"You're late, Lou," I muttered, my voice flat.
He exhaled through his nose, clearly unfazed.
"Well, excuse me for not being a perfectly-tuned machine like your uncle," he replied, brushing dust from his coat.
His sharp gaze scanned me from head to toe—my bloodstained tracksuit, the bruises, the exhaustion etched into my every breath.
And finally, the fragile weight on my back.
"I see…" he whispered, eyes softening just a fraction.
Before I could respond, a delicate hand with sharp, red-manicured nails cupped my face. Gently, it tilted my head to the side, and I found myself face to face with a stranger.
Warm brown eyes.
Freckles that dotted her cheeks and danced over the bridge of her nose.
Lips curled into a mischievous smile, highlighted with deep crimson lipstick.
She was stunning—and intrusive.
"So this is the cutie Lina Lapis I've heard so much about," she chirped, her voice practically humming with joy. "Causing trouble the moment she awakened, huh?"
She kept pressing her hand to my cheeks, squishing them like dough between her fingers.
"Just look at you! You're adorably fierce! I can't believe this tiny firecracker was battling through all that!"
I blinked at her.
Blankly.
What the… Who was this woman?
Before I could even ask, Karim spoke with that annoyingly smooth tone of his.
"Well, what fortune! Two Sponsors in one day? The stars are truly smiling upon me!"
…Wait.
Sponsors?
She was one too?
Lou rolled his eyes. "It's still too early for stars, you poser."
I shot him a glare. "God, you're so dense. Ever heard of a metaphor?"
"…Arrogant bug…" he grumbled.
The woman giggled, finally releasing my face. "I love the banter between you two. Such delightful chemistry!"
In perfect unison, Lou and I both waved her off with a tired sigh, replying in deadpan: "We don't."
Amira adjusted her oversized witch hat with a flourish, then turned her gaze to Karim.
"You're quite informed, aren't you? To recognize that both of us are Sponsors so quickly."
Karim nodded politely. "Lou was obvious. But of course I'd recognize Amira Gaza. We hail from the same country, after all."
Same country?
So neither of them were from Alaranta. That made sense somehow—both their names had felt... foreign.
Amira grinned, lips red and radiant. "Indeed, I am Amira—the Sponsor of Wealth!" She held her head high. "So you better show me the proper respect."
Karim raised an eyebrow, his expression unreadable.
"My sincerest apologies if I've offended you," he said, bowing slightly. "If you'd be so kind as to tell me what I did wrong, I'll adjust my behavior accordingly."
Her smile faltered. Then, with theatrical flair, she raised her hand and pointed at him.
"You talk too much! And I wasn't even talking to you."
She flicked her head toward the slowly encroaching Ghouls. "Them. I just bought these clothes, and I'll be damned if they get torn up by those filthy things."
A pulse of Flow shimmered at her fingertips. I squinted.
Flow… at her fingertips?
That was new. I didn't meet anyone who condensed their Flow at the tip like that.
But then—Karim's reaction threw me off.
He looked… genuinely alarmed.
He tossed the cat up gently and dropped to one knee, both palms pressing against the ground.
Preparing something?
But he was too slow.
"Freeze."
Amira snapped her fingers.
With that sharp click, a blast of green-tinted Flow erupted from her hand. But it didn't rush through the air like mine—it rippled, as though carried on waves.
And then—
Everything stopped.
The Ghouls froze in place mid-step, their grotesque moans still echoing from their stiff throats.
Even the cat hovered, limp in midair, unable to land in the waiting ground.
Karim himself became paralyzed, arms outstretched and unmoving.
I blinked. Once. Twice.
Then slowly turned to Amira.
What in the hell…?
She looked back at me with a wink. "My Eidos—Sound Control."
"I can send Flow using soundwaves. Everything from paralysis to impact manipulation. What you saw just now? That's just one of many effects."
I stared, dumbfounded, before glancing at my own body. I could still move. So could Lou.
Selective targeting too?!
This Eidos… was insane.
Good thing she was on our side.
Despite the odds, Karim chuckled softly, lips still curled into that infuriating smile.
"Your Eidos caught me off guard," he admitted. "Just as the rumors said it would."
Lou stepped forward, slowly and deliberately.
"Yeah? Then maybe it's time you wiped that smug look off your face."
Karim's grin only widened, a playful gleam in his eye.
"I apologize. I was taught to greet all guests with a smile, after all."
Lou clicked his tongue. "Tch… You're a real piece of work."
Then he turned to us. "Anyway, this creep's coming with us." He glanced around the battlefield. "As for the rest… I have no idea."
"They all look identical," Amira added, crossing her arms. "We'll just take one and run tests. That's probably the smartest move—"
Karim interrupted her, still paralyzed but somehow ever composed.
