It was a long, long time ago. When the Demon God walked the land alongside the Five Calamities.

Before he was slain and sealed away.

He ruled over the Demon World, which was located far away from the Earth.

He came to this land just to achieve Godhood, like the other five Calamities.

Unique of all, he possessed Dark Affinity, which was a natural nemesis of the Light Affinity.

At that time, only one Calamity possessed Light: Lady Auriala, the creator of The Moon Tower. After she attained Godhood along with the other four, she was given the name The Everbright Goddess.

As a matter of fact, she was the main cause of why the Calamities joined hands together.

Highly respected and humble in nature, she and the Silvermoon Goddess were sisters.

And she was the one who contributed most to defeating the Demon God.

— — —

The weather was cold.

Leon and Alice were crouching down under an old oak tree.

Stump-! Stump-! Stump-!

Miss Lumina, using a plank of stone, was digging the icy soil just a few meters ahead of the oak tree.

After what happened to Shin, she carefully collected the pieces of his scattered chunks from the ground and buried what remained of him under that very place she was digging.

Leon and Alice offered help, but she refused. She said that 'Shin would like it if only I did it.'

This whole scene was disturbing for both of them.

Lumina collecting Shin's bones and pieces, and placing them…

They never imagined she would do that; no one in their right mind would ever do that.

Lumina would lose it after she witnessed that horror. But she was calm.

Extremely calm.

"Uuuff."

Lumina wiped off the sweat from her forehead and said slowly, after thumping the place lightly with the stone.

She then crouched down, took the stone plank, and stabbed it into the ground where Shin was buried.

She then took out her Moonblade.

Leon looked at her.

'What is she doing?'

He didn't know what exactly she was up to.

She didn't react the way she was supposed to, and now this.

Alice, from his side, suddenly whispered to him.

"Hey… why did Shin's body explode?"

Leon turned his head slightly to her; his expression was calm, and with his flat tone, he replied.

"How much do you know about the Demon World, and its ruler… the Demon God?"

Alice blinked.

She hugged her knees tighter and answered carefully.

"Only that he existed during the era of the Calamities… and that he was sealed away by the Everbright Goddess."

Leon nodded slowly.

"Yes. That much is true. But… do you know about his five grand commanders?"

"Commanders?" she tilted her head. "Ah, you mean those five Calamity Demons?"

Leon nodded again.

"Yes. Among them was a Calamity-rank demon unlike any other commander. She belonged to the Demonic Necromancer race… the only one in her entire race to ever reach a calamity rank. You heard her name from Shin's mouth just now."

"…Zenith," Alice muttered, almost afraid to say it.

Leon's eyes narrowed, his voice dropped even lower.

"Zenith existed in this era. She was feared for her ability to create ghouls."

"Ghouls?"

Leon turned his gaze back toward Lumina.

She was crouched before the stone slab, carefully dragging her blade against it, engraving letters with delicate strokes.

"The Shin you saw before," Leon said quietly, "was a ghoul."

Alice's breath hitched.

Leon continued.

"He was dead… and alive at the same time. You could say she replaced half of Shin's brain matter to her own accord and let him act under her control. That explains why Shin went missing… why he never returned home all this time. He was actually being held by her. His body rotted without food, without water, month after month…"

Alice's eyes trembled.

Leon's words pressed down even more.

"He was half-dead. Yet still… he fought. Still, he was able to remember Lumina. Still, he was able to speak with me."

The scratching of Lumina's blade against stone echoed faintly as she continued carving.

"Whenever Zenith made a ghoul," Leon said, his tone serious, "she etched a special magic pattern inside the body. That seal made the vessel explode the moment her name slipped free of their lips."

"Ah…" Alice's lips parted in shock.

Finally, she understood.

At first, she had thought Shin's body had exploded due to Mana Overload. But the truth was far more cruel. He died because Leon forced him to spell out that name.

Her gaze lowered.

She wanted to speak... to tell Leon that it was all because of him. That maybe Shin could've lasted a little longer without that final push.

But she held her tongue.

Because it wasn't fair. Leon hadn't done it out of malice. He had only been trying to help.

Alice pressed her lips together.

She thought silently. 'Would Miss Lumina hate him for this?'

