The darkness dissipated. The wailing screams and roaring laughter died down. Fear crept up to all who had experienced the madness and people fell into uncontrollable sobbing. It is especially so for those who woke up to find themselves in the middle of a repugnant act.

The most frightening thing of all wasn’t the enveloping madness but that everyone within the kilometre radius seemed to be victims. The worshippers who fell on their knees when the darkness fell seems have all but disappeared, but in truth, even their own family members will not suspect them.

Fortunately, the affected area is small compared to the city and officials quickly calmed the people. News soon spread that a blotched spell was what created the chaos and funds will be directed to appease the unfortunate victims today. Of course, the officials will never use the word appease in their fancy speeches but things like subsidies or disaster relief funds.

The guards quickly quarantined ground zero where the darkness came from. When they first arrived, they noticed a giant hole on the ground where the dungeon entrance should be. In front of the pit lies a broken pair of spectacles and a man lying amongst shattered pieces of armour, kite shield, and lance. He is visibly unharmed but paralysed by complete shock. The expressions on his face incited horrible imaginations and caused the soldiers to shudder.

There are more at this place, but they quickly entered the dungeon after securing the unresponsive man. If the guards had more carefully searched the place, they would see the tracks of two others in this place, one belonging to the bespectacled young man and the another to a young girl. As expected, that girl is now nowhere to be found.

The ‘girlie’ as Leo calls her, had been getting involved with some rather unsavoury people since she had arrived at the Blackened Soot Mountain. Initially, she was joined a group of rich young kids that tried to entrap Kairos with a rigged game of crystal egg gambling but failed. Later on, she was ‘captured’ by the gnomes in a bid to delay Kairos from returning the borrowed magical books and scrolls on time and break a binding contract. She disappeared afterwards, and even when Leo and the others had tried searching for her, there was no trace at all. Even the gnomes who had her in their custody did not know where she went after they had let her go.

Now, she had reappeared and is involved in a cult. A religious group to a cruel and evil ‘god’, worshippers who are hidden in plain view, holding incredible power, wealth, and influence yet remaining undiscovered.

Kairos wanted to bring her back to her father, the burly merchant, and had wasted precious Ki to immobilise her with sealing arts. Yet, while he was dealing with the chimera, the girlie had somehow freed herself and disappeared once again.

The soldiers that descended into the dungeon, ignored the residents of the underground town and headed straight to Kairos, Relestia, and Circi Fer and her group of unfortunate divers.

They pulled out their weapons, demanding to know the source of the darkness of madness that had plagued their fair city. The frightened soldiers were demanding and unreasonable at first, until they saw Relestia.

“P-princess!”

They hurriedly saluted her and sheathed their weapons. By now, everyone in the two cities know Relestia by face and most of them believes in her words that she is a princess of another world. As such, they gave her the due respect of a foreign royalty and dared not make loud exclamations before her.

Kairos, Relestia, and Circi were led back to the guards station to record their statements, while Circi’s team was sent to the hospital.

On the way, Kairos looked for the girlie, but she was nowhere to be found. Although he wants to follow her tracks and there is still a good chance for him to find her, he will be seen as running away with guilt should he do not cooperate with the guards right now.

Kairos informed them of the girlie and a pair of soldiers left to track her, but their chances are slim. After all, not everyone has a magical surveillance spell to aid them.

Because Kairos and Relestia are involved, the trio being detained in the guards station quickly reached the ears of many higher ups. They were quickly granted leeway and released after giving statement of everything that happened.

News of unknown monsters that brings madness flooded the city and caused mass panic. The victims freely shared their experience of the mass hysteria incident, and it further incited the anxiety of everyone. The dungeons became restricted the very same day. Residents of the dungeon town were relocated to temporary lodgings until the dungeon is deemed safe once again.

Kairos and Relestia went with Circi Fer to the hospital to visit her wounded teammates. On their entire way there they remained deathly silent. Injuries from the dust-like scales would have done tremendous damage that might be irreparable. As the leader who decided to take the risk, Circi felt a terrible guilt pressing on her making her hardly able to breathe.

When they arrived, her group are still in the middle of an emergency treatment.

