The morning sunlight failed to break through the smog above the Fourth District. The entire city lay beneath a thick gray veil.

The outlines of the skyscrapers flickered in and out of the mist, hazy and unstable like mirages. Along both sides of the streets, the trees hung heavy with droplets mixed with murky particles. Their branches drooped low, as though voicing a silent sorrow.

The air was damp and oppressive, making every breath feel slightly difficult. The distant rumble of traffic and clamor of the crowds became faint and faraway after passing through the fog, creating an almost otherworldly sensation.

Moon Owl stood before the Order Keeper Tower. It was her first time here.

This was the hall that symbolized the highest honor of the Order Keepers. Yet Moon Owl felt not the slightest hint of honor. If anything, she carried a trace of disgust.

The past remained vivid in her mind—the isolation and helplessness of the Twelfth District, and the Order Keepers’ cold indifference.

If Moon Owl could feel any fondness for a place like this, then the fault would be hers.

“You’re the newly appointed Chapter Three?”

A petite figure broke through the smog above Moon Owl’s head and gently landed beside her. She looked Moon Owl up and down.

Her eyes held unfamiliarity, along with curiosity.

She wore an oversized navy cap and a pure-white sailor uniform, its inner lining the deep Azure of the sea. A trident nearly half again as long as she was strapped to her back. Her dark-blue eyes were calm and deep as they fixed on Moon Owl.

Moon Owl remembered this style of clothing very clearly.

It belonged to the Order Keepers of District Nineteen, a district backed by the sea. This girl was its guardian.

That made Moon Owl recall the Magical Maiden she had encountered during an expedition. She had worn the same uniform and had also come from District Nineteen.

“There hasn’t been any news about a new Chapter Three lately… And you… you look somewhat familiar.”

The girl seemed to remember.

During one expedition, she had once watched from afar. Among the teams was a Magical Maiden skilled in spatial magic.

She had been the sole survivor of her team.

Moon Owl also remembered that District Nineteen had sent a Cantata Two at the time. She had been assigned to the same team, but never returned.

The girl had mourned her for a long time.

“I don’t like you.”

Her voice was soft, yet it reached Moon Owl’s ears with perfect clarity.

Moon Owl clenched her fists, but eventually relaxed them. The girl pushed open the doors of the Order Keeper Tower and rushed inside.

She didn’t want to see Moon Owl’s face. It made her remember the cries of that day.

Moon Owl stood blankly before the Order Keeper Tower, watching the girl’s retreating figure grow distant.

And who could say Moon Owl liked herself any more?

Her weak, helpless self?

Moon Owl quickened her pace and followed behind the girl. They reached an unused elevator, and the girl pressed the button for the twenty-fourth floor.

It wasn’t that Moon Owl didn’t want to use her spatial magic. The Order Keeper Tower had its own Order. Unless absolutely necessary, no one would openly break its rules.

They said those rules had been left behind by the previous leader of the Order Keepers.

Her Mana had woven itself into Order, lingering throughout the Order Keeper Tower. Anyone who violated it would be punished.

Whether that was true or not, no one knew.

Moon Owl thought about many things inside the elevator.

For example, how she should face those other Chapter Threes. And how she should fight for the interests of the Twelfth District.

These were things she had never done before.

The conference hall was grand and magnificent.

Its central supports were the twenty-four towering Obsidian Stone pillars. Like the spine of a colossal dragon, they were solid and powerful, supporting the hall’s impossibly high dome.

They radiated an indescribable solemnity and majesty.

The Obsidian Stones’ unique, profound blackness gave the pillars a mysterious, shadowy sheen beneath the light. Their surfaces were rough and unyielding.

Intricate patterns had been carved into every pillar. The totems and symbols were both decorations and emblems of power.

Twenty-five chairs stood in the center of the hall. Complex numerals had been carved into their backs.

They were characters left behind by the ancients, symbolizing the number of each district.

There weren’t many people in the hall yet. Only two guardians had taken their seats.

One was the guardian Moon Owl had already met—the guardian of District Nineteen. She toyed with a strand of hair and turned her head away, unwilling to look at Moon Owl again.

The other sat in the Fourth District’s seat. She was presumably the guardian of the Fourth District.

Moon Owl looked around and found the chair engraved with the ancient characters for the Twelfth District. She sat down.

Not long after she took her seat, an unpleasant laugh rang out from the distance.

“Oh my~ Could this be the guardian of the Twelfth District? You’re still alive?”

The speaker wore an intricately patterned Lolita dress. Its skirt was broad, and its layered decorations were heavy, making her resemble a blooming flower.

The fabric was made of delicate lace and exquisite embroidery. Every stitch revealed the craftsman’s painstaking care.

Her hairstyle was extravagant and unique. Her thick hair had been arranged into a towering bun, like a small hill rising from the top of her head.

Her palms were wrapped in white silk as she lightly held a folding fan. Her half-lidded eyes cast an undisguised, malicious gaze.

She took a slight step forward.

The crisp tap of her high heels and the delicate clinking of the gold and silver ornaments on her body echoed through the enormous space.

Moon Owl recognized her.

She was the Guardian of the Seventh District. She had played a part in stealing the Key from District Twenty One.

