Oryu sat in his office, reviewing documents, when a sudden wave of darkness washed over him like an icy tide. His breath faltered, and an unnatural chill crawled up his spine, sinking deep into his bones. The air around him felt heavier, almost suffocating, as if the very space had been tainted by something vile. His heartbeat quickened, a primal warning ringing in his mind.
The hairs on his neck bristled, instincts screaming at him to move.
Without a moment's hesitation, he snatched the staff resting beside his desk, his grip tightening around the smooth wood—then vanished.
A second later, he reappeared above the slums.
Even without casting a spell, he could feel it—the unmistakable presence of something dark and unnatural seeping from a house below.
Edgarth was already there.
Without a word, Oryu raised his staff and chanted, his voice firm and commanding. A sphere of light expanded outward, pushing against the encroaching darkness. At the same time, he used telepathy to connect with all the captains.
'All captains, to the slums at once.'
He knew they had sensed it too, though likely not as clearly as he had.
Beside him, Edgarth cast another protective spell, forming a second barrier to slow the spread of the darkness.
Oryu's brows furrowed in both confusion and unease.
"What happened here?" he murmured to himself, his grip tightening around his staff.
…
Ryan sat at a table in the coffee shop, absentmindedly stirring his drink, when a sudden wave of darkness crashed over him like a suffocating tide. His chest tightened, and an unnatural chill seeped into his bones, rooting him to the spot. The warmth of the coffee vanished in an instant, replaced by a crawling sense of dread that coiled around his lungs like a vice. His breath hitched, coming in short, uneven gasps.
A prickling sensation spread across his skin, as if unseen eyes were watching him from the shadows. His fingers trembled slightly against the ceramic cup, the spoon clinking against its edge. Something was wrong. Deeply, horribly wrong.
His eyes widened.
Without hesitation, he shot to his feet and rushed outside.
"What the hell was that?"
His gaze snapped toward the slums, where the oppressive feeling seemed strongest. But before he could make sense of it, a figure to his right caught his attention.
Leo.
"Leo? What are you doing here?"
Leo slowly looked up. Blood streaked his face, trailing from his eyes and ears, still fresh and glistening under the streetlights.
Ryan's stomach dropped. His breath caught in his throat.
"Leo..." His voice was barely above a whisper. "What have you done?"
…
Leo looked at Ryan, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he struggled to catch his breath. He opened his mouth to speak, to explain—but before a single word could leave his lips, the world around him shifted.
A crushing silence fell.
Everything was consumed by darkness except for a single alley in the distance. Unlike the surrounding void, its edges shimmered with an unnatural glow, shifting as if something inside was stirring.
Leo's pulse pounded in his ears as the alley began to move—no, it wasn't moving. It was getting closer.
His breath hitched. His fingers instinctively reached for the amulet at his neck. It was broken.
He looked up again, and there it was. The familiar, unassuming magic shop from before. Its wooden door, slightly ajar, creaked open with agonizing slowness.
Inside—nothing. A void of absolute blackness.
Leo willed himself to move, to run, to do anything—but his body betrayed him, frozen in place like a puppet with its strings cut.
Then—two eyes.
Not blue, not human, but pure, blinding white, staring from within the darkness.
A voice, smooth and otherworldly, drifted from the shop's depths.
"Mr. Mantine, we meet again."
…
Ryan barely caught the sharp breath that escaped Leo before he went rigid, his entire body frozen in place. Panic shot through Ryan as he grabbed his shoulders, shaking him.
"Hey! What's wrong? Snap out of it!"
Leo didn't react. His wide, unblinking eyes were locked onto something in the distance, something Ryan couldn't see.
Frowning, Ryan turned his head to follow Leo's gaze—but there was nothing there. Just an empty alleys and streets, shrouded in the usual dim light of the slums.
Cold unease prickled at the back of his neck.
Something was wrong.
He exhaled sharply and pressed a hand to Leo's forehead, preparing to dispel whatever illusion or curse had ensnared him. But the moment his magic flared to life, a different sensation gripped him—
Someone was watching.
His breath stilled.
The presence was behind him.