Her eyes flicked back to Lumina.

The woman's expression was unreadable. Not a single tear fell from her eyes.

'She's... strong.' Alice reassured herself. 'She wouldn't hate him. Right?'

"I understand…" Alice whispered. Then, after a pause, she added softly, as if remembering something.

"Umm… Leon, can I ask you something?"

Leon's gaze stayed fixed on Lumina, but he nodded once.

"Yeah."

"How did you know all this?"

"..."

Leon paused. His eyes narrowed, then he tilted his head toward Alice.

"What do you mean?"

"The thing about Zenith, about the ghouls… I'm certain none of it was ever mentioned in the books I've read in our era."

Leon cut her off.

"Yes. Because it was never meant for public knowledge."

"Then how?"

Alice's curiosity burned stronger now.

She studied Leon's face. This boy before her… he knew more than he ever let on. More than anyone should know.

'It's like… he already understands the whole world,' she thought.

Leon stayed quiet, then finally answered.

"I read about her… in the Blood Tower's library."

"Ahh… right. I almost forgot who your sister was. But wait…" Alice narrowed her eyes.

"Does Lady Veronica really allow you access to that kind of information?"

Leon gave a half-dead, depressed sneer, then smirked smugly.

"Heh. You wouldn't believe this… but I'm Big Sister Veronica's favorite."

"Yeah, sure." Alice rolled her eyes.

"What? I'm telling the truth. If you don't believe me, just wait for the time you meet her."

"Meet her? As if. No one can meet a Calamity Tower Head unless it's catastrophic or extremely urgent. And above all, she is rarely sighted outside the tower."

Leon chuckled, clearly teasing.

Silence fell again. Only the sound of Lumina's blade carving the name remained.

Then Alice asked quietly,

"…What now?"

The progress of the story has increased to 84%; there are a few more steps behind before reaching the epilogue.

Leon was thinking about the same thing.

Now that she had seen and buried her lover, she had no more reason to travel any longer.

In reality, searching for him was the only reason she had come this far. Leon wouldn't be surprised if she gave up here and decided to return home.

The story had already reached eighty-four percent completion in just two days.

For him, it was already a safe zone. He was certain that with this progress rate, he would secure rank one without much trouble. Leon even doubted Ethan had crossed eighty percent by now.

Leon's mind drifted to Ethan.

'I wonder what he's doing right now. Would he be trying to get the reward hidden in that book? Or did he already fail it? Let's just hope he cleared it.'

Because of his influence, Ethan had gone completely off-script. And it wasn't just him. Everything else was going off-script.

Leon thought about the butterfly effect, just like the [Shattered Swordmaiden]. He had already tangled the events in the real world.

If it kept going this way, he would have less foresight about what lay ahead. And the Dark Knight's sudden appearance in this book was the result of it.

But the thing was—

'Well, whatever,' Leon thought.

He didn't care about it.

Unless and until he reached his desired conclusion, no matter how. He would push the world to its limits. He wasn't scared of breaking it.

"..."

Leon glanced at the sky.

"She's coming," Alice's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

Leon looked up.

Lumina was walking over to them, calm as always, her face was unreadable. Both Leon and Alice stood up as she approached.

"You finished?" Leon asked.

Lumina gave a small nod. "Yes. He can now rest."

Leon also nodded, a silent acceptance.

Then Lumina added. "Let's go."

Alice blinked. "To where?"

Lumina tilted her head slightly, as if confused by the question.

"Hm? Aren't we here because we're about to kill those demons?"

Alice froze. She didn't know what to say.

After all that had happened, after all that loss, Lumina still spoke with the same calm certainty. She still cared for her people.

Alice pressed her lips together, then nodded quickly.

"Yes, Miss Lumina. Let's go."

The three of them began walking away from the oak tree.

The soil behind them held what little remained of Shin, still red.

Leon glanced at Lumina's back as she led the way.

Her steps were firm, but her shadow seemed heavy. He didn't know if it was grief or if she was simply that strong.

'She buried her lover, and the next breath she's ready to march into battle,' Leon thought.

'What kind of woman is she?'

For a brief moment, he felt something stir in his chest.

He quickly brushed it aside.

The way they are moving tells that today would be the day he would last see Lumina.

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