The room was silent but for the faint hum of her parasol. Shadows clung to her heels, eager, restless, as though the world itself knew she had crossed a threshold.

  Lea exhaled... time to test it.

  First, Concealment.

  Her form blurred but was not gone, not invisible, but her presence folded itself neatly out of human perception.

  To the eye, the ear, even the instincts of a watchful predator, she was simply... not there. A void where awareness refused to nd. She stepped in front of the mirror. Her reflection flickered, distorted, then ignored her entirely, the gss reflecting only the room. She smiled at herself, feeling like a total mystery.

  Next, she dismissed the Cloak with a breath and knelt, pcing her palm against the floor.

  Her shadow spread unnaturally, spilling outward like spilled ink. She willed herself down, making her body melt into bck silk as though the ground had swallowed her whole. The darkness was weightless, rushing.

  Then, from the far corner, another shadow trembled and she erupted out of it, her boots hitting the ground soundlessly.

  The distance between steps had shortened, but the speed—ah, the speed thrilled her. She could escape any bind, strike from blind corners, vanish mid-blink. The ability called Shadow Sneak, a combination of Malediction and Cloak.

  Lea chuckled softly, feeling the lingering exhiration of fast travel through the shadows, "Now that... will be fun."

  She stilled her thoughts, testing the subtler power next: Cloaked Malice. Her heartbeat slowed. Her parasol hummed lower, steady, while her thoughts folded inward. Not a ripple of intent escaped her. Even she could barely feel herself.

  If an enemy tried to scry her, read her motives, or predict her next move, they would see only silence. She would be unreadable.

  Lea's eyes glinted. "No one will ever see me coming."

  Then she turned her palm outward and summoned the familiar force of Malediction. But it was different now, richer, harsher.

  With a flick of her fingers, she wove a Hex, sending the curse tching onto a nearby chair. The wood bckened, warped, and rotted away in seconds until it colpsed into ash.

  She didn't need to use talismans anymore, just throw Hexes at people, and they will be cursed.

  With a thought, a glyph etched in golden fme burned sharper than before, radiating in the air like a scar on the world.

  The surge of strength confirmed that her Branding could carve into flesh, walls, or even souls with greater permanence. She wouldn't actually activate it here in her room; it's too destructive.

  But the greatest test still waited.

  Lea raised her hand. Darkness swirled into existence, weaving, knotting, coiling until it formed a writhing Cursed Construct... tendrils of bck smoke edged with faint golden light underneath. It slithered like a living serpent, dripping faint sparks of malevolent energy.

  She extended it toward the mirror. The gss rippled when touched, not cracking, but sickening. A distortion spread like a disease across the reflection, warping her own image into something grotesque, before the mirror finally shattered with a soft, pitiful whine.

  Lea drew the tendril back, watching it coil lovingly around her arm like a pet.

  "A touch of this...", she murmured, "And it will all be over..."

  She dismissed it with a flick, shadows dissolving into nothing.

  Her breath came steadier now, a quiet pride warming her chest. Only three months since she began walking this cursed road, and already, she stood on the Third Step.

  The powers from the Annihition Series are great, too powerful even.

  It has been a long night, even under the enhancement of darkness, Lea would crash as soon as the sun rises.

  So after a shower and changing into her sleepwear, and heads to bed.

  After all, she was still employed as a Shadow Guard, and it actually pays pretty well.

  250 Pounds a week, besides groceries and daily necessities. Due to the heavy industrial nature of Renar, food is quite cheap. A single loaf of bread costs a Pound.

  Plus the thousand Pounds from Auger.

  She can st for a very long time.

  =0=0=

  As Jim was hiding far away, watching the Heavenly Demon just destroy everything around him, as if looking for something...

  After reporting to Lady Keter, he had reported his findings to the Oath Keeper. Who then requested him to keep an eye on this rampager.

  Lady Keter had also shared some of her knowledge with him, that the true body of the so-called Heavenly Demon is the sword, not the wielder. Anyone who touches the sword will become the Heavenly Demon like some sort of parasite.

  She had also requested him to summon her. Even if the price was steep... this is for the sake of the entire world, as Lady Keter stated. For now... he could only watch and wait for the promised time.

  Though he could not fully understand it, he still knew this was a big deal nonetheless.

  =0=0=

  "Lea, next week is the Academic Showcase.", Dawn said as she walked down the hallway of the royal castle.

  "Academic Showcase?", Lea asked as she walked behind.

  "Yes, I discovered what could be used for communication, remember?", Dawn began to expin, "I told you about the quartz-like material. After a few rounds of Mimicking Creation and Revetion at the same time, combined with Erudition, I've found..."

  Lea decided not to listen anymore. She isn't smart enough to understand the scientific mumbo jumbo the princess said. Being a Shadow Guard, she was supposed to stay in the shadows, protecting Dawn.

  However, the princess is quite a lonely person. She doesn't have anyone to talk to outside of work, so Lea was forced to listen.

  In the castle, protection is absolute. Besides the King being a Fourth Step Order Pathstrider, Lea knows that there is a Sixth Step Pathstrider of Order in here, somewhere.