Heavy and overwhelming.
Ryan spun around, stepping in front of Leo as raw instinct screamed at him to protect. Every protective spell he had was already active, his mind sharpening like a blade—and yet, it wasn't enough.
The gaze intensified, pressing down on him like an ocean, suffocating.
Then, a voice. Smooth, quiet, and utterly foreign.
"Don't interfere. I am not his enemy."
Ryan's body locked up, his vision swam—and then pain. A crushing, unbearable weight slammed into his chest. He choked, blood spilling past his lips as he collapsed to one knee.
Whatever it was, its sheer presence alone was killing him.
Gritting his teeth, Ryan forced himself to move, to act. His fingers twitched, tracing the pattern for his most powerful spell.
"Shifting Realities."
The space around him fractured. The air distorted, warping in unnatural waves, bending reality itself.
Before the presence could tighten its grip, Ryan lunged forward, seized Leo by the arm, and vanished into the shadows.
…
Leo's eyes fluttered open. His vision was hazy, shifting in and out of focus. He blinked a few times until the blurriness faded, and the room around him came into view. The faint scent of incense and herbs filled the air. White stone walls, arched windows, soft candlelight—he was in the Cathedral infirmary.
To his right, a familiar figure sat in a chair, flipping through a stack of papers. Edmond.
Leo swallowed, his throat dry. "Captain."
At the sound of his voice, Edmond glanced up, setting the papers aside.
"You're awake."
Leo pushed himself up, only for a sharp pain to shoot through his body. He winced.
"Easy there," Edmond warned. "Don't move too much."
Leo exhaled, trying to steady himself. "What happened?"
Edmond studied him carefully. "What do you remember?"
Leo tried to piece it together. The slums. The overwhelming pressure that nearly crushed him. The teleport scroll. Then—nothing. A void of darkness.
He hesitated before answering. "I was in the slums when I felt... something horrible. I used my teleport scroll to escape, but after that—everything went black."
Edmond sighed, rubbing his temples. "The thing you felt was a fragment of a god."
Leo's breath caught in his throat. "What?"
"For reasons unknown, a god was summoned inside a house in the slums. The moment it manifested, at least an small part of it, it obliterated everything and everyone inside."
Leo's chest tightened. "Did anyone... die?"
"From what we've gathered? Surprisingly, no one outside the house was dead, only harmed like you. But the ones inside? They were completely erased."
Leo clenched his fists. "Were you able to investigate the house?"
Edmond shook his head. "Impossible. Even though the God was only there for a minutes—maybe even seconds—the energy it left behind is still radiating. Standing near it for more than a moment would kill an A-rank instantly. We managed to secure the area, but as for actually exploring inside? It's still too soon."
Leo's eyes widened. 'Then how am I still alive?'
His stomach twisted. "How long was I unconscious?"
"Only a day," Edmond reassured him, noticing the way Leo tensed. Before he could panic, he added, "Don't worry about your family—we've already taken care of everything."
"Who brought me here?"
"Ryan Alston Law," Edmond answered. "A former classmate of your teacher, Mr. Edgarth."
Leo blinked in surprise. 'Ryan saved me?'
Edmond stood up, adjusting his coat. "Rest for now. I'll let him know you're awake."
Leo lay back down, staring at the ceiling, his mind racing.
'The Goddess of the Moon, that magic shop, What the hell happened to me?'
After a few minutes, Ryan walked in and sat near him.
"So, do you want to talk about what really happened?"
Leo didn't turn around. "I can't tell you."
Ryan frowned. "Why not?"
"Because you'll forget."
"…What?"
"No matter who I tell, they always forget," Leo said, his voice steady but weary. "I've already explained this to my captain—multiple times. The amulet I had protected me, but now it's broken."
Ryan's brows furrowed. "Then get another one."
"I will," Leo muttered. "I just need to figure out how to explain this to my captain… again."
Silence settled between them for a minute or two before Leo finally spoke again.
"Thank you, Ryan. For saving me."
Ryan shrugged. "Sure." But there were still questions in his eyes. "If you don't want to tell me about whoever's making me forget, fine. But what about the slums?"
