"Hello," she giggled, her voice distorted. "Found you."
Like calling a friend at the academy on any other day.
rle drew a card from his deck and threw it. It shattered the second-floor window and exploded, releasing scorching heat.
"They found us."
The whisper was barely audible over the screeching outside.
CRASH!
The first-floor windows shattered inward. A tide of black ichor flooded the room, solidifying into the jagged limbs of Shadow Stalkers.
"Miss Alicia! Follow !"
rle didn’t hesitate. He grabbed the maid’s arm and sprinted toward the gaping hole in the wall created by the earlier explosion.
Below them, the alleyway was a sea of darkness.
"Jump!"
They leaped into the void.
rle’s hand blurred as he reached into his coat. He drew two cards—Blue and Red.
"Alchemy: Aerogel Cushion! Alchemy: Firewall!"
He tossed the cards down.
POOF.
A cloud of dense, blue foam materialized instantly, catching their fall with a soft thud. Simultaneously, the red card detonated, creating a ring of roaring flas that pushed the encroaching shadows back.
rle scrambled to his feet, gripping his deck. His face was pale, sweat beading on his forehead.
’The cards...!’
He counted them with a trembling thumb.
[Cards Remaining: 5]
"We have to keep moving," Alicia gasped, her mana completely drained. She was running on pure physical stamina now.
They sprinted down the narrow alley.
SCREE! SCREE!
Wraiths sprang from the rooftops, the sewers, the very shadows of the trash cans.
"Out of my way!"
rle threw a Yellow Card.
CRACK-BOOM!
Lightning arced from the paper, frying three Stalkers instantly.
They turned a corner.
And stopped dead.
"...." "...."
[Crick.] [Creakkkkk.]
The sound was nauseating. It was the sound of hundreds of disjointed bones grinding together.
They were surrounded.
The main street was blocked by a wall of monsters. Hundreds of glowing green eyes stared at them from the darkness. There was no rage in those eyes, only a hunger that transcended instinct.
’...Is this it?’
rle looked at the dead end. He looked at his deck.
’Have I rusted so much?’
The most common adage for mages and alchemists was: ’The prepared prevail.’ Given enough ti and resources, an Alchemist could rival a god.
But rle had given up that life. He had chosen peace. He had chosen to be a grandfather, not a researcher. And now, that peace was exacting its price.
No escape route was visible.
For so reason, the Wraiths didn’t attack. They rely watched, twitching, waiting for their master’s command.
’I’ll die here.’
rle looked at a shard of broken glass on the cobblestones. He saw his aged reflection—wrinkled skin, white beard, fear.
’Master... I’m sorry.’
His image evoked the mory of his ntor, the Head of the Luveil Dinsion Research Institute. The man who had given him the last life-extending elixir and entrusted him with the "Great Work."
’I failed to confess our wrongs to the Peacemaker. I failed to right the Original Sin.’
His ntor had rebelled against the Emperor’s madness and failed. rle had survived the purge by running away, by denying everything he believed in.
He had abandoned his mission.
But recently, he had t a young man. A boy with cold eyes and a strange gun.
’I t a young man who holds the key to destroying the sin we created.’
Lucien Ashborne. The variable.
rle closed his eyes.
’I survived by fleeing. I lived a coward’s life.’
But he’d never forgotten the oath, not for a mont.
’So now, in this final mont... grant the courage to burn my body instead of fleeing.’
For the hope that would wash away the sins of the past. For Irina’s future.
He opened his eyes. The fear was gone.
"Miss Alicia."
"Yes, Manager."
rle reached into his inner pocket and pulled out a thick, leather-bound notebook. It was warm to the touch, humming with residual mana.
"Take this."
He shoved it into her hands.
"When I signal, run to the building on the right. It’s an old smuggling den; the basent leads to the main road. Deliver this notebook to no one but President Lucien."
Alicia looked down at the book. It contained the essence of his lifelong alchemy studies—the formulas for the Divine Bullets, the theory of Dinsional Rifts, and the location of the Luveil Ruins.
Alicia looked up, her crimson eyes wavering for the first ti.
"What about you, Manager?"
"I..."
rle drew three cards from his deck.
"I’m going to finish what I should’ve done decades ago."
He stepped forward.
"GO!"
He threw the Green Card toward the building on the right.
[Alchemy: Vacuum Cutter]
WHOOSH!