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," he said. "But I'll have to ruin your plans."
"C.O.M. can't afford to lose me just yet, you see."
Amira raised a brow. "And how exactly are you going to stop us? You and your beast can't move a finger as long as I've got Flow in my circuits."
Karim chuckled again, undeterred.
"No, no… Who said we'd be the ones to act?"
His tone darkened.
"Murmur will do it for me."
His Flow faltered for a moment. And the ground trembled as an answer.
Cracks formed beneath us—then shattered entirely as massive, jagged hands burst from below. Six fingers too long, too twisted, too wrong clawed at the surface, dragging something monstrous upward.
So its name was Murmur…
Amira blinked, stunned—but only for a moment.
"Freeze!"
She snapped her fingers again. Another pulse of green Flow rippled out with a sharp crack.
Nothing.
The hands kept rising. The beast didn't even flinch.
Karim's voice rang out from his frozen stance, still disturbingly calm.
"Don't waste your energy, dear Amira. Murmur can't hear, you see."
I turned to them, brow furrowed. "He's not lying. That thing… it lives underground. It's not surprising if it's deaf."
Lou frowned, glaring at the massive six-fingered hands clawing upward.
"You've seen it before?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Once."
As the creature roared in the distance, we landed briefly—just enough time for me to shift my burden.
I gently slid Mina from my back, cradling her one last time before stretching my arms out toward Lou.
"Lou… Would you mind?"
He blinked. "Huh?"
Still, without another word, he took her into his arms.
I looked up through the hole they had torn into the ceiling.
Blinding sunlight streamed down. It felt alien. Familiar. Distant.
Damn… Had it really been that long since I'd seen the sky?
Just as I bent my knees to leap through the opening in the ceiling, a firm grip snagged my collar.
I didn't need to look back. I could feel it—the green pulse of her Flow.
Amira.
"Where do you think you're going?" Her voice was cool, yet commanding. "You're under surveillance, understood?"
I clicked my tongue. Tsk. I had things to do—important things—and babysitters weren't on my schedule.
"Surveillance?" Turning just enough to catch her expression from the corner of my eye, I muttered, "And you're the one assigned to watch me now?"
To my surprise, she nodded.
"As aggravating as the task is… yes. I'm under strict orders from the council to keep my eyes on you."
I didn't respond with words.
Instead, I let my aura bleed out.
Like a jet-black flame, it surged around me—wild, untamed, and burning with purpose. It swept across the room, drowning it in oppressive heat. Amira recoiled, her hand slipping away from my collar as her face tightened in alarm.
The room shifted.
Murmur's monstrous hands spasmed violently, reacting to the presence of my aura. The Ghouls screeched, staggering back—not toward us, but away. Even Karim, ever-composed, now bore a sheen of sweat across his brow.
Interesting… My aura messed with Amira's Eidos. That was good to know.
I looked toward Lou—his hands tightened around Mina, jaw clenched, a slight tremble in his frame. Right… He hadn't seen me unleash my Aura before. Not like this.
Then, I turned fully to face Amira. She stood frozen. Her lips parted slightly, her pupils dilated, and her Flow flickered—unsteady.
"Who do you think you're talking to?" I reached up, calmly straightening my collar.
"Sponsor or not," I said, voice low and steady, "you don't get to treat me like some pawn you can move around the board. Got it?"
I raised my hand and pointed at her—no, at both of them.
"The way I act? The choices I make? Those belong to me. You try to control me like some marionette, and I won't hesitate to slit your throat—I'll even kill those Council frauds if needed."
I knew the truth. If they really wanted to, Lou and Amira could end me here and now. But that didn't matter. What mattered was making a point.
No more dancing to the strings of those in power. Not anymore.
With my message delivered, I pulled my aura back. The pressure lifted.
Then, without another word, I jumped—slipping through the hole above and into the sunlight beyond.
No one followed.
Just as I thought.
My aura had disrupted Amira's Flow. Which meant they were stuck dealing with Karim—and I had time to move.
Time to give him a chance.
I pulled the folded paper from my pocket—the one I'd slipped in there before wrapping Mina in Oliver's coat. In hindsight, leaving it there had been risky, especially now that the coat was in the Sponsors' hands.
I unfolded the note again, reading the lines for what must've been the tenth time:
"When you feel ready, would you mind coming to a location north of the Tower? You'll find me there waiting. Thank you for reading the text."
Simple. Vague. Yet somehow… reassuring. I didn't want it to feel like that though.
I slipped it back into my pocket and lifted my eyes toward the distant skyline.
There it was.
The Tower.
Rising like a monolith, pure white and absurdly tall—its squarish base anchored it, but its height made it feel like it might pierce the sky itself. It almost scraped the clouds.
