Ian stood in the shadows, quietly watching the other person leave.

In his Sea of Spirit, he could vaguely perceive the "bait" being taken in a specific direction.

Northeast, overlapping with the previously marked area.

"Phase one is complete," he murmured to himself.

Next, he just had to wait.

「Three days later.」

In a hidden meditation chamber within the Shadow Element’s activity area.

A Shadow Wizard in a grey long robe, codenamed "Grey Falcon," was sitting cross-legged in meditation.

As one of Julian’s most reliable intelligence agents, he spent at least two hours every day stabilizing his spirit and purging the foreign energies he picked up during reconnaissance missions.

But today, while his meditation started smoothly, fragmented images suddenly appeared in his Sea of Spirit after he entered a deep state.

Twisted shadows writhed, and an ancient, insane language whispered...

Something always seemed to be crawling at the edge of his vision...

"HUFF!"

Grey Falcon’s eyes snapped open, his forehead beaded with cold sweat.

’Is this mental fatigue? Or is it just the stress from recent missions?’

He shook his head and took out a backup potion, drinking it down.

A cool sensation flooded his mind, and the hallucinations quickly vanished.

’Looks like I’ll have to request some time off,’ he thought with a wry smile.

「On the evening of the fourth day.」

Grey Falcon was ordered to report to Julian on the results of his continued surveillance of Ian Marcus.

He stood outside the office of the Shadow Element Department’s head, organizing the contents of his report.

’The target has frequently entered and exited the Magic Potion Department’s core laboratory and the library’s underground area over the past three days...’

’He is suspected of conducting research to improve a Tier One Potion, but the specific focus is unknown.’

’He has met privately with Wizard Herman at least twice...’

The intelligence was clearly arranged in his mind.

Just then, a sudden sense of a daze washed over him.

He tried to recall the details of the fragment outside the target’s window, but he couldn’t remember them at all.

He had planned to suggest that Julian immediately conduct a full-scale search of Ian today.

But as soon as the thought emerged, something felt indescribably strange...

Grey Falcon forcefully cut off the thought.

’No. As a professional intelligence agent, suggesting such a rash action without sufficient evidence would only make me look foolish and unprofessional.’

More importantly, the fragment was still being analyzed, and the results weren’t in yet.

’What’s wrong with me?’ he wondered with a frown, another sense of dissonance welling up inside him.

But it was time, so he could only suppress the strangeness in his heart and push the door open.

The reporting process went smoothly.

Julian was a middle-aged Level Two Shadow Wizard with a grim face and sharp eyes.

He sat behind his desk, listening quietly and occasionally asking a question or two.

When Grey Falcon reported that "the target is suspected of successfully improving some kind of meditation Support Potion, but its production volume and stability are unknown,"...

Julian’s eyes visibly brightened.

"Are you certain it has Tier One effects?"

"Wizard Herman’s reaction indirectly confirms it."

"After the target left his office, he was granted core reading permissions within the Magic Potion Department," Grey Falcon replied respectfully.

"Very good." A cold smirk touched Julian’s lips. "A potion... that’s an opening."

He looked at Grey Falcon. "Increase surveillance. Focus on which material suppliers he contacts, the possible distribution channels for the potion, and..."

Julian paused, a trace of greed flashing in his eyes.

"Find an opportunity and get me a sample."

"Yes, sir," Grey Falcon replied, lowering his head.

However, the moment he lowered his head, another image flashed through his mind.

The back of Ian Marcus as he was refining a potion in the laboratory, with Herman standing beside him. The two seemed to be talking in low voices...

’No, that’s not right. This image isn’t real.’

He had never personally witnessed that scene.

’Was it... my imagination? Or some kind of premonition?’

Deep within his Sea of Spirit, a chaotic fragment of will that was not his own was silently weaving illusions.

「Dawn on the fifth day.」

A remote corridor on the outskirts of the Magic Potion Department.

Ian had just returned from the laboratory, carrying several rolls of newly transcribed notes.

He walked slowly, as if deep in thought.

In reality, his Spiritual Power was extending in a certain direction.

There, Grey Falcon was hidden in the shadows of a ventilation duct, carrying out his surveillance shift.

He had been lurking in this position for four hours, and his concentration was inevitably starting to wane.

Just as Ian passed below, a "BUZZ" suddenly echoed in Grey Falcon’s Sea of Spirit, and a powerful impulse surged through him.

’Do it, now!’

’While he’s distracted, use [Shadow Binding] to control him, then search him. I’ll definitely find a sample of the potion!’

