The carriage rumbled down the ancient forest path, its wheels kicking up clouds of moss and dirt as it headed back toward the border of the Human Empire.

Unlike the heavy, mournful atmosphere of their arrival six months ago, the mood inside was now electric. The air hummed with the gradual recovery of life energy.

"Phantom Wind?" Leona tilted her head, her lion ears twitching as she looked at the new, strange aura surrounding Lyra. "That sounds… kind of weak. Wind is just wind, right? It blows things. How does that help you kill a knight in full plate?"

Lyra smirked. It was a cold, confident expression that looked strange on her usually stoic face. The faint grey tint of her skin seemed to deepen as she channelled her mana.

"You think so?" Lyra asked, her voice soft but carrying a dangerous edge. "Then watch."

She didn't ask Alfred to stop the carriage. She simply leaned out the open window, the wind whipping her silver-blonde hair back.

"See that bird?" She pointed to a Mana Hawk soaring high above the tree line, easily five hundred meters away. It was a blur of motion, a speck against the blue sky.

"I see it," Leona squinted, her golden beast eyes adjusting.

"It's too fast. Even with a bow, you'd need to lead the shot by at least three seconds, and the wind up there is—"

Lyra didn't listen. She didn't calculate wind speed. She didn't check the angle. She simply raised her hand.

A bow formed from the air. But it wasn't the bright, translucent green construct of her past.

It was a hybrid.

Swirling currents of Emerald Wind formed the limbs, vibrating with high-speed energy.

But wrapped around the wind, like a suffocating snake, was a thick, oily smoke of Pitch Black Shadow. The shadow didn't reflect light; it devoured it, dimming the air around Lyra's hand.

She pulled the string back.

Phwip.

There was no sound. No hum of power. No screech of wind. The shadow element swallowed the noise entirely.

Leona watched the hawk. "You missed. I didn't even see the arrow leave the string."

SPLAT.

High in the sky, five hundred meters away, the hawk suddenly exploded.

A scene that made Damien feel a chill run down his spine.

It didn't just fall; it was obliterated. Feathers and blood misted into the air as if a cannonball had hit it from inside.

"I didn't miss," Lyra said, dissolving the bow into wisps of grey smoke.

"The arrow became the wind, and the shadow hid its mass. It entered the target's slipstream unseen and detonated on impact. Phantom Wind."

Leona's jaw dropped. She looked from the empty sky back to Lyra.

"Invisible, silent, exploding arrows? That's… that's cheating! How is anyone supposed to block that?"

"You don't," Lyra corrected, leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms.

"That's the point. It's efficiency. And it's mine."

Leona looked at Lyra, then at Damien. Her golden eyes were burning with a mixture of jealousy and hunger.

"Young Lord!" Leona shouted, slamming her hands on her knees, denting the floorboard.

"I want mine! Give me the gem! I can't be the only one without a cool upgrade! It's not fair!"

"Haha," Damien laughed, obviously expecting this reaction.

"I was wondering when you'd ask."

He knocked on the partition behind him.

"Alfred, stop the carriage. We need a break. Time for both of you to power up!."

…....…..

[A Few Minutes Later - Roadside Clearing]

The carriage came to a halt in a quiet clearing surrounded by towering redwoods.

Damien stood before Leona and Alfred. He held two shimmering blue Contract Gems in his hand.

They pulsed with a faint, rhythmic light, responding to his own mana.

"Leona, Alfred," Damien said, his voice turning serious.

"You know the risks. You saw what happened to Lyra and Isabelle. This will hurt. It will tear your soul open and stitch it back together with my mana signature."

"Pain is just weakness leaving the body," Leona grinned, her fangs showing. She didn't hesitate. She snatched the gem from his hand. "I'm ready. Give it to me!"

Thinking that she was about to get stronger, for a moment, she began to lose her cool.

"As am I, Young Master," Alfred said calmly, taking out his own gem with a gloved hand. He adjusted his glasses. "To serve the Voss family better, a little discomfort is a small price."

