"That's it," Nox muttered as they stood atop what seemed to be a cliff and just below was a settlement...or at least, it used to be.

Now, it was just a rubble of metal and prowling with Eclipsed.

Scattered all around were blood stains which explained the faith of the residents in this place.

According to the headmistress, the Eclipsed in this place had been moving with what she could only describe as an eerie coordination.

It was almost as if something was controlling them.

They were smart enough to hide whenever they sensed a solar knight at Elite rank or above.

Another strange behavior was the fact that they seemed to have made this place their base.

Usually, Eclipsed moved closer and closer towards places with high concentration of SE, which in the case of these Eclipsed,

Would be towards the city's barrier.

Another strange thing, as both Nox and Ayla observed, was that instead of eating the corpses of the humans, they all seemed to be gathering it somewhere.

Other Eclipsed moved into the settlement from outside, carrying the corpses of either other animals or unfortunate travelers.

"That's strange," Ayla muttered after a moment of observing.

She was right, Eclipsed were never this coordinated, so there were two things that immediately came to mind.

One, there was an eclipse capable of controlling other Eclipsed to find it food, or two, someone was guiding them.

Either way, it was all bad news.

Below them, an Aberrant dragged a half-devoured carcass toward the center of the settlement, where the ruined remains of what once looked like a town hall still stood. The structure had partially collapsed, forming a crude nest.

It then tossed it towards a pile of other corpses, which included humans, normal animals and even Eclipsed.

The Eclipsed around did the same as the former, each making the pile larger and larger.

But suddenly, they all froze when a loud screech was heard.

Ayla's fingers twitched.

"That sound," she said softly. "It's calling them."

Nox exhaled slowly. "So there is something at the center."

A higher-tier Eclipsed would explain this coordination. Tier 4 at minimum. Possibly Tier 5 if it was intelligent enough to suppress its umbra energy and force others to do the same.

But there was a problem.

"If it were a tier 5 Eclipsed," Nox said, "the academy would've felt it. The satellite sensors would've gone crazy, especially given the fact that it's this close to the city."

"They have figured out a way to make their umbra energy disappear," Ayla said, "it's similar to how I suppress mine."

"I see," he nodded before he continued watching the actions of the Eclipsed.

They watched as more Eclipsed arrived, dragging bodies into the pile. The mound was beginning to glow faintly with some sort of purple aura.

Astra suddenly tensed a bit as she felt the sheer amounts of umbra energy draining from the corpses.

No, rather than draining, it was like the umbra energy was being created from the pile.

"What is it?" Nox asked in concern as he looked at the bit of change in her expression.

No, to anyone else, her expression was the same but he was somehow able to tell that she was frowning.

"An incubation," Was the only thing she said but he immediately understood what she meant.

"They're creating an Eclipsed?" He asked, looking at the glowing pile again.

Ayla nodded in response and silence immediately fell between them.

If they were right, then waiting wasn't an option. Once whatever was forming finished, this would stop being a "minor settlement issue" and turn into a catastrophe.

The smart thing to do now was inform the academy, but they knew that it'd be too late by then, after all, the process had already started.

"Let's stop it," Ayla said, "I can feel it from the air, whatever they're creating is a lot more dangerous than the tier 4 that just screeched...I think the tier 4 is also a meal for that thing."

This was the most she had ever spoken, but Nox understood why, the situation was urgent enough to warrant her to say this much.

"Alright," Nox muttered, "but first."

He summoned something from his inventory, and when Ayla took a closer look, she realized it was a mask.

"Hmm?"

"This is our secret okay?" Nox said with a smile before putting the mask close to his face.

The moment he did, it latched on to it as it previously had and the transformation was instant.

His black hair became white and his clothes switched to the same combat clothes he had the first time.

Ayla looked at him strangely before walking closer to him. Nox didn't step back since he suspected what she wanted to do.

She stopped close to him for a while before pulling back, "I can't smell your energy anymore."

"That's because this mask is suppressing my SE," Nox explained, "it should keep me hidden from them."

Ayla looked at him for a while before nodding, she then turned around and commented, "I don't like it."

Her words caused him to freeze but she had already turned around with no intention to elaborate so he just dismissed it and turned back to the edge of the cliff.

"Let's go," he muttered and they both immediately jumped off.

***

[??? Location]

In what seemed to be a castle of dark stone, a man sat calmly on a throne.

The entire throne room was dark but there was enough light to illuminate the man's lower face.

By the side of the throne was a mass of moving blackness, one that seemed to be seeking the man's palm.

The man gently pet the creature and it let out a hiss of satisfaction.

He had a small smile on his face as his eyes seemed to peer through the castle wall, straight into the waste lands and unto Nox and Ayla.

"So Aurielle decided to send you two," he said with a chuckle, "I wonder how long you'll survive against it."

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