Leo glanced at him. "What about it?"
"Don't play dumb, Leo. I know you caused that." Ryan leaned forward, lowering his voice. "The only thing I don't know is how."
Leo exhaled, rubbing his temples. After a moment of consideration, he decided to give Ryan at least part of the truth.
"I was testing something down there," he admitted. "And… I accidentally summoned that creature. When I was about to die, the amulet saved me. But it broke in the process."
Ryan studied him for a few seconds, waiting for more. When it became clear Leo wasn't going to explain how a sixteen-year-old had managed to summon something of that magnitude, he sighed and leaned back.
"I was worried about you getting corrupted," Ryan muttered. "But now… I should be worried that a god's going to kill you."
He stood up, brushing off his coat. "Come on, let's talk more when you're better. And whatever you were doing—don't continue."
Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked out, leaving Leo alone with his thoughts.
A few hours later, once he was feeling significantly better, Peter arrived to fetch him with a folded piece of paper rested in his hand.
"How many more times do I have to come here and drag you out?" Peter sighed, shaking his head. "Stop getting yourself hurt."
Leo offered a weak smile. "Sorry about that."
He pushed himself up from the bed and changed back into his own clothes, stretching slightly as he adjusted his sleeves.
"Sign here," Peter said, handing him the document.
Leo took it without hesitation and signed his name.
"Where do you want to go?"
"Does the captain need me at the association?"
"No."
"Then I'll go home."
They walked together in silence, the familiar streets passing by in a blur. Yet, for some reason—one he couldn't quite grasp—Leo felt as if something important had slipped from his mind entirely.
…
When Leo stepped inside, Lisa and the others greeted him with warm smiles.
"Sweetie, welcome back. How was your mission?" Lisa asked, her voice filled with concern.
'Mission? Looks like they fed them a perfect lie this time.'
"It went well," Leo replied, forcing a small smile. "But I'm exhausted."
"Do you want lunch? Or dinner? It's almost night," she offered.
"No, I'll just rest for a bit in my room."
Lisa and the others exchanged glances—two filled with confusion, one with worry—before he turned away and went to his room, shutting the door behind him.
He let himself collapse onto the bed without even bothering to change his clothes. The memory of what he had seen in the basement remained seared into his mind—an experience unlike anything he had ever faced, in this life or the last.
He had stood before something beyond mortal comprehension.
A god.
Over the past year, he had come across mentions of gods in books, but at the time, his rank had been far too low to grasp the true nature of such beings. There had been little information—only brief descriptions, and not a single name.
The book had listed eight divine figures, each marked by a title rather than a personal name:
The God of Light—the bringer of peace and the savior who had delivered all people from the darkness.
The God of Magic—an eternal source of arcane power, weaving the fabric of reality itself with unseen threads.
The Goddess of Nature, the Mother of Earth—the primordial force of life, shaping forests, rivers, and mountains with her will.
The God of Madness—a deity of fractured minds and chaotic whispers, dwelling in the abyss between reality and illusion.
The Goddess of Love and Betrayal—the giver of both passion and heartbreak, embodying love's gentle touch and its cruel sting.
The God of the Underworld—a deity of decay and renewal, balancing death and rebirth.
The Goddess of the Moon, the Creator of Vampires—a powerful and enigmatic figure, reigning over the moon's silent glow and the darkness of night.
The God of War, the Harbinger of Destruction—a formidable and enigmatic figure, reigning over the chaos of battle and the echoes of ancient wrath.
That was all the book had said—no names, only these cryptic titles.
But after what had happened last night, after what he had seen and felt, Leo was certain.
He had faced the Goddess of the Moon, the Creator of Vampires.
And yet, she had let him live.
But why?
It couldn't have been just the amulet. If she had truly wanted him dead, would that thin layer of protection have been enough?
These thoughts circled in his mind as his exhaustion caught up with him. His eyelids grew heavy, his breath slowed, and before he realized it, sleep pulled him under.
When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer in his room.
He was standing in an alley.
And before him, bathed in the dim glow of lantern light, stood a shop—a magic shop.