"Look at that," I said.

The butterfly's — deputy director's — corpse lay nearby, torn open.

Selene held her bleeding hand. "Alan, I'm sorry for attacking you—"

"No need for it," I said.

I pulled the deputy director's body closer with Telekinesis and stored it in my inventory rune.

It was the main cursed spirit of this place, and its corpse would be useful for alchemy.

Then I grabbed Selene's arm and wrapped a portion of the thread around her finger.

"We need to move. This place is going to collapse."

"O-okay."

She looked surprised. Either by my calmness or adaptability.

The ground shook violently.

Pipes above us burst one after another, spilling steam.

Cracks spread across the walls and screens.

Selene and I ran toward the hole in the ground and jumped.

I wrapped my arms around her as she took flight.

Below us, the city was crumbling.

The earth was splitting apart. Buildings were collapsing, and the sky itself looked like it was falling.

"Selene, close your eyes and don't use your sensory abilities!" I shouted over the roaring wind. "I'll tell you where to go!"

"Why?" she asked, trying to keep her balance midair.

"Because of the thread! If we look at it, it'll snap. Just trust me. Close your eyes!"

"I can't fly blind, Alan! If I hit something, I'll die!" she yelled back.

She wasn't wrong.

As a mage, her body was not as strong as Aura users.

Lars could have smashed through a wall without much trouble, and I would have survived with some injuries.

Mira could've handled it too since she used both Aura and Mana.

But someone like Selene—or Zephan—would die instantly from that kind of impact.

"I'll guide you! I know where the thread came from!" I said.

Selene hesitated but finally shut her eyes.

We flew fast, the wind howling around us.

Yuna had her eyes closed too. The cursed spirit couldn't detect her, and thus her looking at thread shouldn't make it snap, but I didn't want to take any risks.

Selene's arm trembled as she held on.

She was already hurt, and flying like this was taking a toll on her.

At least my spatial senses helped.

I remembered the flow of space around us even without using my eyes, and senses.

It was enough to trace the path back to where we entered this place.

We moved faster, cutting through the air.

Even though I tried to stay calm, I couldn't stop thinking about what could go wrong.

What if we couldn't re-enter the intersection of dimensions?

What if Selene got left behind?

What if the entire domain collapsed before we escaped?

Just as those thoughts crossed my mind, a familiar voice shouted ahead.

"What the hell!? You guys, slow down!"

It was Mira.

She must have sensed us entering the dimensional intersection.

She kept her eyes closed, but she reacted fast, swinging her arms out.

She caught us midair and tackled both of us, slowing our speed before we hit the wall.

Her boots slid across the ground, kicking up dust as she forced us to a stop.

"Good work," I said, opening my eyes.

The place around us was falling apart.

Glass trees shattered into dust. Sewers twisted into spirals. Toy shelves and library aisles stretched endlessly toward the sky, merging with strange ceilings that looked like basements and skies at once.

It was dizzying, surreal, and collapsing all at once.

"The exorcism is done. The research institute won't stop us anymore! That means the escape route should exist somewhere now!

"First, we rescue our team, then we find the way out!" I shouted over the noise.

Mira and Selene both nodded.

I opened a portal to the lab.

They went through quickly.

The tubes holding the civilians and our teammates should be unlocked now.

Mira and Selene could handle bringing them out.

Once they were inside, I closed the portal.

They didn't need to see what I was about to do next.

I turned and ran toward the Cursed Spirit Security Guard.

It was still moving, trying to escape the chain.

I stared at it.

"…Lord of Shadows?" Yuna's voice came from the side. "I suddenly felt a chill. Please tell me I'm thinking wrong."

I looked at her. "You can guess what I'm thinking? I guess staying with me for years did wonders."

"No, Lord of Shadows. Don't do it. It's impossible, even if you want to," she said, shaking her head.

"It's not impossible. The Cursed Spirit Area 51 has been exorcised, so this thing is already considered dead."

Yes, the Cursed Spirit Security Guard was still moving.

But since it was a part of Cursed Spirit Area 51, and Area 51 was exorcised, this Cursed Spirit was now considered dead.

And my inventory rune could store dead things inside it.

I opened my palm.

The size of the rune didn't matter.

It could change the dimensions of whatever I stored.

Even something massive could be pulled inside unless it was ridiculously big.

The space inside the inventory rune was already packed with gold and materials I had borrowed from Dusk Hand hidden clan, but there was still enough room for this Cursed Spirit.

"Lord of Shadows, you'll have to transfer your sealing spell into the inventory rune to seal it properly.

"If you don't, it'll escape and attack you.

"And if you keep the sealing spell, you'll need to keep using mana to chain it down.

"Even then, it'll still be able to use mental attacks while inside," Yuna said cautiously.

Her tone was serious, almost pleading.

She wasn't wrong.

Carrying this thing would be like walking around with a time bomb— no, a live grenade in my pocket.

But that was exactly why I wanted it.

If someone like Chameleon came after me again, I needed a weapon I could throw at her.

Chameleon was strong. She was either Rank 4 or Rank 5 already.

That's where this cursed Spirit came in.

Since it had the narrative that it was trying to catch people, it would always be stronger than its target.

I could throw it at Chameleon!

It would be useful to fight any opponent!

Of course, the Cursed Spirit would attack me too when attacking my enemy, but I was a space mage.

I could run away within seconds.

Then, only my enemy and this cursed spirit would be left there to duke it out.

And even if it couldn't kill my enemies, it would at least weaken them.

That alone made it worth the risk.

"Lord of Shadows… please don't do this. It's really dangerous," Yuna said again, her voice softer this time.

Her heart couldn't take the crazy stunt I was pulling.

I understood her worries.

I knew how that felt. I felt the same in my past life when Carlotta pulled stunts like this.

That woman's mind worked on a different plane of existence.

Simply put, she was batshit crazy.

Thankfully, I met her while she was young in this life, and had yet to start her crazy streak.

I spoke calmly, "Yuna, if this Cursed Spirt attacks me mentally, it'll help increase my Spirit stat. Think of it as training."

"Oh," Yuna blinked, then her expression suddenly changed, as if she was coming to a profound realization. "Carrying a Cursed Spirit for training… I never thought about it like that. This— this is a great idea! I approve of this method, Lord of Shadows!"

She became existed at the notion of more training.

I smiled a little. "I knew you'd understand me."

She nodded seriously, her earlier worry replaced by anticipation.

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