Far away from the academy, on the edge of Karyal City, two figures stood atop a building.

The wind carried the distant sounds of the bustling streets below. Up here, there was only silence.

One was a boy with silver hair and crimson eyes. Lucian Vayne.

The other was Kira Crimson, her brown hair tied back, her blue eyes fixed on the horizon.

As both former academy students gazed at the busy crowds below, Luke turned his head slightly and said,

"Kira Crimson, do you wish to become my wing and my will?"

Kira shook her head, a faint smile playing on her lips.

"It’s been more than ten times you’ve asked that question, you know. And I’ve said I am willing."

Luke’s expression did not change.

"You aren’t sincere enough."

Kira took a deep breath, her smile fading. She straightened her posture and spoke clearly,

"Fine."

"I, Kira Crimson, am willing to become Sir Lucian Vayne’s wing and will."

She paused and asked,

"Was that good enough?"

Luke nodded and asked,

"It’s time... Are you ready to die?"

Kira’s smile returned, though it was strained.

"Hey, use some other words, will you? I genuinely thought you might kill me."

Luke did not smile. If anything, his eyes only sharpened.

Kira sighed.

"You are too boring, you know."

As soon as she said those words, her brown hair began to change.

The color deepened, darkened, shifted into crimson. Her usual blue eyes turned red, burning with an intensity that had not been there moments before.

A crimson hue covered her already red hair, making her appearance even more sinister.

Luke let out a small breath as his crimson eyes radiated death.

---

The news spread quickly through the city.

Kira Crimson, a former student of Everbright Academy, had been found out as a vampire.

A newly appointed Council agent had discovered her true nature.

At the hands of the Council’s new genius, the vampire died brutally.

---

But far away from Karyal City, in an underground construct hidden beneath layers of stone and concealment spells, Kira’s body was not destroyed.

It floated inside a pod filled with fluids that glowed faintly in the dim light.

Bubbles rose from her skin, carrying away the last remnants of her old self.

Before the pod stood Luke, his arms crossed, his crimson eyes fixed on the figure inside.

He reached out and touched the glass. The surface rippled under his palm as if responding to his will.

"Rise, my Angel."

Under his watchful eyes, Kira’s brown hair began to change.

The color lightened, shifted, turned pale white as moonlight, pure as fresh snow.

Her once blue eyes opened, revealing irises of soft gray, like morning mist over a still lake.

Behind her back, a gray-colored wing formed before dissipating, like an illusion.

The pod opened. The fluid drained.

Kira stepped out, gasping for breath, her chest heaving as she took her first lungful of air.

For the first time in days, Luke smiled.

"How does it feel to die?"

Kira shook her head, water still dripping from her white hair.

"Do not remind me of that again."

Luke nodded.

"From today onward, Kira Crimson is dead. Your name is Lysanthra Mara."

Kira, no, Lysa stood up straight, testing the weight of her new name.

"Lysanthra Mara," she repeated. Then she nodded.

"So, what is the plan now?"

Luke’s eyes turned sharp, his gaze cutting through the dim light of the underground chamber.

He spat out two words.

"Death Valley."

...

At the same time, in a quiet street of Karyal City, a dark green-haired girl sat on a tree branch, her legs dangling over the edge.

She rubbed a sparrow’s head softly with her finger, the bird chirping contentedly under her touch.

It was Seris Vale. The girl who had escaped from the academy with the help of "her master."

She sighed, her thoughts turning inward.

’Tch. I became someone’s subordinate.’

She shivered even thinking about it.

’She was too terrifying. She gave me only two choices: become her wing or die becoming a madwoman.’

She had agreed immediately. There had been no hesitation.

Then that mysterious existence had only given her one command.

"Find Death Valley. At that time, I will personally take action."

Seris did not know where this place was, but the words "Death Valley" sounded too cool and dangerous.

"Death Valley,"

She muttered, tilting her head back to look at the sky. The clouds drifted slowly, indifferent to her confusion.

"Hah. I wonder where that place is."

...

Inside the academy’s dormitory, in Cael’s training room, the air was thick with mana.

The walls hummed with residual energy; the floor was marked with scars from countless practice sessions.

Cael had just changed his competitive clone’s special element from Moonlight to Space.

Yes. He had finally unlocked the special element he had been chasing for some time.

During the merging process, he had made a deliberate choice.

He did not fuse the S-rank skill Teleportation into the Space element.

The reason was obvious.

If he merged Teleportation into Space, then only he and his Space clone would be able to use it.

His other clones would lose access entirely.

But if he left Teleportation as a separate skill, then every clone could use it without any problems.

The skill utility was too valuable to sacrifice.

Even without merging Teleportation into Space, his Space mastery had already reached seven percent.

That said, Cael had always been aware of a lingering problem.

He had too many skills. Too many elements. It was a good problem to have, but a problem nonetheless.

There was a saying for a reason.

"One should not fear the man who has practiced ten thousand skills once, but the man who has practiced one skill ten thousand times."

Cael had already decided to perfect all his elements to completion.

That was the plan. Until he sparred with Mira.

During that fight, a new idea had taken root in his mind.

What if he found a way to use all his elements under a single skill?

Not a mirror skill like Mira’s. Just the concept.

A skill that could control all elements at will, at the same time, anywhere, anytime.

It was a great idea.

But Cael knew he could not achieve it unless he found a perfect source to copy and fuse.

It was a long shot, but definitely worth it.

And he had one such place in mind.

Ever since his third resonance, his mind had been fixated on Sovereigns and pathways.

He knew Elowyn had become a Sovereign using a pathway.

And that pathway was connected to an event in the original novel.

"The Death Valley Manifestation Arc."

Cael did not want Elowyn to become a Sovereign in this life.

Call him selfish or greedy. He did not care.

He stretched his body, rolling his shoulders to ease the stiffness. Then he muttered,

"Death Valley... do not disappoint me."