She had made no effort to conceal her traces. Moon Owl and Blade had easily traced the organization behind the attack on the temple back to the Order Keepers under the Seventh District’s guardian.

Moon Owl couldn’t understand it.

The Seventh District had almost no trade with the Twelfth District. Why had it targeted them?

Where did the malice and hostility in her eyes come from?

What exactly was she trying to do?

“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue? Then again, you lowly lot have no right to sit here. You don’t even have the right to speak.”

Moon Owl still didn’t answer.

It was better not to start a conflict yet. But if the woman ever gave Moon Owl a chance to catch her alone, Moon Owl wouldn’t show mercy.

For now, she would simply keep to herself…

Moon Owl withdrew her gaze from the woman.

“Ugh.”

Moon Owl covered her nose.

An intensely rich perfume stabbed into her nostrils, making her feel faintly nauseous. She shifted her gaze back toward the approaching Guardian of the Seventh District.

She was the source of that scent.

When the Seventh District’s guardian saw Moon Owl looking again, the disgust in her eyes deepened. She lifted her proud head and sat down across from Moon Owl, slightly to her right.

The fragrance grew even stronger.

They were still several meters apart, yet the scent kept drifting into Moon Owl’s nose. The perfume was so thick it resembled poison.

Moon Owl didn’t want to sever her sense of smell, nor did she want to endure such a concentrated fragrance.

So she stirred her Mana and created a current of wind, sending the scented air into a spatial rift beneath the table.

That movement drew the gaze of the Fourth District’s guardian.

A smile lingered in her eyes, but it soon faded. Her pitch-black eyes became as tranquil as autumn waters.

“They’re all strange people,” Moon Owl murmured.

She propped her head up with one hand.

Half an hour later, most of the guardians had taken their seats.

Except for—

District One: destroyed by the Mud King, so it required no guardian.

District Five: killed during the war with District Twenty One.

District Six: absent, reason unknown.

District Nine: absent while recovering from injuries.

District Ten: killed during the war with District Twenty One.

District Eleven: killed during the Abyss invasion.

District Fourteen: killed during the war with District Twenty One.

District Fifteen: absent, missing.

District Seventeen: killed during the war with District Twenty One.

District Eighteen: absent, out of control.

District Twenty One: killed during the war with District Twenty One.

District Twenty-Four: insufficient personnel, no guardian.

In that enormous hall stood twenty-five chairs.

Yet only twelve people had managed to arrive.

Moon Owl felt quite a few hostile and dissatisfied gazes upon her.

She knew why.

The Twelfth District stood at the center of the conflict between the old and new factions. Its ideals clashed with those of most districts.

Other guardians, like the Seventh District’s guardian, held hostility toward the Twelfth District for reasons unknown.

The guardian of District Nine, who had allied with the Twelfth District before, hadn’t attended this council.

The guardian of District Eleven had died during the invasion. Some neutral districts, such as District Fifteen and District Eighteen, hadn’t attended either.

Moon Owl, representing the Twelfth District, was like a small sailboat upon the sea, liable to be shattered by a tsunami at any moment.

She was also like a frail lamb, surrounded on every side by hungry wolves and tigers.

The president of the Order Keepers surveyed the hall. Her thoughts condensed into an involuntary sigh.

She gently touched the Magic Tool on the table before her. Mana particles gathered in the air and formed a light screen, displaying footage of the Mud King’s current situation.

For some unknown reason, the enormous mass of sludge had become trapped in place. No matter how fiercely it struggled, it couldn’t leave the area before it.

There was nothing blocking its path ahead.

“In cooperation with District Six, we’ve temporarily halted the Mud King’s advance.”

“But this restriction won’t last much longer… Tomorrow is the final deadline.”

The president sighed again.

The people before her were all convinced of their own greatness. She had already been waiting here since last week.

She never expected that only thirteen people would arrive by now.

With the Mud King on the verge of breaking free, she had no choice but to begin the meeting.

“According to our investigations, the Mud King has already touched the Ultimate realm.”

Once the president of the Order Keepers finished speaking, several friendly Chapter Threes began discussing the matter among themselves.

“Ahem. Although its life level has touched the Ultimate realm, its strength is only slightly greater than it was back then.”

“Couldn’t we barely deal with it back then? Now it’s even stronger, and its life level has reached the Ultimate realm. Wouldn’t that make it even harder to handle?”

The guardian of District Two couldn’t help complaining.

She had participated in the battle back then. At the time, the Mud King had been impossible to kill.

Everyone had fought for their lives, yet to the Mud King, their attacks had felt like nothing more than an itch.

“The research institutes in the Fourth District and District Six were established to deal with the Mud King.”

“After ten years of research, we naturally found its weakness.”

Moon Owl slightly pricked up her ears, but the other guardians seemed unconvinced.

“There’s a core inside the Mud King’s body. We only need to shatter it to kill the creature.”

“And if that fails, we still have spatial exile.”

Everyone’s eyes turned toward Moon Owl.

Facing those gazes, which seemed ready to devour her, Moon Owl felt a chill beneath her feet.

They… weren’t unconcerned about the Mud King after all?