Before Cain could react, the dark green fog coiled around Mira like a serpent, twisting and curling as if it had a mind of its own.

"What is—" she started, but the words caught in her throat as the mist rose higher and higher, swallowing her vision in sickly green.

Cain moved without thinking. His body blurred forward, crossing the distance in a single step. Blink activated so quickly the air around him snapped like it had been cut in half. He reached her side before the others could even breathe, his hand halfway raised to pull her free when the fog shifted.

It did not aim for her mouth like some curse might have.

It moved for her eyes.

Mira barely had time to scream before the first tendrils struck.

A short, sharp cry escaped her lips as the mist sank into her eyes like needles made of ice and fire both. She stumbled back, clutching her face with both hands, her knees hitting the ground with a thud.

"Mira!" Maris shouted instantly, already reaching for her.

Kiyomi reacted faster. Her hands blurred with faint purple light as she summoned her blades into being. She stepped forward, positioning herself in front of Mira with a low growl building in her throat. Her silver eyes snapped toward Cain like sharpened steel.

"What did you do to her?" she demanded, each word trembling with threat.

Cain did not answer. He could not. He had not called Envy. He had not summoned anything at all. He stood frozen for one long moment, his mind racing to understand what had just happened.

But before anyone could attack, Mira raised one trembling hand.

"I'm… fine," she said through gritted teeth, her voice strained but steady enough to halt Kiyomi in her tracks. "Cain didn't do anything."

Kiyomi kept her blades out, eyes locked on Cain. "The hell he didn't. Look at you. Something is wrong."

"Just… wait," Mira said, lowering her hand slowly.

Cain watched as she straightened back to her full height. When her hands fell away from her face, his chest tightened.

Tears ran down her cheeks, but they were not clear.

They were red.

"Mira," he muttered under his breath, the shock in his voice drawing everyone's attention.

It was not just the blood.

Her eyes glowed now with a dark green sheen, like liquid emeralds swirling in the depths of her pupils. It was the same color as the mist that had forced its way inside her moments ago.

Then he heard it.

Or rather, Mira did.

[Fragmented Skill: Envy has taken Root]

The voice was not like anything she had ever heard before. It was not human, not alive. It was cold and flat, like someone who had once wanted everything but had long since given up on wanting anything at all.

More messages followed in quick succession.

[System Notice: Skill – Eyes of Longing][System Notice: Skill – Recreation of Imitation][System Notice: Skill – Bestowal of Imitation]

Mira stood there breathing hard, her mind spinning as the meanings behind the words sank in.

Then the world shifted.

When she looked at Cain again, text appeared before her vision like glowing script written into the air itself.

[Skill: Blink][Skill: Mana Recovery EX][Skill: Immortality (Degraded)][Skill: Combat Instincts][Skill: Manipulate Status][Skill: Demonic Swordsmanship][Skill: Reinforcement Magic][Skill: Fire Magic]

Mira's eyes widened in shock as she read through the list. It was like peeling back the layers of a man who had always been unreadable. Blink, a movement skill she had only ever heard whispers about. Mana Recovery EX, which explained why Cain never seemed to tire no matter how much magic he used. Combat Instincts, Manipulate Status, Demonic Swordsmanship… each one more impressive than the last.

But one stood out above all the rest.

Immortality.

She read the word twice just to make sure she was not hallucinating. Immortality, even degraded, was still immortality.

Her mouth went dry as the weight of it sank in. Cain was, for lack of better words, impossible to kill.

She lifted her gaze from the glowing text to the man himself, who was watching her closely. "Cain… you're… immortal?"

"Something like that," he said quietly, his tone making it clear he had no intention of explaining further.

Mira felt her heart pound faster. These new skills of hers… Eyes of Longing, Recreation of Imitation, Bestowal of Imitation… they were not just words. She understood now what they meant. Given time, she could copy these abilities for herself. And Bestowal meant she could place them into weapons or even grant them to others.

The implications made her head spin. She could forge swords that blinked through space. Shields that restored mana to their wielders. Armor that granted combat instincts sharper than any veteran fighter.

She had always dreamed of being a blacksmith who could create legends. Now she could create weapons that carried the powers of living myths.

The realization hit so hard she laughed once under her breath, half in disbelief, half in exhilaration.

She looked back at Cain, her lips curling into a smile that held both awe and a spark of wild energy. "Cain… I think I want to kiss you right now."

Kiyomi blinked once, her expression flat with confusion. "What sort of drug did you just feed my friends?"

Cain couldn't help but feel a little wronged at Kiyomi's accusation. From her perspective, her friends took in a ball of his magic and then started acting a bit weird. Maris and Mira were clearly different from before.

"I made them an offer. They accepted it and from now on, I will treat them as one of my people."

Kiyomi narrowed her eyes in suspicion at his choice of words. "What do you mean by that, hmm? You are going to truly treat them like they are part of your harem?!"

Her tails bristled with agitation as she pulled out one of her daggers. While she had no confidence she could beat him in a fight, she was confident that she could buy herself enough time to escape and or break whatever illusion Cain had put her friends under.

Cain's expression immediately turned cold at the implication Kiyomi brought up. "No. Not in the slightest. I will never impose my will like that on another person. I simply meant that if anyone tries to do them harm, I will do my best to protect them. If someone insults them, their knees will crack the ground as they are made to beg for forgiveness. If someone tries to hurt them....." His voice trailed off as murderous intent began to billow from Cain's entire body as he thought about it.

"I'll kill them." His voice came out like a blizzard, sending a chill down the girls' spines. They could tell he truly meant it and probably would do it wthout even considering the circumstances. He would do it even if it meant he would have to go against the Gods.

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