wall.

“Koko, come here. Stop dozing. Lady Aphelia plans to depart.”

Koko blinked awake, sleep a film on her gaze. Seeing Aphelia’s look, she wiped drool like dew and sprang up, all flustered respect.

“L—Lady Aphelia! Forgive the discourtesy…”

Staring at a face so close to her own, Aphelia felt awkward, like meeting a mirror in dusk. Words stalled.

“Raz, why does Miss Koko look so much like me?”

“Ah, that’s because—”

Koko started to explain, but Raz raised a hand, a fan closing. Eyes turned to him like birds to a branch.

“Lady Aphelia, this falls under the untouchable parts. Please forgive us.”

Raz wore apology like a coat, easing Koko behind him.

But Koko’s face showed only confusion, fog rolling in a valley. She didn’t understand his block.

Aphelia caught the look and tucked it away, calm as a stone under stream. She didn’t press. She watched Raz, then shifted the wind.

“In that case, I won’t ask. Mr. Raz, the descent of the Eldritch Gods you mentioned—will it happen again, in this era?”

She slid the topic like a blade under silk, and waited for Raz’s reply, still as a night sea.