"Sir, we have found something interesting."

Avius looked back at one of the scouts he had brought with him. He was holding a lantern, which was strange to see in a place like the Withered. Why would they buy something like this? And who would even sell one? Well, you could say for housing, but he doubted that his scouts would just steal a lantern from a house.

"A... lantern?" He said, disappointingly, as he sighed.

The scout tensed slightly, nervous after seeing Avius's first reaction.

"Yes, a lantern, but what is strange is that we found it where you saw that figure. Maybe it belonged to it, and he had lost it."

His eyes widened slightly, but he quickly regained himself.

'Would the Abyss really forget something like it? It is plausible, but at the same time, it might have been intentional.'

He lay back in his seat, stealing Keres a glance, but while he was supposed to be his first man and help him, he was having fun with his sister.

"W-With my power I could try to track him down, that was my idea."

Tracking the Abyss down, if only it were as easy as that. Even if they went after it, there was little chance they could find it in the darkness, even if they knew where it was. But at the same time, if they brought a relic to light up the shadows, maybe it could work.

"I figured that was your idea; it's not a bad one. But it only works if the Abyss hadn't already planned this. I just doubt that he would make such an obvious mistake, plus I didn't see any lantern when I first saw him."

He tapped the table with his fingers, thinking about what he should do next.

This whole thing with the lantern was complicated. They have already established that they won't get any information about the Abyss from the people, so they were going to find their own clues. But that was harder to do than say.

The Abyss lived in the shadows, so unless they could find a way to light all the shadows up. It was going to be complicated to find it in a place full of them. This lantern gave them a chance, a path to follow.

But the question was whether this path was pure. If it really was an accident, then they could find him and capture him. But if the Abyss had done it intentionally, then they were going to walk into a trap. They were still oblivious to what abilities the Vessel got from his God, so they might as well be walking to their death.

"I think we should go."

The Prince raised his hand.

Avius turned to him with surprise. He knew the Prince was careless and took many risks, but he was also someone intelligent, so to make such a statement all of a sudden.

"And why do you think that? Keres?"

He laughed, getting up on his feet and walking to the lantern to examine it.

"It's too big an opportunity to miss. Plus, I doubt it was intentional; the Abyss already made a mistake by revealing themselves. I think you're thinking too much about it, it isn't the Abyss that we were trying to find, but its Vessel. We can't be sure that it's as cunning as the previous one you learned about. I think he's just a dumb and cocky bastard who thinks too highly of themselves."

...

Was Keres right? He has been thinking of the current Vessel like the past ones he has learned about. But what if it was the exact opposite? He had said that he doubted the Abyss would make such a mistake, but he had never met its vessel. What if it really was a mistake?

...

"Fine, well, do it. But if it's a trap, you're going to have to take us out of it."

...

...

Why was she even here? That was what Princess Iris was wondering; she had done nothing but follow her teacher and brother around the Withered. It was fun to try and guide herself around, now that she knew about the marks and how to navigate.

'Thanks, Aether.'

But that was it, just wandering around, without anything to do. Her feet hurt. But, at the same time, she was intrigued by their mission; it actually felt like one of the stories she had read as a child before she awakened. More than actually going inside one.

They were like detectives trying to find this person who existed, but at the same time was so good at hiding that he felt like he didn't exist. She had recently learned about the existence of the Abyss, so she didn't know what to think of it. If she should fear it like her master did.

I mean, from what she has seen, the Abyss was nothing but a scardy cat that kept hiding. Nothing powerful or dangerous. Maybe even she could take him down.

'Doubt it.'

They had been walking for over an hour now, following some scout around, while the others went in front, so that if they were attacked, they would know. They passed through so many alleys that it had become quite annoying, plus, her teacher had tried to find a way to light the shadows, but no one at the stands sold that type of relic.

But it was strange, she felt as if the seller was the same person all the time. But maybe it was just her imagination.

Either way, what she was trying to say was that this was getting repetitive. The scout said that he could track this Abyss, yet Praise had told her that they were going in circles. And she doubted her own God and affinity would lie to her.

Something was up; she just couldn't put her finger on what.

But as she was in deep thought, her teacher suddenly stopped. She turned to look, where she saw a hooded figure standing in front of them, which, for some reason, gave her a familiar feeling.

Avius looked to the scout with the lantern. And after it gave him its signal, he summoned his staff and used one of his abilities to immobilize it. The figure had tried to run, but it was too late, as the vines had already wrapped around his arms and legs.

It tried to struggle out of its grip. But it was unsuccessful, as Avius slowly got close to it.

"It seems I was really overthinking it; you were really just a cocky bastard. I can't believe how far the Abyss has fallen."

He reached out to the figure's hand, rolling up its sleeves, where he saw the marks. It had been a success; their plan had worked. It was scary to think how fast they had done it. The King will be ecstatic.

"Now, let's see who you really are."

Taking off the hood, he saw a girl with bright red hair and orange eyes.

He stopped slightly as he saw who was hiding under the hood. It wasn't unheard of for the Abyss to have a female vessel; it was just strange to see, since even if it was far away, the figure that he saw on the arcs that day looked to be more male than female.

But maybe he was wrong.

...

"Um, teacher, what are you doing to that girl?" Iris pointed out.

Avius turned back to Iris, confused by what she meant, and couldn't have realized that she was the one they were looking for. Yes, she didn't know about the marks, but still.

"This is the Abyss's vessel, we know because of the marks on her arm."

...

"What marks?"

...

'Huh?'

Avius turned back to the girl, looking at her arm... where there was no mark.

He stared for a second before stumbling back. It had been there just a moment. So how?

Avius let go of the girl, who didn't waste a second running away.

How had this happened? He was sure he saw the mask, and the others were also confused, meaning they also saw it. Plus, his scout had confirmed that the lantern let her. And he was not only known inside the kingdom, but was being paid money, so why would he lie?

'What is going on?'

Suddenly, from the shadows, he heard a voice.

"Disappointing."

He turned to look, squinting his eyes. There didn't seem to be a figure inside, so where was it coming from?

"Disappointing."

He slowly walked into the shadows as the voice got louder.

"Disappointing."

He leaned down, picking up a rock.

...

"Disappointing."

...

'A talking rock? What on earth is happening?

He smashed the rock into the ground so it would stop talking. It was irritating him.

To think that he had underestimated the Abyss. It was clear that it wasn't just some cocky guy.

But there was one thing that he missed.

"You can run all you want, we will find you one day."

...

...

"You won't be here to see that day come, unfortunately."

Aether laughed, turning back and walking back into the shadows.

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