  "So, we are going to showcase the prototype for my new invention!!"

  She tuned out the details, quietly nodding while answering with "oh" and "okay". But her mind wandered back to the things the princess had already pulled out of thin air.

  Steam cars rattling through the streets, looms that ran faster than ten men, steel presses stamping sheets into perfect uniform shapes.

  Lea had seen it all.

  She remembered the first time she saw one of Dawn's printing presses at work, pages rolling out one after another, filled with neat letters better than any scribe. Knowledge copied so fast it felt like sorcery.

  Then there were the long steel pipes Dawn insisted on ying through half the capital in colboration with biologists and other fields. Bringing clean water to the city improves the daily life of people significantly.

  And the mps. Gods above, the mps. To Lea, they were the best thing ever created in the world. With a flick of a switch, darkness would be banished; instead of buying candles, she would only need to worry about electricity bills.

  Lea still didn't understand how the princess did it, maybe of her own intelligence or because of Erudition, but every invention left her in awe. If Dawn kept going at this rate, Ryteline itself might leap centuries ahead of its neighbors.

  Dawn deserves to be called the Mother of the Future. Even more so after the revetion of the truth about the Chalk Princess' condition. All of her creations were hers alone.

  Thinking about the Chalk Princess, Lea asked Dawn.

  "What did the Chalk Princess invent?", she was not knowledgeable about the Goddess of Technology.

  Dawn gnced back, "The very concept of gravity was given to humanity by Her; then there is the knowledge of creating electricity, hygiene, microscopic lifeforms, the entire world's measurement systems solidified because of Her."

  "Those seem to breach upon the domain of the God of Knowledge.", Lea commented.

  "True.", Dawn shrugged, "The schors of the Academy of Infinity had come to a conclusion that since they must both possess Erudition, their domains must csh."

  "But here is the way to tell them apart, while the God of Knowledge focuses on the inner self, improving one's cognitive. The Chalk Princess is all about improving the world around us. Those guys in the Cult of Technology often say Her goal is to morph the world into a pce where humanity dominates."

  Lea tilted her head slightly, mulling over the princess's words. Dominating the world... huh. Sounds like something an Emperor would say, not a Goddess.

  Being a Renlou citizen, she knows very well about the expansionism of the Empire. Only the vast ocean is the limit, like the Southern end of the Empire, Empire's Edge.

  "And you?", Lea asked softly, her eyes still scanning the corridor for threats, "Do you believe in that? In... shaping the world into something humanity rules?"

  Dawn slowed, her hand brushing along the stone wall as if feeling the pulse of history in it.

  "I don't know if 'rule' is the right word. But to me, the Chalk Princess represents freedom. Every invention She gave us cut away at the chains of nature. No more fumbling in the dark, no more dying from a single bad cup of water, no more ignorance about what lies too small for the eye to see. Knowledge was power, and She gave it freely."

  Her eyes gleamed as she turned back toward Lea, "Don't you see? That's why I must continue Her work. Technology doesn't just change lives, it frees them."

  Lea's mask kept her appearance dangerous and mysterious, though inside she felt a pang of something like awe. The princess spoke with conviction, like a preacher cloaked in steel and steam rather than robes. But Lea's practical side didn't let go so easily.

  Her malice swirls inside, giving her ideas of how to abuse these advancements.

  Lea then countered, "If anyone can wield such things, doesn't that mean anyone can abuse them? Guns. Explosives. Even mps can become firebombs that could burn a city down. Isn't there a reason most power is kept locked behind Path rituals and divine oaths?"

  Dawn sighed, as if expecting the question, "Yes, and that's why control matters. If people are taught, guided, and given responsibility, then progress becomes harder to twist into ruin."

  Lea snorted softly, almost amused, "That's... optimistic. You really think men won't find new ways to kill each other with your creations?"

  "They will.", Dawn admitted, her voice dropping as if she had known that future, "But they'll also find ways to heal each other, to lift one another up, to build a world where a child doesn't have to beg for scraps or die of pgue. That bance is worth the risk."

  For a moment, silence stretched between them, only the faint echo of their footsteps filling the hall.

  Lea finally gave a small nod, murmuring, "Mother of the Future, indeed..."

  Dawn's cheeks colored faintly at that, though she quickly tried to hide it behind a proud smile, "You ftter me too much, Lea. I'm just doing what must be done."

  "Perhaps.", Lea's eyes flicked toward a distant window, where the city stretched below, faint threads of smoke and light marking the industrial heartbeat Dawn had already ignited.

  "But if you're right... and this Showcase truly is a glimpse of the future... then I should be very gd I'm standing behind you instead of against you."

  Dawn chuckled softly at that, shaking her head, "I don't need you behind me, Lea. I need you beside me. Someone who sees the shadows as clearly as the light. Someone who reminds me of what dangers I can't ignore."

  For the first time in a long while, Lea's lips curved into the faintest of smiles, "Then I'll keep watching your back, Princess. No matter what your future brings."

  She did not know that promises can be broken... quite easily.