Dawn was still far away. The outer walls of Felzen Holy City gleamed white even in the darkness. Limestone blocks stacked high, reflecting pale light beneath a moonless sky. The headquarters of the Nocturne Order—the religious city seated on the central plateau of the continent—appeared to be sleeping, yet torchlight flickered at various points along its walls. Reon knelt before the drainage outlet. A rusted iron grate. The stench of sewage stung his nostrils. Through the gaps, he could see a dark waterway stretching ahead. An underground aqueduct—the conduit that carried the holy city's waste beyond the outer walls. "[serious]This is it, big brother" Baldo unfolded a hand-drawn map. Chestnut-colored short hair glistened with night dew. Golden eyes traced the lines on the parchment. "[serious]It goes straight to the cathedral basement. Got it from one of your village contacts. Old map, but the water system shouldn't have changed" Reon silently pulled out the iron grate. The ancient hinges groaned low—a small sound. The feel of rust-worn metal. He applied force with both hands. The bracelet on his left wrist scraped against stone, making a faint noise. The one Riri had made. "[cold]Let's go" The two entered the dark waterway. Sewage filled it to their knees. Cold. Water mixed with mud and decay sapped body heat through their pants. Baldo produced a small magic stone lamp—borrowed from village contacts—to replace a torch. Weak, pale blue light illuminated the narrow stone passage. The two moved in silence. Only the sound of water echoed. Their footsteps and the distant drip of water. Baldo advanced while studying the map. Reon walked behind him. Light appeared ahead. Two torches. Reon immediately grabbed Baldo's shoulder and stopped him. Baldo held his breath. The magic lamp was extinguished. Darkness. The torchlight drew closer, flickering. Two sets of footsteps. The sound of armor. Order soldiers. (Two of them. About ten paces away. The passage is narrow—can't move simultaneously.) Reon's hand went to his sword. His hand did not tremble. For just a moment, he thought of that mountain road. The instant he saw Sera's face, his entire body had frozen, his hands shook, and he was slammed to the ground in three strikes. That day. His hands were different now. His left wrist, bound with the bracelet, and his right hand gripping the sword—neither wavered at all. Riri was waiting. That was all that mattered. The two Order soldiers reached the bend in the waterway. Reon moved. He drove the first one against the wall—pinned the torch-bearing hand to stone, blocking his vision. Simultaneously, he applied pressure to the neck with his other hand. The soldier lost consciousness before he could cry out. Before the second could turn, Reon had already circled behind him. From the back. One strike. A dull thud. The second soldier dropped to one knee. Reon struck his temple with the sword's hilt—not to kill, only to render unconscious. The body movements honed through swordsmanship in his past life and the sensation of "subduing without sound" learned while stepping over corpses as a slave soldier merged into a single, fluid motion. Silence returned. Baldo exhaled softly. "[whispers]…Big brother became big brother" Reon didn't turn around. He gestured forward. "[cold]Move" --- The aqueduct's exit led beyond a heavy stone door. Baldo checked the map. "[serious]Once we pass through here, we're in the Sanctification Chamber" Reon placed his hand on the door. He pushed it open slowly. Stone grinding against stone—a low sound. Beyond the door lay a vast stone chamber. An altar. Multiple stone platforms arranged in rows. Complex patterns were carved into the walls—a ritual apparatus. A mechanism the Order had constructed by combining ancient technology to forcibly extract magical power. Each pedestal held a metal fixture with a magic crystal embedded in it. Ether crystals—the crystallized magical power extracted through sanctification—generated by this mechanism. In the center of it all. Riri was there. She sat on the platform at the far end of the altar. Both wrists were bound by chains. Around her neck was a holy restraint—a metal ring that severed the circulation of magical essence. Her long, silvery-white hair was disheveled. Her pale aquamarine eyes were cast downward. She was biting her lip. Tears traced down her cheeks, visible in the light of the altar's lamps. But she made no sound. She had learned that screaming would bring no one—the face of a child who had learned that truth. Reon stepped forward. "[serious]Riri—" In that instant. A sword was drawn from the darkness beyond. Sera stepped forward. White-silver armor reflected the altar's light. Crimson-purple hair, bound but swaying. Cold silver eyes fixed on Reon. The vertical scar on her left cheek was starkly visible in the orange glow. Reon saw that face directly. For a moment, he stopped. The shadow of his past life's lover began to overlap again—but this time, he was not consumed by it. "[desperate]Reon!!" Riri rattled her chains and cried out. Her voice was small, but she clearly called his name. That voice anchored Reon to this place, to this moment. Sera's face was Sera's face. Not his past lover. What he had to protect here was the child bound in chains. Reon took his stance. His eyes held no doubt. "[cold]You are…quite a different person from last time" Sera spoke quietly. Her voice was emotionless. Yet her eyes observed Reon carefully. "[cold]Still, I will not let you pass" Her sword came forward. --- Clang!! The first strike. Sera's blade crashed against Reon's. It did not deflect. He held it. Reon's feet pressed against the stone floor, and he stood firm. The