Fire Mage

After walking for some time, Edith found herself before a mansion with a gleaming white façade and gold-trimmed windows.

It was the very place she had glimpsed in Xelyria's memories.

At the sight of her approach, the two gatekeepers straightened instantly, opened the wrought-iron gates, and bowed their heads low. Without a word, she passed through, her steps echoing faintly on the marble path.

Inside, the mansion was eerily empty. Three storeys of polished wood and chandeliers stood silent as a mausoleum.

"Stephen."

A butler appeared at the top of the grand staircase and bowed.

"Follow me to the study." Edith's tone left no room for delay.

He obeyed at once. Inside the paneled study, she sat behind a heavy oak desk and, with quick, deliberate strokes, drafted a letter. In it, she reported that their secret meeting had been discovered by Kaisar, the Sword Emperor of the Blood Empire, and that Hector had dragged him into his own domain to fight. She wrote that she had waited for Hector's return for over an hour before withdrawing.

The ambush had failed. According to her estimate, Hector's chance of killing Kaisar was only fifty percent—proof that the two men were evenly matched and might battle for days before a victor emerged.

When she finished, she folded the letter and handed it to Stephen.

"Deliver this to the Pope immediately," she ordered.

He bowed and left without question.

Alone again, Edith crossed to the bookcase lining the left wall. Her gloved hand brushed the row of blood-red tomes. With a muted click, the shelf shifted, revealing a narrow stone stair spiralling downward.

She descended quietly.

The air grew colder, tinged with iron. At the bottom stretched a cavernous chamber filled with rows of cages and barred cells. Inside them crouched men and women with warped features—horns jutting from skulls, blackened skin, twisted limbs—chained like rabid dogs. Alchemical apparatus stood in the center, glassware and sigils humming with dim power. Vials of Nyxirum and other nameless brews glimmered on steel trays.

"So this is the experimental lab from her memories…" she murmured.

One glance told her these captives had been dosed and re-dosed until their minds had shattered. Some drooled. Others rocked silently, eyes white with madness.

She examined their conditions one by one, her expression unreadable, then turned away and ascended the stairs, sealing the shelf behind her.

Dawn crept in through the high windows. Around six in the morning, a knock resounded at the front door. A captain of the Radiant Knights entered, silver armor streaked with dew.

Though he was human, Edith felt his soul was filled with chaos energy instead of wisdom power.

"I was ordered to hear your report," he said curtly.

Edith—still wearing Xelyria's face—related the events of the previous night in detail, carefully omitting what had happened after she, Kirell, and Meledin had revealed themselves.

The captain listened without interruption, his expression a mask.

"Without Hector, it's going to be hard to assassinate the Archmage," the captain said after some deliberation.

"With the proper preparations, I'm more than enough to kill him with these two artifacts," Edith said and also told her the assassination plan in detail.

When she finished explaining, he gave a stiff nod and departed without another word.

'The Pope is getting worried, huh?' Edith could clearly tell that the disappearance of Hector had rattled him.

She quietly took the bronze disk covered in mysterious runes and a glowing, bluish gem before placing them on the table.

She inspected the bronze disk first.

'Nightfall disk… Upon activating the disk on someone, it will interfere with the Astral Realm and sever the soul bond before trapping the soul in the Astral Realm for twenty-four hours.' Edith knew that staying in the Astral Realm for over a day would definitely attract the attention of the Grim Reaper. Though one could still remain conscious in the real body and even communicate with others, it would be hard to cast a spell.

'It's basically as good as dead.'

She also checked the bluish gem.

'Space-Time Seal.' It was a one-time artifact capable of freezing time for a particular period, allowing the user to travel in that domain freely.

After inspecting the items, she quietly stored them in her spatial ring and fell into deep thought.

…

July 7th, Chaos Era, Year 0001

The last day of the Union Council Meeting opened under a grey sky. Inside the Grand Assembly's marble hall, kings, ministers, Nobles, Mystics, Archbishops, and envoys filled every seat. Murmurs rolled beneath the vaulted ceiling like low thunder.

