With Leona, Alaric, and the others gone, much at the camp didn't change

The war was now over, and tensions were down; cheers still rained through the night.

The celebration of victory was loud in the main camp, but here in the shadows of the supply wagons, it was quiet.

Alfred, the loyal steward of the Voss family, stood with his hands clasped behind his back.

His suit was impeccable, despite the dust of the battlefield. He adjusted his glasses, the moonlight reflecting off the lenses, hiding his eyes.

After the end of the battle and making sure there was no second wave, Lyra had called for him to come over after making sure the dwarven capital was safe

"You requested a meeting, Miss Lyra?"

Lyra stepped out from behind a stack of crates.

She looked pale, her skin still bearing faint, golden scars from where the Damien's Will had nearly cracked her vessel. But her eyes were sharp.

"I did," Lyra said, her voice raspy. "You have news."

Alfred nodded. He tapped the small, black communication crystal in his ear, the hub of the Black Thread, the spy network they had established all those years ago.

"My birds have flown far," Alfred said softly.

"While the world was watching the Void Shrine, I had agents sweeping the Eastern Wastelands."

He pulled a small, crumpled map from his pocket and spread it on a crate.

"The East has been a dead zone for fifty years. No monsters. No mana. Just ash."

"Rumours have it that the final battle in the God and Demon war all those years ago was held"

"They say that the final clash was so powerful that it annihilated all mana and concepts there, it's why nothing can grow or survive there for long"

"Even people of the sixth order and below, as long as they stay there for a while, their mana gets repressed, and they turn into ordinary people"

'for higher orders, although they can still use mana and aura, but it's several times harder, recovery is near impossible, and the effects are reduced countless times"

Hearing this, Lyra nodded as she knew these things, for such a plac,E it would be hard for anyone to go and live there willingly

However, on the map, Alfred pointed to a specific valley marked in red ink.

"But three days ago... my scouts reported a massacre."

Lyra leaned in. "Monsters?"

"No," Alfred whispered.

"A migration of Obsidian Hydras Tier 6 beasts was wiped out in an hour. No bodies were found. Just shadows burned into the rock."

Alfred looked at Lyra.

"Living Shadows. The signature magic of the Voss Family."

Lyra's eyes widened. "Elder Magnus."

"It is highly probable," Alfred confirmed.

"After Lord Theron's fall, Elder Magnus disappeared with the elite Voss House Guards. We thought they were dead. But if they are in the East... then it's reasonable that we didn't find them all this while."

Alfred folded the map.

"We must find them. If we can unite Elder Magnus's forces with the Young Master's potential... we can restore the Voss Duchy."

"No," Lyra said.

Alfred paused. "Miss Lyra? The Young Master needs protection. He is—"

"He is not the boy you remember, Alfred," Lyra interrupted.

She stepped into the moonlight. She unbuttoned the collar of her shirt, revealing the golden, glowing cracks running down her neck, the scars of his descent.

"He was here," Lyra whispered, touching her chest.

"During the battle. He was inside me."

Alfred stiffened. "The Young Master... was here?"

"He possessed me across dimensions," Lyra explained, her voice trembling with reverence.

"He fought the Void Prince, he fought against that monster that I doubt even regular eighth orders could have fought and won!."

She looked at the old butler.

"He isn't a 3rd Order mage hiding in a cave anymore, Alfred. When he connected with me... I felt it. He was at least 7th Order. Maybe higher."

Alfred's mouth opened slightly. His composure cracked.

"7th... Order?"

"Believe in him, Alfred, we aren't someone who needs protection" Lyra smiled, a fierce pride in her eyes.

"Rather than protecting him, what we need is to get stronger and find more people who won't hold him back when he returns"

"So I support finding Magnus and the others, However it isn't for protection, it's so that we can deal with future troubles without holding him back"

Hearing this, Alfred stood in silence for a long time.

Slowly, he reached up and took off his glasses. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped them. His hands were shaking.

"Indeed, I was wrong, he already surpassed us," Alfred whispered, his voice thick with emotion.

"The boy who used to cry when he scraped his knee... he now surpassed Lord Theron."

He put his glasses back on. The moisture in his eyes was gone, replaced by a cold, calculating steel.

"I have indeed been looking at this wrong," Alfred declared.

He placed his hand on the map of the Eastern Wastelands.

"We aren't going to the East to find protectors for him, we are going to find the remnants of the Voss family and strengthen our forces"

Alfred looked at Lyra.

"I will travel to the Wastelands tofind Elder Magnus. I will tell him about the current situation and ask him to help us."

"And I," Lyra said, her shadow flaring behind her,

"I will continue to look for the Flesh crater bases and recruit more void valkiries. I have a feeling that they would be useful in the final battle."

"Also, I heard some news about a half-demon rebel group rising. I plan to investigate that"

Alfred nodded. He straightened his tie, looking every bit the terrifying butler he truly was.

"The Young Master is busy conquering the Abyss," Alfred said, looking at the dark ground beneath his feet.

"It is our duty as his retainers to ensure that when he climbs out..."

Alfred smiled, a dangerous, predatory smile.

"...That there are no troubles waiting for him."

The two shadows bowed to each other. Then, they parted ways.

Alfred headed East, into the unknown. Lyra headed West, to the war-torn mercenary lands.

A new era of Elias was slowly beginning.

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