Slowly opening her eyes, Alice gave her body a stretch as she glanced around her.

Currently, she was sitting on a roof as Alyss and Cayla were sorting out another task for her.

Just as she was about to say something, she paused and glanced down.

Her eyes widened, and she immediately changed her outfit.

She chose a black turtleneck shirt with extra-large, baggy sleeves that reached her knees, a sleeveless white vest over the shirt, and a skirt.

She paired it with a pair of black stockings and knee-high boots.

’Can we please not have me run around in something basically akin to underwear?’ Alice grumbled while Alyss simply shrugged.

’I wouldn’t go that far. It’s still clothing, after all.’

’You realised that I would be more covered up with underwear compared to what you were wearing, right?’ Alice’s smile twitched.

Letting out a sigh, she looked up at the wound in the sky.

’I did what you asked. It’s using a portion of Eldritch energy, but... it’s not connected to anything. I tried cutting the link off from any outside interference using Destruction Point and the golden chains.’ Alyss turned serious.

[Based on what we found out in the time you were gone, it seems like the ’host’ of this Eldritch energy isn’t an Outer God in the traditional sense.]

’Wait, so... an Outer God "isn’t" connected to this?’ Alice turned with a confused look on her face.

[Not really. The host of this energy seemed to have come from this world. Either Nyer is using a loophole to avoid Velouria’s barrier or...] Cayla paused for a moment. [Or he’s found a way to create an Outer God inside the realm.]

’That’s... pretty bad news, right?’

[Take a look at the sky. It’s already starting to spread after being restrained by Faust and even through the golden chain’s power. Since it’s anchored down in this world, getting rid of it is rather... difficult.] Cayla scratched her hair.

She knew that Nyer was insane, but surely this was too much even for him.

Why would he invite calamity into their world by creating an Outer God here? Was it to experiment for Alice?

She does have Eldritch energy in her veins, but even so... the risks were far too high compared to the reward.

Simply extracting samples from elsewhere and using them would have been sufficient. There was no need for him to go this far.

Alice folded her arms.

’Could we maybe-’

[Absolutely not. If you try to cleanse that thing, it’s like trying to fit a dragon into a purse. Not possible.] Cayla shut the idea down immediately.

’I mean, surely we have to do something, right? We can’t just let these things spread without doing anything.’ Alice frowned.

’Unfortunately, we’re not equipped to deal with realm-level dangers like this. You have to leave it to someone else.’ Alyss shook her head.

Glancing up at the sky one more time, Alice sighed and nodded.

’Fine. But surely we can help, even if it’s just slightly. I have Eldritch energy in my blood, right? If we give it to Elias and Faust, they should be able to figure something out.’

[Already tested it out. There’s a stark difference between the Eldritch energy in your body and the one polluting the air above us. The scale is simply too different, same with the "nature".] Cayla shook her head.

[To put it into perspective, trying to use your blood to decode the thing above us is like learning how to stab someone with a spear in order to figure out how to shoot a bow. They’re both weapons, in this case Eldritch energy, but the fundamental usage and nature are too different for there to be a suitable connection.]

Alice opened her mouth, wanting to offer a new idea before backing down.

She clenched her fist, annoyed by the fact that she couldn’t do anything about it for now.

[It’s not like we’re completely helpless in this matter, however. We’ve already asked Faust to send a message to Rosalyn’s brother. With how long he’s been around, he’s bound to know something. And that serves two purposes for us.]

[First, if he’s able to reply, then that means this isn’t something that spoils the future. The black chains won’t be holding him back. Second, if he isn’t able to reply, then this energy plays a major part in Nyer’s plans to resurrect Velouria. It will give us a good starting point.] Cayla held up two fingers.

[After all, we’re not sure if this energy is just used for the expansion of the Nightmare Realm or something else. We just have to wait.]

Waiting. How simple, yet at the same time nerve-wracking.

’Alright. We still have a few days before Suyin is done with her experiments, after all.’ Alice sighed.

Glancing up at the sky for the last time, she crouched down before jumping away.

###

Making her way to an inn that Renna recommended, she spotted the Lord drinking in the distance. She leaned against a railing while overlooking the city.