Runeth and Rhea sat quietly in the southern wing. Across the chamber, Asthar, Zegan, and Nedia scanned the crowd. Edith's absence was noted but ignored.

A tall man in ceremonial robes stepped onto the dais. Though in his seventies, Salvatore, the long-time Speaker, stood straight, brown hair slicked back, black eyes hard as obsidian.

"Esteemed representatives," his voice carried easily, "our debates end today. We now choose the next Council Leader."

He gestured, and a massive projection crystal lit up, displaying four names.

Salvatore kept the rules short.

"Each seat gets one vote. Tap the crystal in front of you—green for the candidate, grey to abstain. The tally updates instantly. Begin."

The hall went still.

"Votes for Asthar."

Soft chimes. Threads of light rose from the delegates' desks into the projection. Numbers climbed, then stalled far below what Asthar had counted on. His jaw tightened. Even church allies barely pushed him past seventy.

"Votes for Nedia."

Crimson-robed Nedia stayed poised, but she saw the defections before the screen confirmed them—barely fifty votes. Whole blocs of the Blood Empire had abstained.

"Votes for Zegan."

His grin died as the numbers crawled to sixty and stopped. Promised loyalties had evaporated.

"Votes for Rhea."

Golden light erupted. One neutral bloc after another turned green. Her total shot upward, surpassing every other name until it blazed at the top with over 300 votes.

Silence. Then the projection fixed into bold runes:

Rhea — Majority Secured

Asthar's face froze while Nedia's nails dug into her palm.

Meanwhile, Zegan lowered his eyes.

At that moment, they knew something was wrong with the voting and glanced at each other.

Rhea stood, calm as a still lake.

Salvatore raised his hands. "By the will of the Union Council, the new Council Leader is Rhea Boneflare."

Applause swept the chamber—some polite, some genuine, some grudging. The projection dissolved into motes of light.

The Grand Assembly echoed with applause for Rhea's victory when the doors at the far end of the hall opened with a low creak.

The corner of Asthar's lips rose.

A hooded woman stepped inside. Her cloak was black, her hair a pale gold that glimmered under the crystal lights. Beneath the hood, a half-formed, alien eye pulsed faintly on her forehead. She walked without haste, as though the guards and dignitaries around her didn't exist.

Before anyone could challenge her, she drew a bluish gem from her spatial ring and crushed it in one hand.

A ripple of distortion burst outward, silent but violent, spreading like an unseen tide. It spread over the marble floor, through the walls, up to the balconies, and then out into the city beyond.

The applause died mid-clap. Words froze in half-formed syllables. Delegates sat motionless in their seats like painted dolls. Outside, carriages halted, birds hung in the air, and fountains became glass.

Time had stopped.

Only three figures moved—Asthar, Zegan, and Nedia. Their eyes snapped to the hooded woman.

The hooded woman ignored them. She drew back her hood, revealing a face like pale marble and that strange, unfinished eye burning faintly. Xelyria.

She walked straight down the central aisle, her boots touching softly on the frozen marble. No sound was heard.

At the southern corner, she stopped before Runeth, who sat still beside Rhea.

Xelyria pulled a bronze disc from her sleeve, pressed it to Runeth's chest, and whispered a trigger word. The disc glowed once and sank slightly against his robes.

Without a glance back, she turned and sprinted toward the exit. Her figure blurred, leaving only the faintest shimmer in the still air.

Then the world began to move again.

First, a slow drag, like thawing ice. The applause resumed as a low, distorted murmur. Heads turned sluggishly. Colors bled back into motion. A few heartbeats later, time lurched fully back to normal—except for one man.

Runeth staggered to his feet, swaying. "W-what… what happened?"

Rhea rose with him, alarmed. "Runeth?"

He clutched his chest where the bronze disc had vanished beneath his clothes. "Something… is wrong with my body."

Across the hall, Asthar, Nedia, and Zegan stood at once. Their eyes locked on Runeth.

Asthar's fingers flicked, pulling a weapon from his spatial ring. "Move!"

He launched forward like a thunderbolt, cutting through the crowd toward Runeth.