The world had dissolved into a churning, suffocating mist of pulverized stone. Yet, in the heart of the haze, Carol stood perfectly still. Her sword’s edge remained a mere heartbeat away from the stranger’s throat.

  "Such a sharp response," the mysterious figure noted, his voice disturbingly calm.

  "Who are you? Are you the one responsible for this slaughter?" Carol demanded, her blade unmoving.

  "Relax." He opened his grimoire, and a foul, oily Dark Ender bled from the pages, licking at the air.

  Carol froze. A cold, alien whisper echoed from somewhere deep within her soul, vibrating in time with the book.

  "Interesting. It seems you’re already resonating with this frequency of Dark Ender."

  The statement snapped Carol back to reality. She recoiled, putting distance between them as her heart hammered against her ribs. "What... what did you just do to me?"

  "Oh, I did nothing," he replied, closing the grimoire and tilting it so she could see the obsidian binding. "This relic simply recognized its own."

  "That grimoire," Carol said, her expression hardening into a mask of ice. "You're the one who stole it from the library."

  "Stole it?" The figure chuckled, a jagged, hollow sound. "I merely reclaimed what was taken from me."

  "What do you—" Carol’s words were cut short by a sudden, agonizing migraine. It felt as though a hot needle was being driven into her skull.

  (It seems the seal is finally beginning to hairline,) the figure observed. He glanced at Carol’s wand, noticing a microscopic fracture spreading across the base of the blade. (I wonder how much longer she can pretend.)

  "Do you know the story of the Crying Child?"

  Despite the blinding pain, Carol managed a defiant snarl. "What are you... talking about?"

  "It’s a tale of a child who knew only how to weep. She had no family to hold her, no friends to quiet her fears. All she possessed were the memories of the embers that consumed her world," he said, circling her like a predator. "She told herself she was the one responsible. The one who sparked the fire."

  He snapped his fingers. A projection of a village, Carol’s village, erupted in phantom flames before her eyes. Carol’s pupils dilated in pure, raw shock.

  "Because of that guilt, she decided to change. She wanted to transform from a coward into a hero. And to do that, she decided the only way forward was to bury the tears and the guilt under a mountain of lies."

  He snapped his fingers again, and the projection vanished as he reappeared directly behind her, his breath cold against her ear.

  "What do you think happens to that Crying Child? Does she continue to play her part? Or does she finally accept the weight of her sins?"

  "I... I suppose she’d accept them," Carol whispered, her voice trembling with a vulnerability she hadn't shown since the forest.

  "Is that so? What if I told you she chose to keep pretending instead?" He walked past her, his back turned as if he didn't consider her a threat at all.

  "What is your goal?"

  "My goal?" He stopped, a sinister, jagged smile visible even in shadow. "A girl like you will find out soon enough. In the moment your heart finally breaks... and you are forced to face the harsh, unvarnished truth."

  The figure stepped into the mist and vanished along the way.

  Carol remained frozen. Her sword shimmered and reverted into a wand, but her hands wouldn't stop shaking. The headache had faded, but it was replaced by a terrifying, hollow thumping in her chest.

  "Carol! Carol, answer me!"

  The frantic shout of her uncle shattered her trance. Grey emerged from the clearing dust, his face streaked with soot and panic. The moment he saw her, the tension left his body in a single, ragged breath. He rushed forward, pulling her into a crushing hug.

  "Thank the Heavens you're safe!" his voice was thick, cracking with genuine emotion.

  "Y-yeah. I'm okay, Uncle," she whispered, her voice sounding foreign to her own ears.

  Grey pulled back, his hands firm on her shoulders. "I've been searching this entire sector for what felt like an eternity."

  "I’m sorry... for making you worry." Carol’s gaze remained distant, her fingers tracing the faint crack on her wand.

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  "It’s alright. Let’s get back to the campus. The others are waiting."

  "Are they... safe?"

  Grey nodded, offering a reassuring smile. "I guided them to the sanctuary myself."

  They walked back through the campus, passing through layers of newly erected barrier spells, shimmering domes of Ender that turned the school into a fortress. The main hall was overflowing with remaining students and the terrified citizens of Verlyn.

  "The situation is this dire already?" Carol asked, her nerves tightening.