Looking at how pale and ghastly the two ladies are, Kairos sombrely closed his eyes and let his soul perception check the situation inside the medical room. Healers are all around the treatment room, moving hastily in near panic. Mages with affinity to light and water doused the patients generously with healing magic but no one’s complexion turned for the better. The damage they took had destroyed so many of the blood vessels that blood circulation is largely impossible now and the healing magic can only prevent the victims from dying off too quickly. Yet for some reason their conditions seemed stable – for now.

Kairos’ expression softened a little when he confirmed that everyone survived. He knows that the actual reason for their stable condition is thanks to a pinch of Origin Energy he had left in each of them to protect their hearts. The life energy will not last long, but it will buy them enough time. Time for Relestia, Circi Fer, and a few volunteers to learn how to use the Origin Energy.

Technically, Relestia has already been cultivating the Origin Cultivation Method, but she only practiced it recently and is only at a rudimentary level where she could only control the Origin Energy within herself as well as the Soul Perception with a very small radius. Compared to Kairos, Tommy, Edward, Alan, and Jim when they first started, Relestia seemed to be having much slower progress, but this is not because she had inferior talent with the Origin Cultivation method. In fact, it is the opposite.

Because of Axis Mundi’s lack of Heavenly Energies, she could not absorb any ambient forces for the creation of life energy within. Natural forces like kinetic or heat energy are unsuitable to be harnessed, and if handled improperly it will be like getting hit by a hammer or scalded by boiling water. Mana, on the other hand, being the by-product of expended life energy can be technically classed as a type of waste product. While it holds a lot of potency it is not something suitable to be absorbed. In fact, mages only process or store mana and never absorb it into themselves – even the mana core that elite mages have, is but a higher processing mana engine.

This means that Relestia can only create Origin Energy through her normal healing process fuelled by the only natural force that can be harnessed – the potential energy found in food.

However, if there are more people who join the Snowdrifts and starts practicing the Origin Cultivation, quantity can patch what lacks in quality.

Kairos immediately explains this to Relestia and Circi Fer. The latter, having heard of the Origin Energy for the first time, was surprised that such a thing exists.

When Circi Fer found out that her friends are in no immediate danger because of Kairos’ Origin Energy infused into them, her face visibly brightened.

“Sir, would you be kind enough to spare more of your energy for my friends? T-they, their condition is really terrible, I’m afraid-d… I’m scared if someone cannot make it,” Circi pleaded with lips trembling.

She did not understand the mechanics behind the Origin Energy’s healing properties, nor it is produced, but Relestia does and she knows that Kairos is in no condition to expend more of his life energy. As a matter of fact, the battle today and his rather liberal use of Origin Energy to save Circi’s teammates had taken off months of recovery efforts. The wounds Kairos had received from the Black Emperor, the White Emperor, the Red Emperor ached, but what was worse was the soul magic attack he received from the Grand Mages as well as unintended the interdimensional travel that nearly ripped him to pieces. Those wounds are far from conventional and even in the best of conditions, it will be hard to recover, yet Kairos found himself in a realm lower than Gaia that do not even have Heavenly Energies.

The princess gently placed a hand on Circi’s back, as if giving her a boost of confidence, “Circi, if Kai says they will be alright, you have nothing to worry about. He is an experienced war general who have dealt with the seriously wounded before. If you want to help your friends, then join the Snowdrifts and quickly pick up the Origin Cultivation method.”

Circi bobbed her head up and down with fervour, promising to do her best to learn how to use the Origin Energy to save her friends. However, just one person will not be enough.

They have to rope in the other new recruits as well as getting more people to join them.

The trio quickly headed towards the Snowdrifts guildhall, hoping to put the plans into immediate action.

At this time, the new recruits, led by Sagrado, are seated around discussing what caused the moment of madness. Sparrow who is a guard captain had left in a hurry after dropping off them off at the guild hall, and thus there is no one to monitor them.

At first their conversation revolved around how frightening it was, but it soon is turned into curiosity about what monstrosity could possess such power.

Sagrado quickly tried to lead the conversation subject into something less oppressive, but a smirk hanged on his lips without him noticing.

Nobody noticed that when the magical darkness befell and all of them were caught in it, Sagrado was the only one who did not have adverse reactions. Instead, he fell to his knees without thinking and praised Nyarlathotep.