"Quite the drinking spot you got here. Thought you were going to drink inside the inn rather than out here." Alice took the initiative as she jumped up, landing next to Renna, who shrugged and offered Alice a bottle.

"Can’t. The moment I step into that tavern, everyone gets so on guard. I’m a Lord, after all." Renna chuckled with a slightly bitter smile.

"So? What does it matter when everyone is there for a drink? You’re still a person, after all." Alice took a sip. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Easy for you to say. You can fight me on an even playing field. Imagine if someone far stronger than you sat in the same bar. Can you still drink casually?"

Alice thought about it for a moment. Considering her... conversations with Enris, probably.

"Actually, scratch that, don’t tell me. The look on your face is already telling me everything I need to know. Jeez." Renna groaned.

If Alice was seriously contemplating the answer, then there must have been more than one case.

Alice stuck out her tongue.

"You’re such an anomaly, you know that, right?" Renna spoke, letting out a deep exhale.

"I’m aware."

"No, you don’t. I’ve only met you for a short while, but you’ve already violated everything I know about this world." Renna shook her head.

"Most people would kill to get power like yours, but..." She paused, glancing at the split-haired girl. "To you, it feels more like a means to an end. A burden, if anything. You just look so... sick of things."

Alice’s finger twitched.

"How so?"

"Just a feeling. I’m not saying you don’t like power. You’re not stupid enough to think power isn’t needed. With a world like ours, where you can die randomly at a moment’s notice, power is the only thing keeping us safe. You just don’t like the way things are.

"Those thoughts aren’t necessarily wrong, since you’re not the only one who thinks like that. The anomaly comes from the scenario. Most people think that because they’re weak. They’ve been limited in one way or another, finding this world unfair.

"But those who have reached the ’top’, Hunters with more than five Sigils and Lords, they don’t think that way." Renna turned to Alice.

"Despite being more powerful than any of them, even having the ability to copy authority, you still view things from the perspective of someone weak. You don’t like the natural hierarchy, do you?"

Alice let out a slight laugh.

"No. No, I do not. I dislike it a lot. It’s too much power given to any individual. Especially when happiness can be taken away at a moment’s notice.

"How many people has Nyer killed for his own desires? How many have I killed? The collateral damage. Those out for revenge, those blinded by rage. Those caught in the circumstances. This power... it’s a poison. Necessary only because the world is already screwed up due to the presence of this power. It blinds people."

Renna turned around and leaned against the fence. Tilting her head back, she let out a loud laugh that echoed through the area.

"You’re drunk." Alice smiled helplessly.

"I’m just relaxed." Renna shrugged.

"You’re right, though. Power does blind people. Have I ever told you why I wanted to become a Lord in the first place? To serve under the King?" Renna asked with a sad smile.

"Nope. We just talked about drinks the first night." Alice shook her head.

"Tsk, your memory is good for someone who drank so much." Renna raised an eyebrow before letting out a deep sigh.

"I lost my parents when I was young. As Elves, we have an inherent compatibility with Abyssal powers since it flows in our veins. We’re mutations, to put it bluntly. And that makes us precious in a time where there’s so much uncertainty about Abyss Blood.

"Can you believe it? Some dipshit spread the rumour that drinking elven blood makes you more resistant to Abyss Blood. What evidence? It’s just a bunch of assumptions." Renna twisted her expression into one of anger.

"Yet that assumption is what caused them to hunt us down like fucking cattle. Do you know how we survived?" She turned to Alice.

Alice shook her head. The history of the elves was unknown to her, after all.

"We had to enslave ourselves to Extalia. It’s not passed down to the younger generation since it’s shameful, after all. But we had to give up our free will and rights in order to survive as a species. And even then, we were still hunted whenever we were discovered to be alone.

"My parents died saving me. They bought enough time for me to be saved by the knights. I couldn’t even get revenge, you know?" Renna closed her eyes.

"I didn’t see their corpses. The ones who killed my parents might still be alive out there. Somewhere."

Biting her lip, Renna swung her head back and drank the entire bottle in one go.

"This kind of history isn’t unique. It doesn’t matter if you’re an elf or not." She smiled bitterly.

"One way or another, everyone gets pushed onto the path of pursuing power."