Time soon passed and while the mirror trick worked, it was equally exhausting work.

Damien and Isabelle moved like a tactical unit, sweeping through the labyrinth of fallen pillars.

Every time a swarm of Angels cornered them, Damien would slam the massive Mythril Tower Shield into the ground, angling the polished surface to catch their reflections.

It was a grotesque gallery.

Dozens of Angels were now frozen in the canyon, locked in eternal staring contests with themselves.

Their stone faces were twisted not in hunger, but in sheer, frozen panic.

They were sentient enough to know they were trapped, but bound by Law to never look away.

"We're getting close," Damien wheezed, leaning against a petrified tree.

He was pale. The physical exertion of manoeuvring the heavy shield, combined with the lingering abyss poisoning, was taking its toll.

Isabelle, seeing him stumble, grabbed the shield handle.

"I will carry it, Master," she insisted, hoisting the slab of mythril as if it were paper.

"You lead. I'll take care of the rest."

Damien nodded, grateful. "The fog is clearing. The Sanctum should be just ahead."

….......

[The Inner Sanctum]

They stepped out of the ash-grey canyon and onto a floor of polished white marble.

The air here was different. The biting cold was gone, replaced by a heavy, suffocating pressure

Suddenly, just as they were about to continue observing the scenery change, a sudden feeling of sorrow filled their chest

Sob... sob...

A sound echoed through the chamber.

Yet this sound wasn't normal, for it bypassed the ears entirely and resonated directly in the soul. It was the sound of a mother grieving for a dead world.

Isabelle gasped, clutching her chest. Tears began to stream down her face, unbidden.

"Why am I crying?" she whispered, wiping her eyes.

"I don't feel sad. But my heart... it hurts."

"Psychic Resonance," Damien warned, fortifying his mind with his will. "Don't listen to it, Isabelle. Stay strong and don't let it get to you."

The more time passed, the more Damien felt just how terrifying these angels were

Unfortunately, this was more of a reason he couldn't turn back, not for the abyss, not for the commission

But for himself, if he wanted to go further down his current path, then he needed to get that blindfold before anyone else.

As if what he read about it in the novel was true, then he was about to gain a cheat no less than his dragon blood

Thinking of this, they walked into the center of the chamber.

It was a vast, circular temple. In the center, atop a massive dais, sat a throne made of weeping stone.

And on the throne sat The Weeping Sovereign.

She was colossal in size, easily three times the size of the other Angels.

Her wings were spread wide, encompassing the throne.

She wore robes carved with intricate, flowing runes that seemed to shift even when looked at.

But the most striking feature was her face.

Unlike the others, she wasn't covering her eyes with her hands, instead she wore a Veil of Stone, a thick, marble blindfold carved across her eyes.

"The Commission Target," Damien whispered. "The Mask."

Looking at the mask, a hint of greed flashed through his eyes. According to the original novel, that blindfold was one of the keys to controlling the angels; he couldn't afford to miss it.

Calming down, he looked at the Sovereign, then at the mirror shield in Isabelle's hand.

A cold realisation suddenly washed over him.

"Fuck!"

"Isabelle," Damien said, his voice dropping. "Drop the shield."

"What? But Master, if she moves—"

"The shield is useless," Damien cut her off.

He pointed at the blindfold.

"The mirror works because the Angels see their reflection and Quantum Lock themselves. But she... she's blindfolded. She can't see her reflection."

"So she's immune to the trap."

CRACK.

The Sovereign stood up.

She didn't move with the jerky, glitchy motion of the lesser Angels.

Rather, she moved with fluid, terrifying grace.

It was like she knew she was blind and couldn't freeze herself.

With a terrifying smile on her face, she turned her head. The stone blindfold faced them directly.

She couldn't see them. But she could hear them. She could feel the vibration of their souls.

SCREEEEEE!

She opened her mouth. A psychic blast shot out, destroying the surroundings.

The bioluminescent moss lining the cavern walls shattered instantly.

Darkness.

Absolute, pitch-black darkness fell over the sanctum.

"Master!" Isabelle shouted, igniting a flame in her hand.

"NO!" Damien tackled her, smothering the flame before it could fully ignite.

"Don't use magic!" Damien hissed in her ear.

"Magic vibrates the mana in the air. She is blind, Isabelle. She probably hunts by sound and mana ripples. If you light a fire, we're done for."

They lay in the dark on the cold marble floor.

It was the ultimate stalemate.

They couldn't see the Sovereign, so she wasn't frozen. She could move freely. But she couldn't see them, so she couldn't find them... unless they made a noise.

Thump... Thump...

Heavy, soft footsteps echoed in the dark. She was hunting.

"We are blind," Isabelle whispered, panic rising in her voice.

"If we can't see her, she'll tear us apart."

Damien closed his eyes. In the darkness, eyesight was a liability. It made the brain panic.

'Concentrate! Concentrate!' Damien thought. 'When the eyes fail, the Will takes over.'

He grabbed Isabelle's hand.

"Close your eyes, Isabelle," Damien whispered, his voice barely a breath.

"What? But—"

"Trust me. If you rely on sight, you'll die. You have to feel the intent, time to learnt it!."

Damien expanded his mind. He pushed his [Sensory Intent] out into the darkness.

He didn't try to "see" the stone; instead tried to feel the displacement of the air.

The heavy, grieving weight of the Sovereign's soul moving through the void.

He felt it.

A massive, cold pressure was moving to their left. It was circling them.

"She's at nine o'clock," Damien whispered. "Ten meters. Closing."

He squeezed Isabelle's hand.

"Isabelle! We aren't going to fight her with magic. We're going to use the darkness against her."

"How?"

"She wants to find us?" Damien smirked in the dark.

"Let's give her something to find."

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