"So he’s discovered a way to tamper with the Gamers’ system..." said the woman seated on the half-broken throne.

The surrounding area was dark. Only there did a golden light emanate from the broken throne, illuminating ancient ruins, a mist covering the ground like a phantom sea.

Before her stood Chronia, serious, more so than usual, with a military posture.

"Yes." She replied firmly.

"And the others...?" The woman leaned slightly forward. "What do they have to say about him?"

"Well..." Chronia hesitated, "...so far they’re having fun. And nothing more."

"However... as for the Order..."

"Messing with the temporal flow creates chaos." Chronia interrupted. "If he wants to intervene, he’ll be violating himself. After all, he IS the Order... and for now he’s having fun too."

The woman smiled, not a cheerful smile, but a knowing one.

"The update will come. Until then... I want you to talk to him."

Chronia turned, beginning to dematerialize.

"By the way..." the woman said before Chronia finished materializing.

She stopped, still semi-translucent.

"I hope you don’t get too ’attached’ to him, if you understand me... I’ve been watching how you look at him. Trust me..."

Chronia blushed, her face turning red even though she was a divine entity, and vanished completely without answering.

The woman was left alone in the ruins.

She called up the interface, a system identical to Haru’s, but a divine version, pure gold.

There was a photo of Haru, captured sometime recently, him smiling without knowing.

"Haru..." she murmured, "...only begotten son..."

She touched the image with maternal affection, then disappeared as well.

Haru woke up suddenly, shouting:

"CONSECRATION!..."

He sat up in bed, breathing heavily, a cold sweat on his forehead.

"What kind of dream was that...?"

"Consecrate what, Dad?" said Yukihime, who was beside the bed, looking beautiful in a new white dress, her hair tied in a ponytail with a red ribbon.

Haru yawned. "You look so beautiful first thing in the morning, Yuki..."

He got up, stretching. "I fell asleep reading again... I don’t even remember the last thing I read..."

"Mom said I’m going out with you to meet Lilithine!" Yukihime exclaimed excitedly.

"WHAT!?"

"Oh my God..." he sighed, "...okay, wait for me downstairs. I’ll be right back."

"Okay, Dad!" He ran off happily.

Yukihime went downstairs and into the kitchen where Isabela and Kira discreetly called her, crouching down to her level.

"So? What did he say? Heheheh..." Kira asked.

"He said okay," Yukihime replied.

"Didn’t complicate things?" Isabela asked.

"No! He said okay, that he’ll be down soon."

"Hehehe..." Kira smiled. "See? I told you it would work. It’s called Demi-Human War Art." Tribal saying.

"Wow, you’re good at this, huh..." Isabela admired.

"Now remember, Yuki..." Kira held the child’s shoulders, "...when you come back, you’re going to tell us everything you saw. What she’s like. What the master did. Etc. Understand?"

"Yes, yes!"

Isabela added: "You’re a spy. Top-secret mission for your father’s sake. Got it?"

"Yes, yes!"

"Yes, yes what?" Haru said.

He was ahead of them; they had been so focused that they hadn’t noticed his presence.

He was pulling his shirt over his head.

"Yes, yes... hahaha..." Isabela forced a laugh, "...right, Kira? Yes, yes..."

"Dad!" Yukihime hugged his legs.

"What were you plotting, may I ask?" Haru looked suspicious.

"Halley’s birthday party!" Isabela quickly invented.

"Halley?" Haru blinked, confused.

In the room, guard Halley, who had been listening to everything, shed a single tear.

"They remembered my birthday..." he thought emotionally.

"Anyway..." Haru returned, "...where’s my food?"

"Halley ate it." Kira replied. "I thought you weren’t going to eat and that you were going to eat with Lilithine?"

"Why are they behaving like this...?" Haru thought. "I’ll just accept it and leave..."

"Okay." She said, picking Yukihime up. "Goodbye!"

"Bye!!!" The two shouted, waving exaggeratedly.

When they left, Kira turned to Isabela worriedly:

"Was I harsh with the master, redhead?"

"Yes... yes... you did well." Isabela patted her shoulder.

"But he’s my master..."

"Well, you’re loyal. That’s what matters."

...

When Lilithine left the classroom, she came across Haru in the middle of the crowd.

"He’s so visible..." she thought, seeing Haru standing there among dozens of students. In her eyes, he naturally stood out, his eyes meeting hers even from a distance.

The crowd naturally parted for a while.

And she saw Yukihime holding Haru’s hand, distractedly watching the people go by, swaying in place.

