Clara and Elena, still praising how cool and mature Cadet Elisha was, stepped outside the dining hall.
"Elena! Let’s go!"
"Yes, Clara."
They walked to the Academy’s private teleportation gate. They swiped their IDs.
VMMMMM.
Light engulfed them.
Usually, this gate would lead to the Marigold Estate or the Scholarship Dorms.
But when the light faded...
They weren’t in a mansion. They weren’t in a dorm.
They appeared in a dark, damp basent. The air slled of copper and rot. The floor was etched with intricate patterns drawn not in ink, but in dried blood, grey brain matter, and crushed bone dust.
In the center of the room, a grotesque altar pulsed with faint, corrupt mana.
"Phew... today was fun too," Elena’s voice rang out.
But the tone was different. The airy, gentle warmth was gone. It was replaced by a chilling, monotonous calm.
She turned to Clara.
"Right, Lady Clara?"
Clara stood there. The bubbly, energetic girl who had just been laughing about salad was gone.
Her body was like an empty shell. Her arms hung limp at her sides. Her eyes were hazy, unfocused, staring at nothing—like the eyes of a dead fish.
She didn’t answer. She just stood there, waiting for a command. A puppet whose strings had been pulled tight.
"Hmm. What shall we do today?"
Elena walked over to a bucket sitting on the altar.
"Play drawing? Or house with the slum folks like usual? We need three more hearts for the stabilization."
She plunged her delicate, manicured hand into the bucket.
Squelch.
She pulled it out, dripping with visceral fluids.
She brought her hand to her face, slling the copper tang, a beatific smile spreading across her lips—a smile that looked wrong on her gentle face.
"Or..."
Elena looked at the empty space where Elisha had been sitting earlier. Her drooping eyes curved into crescents.
"Should we tornt the filthy hound pretending to be good while keeping its mouth shut?"
She licked a drop of blood from her finger.
"Lucien Ashborne... you sniff too loudly, puppy."
****
The next day ca, dragging a heavy grey sky with it.
I couldn’t sleep. My mind was still swirling with the conversation with rle—the Luveil Institute, the dinsional rifts, and the Executioner.
"I don’t get it."
Even during lectures, I couldn’t focus. I stared out the window, tapping my pen against the desk.
Why did everyone mistake for this ’Executioner’? Was it just the gun? Or was there a deeper connection between the Ashborne bloodline and the Fallen Empire that the ga developers hid in the lore?
"Hey! Cadet Lucien! I have sothing to say about the search..."
Kael tried to catch after class.
I ignored him, walking straight past the Protagonist without a glance. I didn’t have ti for team etings.
[Night 3 - The Sewers]
I waited all day near the dorms, hidden in the shadows of the clock tower. The culprit didn’t appear.
’Is there so secret passage I don’t know?’
If they weren’t using the main gates, and the dorm wards were silent, the answer was obvious.
The Sewers.
The sprawling, labyrinthine underbelly of the capital. In Asteria Online, it was a classic mid-level dungeon zone.
’Hah, the original plot is useless now.’
By now, in the ga, the Protagonist Party would be scouring the back alleys, finding clues slowly. While they floundered, victims would pile up for two weeks.
’That’s too late.’
I rembered the fear in rle’s eyes. I rembered the little girl, Irina.
I descended the maintenance ladder into the dark, damp tunnels. The sll of rot and stagnant water hit instantly.
I moved silently, my [Shadow-Weave Suit] blending into the gloom.
I searched for hours. The tunnels were endless, a maze of sli and echo.
’Ti to call it a day. Another bust.’
I turned a corner, ready to head back to the surface.
ZING.
Suddenly, my instincts flared like a siren in my skull.
’An ambush? The culprit?!’
Swish!
A diagonal slash of mana cut through the darkness, aid at my neck. At the sa ti, a flaming arrow whistled through the air, embedding itself in the wall right where my head had been a split second ago.
BOOM!
The arrow exploded, blocking my retreat with a wall of fire.
From the smoke, three figures erged. A swordsman, an archer, and a hulking vanguard with a shield.
’Deadweights.’
I didn’t panic. I crouched low, accelerating instantly.
’Useless idiots.’
I stepped on the shield of the large man (Bordon) as he rushed , using him as a springboard. I vaulted over his head, twisting in mid-air to dodge Kael’s follow-up slash.
’If this weren’t such a stupid world...’
I landed gracefully behind them. I drew the Winchester, spun around, and leveled it at the swordsman.