same force that had knocked him down in three strikes on the mountain road came again—but his body was different now. His mind was different. He did not tremble. His past life's memories and a slave soldier's instincts meshed perfectly in this moment. The second strike—he flowed with it. Against Sera's water-like swordplay, Reon angled his blade to parry and deflect. He shifted her trajectory with his weight. The third strike—he stepped in and pushed back. Sera's body retreated half a step. "…!" A voiceless reaction. Sera's eyes changed for the first time. Not surprise. Something else mixed into that cold silver gaze. The strikes continued. Fourth, fifth. As Reon flowed with her attacks, he noticed something. In Sera's sword form—for just an instant—uncertainty flickered. Sixth strike. Her step was half a pace shorter. Seventh strike. Her blade drifted slightly toward where Riri stood. Only for a moment. But unmistakably. The same trembling hand that only Baldo had seen on that mountain road. Reon opened his mouth as their blades met. "[serious]Do you truly believe this is right?" Sera's movements stopped. A fraction of a second. But she stopped. "[cold]…What do you—" "[serious]You saw that child's eyes. The eyes of a child who learned that screaming brings no one. Did you feel nothing seeing that?" Sera swung her sword. This time with raw force. Not technique—a strike mixed with emotion. Reon deflected it. Crash!! Sera's sword fell to the stone floor. Reon stepped in and pressed his blade to her throat. Stillness. Sera's breathing was ragged. Her white-silver armor rose and fell in small, sharp movements. Reon held the blade to her throat and spoke. "[cold]You are being used too" Silence. Sera's face—crumbled. The cold, expressionless mask shattered. Found collapsed on the street as a child, raised by the Order. Taught that killing emotion was faith. Decades of accumulated armor—cracked in this single moment. "[crying]…I" Her voice trembled. "[crying]…I was doing what was right…" Tears fell to the stone floor. They were Sera's first tears in her entire life. Her knees buckled. Not from the weight of her armor, but because strength drained from her legs. Reon withdrew his blade. --- Baldo was moving. While Reon and Sera clashed, Baldo had circled around the altar's edge. The moment Sera knelt, he swiftly pulled the key ring from her waist—where the keys to the holy restraint hung. He inserted it into Riri's neck restraint. It fit. Click. The metal ring fell away. In that instant—light poured from Riri's body. Azure light. Suppressed magical power released all at once. The same color as the night she had gone berserk in the abandoned village—that night when she nearly blew away the entire settlement with uncontrolled azure flames. Riri was afraid. She thought the light overflowing from her hands meant another rampage. She thought she would hurt someone again. But—in that moment, she remembered. That night. A man advancing through the storm of azure light. No matter how she pushed him away, no matter how much she raged, he never let go. "I won't let go this time"—a low, blunt voice, yet certain. Body warmth remained in her palms. —That person never let go. Riri closed her eyes. She breathed deeply. She poured will into the light. Not a rampage—but power to protect. Azure light spread. Controlled, purposeful radiance. The light from Riri's hands burned away the ritual patterns carved into the altar walls one by one. The pedestals with magic crystals shattered. The mechanism for generating Ether crystals crumbled in succession. Three Order soldiers were hurled against the walls. Thud, thud, thud. Stone fell from the cathedral ceiling. Riri directed her light at the chains. Azure flames burned through metal. The chains snapped. Riri pushed off the ground and stood. Both her hands glowed. Not frightening. Not a monster. This was—power to protect. "[gentle]Reon" Her voice was small. But it did not waver. --- More stone fell from the ceiling. A tremor shook the floor. The entire cathedral was quaking. The destruction of the ritual apparatus by Riri's magical power had cracked the Sanctification Chamber's structure. Footsteps descended from above. Many of them. "[serious]Reinforcements!!" Baldo studied the map. "[serious]The aqueduct entrance we came through—" The collapsed stone pillar blocked the exit. "[serious]Damn it, it's sealed. Alternate routes—the cathedral's front entrance or the north service door" "[serious]We'll be surrounded the moment we reach ground level either way" Reon quickly surveyed the surroundings. Sera still knelt, her face bowed. Tears stained the stone floor. Reon looked at Riri and Baldo. "[cold]Baldo, take Riri. I'll cover the rear—" His sleeve was grabbed. A small hand. Riri's hand. She said nothing. She simply held his sleeve. Her aquamarine eyes looked directly at Reon. She would not let go. We go together—that was what her eyes said. Reon looked at Riri's hand once. He let out a low curse. "[cold]Can't be helped" He grasped Riri's hand and ran. "[serious]Baldo, lead the way!" "[serious]Got it!!" The three ran through the dark passage. They weaved between crumbling stone walls. Fine dust fell from the ceiling. Angry shouts echoed in the distance. The sound of alarm bells ringing from above penetrated the stone walls—Clang, clang, clang. The entire holy city was awakening. They had to escape before the encirclement closed. Time was nearly gone. Reon ran, Riri's hand gripped in his. The small hand squeezed back. Baldo's chestnut hair swayed ahead. The silver ring on his right ear glinted in the darkness. The three sets of footsteps merged into one rhythm, echoing through the stone corridor.