"Alright," Damien nodded. "Eat."

Gulp.

They swallowed simultaneously.

For a second, nothing happened. The forest was silent.

Then, Leona screamed.

"ARGHHH!"

She fell to her knees, clawing at the ground. Her muscles bulged, tearing the sleeves of her tunic.

A terrifying, blood-red aura exploded from her body, but it wasn't just the Beast Aura she had learned in training.

It was darker. Heavier. It smelled of old blood and iron.

Her eyes rolled back, turning entirely white. Her roar shook the trees, causing birds to scatter miles away.

[System Alert!]

[Target Leona Awakening...]

[Ability Detected: Beast Aura + Contract Resonance.]

[New Ability: Berserk Aura.]

[Effect: Strength and Regeneration increase continuously during combat. Pain perception is nullified. Cost: Sanity degrades the longer the ability is active.]

"Berserk," Damien muttered, watching her thrash. "A double-edged sword. She becomes an unstoppable and unkillable monster at the cost of her mind."

He looked at Leona. She was panting, drool dripping from her mouth, her claws digging deep furrows into the earth. She looked ready to attack him.

"Leona!" Damien shouted, using the Contract bond to push his Will directly into her mind. "Control it! You are the beast, not the prey! Look at me!"

Leona's head snapped up. Her white eyes slowly returned to gold. She blinked, confused, looking at her trembling hands.

"I feel…" she whispered, clenching her fist. The air popped under the pressure. "I feel like I could punch a hole in the sky."

"You probably could," Damien said. "But be careful. That power eats your mind. Use it too long, and you might not come back."

"Understood," Leona grinned, a wild, predatory look returning to her eyes. "I like it."

Still holding back the pain, she struggled to maintain her cool.

Meanwhile, Alfred was silent.

He hadn't screamed. He hadn't fallen. He stood there, his eyes closed, sweating profusely. The shadows around him were twisting, warping like a mirage in the heat.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes. They were pitch black.

He took a step forward.

But he didn't walk. The space folded. One moment, he was ten feet away; the next, he was standing directly behind Damien, adjusting Damien's collar.

"Young Master," Alfred said softly. "Your collar was crooked."

Damien jumped, spinning around. "Alfred? What was that?"

[System Alert!] [Target Alfred Awakening...]

[Ability Detected: Shadow Affinity + Spatial Resonance.]

[New Ability: Spatial Manipulation.]

[Effect: Short-range teleportation, spatial distortion, and dimension cutting. The ultimate Assassin skill.]

"Spatial Manipulation," Damien breathed. "You hit the jackpot, old man. That's a high-tier ability even for 8th Orders."

"However, his distance seems a bit limited; also, the stamina consumption doesn't look small" Muttering inwardly, Damien noticed the beads of sweat on Alfred's head. Obviously, that short jump took quite a lot from him.

Alfred bowed deeply. "It seems I can now serve you from anywhere, Young Master. Distance is no longer an obstacle."

Damien then looked at his team.

Isabelle: The Demon of Gluttony (Fire/Gravity). Lyra: The Phantom Sniper (Wind/Shadow). Leona: The Berserker (Infinite Strength/Regen). Alfred: The Void Assassin (Space/Shadow).

They were a nightmare. A perfectly balanced unit of destruction.

"Alright," Damien said, a thrill of excitement running through him. "Everyone is upgraded. Everyone is ready."

He pointed down the road, toward the distant outline of the human border.

"Get back in the carriage. We have a date in Gravestone!"

"Barnaby and Cipher have been waiting long enough. It's time to collect our money and officially start the Black Thread."

As for him, he decided to copy their abilities in the carriage, as the reason he stopped was that he was afraid they would awaken some terrible power and destroy the carriage.

"However, that pain..."

"If Leona shouted that much and even Alfred struggled for a bit, then I'm about to suffer ten times worse…"

Thinking of the pain he was about to endure, Damien silently cursed the system for not making it easier.

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