The central city of the Lumierian Empire was crowded with buildings that had towering spires that pierced the heavy, grey clouds. Somewhere on the Great Cathedral close to the station district, the tallest towering spire had a massive round clock that ticked away with a steady thrum.

If one narrowed their eyes to the peak of the spire, they would see that sitting atop the stone ledge was a beautiful woman who looked to be somewhere in her early twenties.

She was dangling one leg while the other was pulled close to her chest as she watched the busy streets of Fashkire. As the city hummed with the sound of steam engines and distant chatter, she drank from a bottle of dark whiskey.

’I think I should beat up some people today and steal their money.’ Aika thought as she took a long, burning swig from the bottle.

She had no place to stay and was as broke as a common beggar at a feast.

Three days had passed ever since returning to this realm. Every night, Aika tried to bring back Cedric. But every time, she was met with the same response from Gamer Privileges.

[This process cannot be completed at this time.]

...And so, the days had passed by at an agonizingly slow pace.

At this point, she had grown really exhausted physically, because she had not been able to rest ever since the battle of the lords.

But without her bearer, she could not take her dormant form, and she could not also travel to her inner sanctuary.

She sighed.

’That reminds me. Why am I worrying about money when I have subjects of influence? Can’t I just walk up to one of them and threaten to take their pathetic life away if they refuse to give me a few hundred gold?

Aika was inches away from almost letting her intrusive thoughts win. Almost.

’Speaking of gold. Leon owes Cedric some money. How dare that bastard go and die without paying up? I should bring him back to life just to get my pay!’

She took the last gulp from her current drink. Then she dropped the empty bottle alongside a few others, before grabbing a new bottle and uncorking it with her teeth.

’Tsk. What a pain.’ Her expression suddenly became moody. ’I really don’t feel like bringing those guys back to life. But Cedric will be mad at me if I don’t do it. Especially since I promised him that I’d do it the next time.’

She had been putting the resurrection of the cadets aside. But at this moment, she was trying hard to convince herself to set aside her pride and discomfort, and just do it.

In as much as she didn’t want to, that was the only way to grow her subjects of influence, which at this point were just a few.

After a few moments, she looked up to the sky with her bloodshot eyes, then muttered in a hesitant tone. "I’ll do it tonight."

***

...

..

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Elsewhere...

——

Many voices echoed through her mind, with all of them clamoring for attention at once. Most times, the voices were yelling, and at some point, they were nothing more than a distorted wall of sound.

At that moment, Celeste’s head finally broke through the surface of the water, and she immediately took in a few breaths after holding her breath for so long.

She had been lying in a bathtub that had been filled with warm water and had petals floating across the surface.

For a moment, she just lay there in the silence.

Eventually, she turned to her right to look out of the large window that overlooked the estate. She could see the moon bright above, which was now crimson, casting a blood-red glow over the gardens below.

The red moon signified that it was the night of a new eclipse. This meant that the bridges taking cadets to the worlds beyond the veils would appear tonight. It would also be the night where the empire would send grade two cadets to go check if the veil to the first ring had truly been shut.

Well, since Celeste was not going to the second ring until the next lunar eclipse, she decided to not bother herself with anything about the rings and just relax. So, she turned away from that eerie red moon that seemed to have a mocking smile on its face.

With a soft sigh, she stood up from the water and slowly made her way to the dressing area. After wiping herself dry with a plush towel, she put on a long blue dress, then took a few steps to admire herself in the long mirror to the side of the room.

Blue was her favorite color. Back when she did not manifest a bond, and her mother had still cared much about her, she had told her that blue made her eyes glow, and that it made her look even more beautiful.

Turns out, mother was right.

Celeste frowned and turned away from the mirror. Then she took a few steps through a large open door that revealed a large bedroom.

The room was a sprawling space of dark oak and velvet, lit only by the flickering orange glow of a dying fireplace and the oppressive red moonlight.

Heavy tapestries hung from the walls, dampening the sound of the world outside, while a massive canopy bed sat like a tomb in the center of the chamber. Celeste walked over to a small mahogany cabinet and took a round blue sphere from a crystal container.

Carrying the object with a slightly trembling grip, she moved toward a high-backed velvet chair near the window and sat down.

She stared at the blue sphere as it caught the crimson light from outside. As she did, the voices in her head kept screaming even more loudly now. After a long moment, she could no longer control the urge to give in. But just as she was about to bring the sphere to her lips, her senses suddenly pricked as she felt someone had entered the room.

Snapping her head up, she saw a woman with disheveled, long black hair and a bottle of dark whiskey in her hand.

It was Aika.

"Huh?" Celeste whispered, her eyes wide with confusion.