The street ahead opened into a wider space, buildings pulling back as if the city itself had decided to stop pretending it was alive.

Noel slowed.

Not because he needed to, but because there was no longer any reason to rush.

The inner center of the city lay before them, empty in a way that felt heavier than ruins usually did. No scattered civilians. No panicked movement. No signs of recent evacuation. Just stone, cracked roads, and structures that still stood upright despite having lost their purpose. It felt less like a battlefield and more like a place that had simply been abandoned mid-breath.

Distant spellcasting still echoed through the streets behind them. Faint bursts of mana, flashes of color reflected against broken windows. The others were still fighting, still clearing what remained.

But those sounds were fading.

Noel stopped spending mana.

The flow that had been constant since his arrival slowed until it settled into stillness, dense and quiet inside him. He didn't dismiss it. He didn't suppress it either. He simply let it rest, like a weight that no longer needed to be shifted.

Ahead, Noir finished what he had started.

In her massive form, she tore through the last clusters of monsters with efficiency that bordered on casual. Chains snapped. Collars shattered. The creatures barely had time to react before being crushed or dragged apart, their resistance ending the moment it began. There was no need for coordination, no commands shouted, no timing to worry about.

Noel watched without intervening.

Control mattered more than speed now.

When the last echoes of combat died out in front of them, the city's center revealed itself fully. A broad stairway led up to what looked like the main structure. Not a palace, not a fortress, but something administrative. A place meant for oversight. For authority. The kind of building that existed to watch everything else.

Noel walked up the steps and sat down.

The stone was cold beneath him, dust clinging to his coat. He didn't bother brushing it off. He had arrived far earlier than the others. That much was obvious. His pace had been faster. His route cleaner. Whatever he had needed to do on his island, he had finished it quickly.

Now, there was time.

He leaned back slightly, resting his forearms on his knees, eyes fixed on the empty square below. The city didn't react to his presence. It didn't shift or stir. It simply remained silent.

Behind him, the distant sounds of spellcasting continued to fade.

Soon, they would be gone entirely.

And Noel waited.

The system window lingered at the edge of Noel's vision.

He hadn't dismissed it yet.

He didn't need to read it again to know what it said. The numbers were already etched into his thoughts, heavier than most rewards or warnings had ever been.

Time Remaining: 100 Days.

Noel exhaled slowly.

A hundred and twenty days total. More than three months. Almost a third of a year.

It was strange.

Every mission he had received before this had pushed him forward with urgency. Clear goals. Tight limits. Pressure that forced quick decisions and faster action. This one didn't feel like that at all. The system wasn't rushing him. It wasn't cornering him.

If anything, it was giving him space.

Too much of it.

'Why this much time?' he wondered. 'What are you expecting from me?'

This didn't feel like a mission meant to be ended with a single battle or one decisive strike. It felt wider. Slower. Like something that would unfold piece by piece whether he liked it or not.

A campaign, not a clash.

Noel's hand moved without thought, fingers brushing against the thick black fur resting across his lap. Noir had shifted closer at some point, her massive form gone, her smaller body curled comfortably against him. She was alert, but calm. Watching the city the same way he was.

"Do you think the fight against the Second Pillar will be difficult?" Noel asked quietly.

Noir's ears twitched.

'I don't know, Dad,' she replied after a moment. 'From what I remember from your memories… chains. That's what stands out.'

Noel nodded faintly, encouraging her to continue.

'Every creature we've fought here had one,' Noir went on. 'Around their necks. Embedded. And it's not just monsters. The people too. They all feel bound by something. Like they're tethered whether they know it or not.'

Noel's gaze hardened slightly as he listened.

"That's what I thought," he said. "If she's controlling thousands like that, then her power can't be anything below Archmage."

Control on that scale wasn't brute force. It was authority imposed through mana. Through systems. Through chains that didn't need to be pulled tight to be felt.

Noir shifted, her head lifting just enough to look up at him.

'We can handle it,' she said with certainty. 'We always do.'

A small smile touched Noel's lips.

"Yeah," he answered softly. "We will."

His hand moved again, slower this time, gently stroking the top of her head. Noir relaxed under the touch, settling more fully against him as they both continued to wait.

For a while, neither of them spoke.

The quiet stretched, heavy but not uncomfortable, like the pause between breaths. Noel kept his gaze on the empty square, watching nothing happen. The city didn't resist its fate. It simply endured it.

Eventually, he broke the silence.

"They always do the same thing," Noel said aloud, his voice low. "No matter where we run into them."

Noir's ears flicked, listening.

"The Circle doesn't conquer openly," he continued. "They don't march armies or burn cities unless they have to. They prefer control. Slow, invisible, patient."

His fingers paused briefly in Noir's fur, then resumed their gentle motion.

"At the academy, it was Dior," Noel went on. "They didn't try to kill him. They tried to shape him. Feed him doubt. Push him where they wanted him to go until he couldn't tell which thoughts were his anymore."

Noir let out a quiet sound of agreement.

"And the Holy Capital," Noel said, his jaw tightening just a little. "They aimed higher there. If they had succeeded, the entire Church would've rotted from the inside. Faith twisted. Authority corrupted. People following lies without ever realizing they were lies."

His eyes shifted, distant now.

"Tharvaldur too. The dwarven kingdom. Same approach. Influence first. Pressure second. Turn the leadership, and the rest follows whether they want to or not."

The pattern was clear once you saw it.

Dominate.

Bind.

Corrupt from within.

No chains visible at first. No open violence. Just control layered carefully over time until resistance felt pointless.