Kael, realizing the "enemy" had gotten behind them, spun around to deflect the shot—
"Whoa?! Guys, hold on!" Kael shouted, recognizing the coat.
The charge stopped instantly. The tension in the tunnel was suffocating.
I slowly lowered the rifle, threw back my hood, and glared at the pathetic group.
Kael and Bordon looked sheepish, lowering their weapons.
"Stop mistaking for the boss monster," I spat, my voice echoing in the tunnel. "It’s annoying. Unless you’re trying to kill on purpose?"
"L-Lucien? Cadet Lucien?"
Elisha and Mariella ran up from around the corner, wands and bows lowered. Elisha looked at with a mix of relief and annoyance.
"Why are you wearing a black robe that causes confusion? You look like a cultist!"
"You’re the ones boldly attacking people in a restricted area without identifying your target," I countered coldly. "Shouldn’t an apology co first, Lady Ravenscroft?"
"...Sorry."
Elisha apologized, biting her lip, looking embarrassed.
Kael scratched his head, sheathing his sword.
"I’m sorry too, Cadet Lucien. It seems we had the sa idea. The surface search yielded nothing, so we ca down here."
"Any results?"
"No. It’s a maze down here. How about we put our heads together instead of—"
"Pass."
I turned to leave. My solo investigation was a bust, but I refused to play hero with them.
But just as I took a step—
[ROAAAAAR!]
"...!"
The tunnel shook. Dust fell from the ceiling.
"What was that?!" Mariella shrieked.
"Stay alert!" Kael drew his sword again.
It wasn’t a human scream. It was a monstrous, guttural roar that vibrated in the chest.
’This is...’
I felt a chill run through .
And then, faintly, reverberating off the sewer walls, ca a second sound.
A scream. High-pitched, desperate, and terrifyingly familiar.
[Skill: Detection - Friendly Mana Signature Detected]
My eyes widened.
"No."
Muttering softly, I sprinted forward.
"Cadet Lucien!" "It’s dangerous alone!"
The Protagonist Party yelled, but I was already gone. I tore through the sewers, ignoring the sli splashing on my boots. I ran, ran, ran toward the source of the sound.
****
[Sewer Sector 4 - Access Gate]
I burst into a large junction room.
"What are these things?!" "The sewers are restricted! How dare you barge in!"
A group of Sewer Guards—lazy, corrupt city officials—were shouting.
In front of them, on her knees in the muck, was a small figure. Her violet pigtails were disheveled, her dress torn.
"Please! Let through! I have to go back! Please!"
She was sobbing, trying to push past the armored n.
’Why...?’
It was Irina. rle’s granddaughter.
"Irina!"
I shouted her na.
She looked up, her tear-streaked face freezing.
"Oh! Big Brother Lucien!"
She scrambled up, stumbling toward .
"What happened?" I asked, breathless.
"B-Brother Lucien! My grandfather... and Sister Alicia...!"
Grab.
A heavy hand clamped onto Irina’s shoulder, yanking her back.
"Hey, hold on, brat. We aren’t done questioning you."
A Sewer Guard, a man with rotting teeth and a greasy uniform, blocked my path.
"Who are you? Why are there so many intruders today?"
He squinted at .
"Wait... that crest. Isn’t this the infamous trash, Lucien Ashborne? What is a disgraced noble doing playing in the mud?"
He smirked, tightening his grip on Irina’s arm. The girl winced.
"Shut up."
I didn’t slow down.
I reversed my grip on the rifle, holding it like a club.
CRACK!
I smashed the steel-reinforced buttstock directly into the guard’s face.
Blood sprayed. Teeth flew.
"Argh!"
The guard collapsed, clutching his shattered nose.
"Whoa! He’s attacking!" "This criminal bastard!"
The other four guards drew their swords.
I didn’t hesitate. I charged.
I ducked under a spear thrust, swung the rifle low to sweep a guard’s legs, and stomped on his solar plexus.
Thud.
Another guard swung a sword. I parried it with the barrel of the gun, spun inside his guard, and drove my elbow into his throat.
"Gah...!"
"Help! An Academy Cadet is crazy! He’s killing us!"
In ten seconds, half the guards were groaning on the ground. The rest dropped their weapons and fled into the tunnels.
"Cadet Lucien!" "Lucien!"
Kael and Elisha finally caught up, staring in horror at the carnage I had unleashed on City Officials.
I ignored them.
I walked over to Irina, who was trembling.
"Irina."
I grabbed her shaking hands.
"Calm down. Breathe."
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