A Rank 3 Leviathan.
An Adept.
Soone who has transcended the limitations I currently struggle against. Soone who can manipulate weeks of tiline as easily as I might rewind a single day.
The realization crashes over like a tidal wave, and for the first ti since this investigation began, I feel sothing I haven’t allowed myself to feel.
—True fear.
Crippling terror so real I can taste it.
I sit alone in my quarters, hands trembling, mind racing through impossible scenarios. Every plan I formulate collapses under the weight of what I’m facing.
’How do I fight soone who can simply erase my victories?’ I think, despair creeping in. ’How do I save anyone when my enemy controls the very fabric of ti itself?’
I’m only a Rank 1 Leviathan.
A Witness.
I can barely manipulate a single day’s worth of tiline, and even that cos with enormous risk and cost.
Ciel is also Rank 1.
Her Higher Divination, powerful as they are, can’t compete with soone who can literally rewrite the past.
Not to ntion that it is unreliable.
None of my allies—Klein, Seth, Serena, the Royal Knights—have any defense against temporal manipulation.
They don’t even rember when reality has been altered.
Only I retain mories of the erased tiline, and what good does that do ?
’Maybe I should stop,’ the treacherous thought whispers in my mind. ’Maybe I should accept this loss and give up now.’
I could walk away.
Claim the investigation hit a dead end.
Let the Grand Ceremony happen and mourn the losses afterward like everyone else.
At least I’d survive.
At least I wouldn’t have to face an Adept Leviathan in direct confrontation.
The rationalization sounds so reasonable.
So logical...
But—
It is also so cowardly.
Disgustingly so!
Seraphina’s face appears in my mind.
Her smile.
The way she looked at with such trust, such certainty that I would always find a way forward.
Even as a student, I admired her.
Now, she is my friend.
’How can I abandon her?’ The thought cuts through my spiraling despair like a blade. ’How can I give up when she’s depending on ?’
Then what about the others whose safety were entrusted to ?
Jonathan... The Third Prince... Lord Krawford—I can’t just forget Aunt Leila and the help she rendered to back then.
All of these people are counting on .
All of them will die if I quit now.
’I may be outmatched,’ I think, forcing steel into my resolve. ’I may have no chance of victory. But I have to try. Even if it costs everything, I have to try.’
—Hope!
I need to hold onto it.
I stand, pushing aside the fear, burying the despair beneath determination.
’So what if my enemy can rewrite the past? So what if they’re Rank 3? I’ll fight anyway. I’ll find a way. I always do.’
The defeatist thoughts don’t completely disappear—they linger at the edges of my consciousness, waiting for another mont of weakness.
But I refuse to let them dominate.
Not when lives are at stake.
*******
"Lord Javier!"
Two hours later, as I’m docunting what little information I have in my head that could still be useful to us, a Royal Guard rushes into my study.
"What is it?" I raise a brow, mildly annoyed by the interruption but also a little anxious.
Hopefully this isn’t more bad news.
"We’ve received an anonymous tip. Soone sent word about suspicious activity in the warehouse district—underground movents, strange sounds, people coming and going at odd hours."
’An anonymous tip, huh?’
How convenient.
How suspiciously convenient.
’Is this a trap?’ I wonder. ’Or is soone trying to help us?’
I an, we did share so of our investigation with the public and asked for the cooperation of everyone in the Kingdom.
But there hasn’t been any useful contributions from outsiders until now.
Nor were these contributions anonymous.
Either way, I can’t ignore it. Not with ti running out.
"Gather the Royal Knights," I order imdiately. "We’re moving now."
Within the hour, we’ve assembled a strike force and surrounded the location—a seemingly abandoned warehouse with a hidden entrance leading underground.
’Another Temple,’ I realize as we breach the entrance. ’How many of these places exist?’
The underground structure is similar to the others we’ve raided.
Black candles.
Blasphemous symbols.
The stench of old blood and recent fear.
This ti, thankfully, we find people as well.
—Prisoners.
They’re in poor condition—malnourished, traumatized, so barely conscious—but they’re alive.
"Get them out!" I order the Knights. "dical attention imdiately!"
As we evacuate the prisoners, I search their faces desperately, hoping against hope.
Not Seraphina.
Not the Third Prince.
Not Lord Krawford.
Not the Bishop.
But—
"Jonathan!" Klein rushes forward, recognizing him as soone who used to be a student of his. "Jonathan, can you hear ?"
It really is him!
Serena’s cousin has been found.
"Uh..." Jonathan ooks up with vacant eyes.
There’s recognition there, but it’s distant, clouded.
Like he’s seeing us through a fog.
"Professor Klein?" His voice is hoarse, uncertain. "I... where am I? What happened?"
"You’re safe now," Klein assures him. "We found you. You’re safe."
I’m glad.
At least one of the people I was worried about has been found.
But... what of the rest?
’Maybe...?’
As we transport the rescued prisoners to safety, I pull Jonathan aside once he’s received basic dical attention.