Noir lifted her head again, resting her chin lightly against his thigh.

'And every time,' she said, steady and certain, 'we stopped them.'

Noel exhaled through his nose, something close to a quiet laugh escaping him.

"Yeah," he said. "We did."

They hadn't won every fight cleanly. They hadn't escaped without scars. But the Circle had never gotten what it wanted. Not fully. Not anywhere that mattered.

Behind them, the last faint echoes of spellcasting finally vanished.

No more flashes of mana reflecting off distant walls. No more impacts carried through broken streets. Just silence, complete and uninterrupted.

The city had gone still.

Noel noticed the absence immediately. It felt like a line had been crossed. A point reached.

He straightened slightly, hand still resting on Noir's head, eyes narrowing as he listened to the quiet that followed.

"This part's over," he murmured.

Noir's tail flicked once.

'Which means the next one's about to start.'

Noel pushed himself up from the steps, dust falling from his coat as he moved. Only then did he really register how he looked. Sand clung to the fabric from the fall earlier, darker stains marked where monster blood had dried, and the edges of his boots were caked with dirt. He brushed at his sleeve out of habit, then stopped. It didn't matter.

Noir slipped down from his lap and landed lightly beside him, her ears turning toward the far end of the square.

Three figures were approaching.

The one in front walked with steady confidence, her posture straight, her pace unhurried. Elyra von Estermont stood out immediately. Dark red clothes marked with the colors of her house, perfectly arranged, untouched by dust or blood. Her black hair wasn't braided this time, falling freely down her back, smooth and immaculate as if the city itself had failed to leave a mark on her. Her gray eyes lifted, sharp and alert, already scanning the space ahead.

Just behind her came Elena von Lestaria. Softer tones, greens and natural hues that blended more easily with the surroundings. Her hair was tied back in a neat ponytail, leaving her elven ears clearly visible. She moved with caution, eyes shifting between ruined buildings, senses clearly still on edge.

And then there was the third.

Laziel stumbled along behind them, leaning heavily on his staff, his shoulders slumped like the weight of the entire city had settled on him alone.

"I can't do this anymore," he groaned loudly. "Why did I have to follow you two all the way here? Every step I take I feel like I'm about to die. This place is cursed. I want a hot bath, a soft bed, and at least three months without leaving the academy."

Elyra didn't even slow down.

"You knew exactly what you were signing up for," she said flatly. "You didn't seem reluctant then. Stop complaining and keep moving."

Noel watched the scene unfold, a faint spark of amusement stirring. A memory surfaced uninvited. Cold water. Laughter. The Holy Capital.

His lips twitched.

Before Elyra's gaze could settle fully on him, Noel murmured, "Shadow Step."

The space where he stood folded in on itself, and he was gone.

Elyra halted instantly.

Elena stopped a heartbeat later, sensing the shift. Elyra glanced at her and raised a single finger, signaling silence.

Laziel kept walking.

"Why did we stop?" he complained, still unaware. "Did you see another monster? Please tell me there isn't another one. I'm serious, if I have to fight again—"

He finally noticed the silence.

Both girls had turned to look at him.

Laziel slowed, confused. "Why are you staring at me like that?" He swallowed. "There isn't… something behind me, is there?"

Laziel felt it before he saw anything.

The air behind him shifted, heavy and wrong, like the space itself had leaned closer. His grip tightened on his staff as a chill crawled up his spine.

Then something landed on his shoulder.

It was heavy.

Warm.

Laziel froze.

Slowly, painfully slowly, he tilted his head upward. There was no sunlight anymore. The ruined sky above was gone, swallowed by shadow. His breath hitched as a thick presence loomed over him, close enough that he could feel it breathe.

Something wet splashed onto his hair.

"…Nope," Laziel whispered.

His imagination filled in the rest far too quickly. Fangs. Saliva. A massive jaw hovering just above his head, ready to close. His knees buckled, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed forward without another sound.

For a heartbeat, the square was perfectly still.

Then Noel stepped out from the shadows beside the towering shape.

"…Huh," he said, blinking. "I didn't expect it to work that well."

The massive black form behind Laziel shifted, shadows folding inward as Noir shrank down, her monstrous silhouette dissolving into her smaller, familiar shape. She padded forward and sniffed Laziel once before wrinkling her nose.

'He fainted,' she noted. 'Dramatically.'

Noel rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. I noticed."

Elyra exhaled, the tension draining from her shoulders, and crouched down beside Noir. Her hand reached out without hesitation, fingers sinking into the wolf's fur as she scratched gently behind her ears.

"You really are impossible," Elyra said, though there was clear affection in her voice. She glanced up at Noel. "You got here fast. Did you end up on this island too?"

Before he could answer, Noir's voice slipped easily into both Elyra's and Elena's minds.

'Hello, mums.'

Elena froze for half a second, then laughed softly, the sound tight with relief. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Noel, holding him longer than usual.

"I'm really glad you're okay," she whispered, her voice barely audible as she pressed her forehead briefly against his chest. She pulled back just enough to kiss him, gentle and warm.

Elyra didn't wait long. She rose to her feet, stepped close, and went up on her toes, kissing Noel without ceremony. Confident. Familiar. Like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Noel let out a quiet breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, a small smile settling on his face.

"I'm glad you're both okay too," he said honestly.

Then his gaze dropped.

Laziel lay sprawled on the stone, unconscious, staff clutched loosely in one hand.

Noel sighed.

"…We should probably wake him up before explaining anything."

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