Near the mountains of Western Cretho, the outskirts of the city, Oisin.

The forest was smothered in a natural, lightless veil—leaving a woman blinded and unnerved under a moonless sky. She was breathing heavily, cursing relentlessly under her breath as she brushed against the bushes and branches in her way.

Out of all the places... What the hell is it doing here...?!

Her once untrodden path of now rustled leaves didn’t go unnoticed, as the slithering movement of a creature actively trailed behind her with pace. A substantial being crafted of dense, enchanted fibers; flexible timber imbued with a strange magic.

A damn Wych Elm Wyrm...

A wingless and limbless dragon made from Wych Elm wood. She turned her body, thrusting her ungloved palm outward in its direction. She couldn’t exactly see it, but she certainly knew it was there.

“Sanguine Infusion—tch!”

An intense pain shot up her arm as she withdrew her hand back to her chest. The opening at the center of her palm refused to respond, remaining closed regardless of her commands.

Dammit, I’m all out...!

She continued running, now drawing at a small blade that was hidden along the side of her thigh. Acting swiftly without even a bit of hesitation, she made a single slice upward against the skin of her four fingers—drawing blood and repeating the same act upon her separate hand.

“Casting—!”

She turned once more, waving her hands in a circular fashion, forming an airborne seal of her own blood. It shined brightly as it fused with her mana, improving her visibility for a short moment and leaving her eye-to-eye with the wooden serpent that had closed the distance. She recoiled at the sight, not noticing her mistake until it was too late.

“—ACK!”

A distressing thud rang throughout as her back slammed against an unseen tree, forcing the seal of her undone spell to become interrupted and shattered.

This...wretched forest!

She couldn’t spare another thought as she immediately navigated herself around the tree, attempting to use it as a shield. And not a moment later, the wyrm sunk its wooden jaw around the trunk of the tree—snapping it with very little effort with the help of a strange miasma. A sizzling, red mist that consumed the wood.

Would blood even work on this thing?!

She decided against making another attempt toward finding out, but instead continued toward her escape. An escape that didn’t last long as it only took less than a minute for her to find her next obstacle—at the foot of the Ganhurs Mountains.

“Dammit...”

The wyrm slithered forward, now unhindered by the wide-open area. She had nowhere to run, and it didn’t bother wasting another second as it immediately threw itself at the unguarded woman.

“Gee, lass. I figured you would have been able to handle it alone by this point. An Effigy should be better than that.”

The wyrm’s gaping mouth became suspended within the air as it struggled to intrude any further. Seeing this, the once frightened woman was now grinding her teeth in clear displeasure to the man’s whimsical voice.

“Kamui... I told you to stop calling me that. Also, you’re late... Where the hell have you been?”

The shine of the moon broke free from the sheltering clouds, giving light to her surroundings as her eyes caught the glimpse of a man jumping down from a nearby tree.

“Sorry, sorry. But I’m here now, aren’t I? So, long time no see, Essylt! Did ya miss me?”

“Enough of your greetings, do something about this thing already.”

In a sidelong glance, she watched as the wyrm squirmed against an invisible wall. Unable to move nor close its mouth, the snake-like body thrashed about and yet its head remained unmoving.

“A killjoy as always. I’ve been looking forward to our chat, you know?”

A maddened gaze of steel-like daggers was aimed at Kamui. He simply grinned, ignoring her as he looked toward the sky. A short, but loud whistle escaped his lips—and a shockwave came from above—as suddenly something descended on the head of the wooden beast.

“What...?!”

Essylt shielded her eyes with her arms, blocking against the sudden cloud of debris. Seconds later, the dust was replaced with the burning of a charcoal-like sand being guided away by the faint wind. A tan-skinned man with six wings of black crystal stood over the corpse of the disappearing wyrm.

“Cassius...?”

“It’s her spawn, isn’t it? You may have finally caught her full attention, Kamui. It looks like your plan worked against you after all.”

“Hmm, but did it really, though?”

Cassius removed his silver spear from the ground, resting it against his shoulder as the deterioration of his black crystal wings began with each step. It then stopped as it reached a patch of black feathers that rested against the center of his back.

“Didn’t I tell you that directly antagonizing one of the heads of Eboracum wouldn’t end well for us? Her spawn has no boundaries. She will keep sending them, anywhere, until they complete their given task. It was far easier just dealing with the occasional Seekers, or even Qualms, rather than these things.”

“A coin-flip between some mindless flesh or ego-driven fodder—just bury the coin at that point. And doesn’t that seem a bit boring after a while? Either way, I’ll hold my final verdict for now. Lass.”

Kamui turned toward the disgruntled Essylt, beckoning her in a cheerful manner with the wave of his hand. She clicked her tongue, reluctantly walking toward him.