"Jonathan, do you rember anything? Anything about where you were held, who took you, where the others might be?"
He stares at , struggling to focus.
"I... I rember... voices. Chanting. They talked about... a ceremony. A Grand Ceremony. Sothing important."
My pulse quickens.
"Where, Jonathan? Where is this ceremony happening?"
"I don’t..." He clutches his head, frustration evident. "I can’t rember. It’s all... fuzzy. Like my mories are behind glass. I can see shapes but not details."
"Do you rember anything else? Any landmarks? Any nas?"
"There were... pillars. Old stone. And water. I rember hearing water. Underground water, maybe?" He looks at desperately. "I’m sorry, Javier. I know I should rember more. I know it’s important. But it’s like soone reached into my head and scrambled everything."
’Is this so kind of mory manipulation,’ I realize. ’Did they do sothing to prevent the prisoners from revealing the location even if they escaped?’
We will need to bring in Physicians, as well as resort to Potions if need be—anything that might help restore Jonathan’s mories.
He only rembers fragnts.
’But if we can dig deep in ti... we actually stand a chance of finding the others!’
Hope rapidly surges within .
We are close.
So close!
I can feel it down to my bones.
********
The day passes.
Then night falls.
’So far... we haven’t found anything useful. We’ve started uncovering Jonathan’s mories, but we still don’t know how long it will take to complete the process or at least get what we need.’
We are running out of ti.
One more day until the deadline—the Grand Ceremony that will consu everyone we’re trying to save.
I sit in the war room with Klein, Aunt Leila, and a few other Royal Knights, staring at maps and docunts that tell us nothing useful.
"There has to be sothing we’re missing," Klein says, but even he sounds defeated. "So clue, so connection..."
"We’ve exhausted every avenue," Aunt Leila replies quietly. "Without Sir Jonathan’s complete mories, we have no way to find the Threshold in ti."
The despair that I pushed aside earlier threatens to return. We’re so close to the deadline, and yet we’re no closer to finding—
The door bursts open.
Seth stumbles in, his face pale, eyes wide with a mixture of terror and excitent.
"Javier!" He gasps, out of breath. "I had a Divination. Just now. A Divination!"
Everyone turns to stare at him.
They still don’t know of his unique ability to see random events in his sleep.
He must have thought I was alone when he barged in. That, or he was very excited.
To be honest, I am as well.
Seth rarely has visions anymore—and even when he does, they are about random things unrelated to the matter at hand.
I walk Seth out of the room, towards a private place where just the two of us can talk.
"What did you see?" I ask, standing imdiately.
"A place. Underground. Old. So old the stones themselves feel wrong. There are pillars—massive pillars covered in symbols I don’t recognize. And water. Underground streams flowing between the pillars."
This sounds a lot like Jonathan’s fragnted mories.
No, it’s the sa place!
"There’s more," Seth continues, his voice urgent. "I saw them—or, at least what resembles their descriptions. Seraphina. The Third Prince. Lord Krawford. The Bishop. Others too. All of them were bound. Arranged in a circle around so kind of altar. And there are robed figures chanting. Getting ready for sothing. Getting ready for—"
"The Grand Ceremony," I finish, my heart pounding.
"Yes! I don’t know if it has happened yet. But we can only hope this is a Divination regarding a future occurence."
"Where?" I demand. "Seth, where is this place? Can you describe the location? Any landmarks nearby?"
Seth closes his eyes, clearly trying to recall every detail.
"North. It’s north of the Capital. I saw... there was a dried riverbed. And ruins. Ancient ruins that predate the kingdom. The entrance is hidden among the ruins. You have to know where to look or you’d never find it."
My face lights up with sudden, desperate hope.
Ancient ruins north of the Capital. There’s only one location that matches that description—the Silent Thrones!
The site of a Fallen Kingdom.
’I don’t know how they were able to hide their activities there, but...’
We’ve found it.
The true location of the Threshold.
"Gather everyone," I return to the general room and order enthusiastically, energy surging through . "Every Knight. Every resource we have. We move imdiately."
"Did you find anything, Javier?" Klein asks with piqued curiosity.
A wide grin forms on my face instantly.
"Yes!"
For this kind of information to co at such an opportune mont, it must an Lady Anastasia is involved.
She helped with this matter yet again!
’If we hurry, we can make it to the Threshold right as the Grand Ceremony begins! The timing is perfect!’
"We now know where they are. We know when the ceremony is happening. This is our chance. Our only chance."
I look at Seth, gratitude overwhelming .
’We finally have a path forward!’
I turn to address everyone in the room.
"We have one day. Maybe less. We will take the Lantern Rays and fly to The Silent Thrones ruins, find the Threshold, and stop this Grand Ceremony before it begins. Whatever it takes. Whatever the cost."
They all nod and jump to their feet imdiately.
The atmosphere is electric with passion.
Everyone is ready!
"We leave within the hour," I announce.
"Prepare for battle."
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