"Would it be more reasonable to continue observing for a little longer?" said Thesaya.

Lost in thought, she clearly hadn’t noticed the scene unfolding ahead.

Miguel, still wearing an uneasy expression while glancing between Thesaya and Lily, seemed equally oblivious.

"It’s good you’re thinking it through, but you might want to look over there first, Thesa," Ian said as he glanced back at her, then tilted his chin toward the road ahead. "Looks like our expectations missed the mark again."

"What expectations?"

Blinking in confusion, Thesaya turned in the direction he indicated—and froze.

Her eyes narrowed a moment later, and she straightened, lifting her chin off the top of Lily’s head.

"Ah, so that’s the place?" Miguel finally looked ahead as well, his voice coming out dazed.

Frowning, he stared past the gentle slope stretching downward before them, then added, "It’s turned into ruins, sure... but it doesn’t look like it became a demonic realm."

The corner of Ian’s mouth curled slightly. He’d realized that Miguel still couldn’t see Glumir clearly.

Of course, the distance was still too great for an ordinary human to make out the details.

Still, for a former hunter.

Ian raised the bottle to his lips again.

His eyes twitched just after he tilted his head back slightly.

As his gaze sharpened, fixing on something flickering in the distance, Thesaya said, "That’s not all, Prosthetic. I think there are survivors."

"What?" Miguel snapped his gaze toward her. "This place is worse than the frontier at its peak. You sure you’re seeing right?"

"There’s smoke rising from the city. And light, too," Thesaya added calmly, without taking her eyes off the estate, now no bigger than her palm.

Miguel blinked, then turned forward again. He narrowed his eyes, staring hard into the distance.

"Now that you mention it... the walls around the estate look mostly intact. The broken sections—are those reinforced with wooden barricades?" He spoke slowly, piecing it together.

Thesaya nodded, her tone as calm as her expression. "Yeah. They must’ve cut timber from the forest inside and carried it over. Though calling it a forest now feels like a stretch."

"Maybe it’s just the gloom, but I can’t see clearly. Looks like they’re growing something in the fields too. Am I right?"

"I’m not sure what exactly it is, but yes. The stream hasn’t dried up either."

"Then the wells inside the city must still be intact. They’ve really been surviving there, self-sufficient. Lu Entre, have mercy..." Miguel finally exhaled in awe, bringing a fist to his chest as though witnessing a miracle.

"Either way, there’s no trace left of that damned vampires’ nest." Thesaya’s quiet voice followed immediately after. "As if it never existed in the first place. Right, Ian?"

"Hard to say," Ian replied, finally lowering the bottle as he looked at Thesaya, who wore a faint, almost disappointed smile. "Not everything may be gone."

She paused and looked at him.

Ian raised the bottle in his hand, pointing toward the sky above Glumir.

Following the motion, Thesaya’s eyes widened. "What is that?"

"What now?" Miguel asked uneasily, looking up as well.

His mouth parted slightly a few seconds later. "Uh, it looks like only the outer edges are swirling. Is that right?"

Only then did he seem to realize the dark clouds above Glumir were slowly circling, their center fixed over the estate 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

The shift was subtle, easy to miss without careful attention. It was only noticeable because the clouds directly above Glumir remained unnaturally still.

It looked almost like the eye of a massive storm, formed entirely of dark clouds.

"It looks like the trace of when the Empress opened a demonic realm is still there," Thesaya murmured.

Miguel turned toward her blankly as she continued, lips barely moving. "I don’t know how it happened, but the size and shape are similar."

"The Empress carved a rift into this world in her final moments," Ian added after taking another sip. "Maybe what we’re seeing is the imprint of the domain she held at the time."

His gaze shifted toward the sky above Glumir as it slowly drew closer.

"Either way, it looks like that thing is venting the chaos leaking from the rift. That’s probably why madness hasn’t spread here, and why monsters haven’t overrun it."

Thesaya couldn’t seem to see it, but Ian was able to faintly see the streaks of violet and purple flickering within the roiling dark clouds.

Those colors weren’t present in the calm sky directly above Glumir.

"So in the end, those people survived because of the Vampire Empress?" Miguel asked cautiously.

Thesaya scoffed softly, and Ian gave a small nod.

"In a way, yeah. Even without the rift, madness would’ve flooded the place eventually because of the war."

"Though it did isolate the place by turning everything around it into a mess," Thesaya added, glancing at Ian. "Do you think she knew it would turn out like this?"

"There’s no way to confirm it now, but I doubt she could’ve created something like that intentionally," Ian replied, meeting her gaze.

Thesaya let out another quiet scoff. "Figures. Let me have a sip, Ian."

She held out her left hand. Ian sent the bottle to her with his Willful Grasp, then glanced at Lily, who sat quietly in front.

Her blue eyes were fixed on the distant sky.

Can she see it too?

The thought came unbidden.

Given how long she had undergone procedures to stimulate her pineal gland, it wasn’t surprising, not that it really mattered.

"So, what do we do now?" Miguel asked hesitantly as Thesaya took a sip.

Scratching at the scar on his face, he added, "We were planning to set up camp nearby, weren’t we? But the demonic realm’s only left as a trace, and instead we’ve got people surviving safely inside it. I’m not sure what the right call is here."