“And now that she is here, we’ll be better informed! After all, someone has been awfully busy, hm?”

“Lass... You never listen, Kamui. And I have, all thanks to you and your schemes. I’m sure you’ve already heard about it too...”

“Rumors, yes, but what better way for us to rekindle our bonds than to partake in a jovial sharing of stories under the moonlight? Shall I start the campfire?”

Essylt’s glare was searing at this point as she motioned at the air, pulling a stack of documents from a spatial inventory. Heading his way, she slammed the papers against his chest, dropping them into his hands.

“Only if I get to watch you bond with the fire—up close and personal—first. Anyway, I’m assuming that’s what you were really after, right? You don’t understand how much I went through to get that.”

She continued beyond where Kamui was standing, turning around and watching him from behind. She could see Cassius from the corner of her peripheral staring at her.

“Oh, right. It’s been a while, Cassius. And thank you for earlier...”

He quietly nodded her way, seemingly knowing better than to get in between their discussion as Essylt then continued.

“Why didn’t you tell me that he would attack right away? I handed him the eye like you asked, and he immediately became hostile. I thought that jar was supposed to be a warning?”

“Hostile? Did he throw his pen at you or something? Give you a stern lecture? He was simply an old man, Essylt. A senile vessel of wrinkled skin and bone on the cusp of his grave.”

He was oddly focused now, barely giving mind to her words. His attention didn’t shift from the documents in his hands, and his voice was without chaff—uncannily calm—as he flipped through each page.

“An old man that was suspiciously well-versed in taboo magic like my own. His title as the previous Magister wasn’t just for show. He had me on the defense even with my ability being well-fed before our meeting. At the very least, you know, a heads up or something would have been nice...”

Her face scrunched in annoyance thinking back on her encounter with the previous Magister. She even had to attack a few Adventurers in order to restock on blood afterwards. And it was a good thing she did, since she then came across two people she never wanted to meet again.

“If I had said that, you wouldn’t have gone in the first place. You always like to avoid altercations, but you’re the only one here that could make it to his chamber without issue. So, what exactly made that man so formidable for you, hm?”

"Necromancy, and with a really strange technique at that. He...he broke his figure, tore it off, and threw it at me...”

“Well, now. That’s definitely quite the step up from a pen, all right. How frightening. Were you perhaps cut by the stray graze of his finger nail?”

“Tch. Can you at least take this seriously, Kamui? It wasn’t just that, the bone transformed and—!”

Amid her venting, a sudden rustling and several heavy steps came from behind her. Alarmed, she turned toward the forest, readying her hands despite her already dried wounds, to only then be stopped by Cassius with hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, it’s just them.”

Two figures appeared from the forest; a colossus-like suit of pearl-white armor, adorned in scattered lacerations and walking on all fours, while a small orb bounced around inside as if it were an eye. The other was a young girl, of two-toned colored hair of black with golden stripes, and two sets of cat-like ears—one set larger than the other—amidst her ruffled hair. Her eyes were closed as she held onto the gauntlet of the giant with her small hand.

“Sindri and Kayo... I didn’t expect to see you two here...”

“Greetings, Lady Essylt. It seems like we're the last to arrive after all. Our apologies.”

A mute Kayo nodded along with Sindri’s bow, and the two took a seat some distance away without separating from one another. Essylt, on the other hand, seemed suspicious as she looked around.

They’re all here... Just what exactly is Kamui planning now?

He remained with his back turned toward everyone; his eyes still glued to the documents. An occasional swipe could be heard from his direction, and then it suddenly happened.

“Pfft. Haha! Ahahahahahahaha!”

Kamui broke out into a laughing fit, dropping to his knees as the documents hit the ground. Everyone besides Kayo was blindsided by the sudden shift, startled and staring his way. He had his hands over his face, pressing emphatically, attempting to possibly suppress his laughter.

“My, oh my. It’s like it’s all falling into place so naturally. How fortunate can one be, hm?”

His voice was filled with a radiating euphoria. It seemed like he wasn’t talking to anyone in particular, and he continued without a care for anyone else.

“That woman, Etiona—no, Ptela sent me to the Elven to simply sow discord in that Princess’ plans, and yet I walked away with something far greater. I met that tyrant’s only weapon. A taste of the same flavor that felled the blood of the Goddess herself! The once deathless ancestors of humanity, the denizens of Eburos! Ahaha!”

He further clenched at his face in unbridled fervor.

“This body is now unaffected by the only true threat this world has to offer, and now this...”

He stood from the ground with the documents in hand once more. They couldn’t see his expression from behind, but they felt his every word even more so than before. And that left Essylt increasingly uneasy about Kamui’s rambling. He was the type to keep everything close to his chest, only speaking with a purpose in mind. And now, he was being a bit too talkative all of a sudden, yet was riddling all the same.

