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The battle after the death of the boss was as easy as it could get. The four remaining chitinous beasts were killed by the squad with ease and the bridge was cleared for the next patrol team to go through.

Ishiki was in good mood as he stepped out of the bathroom, steam rising from his skin. He scrubbed a towel through his damp hair, finally feeling human again.

The hot water had washed away the sludge, the golden blood, and the metallic tang of the Alpha's innards, but it couldn't wash away the cold knot of anxiety in his chest.

He was looking at his new cloths and suddenly a gloomy expression found its way to his face.

They were a fresh set of clothes he had bought from the quartermaster: a crisp white shirt, black trousers, and a modest, charcoal-grey coat that would help him blend into the endless twilight of the city. These cloths were by far better than his old pair actually.

But looking at them, he felt weary. He didn't know how to feel about it actually, he brought this new pair just this morning after coming back from the mission...

For some reason, he was wondering if they were real? Ishiki hasn't even faced his mom since last night after he found about the anomaly with the population.

He shrugged and let it slide. He needed to get out right now and meet Yuki, if he could that is, he had already gotten a little late and by no means did he wanted to meet Yuki's Brother.

He had hoped to avoid him as much as he could.

Outside on the main street of the outer ring, people who were going by with their own work. Today was not a holiday so most people were working and the street was not as messed up as usual.

He passed by a familiar shop where Kaori and him had shared a lot of buns... she was not here right now, actually he hadn't even met her in about a month or two.

Ishiki sighed passing by a group of people who talked about how well their morning prayers went. It was almost noon now.

'Everyone is getting busy with their own work... guess they said right.'

Ishiki walked closer to the golden wall and the obsidian gates guarded by a group of four guards in armor. They were a different bunch than the ones before.

Not that Ishiki had anything to do with them anyways. Getting into the Secondary Ring was easier than before, for this time at least. He didn't need to climb the wall or use stealth. His squad's recent victory granted him a temporary pass. He flashed the pass at the gate guards, who waved him through with bored indifference.

Walking through the gates, he stepped into the secondary ring and as always... he felt as if he had crossed a magical threshold. The enclosed space beyond the wall was very clean and the roads were built of white stone that shimmered under the artificial sun's strong rays.

Ishiki slowly moved and vanished among the crowds of people looking at the mundane things playing around him.

He passed a lady selling flowers, her attire was laced with the scent of blooming jasmine from manicured gardens and the faint, metallic tang of fresh water.

Merchants hawked silks from carts drawn by another human; nobles strolled in embroidered robes, their laughter light and carefree; children chased butterflies.

It was a perfect paradise, Ishiki smiled at the thought. Doesn't he think that every time he come here?

And yet, Ishiki felt more alone than he had ever did. That meant a lot as he had mostly been alone in his life.

He walked slowly, stalling as he navigated the labyrinthine streets toward Yuki's family estate. She lived with her parents and brother in a very luxurious house, if one could say.

It was thanks to her brother, Renji who was a high ranking captain in the army and was the next man closest to becoming one of the Inner guards soon.

Nonetheless, Ishiki was not in so much of good terms with the serine man.

As he moved further, he felt as if the hollowness has pronounced now. Every face he passed felt... scripted.

The merchant haggling over a bolt of shimmering silk—did his smile falter when no one was looking? The couple sharing a kiss by the fountain—were their eyes truly meeting, or staring through each other? The children laughing—did their joy have weight and emotions?

He turned a corner into the upscale residential district. The houses here turned into mansions—sprawling estates with iron gates wreathed in thorny vines and windows glowing with soft light.

Ishiki paused at the edge of the street, half-hidden by the drooping branches of an ornamental cherry tree. He scanned the mansions here and found Yuki's house soon enough.

It was a three story building made up of pale stone, arched windows framed by blue shutters, a garden bursting with unnatural flowers that didn't exist on earth.

Taking a deep breath, he took a step forward and prayed that he would not run into her brother.

Suddenly, the front door of her house opened.

Ishiki froze for a second.

A man stepped out, moving with the effortless grace of flowing water.

he immediately activated [Ghost Blade] and melted into invisibility, pressing himself against the tree trunk and his heart pounded.

It was Yuki's brother—Renji.

Yuki's brother was a vision of otherworldly elegance. Tall and slender, he wore a long blue coat with silver embroidery that seemed to shift like living shadows.

His hair were a pale, ethereal pink and were tied in a loose ponytail that caught the light just like Yuki's hair did. His face was chiseled perfection—high cheekbones, a straight nose, lips curved in a perpetual, knowing smile.

But it was his eyes that unsettled Ishiki, they were like deep amethyst orbs, sharp as gems. It was as if the man held a gaze that saw too much, through everything.

His amethyst eyes met Ishiki's hiding spot—or rather they saw through it.

He smiled and the smile made Ishiki's skin crawl. It was as if he had already won the game you didn't know you were playing.

The man was not actually a bad buy, or maybe he was. Ishiki had no interest in finding out. His fear of Yuki's brother was mostly born from his paranoia. Yuki had once told him that Renji had a very weird skill, or accurately said... dangerous.

His skill had something to do with mind control and illusions. The second word always made Ishiki loose his will, so he tried his best to avoid getting into the graceful man's eyes.

Renji lingered for a heartbeat looking around and then, he turned and walked away, his coat flowing behind him like a cape.

Ishiki exhaled, deactivating [Ghost Blade]. His hands trembled slightly. 'Goddamn it, who did he have to be here.'

Anyways, not wanting to stay here any longer. He retreated, slipping into the district's side streets.

Soon, Ishiki found himself sitting in a nearby park that was like a serene oasis amid the opulence.

He sat alone on a bench with an almost irritated face. The benches around him were occupied by nobles reading scrolls or lovers murmuring sweet nothings.

He had found the empty bench just besides a small lake, where he sat with elbows on knees, staring at his reflection in the rippling surface.

The face staring back was pale, shadowed and haunted. His blue eyes looked frightening now, filled with a slightly maddening gaze.

'What if nothing is real?' the insistent thought slithered into his mind. 'What if this whole city is an illusion and we are still being consumed by that Lord?.'

His eyes widened and a shudder ran through him, sudden and violent. His hand flew to his face, fingers trembling against his cheek.

He laughed slowly. "Am I going insane?"

Then he blinked a couple of times with an amused expression. 'Didn't I say something like that earlier?'

Before he didn't knew, but right now... he was actually going insane. For some unexplainable reason, he had this weird intuition that he should summon the bladeless tachi and murder the scholar sitting not too far away from him, to find some information.

He jerked his head violently and tried to distract himself. Just then he remembered that he had received a new vestige from accidently killing the Rank-4 beast.

Ishiki summoned his system window and glided to the vestige section and focused on it.

A platinum hued window containing the names of his vestiges came into existence in front of him.

Vestiges - [Aether Blade (Legendary)], [Hard Nub (Common)], [Berserkers Effigy (Rare)], [Eye of Ruin (Epic)]

Ishiki looked at the lost for a fleeting moment, feeling a little... disgruntled? His armory it seemed was almost fixed at four.

He lost one of his vestiges every now and then, from his already dwindling supply.

Shrugging off, Ishiki focused on the new ominous name that had appeared newly in his collection.

A new window shimmered into existence.

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