How had they built that without Alaranta noticing?
No idea. C.O.M. never failed to make the impossible look routine.
I picked up speed again, legs pounding against the earth—
BUZZZZZZZ.
A sudden jolt of Flow surged through me. I staggered to a halt.
Wait… no, not through me. It was below.
I looked down. My stomach twisted.
A colossal surge of Flow was racing beneath the surface at incredible speed. It wasn't just raw energy—it felt… aware. Sentient. Like something breathing. Thinking.
I narrowed my eyes, reaching out with my senses.
Nope—not the usual Flow of the earth. This was different. Alien. Alive.
Where was it going?
I jumped into the tallest tree I could spot, scanning the horizon. Behind me lay the Beast Territory, green and wild as ever. But farther out—there it was.
Alaranta.
From up here, the city looked peaceful. The buildings didn't choke the sky, and the soft hues of the architecture gave it a dreamlike charm. Even the massive Flow Barrier that encircled it seemed calm, almost serene.
That barrier… Lou told me it had been forged after the people drove out the Flow Beasts. Strong. Imposing. A symbol of survival.
Thanks to it, I could tell one thing for sure:
That Flow underground wasn't heading for Alaranta.
Good.
Still, whatever it was, it left a bad taste in my mouth.
No time to dwell on it.
I leapt from the tree, feet hitting the ground with purpose. I needed to reach the meeting spot—before Lou or Amira decided to get in my way again.
I crossed the Central Square of Execution once again, its haunting silence now familiar. Then came the ruins of Gloria.
Seeing it a second time… somehow, it hit harder.
The charred walls. The cracked statues. The emptiness.
Disappointment simmered in my chest, but I pushed it down. I wasn't here to mourn.
At last, I reached the northern side of the Tower.
I slowed my pace, slipping my hands into my pockets. No more running. The air here felt too still for haste.
The area was… vast. Far more open than I thought.
They had cleared the trees. Where once there had been a wild canopy of green, now lay open land. Strangely peaceful, in a way that didn't quite sit right. I half-expected to find mages draining the life from slaves, but…
Nothing.
No screams. No ritual circles. No residual Mana in the air.
I tilted my head up. Of course. All the Mana had been drawn into the Tower—every drop of it concentrated there. Out here, the only energy left was Flow. And among the natural surges and bestial Flow, one presence stood out above the rest.
That cold, violet Flow.
Oliver.
I followed the trail of his Flow until the landscape shifted again—and that's when I saw him.
Standing there in the open, clad in a loose green shirt, beige pants, and pristine white sneakers. Stylish. Casual. The kind of effortless look that somehow made Karim and him stand out.
But what truly caught my eye wasn't his clothes.
It was the place.
Dozens of weathered stones rose from the ground, each carved with a name and a date. All facing the same direction. Quiet. Solemn.
A graveyard.
Oliver stood in its center, head bowed, hands clasped tightly in front of him. His eyes were closed. Lips barely moving.
He was praying.
In that moment, the biting cold of his Flow didn't feel threatening. It felt… reverent. Grieving.
And I—
I found myself rooted in place.
Watching.
Listening to the silence.
I raised an eyebrow. "Color me surprised," I said, breaking the silence as I stepped in front of him. "A C.O.M. member praying for the dead? Didn't have that on my bingo card."
Oliver slowly opened his eyes, black irises calm and focused. "You came," he said softly. "I'm glad. Truly. I hoped you'd give us this chance. I'll make sure it's worth your time."
I waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. Don't tell me you actually stood around here every day waiting for me to drop by."
To my surprise, he nodded without a trace of sarcasm. "We're committed to showing you a better side of us. We wanted you to meet us without hatred clouding your ears before we speak."
I let out a smirk—cold and sharp. "After what Karim pulled off, I wouldn't say your 'better side' made a good impression."
He raised a hand in gentle surrender. "Then allow me to offer a formal apology, Lina."
I rolled my eyes. "Cut to the point. Why ask me here? Even Karim tried to push me into it. That alone makes it fishy."
It still didn't make sense.
They had so many chances to kill me—Karim, Oliver, maybe even the others. And yet, they didn't. Not once. I was a ticking time bomb in their eyes, wasn't I? A future threat. But somehow… they were treating me with an unsettling amount of care.
Like I was fragile.
Like I mattered.
It almost sent a shiver down my spine.
Oliver simply nodded. "So even Karim helped you warm up to the idea… that's good to hear."
Then he gestured gently, his voice lowering. "But before we talk business, would you care to hear a story?"
I tilted my head. "A story?"
"Yes," he said, the corners of his mouth barely shifting into something resembling a smile. "A tale that might help you taste the truth of this reality—just a little."