“Hey, lass. You see it too sometimes, don’t you?”

She flinched at his voice, unable to respond as she nervously awaited his next words.

“A scenery that doesn’t match anything you’ve ever seen since arriving here. Forgotten lands that don’t appear on any maps. A past of a familiar unknown. That’s what I seek. The very truth that’s buried beneath this unnatural world. And that Magister knew more than he let on. A hidden secret is nothing in the eyes of [True Discernment], and Elemnin was a cryptic, inquisitive skeptic.”

The moon took shelter behind the clouds once more as Kamui finally turned around, his bluish-white eyes were shining dimly but eerily so. In all the months of working alongside him, traveling and gathering the same allies by his side currently—she had never witnessed him like this until now.

“Knowledge is tantamount to supremacy. In this world, simply knowing won’t provoke the Heart of Aerith’s wrath. It’s what you do with that knowledge that invokes the balancing gavel! To do so means you will garner the attention of this world’s arbiter, and regret ever doing so. But you see, I welcome that with open arms! For I, myself, am the essence of Judgement. Now, I wonder, just whose authority will be more dominant between the two, hm?”

A brief respite of silence overtook the veiled forest. Bemused, Essylt could only remain quiet, keeping her eyes on him. For her, it was all drivel. He never made his intentions known to anyone before, and sharing information was wasted on her since she couldn’t care less about it all. Instead, she was more curious about a separate thought.

“Apparently, Elemnin had his own hidden cattle somewhere—waiting to be used once he found out his answer.”

The Hound of Ospus had mentioned such when regarding Elemnin’s documents. She had also stated that his research involved Heavenly Virtues and immortality, but she couldn’t recall Kamui ever being interested in either.

"The only piece I can’t fully comprehend is that name that only appears once, thoroughly hidden away from any prying eyes. A child by the name of Eru. A name that even escapes Judgement’s surveillance...”

“Eru? Wait, that girl...?!”

Her surprise slipped through unintentionally as she placed her fingers over her mouth. Due to her sudden outburst, all eyes were on her now, especially the sparkling one’s that came from Kamui. He immediately closed the distance between her and himself.

“Oh? Ooooooooh? What’s this I hear? It seems like you may know something I don’t, lass. Don’t be shy now. C’mon, share with the rest of the class, will ya?”

“Kamui... You’re a little too close...”

She didn’t have any other choice now. Essylt explained it all, from what happened at the church up until the moment she fled and hid, watching the creature that was summoned by Eru slowly awaken. And the last thing Essylt had seen was the Hound of Ospus being defeated.

“A skeletal being? So, that’s how it is, hm? Pfftahaha! She’s in the capital with him too, of all people. And to be able to take on the Hound of Ospus herself—is that what she is then? Possibly the first human to ever merge with a Crown, hm? Cassius.”

“You want me to keep an eye on her alongside that Wizard, then?”

“As reliable as always.”

Sifting through the documents a bit more, Kamui came across a separated thin folder at the bottom of the stack. Noticing his perplexed expression, Essylt scoffed.

“So, even you forget things, huh? That’s the information you wanted on the two Adventurers. Cait Sith, of Nine Lives. Caladrius Miriam. Both are regarded as Tier SS and keep to themselves. While the former is in a single-person crew, the latter isn’t in any formal party.”

“There’s not many who have earned the title of Tier SS. I see. Hm. Hm. Such a diligent effort coming from you. This is exactly what I needed.”

“Do you plan on recruiting one of them? I thought you’d stay away from Adventurers since they wouldn’t so readily agree with your ideology.”

Essylt’s eyes wandered, looking over those they had successfully recruited. An exiled Nephilim from the Floating Isles of Canaan, an unevolved Dvergr in a cursed suit of armor, and an Aarala whose past was erased the moment she disappeared from Espen. It was a group of misfits handpicked by Kamui himself.

“Not exactly, but we’ll see how things turn out in about a month from now.”

“Is something happening within a month?”

That whimsical smile returned as he placed the documents inside of his spatial inventory.

“It’s the whole reason why this lovely bunch is having a get together today! We’re all heading back north for a bit of fun. To the city of the Eternal Gala! Say, have you ever heard of the Tragedy of Eburos? The death of the Eburaci at the hands of the Elven of Dusk? It’s about time you get interested in the inner workings of this world, lass.”

His eyes once again glowed dimly, entrapping any and all who made eye contact. Up until this moment, he had remained quiet about everything. Bottling the wisdom of it all in order to remain hidden from the world’s eyes. And now, that didn’t matter anymore.

“An end’s beginning is but a slow fall only to those who spectate from afar. I have no intention of watching the death of an era from the sidelines. Especially when said death can only come from the tireless efforts of the succeeding era—one that I will make certain doesn’t prevail either.”