The impulse was so strong that his hand was already raised, Shadow Energy beginning to gather...

"Grey Falcon! What are you doing?!"

Julian’s sharp, hushed reprimand suddenly rang out from the communication crystal.

Grey Falcon shuddered violently, cold sweat instantly soaking his back.

He had just... almost attacked an Official Wizard directly.

’In the core area of the High Tower, without any orders?!’

"I... I was just..." His voice trembled slightly.

"Is there something wrong with your head? Pull back immediately!" Julian’s voice was unquestionable.

Grey Falcon looked down at the oblivious Ian, who was walking further and further away. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to calm down.

But as he withdrew from his hiding spot, his movements were noticeably more flustered than usual.

Before leaving, he even subconsciously glanced back at Ian’s retreating figure one more time.

His eyes were a mixture of confusion, suspicion, and a sliver of... inexpressible fear.

He vaguely felt that he was... no longer completely himself.

「On the evening of the seventh day.」

Inside Julian’s private office.

Grey Falcon stood with a pale face, across from a grim-faced Julian.

Several documents were spread out on the desk. The one on top was titled "Preliminary Observation Report on the Recent Abnormal Behavior of ’Grey Falcon’."

"Within three days, your attention was severely divided on two missions, and you nearly exposed your position once."

"On one occasion, you attempted to take coercive action against the surveillance target without authorization, and..."

Julian read from the report coldly, "Yesterday, during a sparring session with a colleague in the shadow training grounds, you suddenly and without reason used combat-grade Witchcraft, nearly causing a serious injury."

"My lord, I... I don’t know what happened," Grey Falcon said, his voice dry.

"I’ve been having hallucinations recently, and my thoughts sometimes get jumbled. I-I’ve been taking a Purification Potion, but it’s not having much effect..."

Julian stared at him for a long time, then suddenly asked, "Have you come into contact with something? Did you encounter any unusual situations during your recent missions?"

Grey Falcon froze for a moment. The image of the fragment by the window flashed in his mind but immediately vanished.

A flicker of struggle appeared in his eyes, but it was quickly suppressed.

"N-No, nothing special happened."

He was absolutely certain there was nothing wrong with his condition.

A hint of suspicion flickered in Julian’s eyes, but he didn’t press further.

"For now, cease all missions and go to the Medical Department for a full check-up. Your observation period is extended, and you are not to leave the designated area during this time."

"Yes..." Grey Falcon replied, lowering his head. Inwardly, he thought Julian was being overly cautious.

After leaving the office, he didn’t head to the Medical Department immediately.

Instead, as if possessed, he walked toward his private locker.

The fragment was still inside the crystal bottle.

Looking through the wall of the bottle, it still appeared ordinary and harmless.

But Grey Falcon stared at it for a long time, and the longer he looked, the more he felt that there was some precious secret hidden deep within the transparent crystal...

"It’s an illusion, all of it is an illusion..."

He muttered to himself, gripping the bottle even tighter.

In his Sea of Spirit, the Abyssal Rule Fragment was spreading and permeating at an extremely slow speed.

It didn’t bring direct madness, but instead silently twisted the dimensions of his thoughts.

It amplified his inner suspicions, catalyzed his hidden ambitions, and muddled real memories with false illusions.

Ian stood by the second-floor window of his residence, holding a crystal fragment identical to the one in Grey Falcon’s bottle.

He closed his eyes. In his Sea of Spirit, he could clearly perceive the chaotic fluctuations of a spiritual body intensifying.

’The Rules of the Abyss...’ he mused silently.

’Even if it’s just a sliver, even after it has been purified and subjected to Order, its fundamental nature of "Erosion" still exists.’

’It won’t make you go mad, but it will make you... slowly become less like yourself.’

Outside the window, the night deepened. The lights of Shadow Moon Tower lit up one by one, and everything seemed quiet and peaceful.

But beneath this tranquility, a silent erosion was underway.

And Grey Falcon, this once professional and cautious Shadow Wizard, was heading down a divergent path that not even Ian could fully comprehend.

When he begins to act uncontrollably, when he finally breaks down, when he spills all that specious "evidence" and "suspicion"...

Gaga poked its head out of the shadows, its small eyes glinting with excitement.

"Ian, are we going to keep putting out ’flyers’? Or should we wait for that ’Insect’ to explode on its own?"

Ian stroked its head, his eyes profound.

"No rush. Let the erosion deepen."

When the deepest fears of human nature begin to surface...

He gazed out the window, the corners of his mouth curving into a cold arc.

"That will be the best stage."