  "Yeah. We’re facing a Monster Breakdown," Grey explained, his eyes scanning the crowded hall.

  "A breakdown?"

  "A rare phenomenon. When an anomaly within the dungeon reaches a critical mass of Ender, it drives every creature into a state of absolute, mindless rampage."

  Carol clenched her fists, a wave of helplessness washing over her. She hated the feeling of being protected while the world outside fell to pieces.

  "Carol! You’re alive!" Aria rushed forward, nearly knocking her over with a hug.

  "Sorry about the disappearing act," Carol said with a tired smirk. "Is everyone in one piece?"

  "Somehow. Sir Grey held the line against the first wave while we evacuated."

  Carol looked at her uncle, who simply sighed. "I was just doing my duty. But for now, you stay here. All of you."

  "What about the monsters in the city? We can help the faculty push them back!"

  "There’s nothing you can do, Carol," Grey said, his tone turning stone-cold.

  "Why not?"

  "There are too many. Even with every student in this hall, we’d be overrun in the streets. We have to prioritize the defense of the refugees."

  "But—"

  "Don't be stubborn, right now!" Grey’s frustration finally boiled over. "If you want to play the hero, do it after this incident is neutralized. This is a matter of life and death, you know? So, please understand that."

  He turned and strode toward the heavy oak doors, leaving Carol standing in the center of the hall. Aria then decided to guided her back to the group.

  "Don't vanish like that again, okay?" Rein said, his tone casual but his eyes lingering on her.

  "Yeah, yeah. I got the message." Carol sank to the floor, her back against a pillar.

  "So," Revir said, leaning in. "What actually happened out there?"

  "Nothing special. I just got turned around in the dust."

  Revir shook his head. "Then why do your eyes look like that?"

  "My eyes?"

  "I-I think he means they look... different," Saria said softly. "They aren't your usual eyes, Carol."

  Carol went quiet. She wanted to tell them about the mysterious figure, the grimoire, and the burning village, but she couldn't bring herself to drag them into the darkness of her past.

  "You don't have to tell us everything," Noire said, placing a steady hand on her shoulder. "I know you'll handle it in your own time. The only way to truly overcome a problem is to face it with your own will, not because someone else forced your hand."

  "You really believe that?" Carol asked.

  "Trust me," Noire smiled. "The only person who truly knows you is yourself."

  "Thanks, Noire."

  A sudden, piercing cry echoed through the hall.

  "Where is he?! Where is my son?!" a woman screamed, frantically pushing through the crowd.

  Aria stepped forward. "Ma'am, please, calm down. Who are you looking for?"

  "My child... he said he’d meet me here, but he’s not in the hall!" She sobbed, her words dissolving into a jumbled mess of terror.

  "Where was he last?"

  "He... he went into the dungeon a few hours ago. He said he saw something 'beautiful' inside and wanted to see it closer."

  The group stared at her in stunned silence.

  "Why would anyone go into the dungeon now?" Aria whispered.

  "I have to find him!" the woman wailed.

  Aria looked at Carol. Carol didn't hesitate; she gave a sharp, firm nod.

  As a response, Aria led out a sighed. "Stay here, ma'am," she said, her voice regaining its iron. "We’ll find him."

  "Are you sure about this?" Noire asked as they slipped toward the side exit. "Grey strictly forbade us from leaving."

  "He said that he forbade us or any students from entering the city," Carol corrected with a nonchalant shrug. "He didn't say a word about the dungeon."

  "B-but the monsters..." Saria stammered.

  "We’ll do what we’ve been trained to do. We aren't coming back until we find that boy."

  "So, you ready for the consequences afterward, huh?" Rein asked, in need for confirmation of Carol's will to moved.

  "Always," Carol said, her gaze fixed on the dark entrance ahead. "I'm sure the result will be worth it in the end."

  Heared her statement, Rein fall into a silent, closed and opened his eyes as he accepted her answer.

  Deep within the lightless bowels of the dungeon, the hoodie figure watched the shadows dance.

  "The stage is set," he chuckled. He summoned a massive, jagged broadsword forged from pure Dark Ender and handed it to a hulking, armored creature, a Livern, whose very presence made the air turn cold.

  "Do try to entertain my little Priestess, won't you?"

  The creature caught the blade in its massive claws, its eyes igniting with a lethal, destructive crimson light.