"Oh my!?" Lilithine thought, feeling a strange pressure in her chest. "The child..." something inside her whispered curiously.

Moments later they were in the open field of the Cathedral among the trees, a green area where students could relax.

...

"So she’s your daughter?" Lilithine asked shyly, sitting on the trunk of a fallen tree.

Yukihime ran around trying to catch colorful butterflies flying among the flowers.

Haru wanted to answer but...

"Dad, look!" Yukihime appeared running. "I caught a butterfly!"

She opened her hands, showing them. The butterfly wouldn’t fly.

Yukihime had accidentally hurt its wings. She realized. She felt sad, her eyes filling with tears.

Lilithine extended both hands, grasping them from underneath Yukihime’s hands.

Magic circles appeared, white and gold, complex, spinning slowly.

Lilithine whispered something Haru didn’t quite hear, words in an ancient language, a healing incantation.

The butterfly healed, its wings regenerating, its colors returning, and it flew free.

But Lilithine’s hands trembled slightly.

Haru noticed.

She almost fell backward, her balance failing.

Haru caught her, holding her by the shoulders.

"Are you alright?" he asked worriedly.

"I... I..." Lilithine looked at Yukihime with an expression of pure fear.

Before Haru could process that face...

Yukihime came closer to her and extended her hand to her. A magic circle similar to the one Lilithine had made formed, but different, purer, more... powerful.

And it stopped what she felt.

The pressure. The fear. The voice inside her head. Everything vanished.

Yukihime looked at her, smiled innocently, and ran off.

And where she ran, performing that instinctive spell, everything blossomed: flowers sprouting from the ground, trees gaining more vibrant colors, butterflies appearing.

Haru watched Yukihime, thinking:

"In the game... the Yukihime boss was so emotionless. She killed without hesitation. And this one... even healed someone."

he touched her own chest.

"Maybe I’m really changing her... but there are still potential Gamers looking for her. That could be quite possible and bad... what will I do at the academy to disguise her face from the Gamer who knows the face of the Yukihime boss as a child?"

"What was that...?" Lilithine thought. "I feel light... without ’Her’ in my head... it’s as if this child"

"could...heal you..." the dark voice inside her replied, weaker now.

"Lilith..." Haru called to her.

She didn’t answer.

"Lilith..." she called again.

She blinked, turning back.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yes." She answered, straightening herself up. "I kind of didn’t sleep last night because of studying. So I’m a bit tired..."

"Oh! In that case, I think you should go rest. I’ll come back another time. Or tomorrow. It’s just that I wanted to ask you something..."

"NO!" She shouted too quickly. "No... everything’s fine. Your daughter... she relieved me."

She looked at Yukihime playfully.

"She’s not ordinary. She cast a spell without reciting an incantation. Only 2% of people can do that... not to mention she copied a spell she just saw... only a few do that."

"So to cast an incantation you need to recite..." Haru thought. "Does Ignition count on that? Because I can do it without reciting..."

"Yeah... she’s really special." he said loudly.

Lilithine turned to him curiously. "So... what did you want to ask me?"

Haru took a deep breath.

"That you teach me how to consecrate."

Silence.

Lilithine blinked. "You want to learn... consecration?"

"Yes."

"But..." she searched for words, "...consecration isn’t like enchantment. It requires alignment. You would have to follow a spiritual path, somewhat religious, necromancer, druidic..."

"I know." Haru showed her Vandris’s diary that she had brought. "That’s why I came to you."

Lilithine took the diary, opened it, saw the runes.

She froze.

"This is... Tenebris necromancy..."

She looked at Haru differently. "Where did you get this from?"

"From someone who’s already dead."

She held the book with both hands, trembling slightly.

"Do you know what you’re asking?"

"I know."

"Necromantic consecration is... controversial, and sometimes dangerous depending on your goals. Necromancy Tenebris deals with death. With evil spirits. With things that shouldn’t be touched."

She looked into his eyes.

"Why do you want this?... because there’s no normal... I..."

Haru interrupted, looking at Yukihime playing happily. "Because I need to protect what matters. And for that... I need power."

he paused.

"And you can teach me."

Lilithine remained quiet, processing, then closed the diary and returned it.

"I can. But there’s a price."

"What?"

"You’ll have to tell me the truth. About who you really are."

She looked serious.

"Because I feel... something wrong with you. Something that... that..."

Haru smiled slightly.

"Deal."

```

[NEW QUEST UNLOCKED]

◊ Learn Consecration from Lilithine

◊ Reward: Necromantic Consecration skill

◊ Risk: She may reject you

◊ Célia Affinity: +...%