"Yeah." Smacking his lips lightly, Ian looked back toward Glumir.

It was certainly an unexpected sight, but that didn’t mean it was welcome. After all, his plan to clear the demonic realm and gain experience had just fallen apart.

"Then doesn’t that mean the rift the Empress carved is still at the center?" said Thesaya.

Both Ian and Miguel turned toward her as she continued, "I don’t fully understand what it is either. But that’s where it all started, isn’t it?"

"So what, you’re saying we should try closing the rift?" Ian asked, raising one eyebrow slightly.

Thesaya shrugged and held the bottle out.

"You can see through things others can’t, and you’ve got both chaos and divinity. Maybe you could at least try."

As Ian pulled the bottle back with his Willful Grasp, Thesaya’s gaze dropped to the hand he had extended.

"Even if it doesn’t work, that worm might know something. When do you think it’ll wake up?"

"Hard to say." Ian’s gaze naturally dropped to his wrist as he gripped the bottle.

Yog hadn’t woken even once over the past few weeks. It wasn’t because it had overexerted itself or because something had gone wrong.

If anything, it was the opposite.

"It won’t be long. Whether that’s today, I can’t say."

The thing was molting again.

He couldn’t tell whether it was thanks to devouring the blood and chaos of everything in the Magic Tower, including Ian, or the result of unconsciously absorbing chaos during the battles that followed.

By the time Ian realized what was happening, the creature’s scales had already turned gray.

"If we can get rid of that thing, it’d mean a lot more than clearing a demonic realm," Thesaya added casually.

Ian let out a low chuckle after taking a sip. "You just want to wipe out every last trace of the vampire clan."

"Was it that obvious?" Thesaya paused, then asked with a faint smile.

Ian flicked the bottle toward Miguel, who was practically staring at it with pleading eyes, and continued, "Well, you’re not entirely wrong. This might be a chance to remove one of the sources of corruption."

The image of the White Mage’s hideout deep within the cursed jungle flashed through Ian’s mind.

"And besides, if we leave it alone, it’ll only keep growing. Eventually, it might reach a point where there’s no turning back."

"Exactly. Remember, something from beyond crossed over before, didn’t it? Maybe that’s what caused this." Thesaya quickly added.

Her intention was transparent, but Ian only nodded.

"It wasn’t like this from the start, so maybe. Either way... fine. Let’s give it a shot."

"Good call, Ian!" Thesaya’s eyes lit up as she smiled, pulling Lily into a tight hug.

Meanwhile, Miguel wiped his mouth against his sleeve and said, "So we just keep going, then? We’re almost there anyway."

By now, they had descended the hill and reached flat ground. The first wall, which stretched low around the estate, had drawn closer before they knew it.

"Yeah. Keep going."

As Ian drew the bottle toward himself with his will, Miguel let go without hesitation and replied, "Got it."

Thesaya, still ruffling Lily’s hair, said, "We’re heading to where the mansion used to be, right? That’s the center."

"Yeah. Even if my chaos or divinity doesn’t react to anything, once that little snake wakes up, it’ll definitely be of use. It seemed to know something already. After shedding its skin, it’ll probably know even more," Ian answered easily, his gaze briefly dropping to his right wrist.

Yog’s molting wasn’t something to welcome, no more than the growth of his essence bead, but with each shedding, it seemed to know more than before.

Of course, it would be best to resolve everything without its help, since it would save time. If a quest popped up on top of that, even better.

"What if something comes out of the rift? Should we wake Redhead and the Half-Ear, Ian?" Thesaya asked.

Ian shook his head without hesitation. "No. Let them sleep. Even if something happens, we’ll handle it ourselves. Instead, bring Lily inside or send her down to Miguel."

"Alright, sure." Thesaya agreed easily, then guided Lily toward the driver’s seat and added, "Puppy. Don’t you dare zap that ugly priest, okay?"

She made sure to add that last part.

Miguel awkwardly stood and took Lily into his arms. Despite his careful handling, his expression remained uneasy—he still found her unsettling.

"By the way." Seated beside Lily, Miguel spoke up, glancing toward Ian. "If you close that rift, what happens to the people in there?"

"What do you mean?" Ian tilted his head.

Scratching his cheek awkwardly, Miguel continued, "Well, you said that whatever that thing is, it’s protecting this place, right? I mean, sure, in the long run things might improve—but in the short term... wouldn’t it actually become more dangerous for them?"

"You say things like a proper priest every now and then. It’s unsettling." Ian blinked, letting out a small laugh.

Thesaya’s voice followed immediately after. "They’ll manage. Don’t you see the armed guards on the watchtowers inside, Prosthetic?"

"Eh? Really?" Miguel turned his head the other way.

Ian turned his gaze as well, looking past them toward the towering city rising off to one side of the estate.

Its light had long since faded, and parts of it were chipped away like broken teeth, yet the second wall surrounding the city still stood firm. Just as Thesaya had said, figures of soldiers could be seen along the intact watchtowers and spires. Beyond them, faint light and thin trails of smoke drifted between the rooftops.

Thesaya, who had been looking in that direction, added offhandedly, "If anything, you should be hoping those guys don’t suddenly turn into bandits and come rushing out. If they do, we’ll have no choice but to kill them all."