A blade of compressed wind shrieked through the air, shredding the rotting timber of the building like a blender, creating a tunnel through the debris.
"Run, Alicia!"
"...Yes!"
Alicia gritted her teeth and sprinted. She dove into the hole rle had created.
SCREEE!
The Shadow Monsters went berserk, surging forward to chase her.
"Not so fast!"
rle threw a Red Card.
[Alchemy: Inferno Wall]
A massive wall of blue fire erupted, separating Alicia from the horde.
’That’s it. That’s...’
The Shadow Stalkers, having lost their prey, convulsed and turned their green eyes toward the old man standing alone in the street.
rle smiled sadly. He would stall them. Even for a minute.
But—
"No."
A soft, girlish voice cut through the chaos.
"...!"
rle’s eyes widened.
Alicia had stopped.
Through the flas, he could see her. She hadn’t made it to the main road.
Two figures stood in her path.
One was a cadet with pink twin-tails, standing still as a statue. The other was a girl with ivory hair, smiling sweetly.
"...To think I’d have to step in myself. So inelegant."
Elena.
Dangerous. That girl was dangerous. The air around her twisted and scread. She was the Mastermind.
rle didn’t think. He threw his remaining cards.
"Miss Alicia! HURRY!"
The cards exploded. One created a flashbang to blind Elena, another created a barrier between the girls and Alicia, and the last one cast [Haste] on the maid.
Alicia didn’t waste the opening. She squeezed the last drops of her life force into her legs and gusted forward, bypassing the girls and disappearing into the night.
"Tch. Where do you think you’re going!"
Elena waved her hand.
BOOM!
Black energy erupted from her palm, shattering rle’s barrier like glass. But she was too late. The maid was gone.
"...This is pointless."
Elena sighed, lowering her hand. She turned her gaze to rle.
The Shadow Horde surged forward to chase Alicia, but Elena snapped her fingers.
"Stay. Let the dogs go. I want to talk to the old dog."
The monsters froze.
Elena walked over the broken cobblestones, her shoes clicking softly. Beside her, the pink-haired girl—Clara—shuffled along like a broken doll.
"...Who are you?" rle rasped, backing away.
"I am Elena. And this is my friend, Clara."
Elena patted Clara’s head. Clara didn’t blink. Her eyes were empty voids.
’Her spirit’s completely subjugated,’ rle realized with horror. ’She’s a puppet.’
"So you were targeting Miss Alicia. Why?" rle asked, trying to buy ti.
"For revenge," Elena smiled. "Though soone ruined it."
"Revenge? Alicia is just a maid. Unless..."
rle’s mind raced.
"You ca for Mr. Lucien?"
"My, you’re sharp for a fossil."
Lucien Ashborne. The Academy’s Trash. The Villain.
"Why?" rle asked. "If he wronged you in the past, I understand. But why go to such lengths?"
"They say he’s gotten... good," Elena said, her voice dropping to a whisper. It sounded like an insult.
"...What?"
"He was bad. He was perfect. But now? They say he’s acting noble. Helping commoners. Saving the day."
Elena’s face twisted.
"That’s nonsense, right? Hearts shouldn’t change. Good stays good. Bad stays bad."
She reached out and grabbed Clara’s face. Her nails dug into the girl’s soft cheek until blood trickled down. Clara didn’t even flinch.
"Nor should you abandon your nature."
"...."
rle felt a chill that had nothing to do with the cold night air.
She was mad. Truly, utterly insane. She was obsessed with the narrative of the world, and Lucien’s redemption broke her twisted rules.
"So I’ll help Trash Lucien," Elena giggled. "I’ll help him return to his true self."
"By destroying everything he holds dear?"
"That’s not enough."
Elena smiled. It was the sa smile that fooled the entire Academy—warm, soft, and gentle.
"You have to torture them in front of him. Pull out nails. Pluck hair. Gouge eyes. Peel skin. Split bones and flesh."
Her gentle voice described hell.
"That’ll make him burn. His hatred for the world will consu everything and grow. And then... he will be beautiful again."
rle gritted his teeth.
"That couldn’t happen. I won’t let it."
He saw hope in Lucien. Hope to erase the sins of Luveil. Hope for a better future.
"You think I’ll let you touch him?"
"Hmm. My cute children are about to catch the maid anyway," Elena said dismissively. "You have no cards left, old man."
rle reached into his pocket.
"I have one card left."
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