Leon's own words echoed inside his head.

"...what's happened to me?"

He looked at the swordmaiden's eyes, which were looking at him with calm yet worried flux.

She seemed confused.

Leon was doing fine just now, so what caused it?

Lumina thought for sure that it was because Leon had pushed his body to its limit for the last few days to train, and he was now feeling nauseated.

Alice placed a water-skin in his hand, glaring.

"Drink, idiot."

Leon accepted it, ignoring her glare even in a situation like this, and proceeded to gulp down the cold water.

Unlike before, he now felt relieved, his head was clear, and his vision returned to normal.

While drinking, he took occasional glances at Miss Lumina's direction.

'It was her, right?'

He thought, recalling the vision.

The facial expression, that flawless white skin, and those glossy white hair… it was her, there was no doubt about it.

Even so…

'What was that vision for? And not to forget she was sleeping right beside me…'

Leon started dissecting the vision, replaying it multiple times in his brain.

And from the looks of it, he reached a conclusion that it was a vision of the past.

A past which belonged to Lumina Elizabeth Dare.

In that vision, Leon was just a nose gap away from Lumina's face, but the thing was…

He didn't remember that scene happening at all.

Heck, Leon Valentine wasn't even alive at that time when Lumina was alive.

There was just no way possible for him to exist in that era.

If so, then…

'Was it a vision of Shin?'

It was highly possible.

Still, there was this strange sense of awareness inside Leon's chest which came to life whenever he saw Lumina.

'If I have to point a finger, then… there should be something bigger going on in this world… something which might have included Leon.'

Leon—aka Haru thought, connecting his death and transmigration into Leon's body to this scenario.

'Why does it feel like Leon already knew about Lumina?'

Haru felt that, residing inside Leon's body, he noticed that he was missing a lot of memory fragments of Leon's past. Such as, who he knew, what he did, and more importantly, how he died in order for him to take over his body.

All these unanswered questions still bothered him, and Haru was certain that it was not any ordinary transmigration… someone, somewhere might have done something to Leon… or…

'...it was Leon who did something to himself?'

Haru never thought from this perspective.

What if this transmigration was done by Leon himself?

He thought, sneering at this deduction, and brushed it off.

'Nah, I created Leon as a pathetic loser, I gave him a life full of despair and mockery, there was no way Leon could have capable of doing something this transcendental.'

Jokingly, he stated in his mind…

'Heh, maybe he did all this to take his revenge on me, haha..'

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" Lumina asked softly. Her tone was calm, but her eyes weren't.

"Hm?"

Leon caught that.

Alice crossed her arms.

"Felt that, fucker. This is what you get when you overdo yourself."

Leon coughed lightly, trying to cover up his uneasiness.

"Relax… I got it under control, I really pushed myself last night huh."

Alice narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, so much so that you even got yourself a seizure."

Pushing his body from the ground, he rose up.

Lumina gazed up and asked, "If you want, I can find us a new place to settle in, if you are not feeling well."

Leon shook his head.

"It's fine, I feel good now, and let's not forget, the demons should be here any time now, we should probably get out of here."

Leon dropped the topic for now, thinking that it would only be a waste of his time if he kept on deducing a brand-new theory every time with just the little information he had in hand right now.

The water inside his mouth tasted bitter, as if someone inside him refused to calm down.

For the brief second, he had seen himself as someone else. A stranger he had never encountered.

"Alright, if you say so."

Lumina too rose up, strapping her Moonblade around her thin waist, and turning to Alice she instructed.

"Follow me, Alice, your duty is to keep an eye on him, and scold him if he tries getting in my way when I fight those demons."

Alice happily nodded. "Gladly."

Leon's eyes twitched watching their exchange.

Lumina had already instructed them that they shouldn't interfere. Lumina would be the only one who would be fighting, and both of them were only allowed to watch.

Leon gave in after he threw a protest.

But inside, Leon didn't want to indulge in a fight.

This exam evaluates the students on how efficiently they carried out the story, completing it in the least possible time, and not focusing on physical strength.

This is where most students make mistakes. They treat this exam as a one-on-one fight with the villain in the book and forget about the whole point of it.

The professor had clearly mentioned this in the library, that in order to win, the students need to help the protagonist to reach the conclusion in an efficient manner.

And that was not the only case either. Leon had still not mastered his control over mana. If he encountered an Abyssal class rank demon, then he would have no choice but to solely rely on his Light Affinity.

And if he used Light Affinity, then Eclipse would be made aware of this talent of his.

Now, Leon didn't mind attention, in fact he loved it, but this time, there was a grave risk involved.

During the Shinra Incident, Leon was the one who killed that Primordial, but the kingdom believed it was Ethan, though they still couldn't quite digest the fact…

'How could a kid his age kill a Primordial?'

They all thought for a second that it was not only Ethan but someone else who had helped him.

They were searching for clues, and in a time like this if he used Light, then the entire focus of the kingdom would fall on him.

Leon focused his mind onto the present.

Killing these demonic necromancers was the goal.

That was the story they were meant to follow.

"Then let's move," she said, turning around.

Lumina was leading them, walking in front, while Leon and Alice followed.

Alice walked close behind, tossing Leon a glance sharp enough to cut steel.

He ignored her. He knew where they were heading. He knew the path the chimeras took.

Because last night, he had made sure of it.

He had asked Lumina a seemingly harmless question:

Where do the chimeras come from?

Then, like planting a seed, he had suggested they check that area. Just an exploration, nothing more.

But he already suspected. No—he already knew.

The base of operations wasn't hidden somewhere else, but in the place where the chimeras were coming from.

It was right there, out in the open. So obvious no one in their right mind would consider it.

That was what made it perfect.

A faint smile tugged at his lips.

As they climbed down the mountain slope, Leon glanced up and saw the sun was fully risen.

"How much longer are we walking exactly?"

"I don't know…" Alice said, huffing. "Anyways…"

Alice glanced at him and asked,

"You've been staring at her again."

Leon almost tripped on a root. "What?"

Alice smirked.

"Don't play dumb. You keep stealing glances at Miss Lumina like some lovesick mutt."

His throat tightened.

"That's absurd. She's—she's at least fifteen years older than me."

"Oh, so you knew." Alice clicked her tongue in mock disgust. "You're hopeless. Try finding someone alive, kid."

Leon winced at that.

Alive.

The word clung to him heavier than it should.

Lumina wasn't truly here, this was just her fragment. She had existed thousands of years ago.

And in reality she was already dead.

"To crush on her was meaningless," Alice muttered.

Leon replied, "I know, you think I'm a psycho? I have no such feeling. And…"

"I'm fine," he muttered, brushing her off.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Fine? You collapsed like a sack of bricks not an hour ago. If she wasn't babysitting us, you'd already be demon chow."

Leon forced a crooked grin.

"Guess you'd miss me if I was."

"In your fucking dreams," she shot back.

They fell into silence, their footsteps syncing with Lumina's steady rhythm ahead.

"Hm?"

Leon slowed, and so did Lumina and Alice. Something was wrong.

GRUMBLE—!

The mountain path behind them cracked.

And then a loud noise echoed.

BOOM–!!

A roar of earth and flame tore through the trail they had crossed seconds ago.

The ground exploded, snow and rock scattering like shrapnel.

"What the—?"

Alice spun, her eyes wide.

Leon turned just in time to see her expression freeze.

STAB–!

A sound wet and sharp split the air.

His breath caught as he saw the blade, a long, black blade bursting out of Alice's chest from behind.

"Huh?" Alice blinked.

"ALICE!"

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