"The Twilight Order?" Leon muttered under his breath.

Eula heard it. "What?"

Leon gave a small shrug. "Nothing. Just thinking out loud."

There was no need to bring it up yet. From the look in Eula's eyes, she was not far from reaching the same conclusion anyway.

But before any of that, Leon needed to confirm one last detail.

"Sister," he asked, "did that jester from earlier die as well?"

Veronica paused. "The jester? Ah, the stage performer. No, she escaped."

Leon nodded slowly.

'Alright. That matches. They would never let the instigator die with the rest of the crowd.'

As he thought, Rinna moved closer to Eula and looked at her face.

"Sister, you look pale. Did something happen?"

Eula shook her head lightly. "I am fine. I was only thinking that the knights and guards are taking too long. If there are still survivors, I was wondering if we could reach them in time."

"That is a good thought," Veronica replied. "But I would not suggest it. You will be busy soon."

Rinna blinked. "Busy with what?"

Veronica did not answer. She only looked back at the empty patch of ground where the assassin had vanished earlier.

A second later, the ground flickered. The assassin emerged again, pulling along an old man with a pointy hat and a deep blue robe. His robe was wrinkled, his monocle barely hanging on, and he clutched a thick book in one hand like he feared someone might steal it.

Leon and Eula stared at him.

Professor Theo blinked several times in disbelief.

"Mr Valentine…?" he said slowly, still catching his breath. "Good afternoon. I was in the middle of a lecture."

Leon raised his hand politely. "Good afternoon, Professor."

The assassin released the old man's robe. It took Theo a moment to absorb everything. First he looked at Leon, then Eula, then Rinna, then Layla. Recognition struck him all at once.

"What in the world are you children doing here?" he muttered with a trembling voice. "I turn my back for one second and suddenly half my class is missing."

Leon could not help but think, 'She really pulled him out in the middle of class.'

Before Theo could complain more, a familiar voice spoke behind him.

"Professor Theo. It has been a while."

Theo turned instantly. His entire expression straightened.

"Lady Veronica!" he said, adjusting his robe like he had not just been dragged across half the kingdom. "My apologies for the state of my appearance. I was… forcibly relocated."

Leon stared at him and sighed internally.

'He adapted to that fast.'

Theo finally looked around the destroyed town square, his eyes shaking at the burned buildings and lingering smoke.

"What is this place… what happened here…"

Veronica stepped forward calmly.

"I need your expertise," she said. "We have an alchemy related case on our hands."

Theo froze.

Then his face turned serious.

"Alchemy… here?"

"Yes," Veronica gestured at the far sky from where the smog was rising, "I want you to confit something for me, is that alright for you?"

"Why ofcourse!" Theo stood up instantly, dusted his robe, and gave the book to Rinna standing there, "hold it for me please."

Rinna nodded confused, but she took it either way.

"Leon," Veronica called out to him, "you and the first princess are coming with me, as for the others…"

She looked at the assassin. The assassin understood, and nodded before he grabbed Rinna and Layla, and vanished from their sight.

They don't even get the time to even react.

"Come." She said walking ahead the crumbled road.

Eula and Leon kept their eyes on her back, as she walked with Professor Theo.

"Leon," Eula muttered to him, "does she know?"

Leon instantly replied, "no."

"How are you this certain?"

Leon smirked, "I know her well."

After saying that, they followed behind her.

As they walked forward, the destruction around them became clearer.

If Veronica had not been clearing the fallen rubble with casual flicks of her hand, they would have been forced to climb over broken walls and collapsed roofs.

At every few steps, pieces of bodies lay scattered on the road. Some were burnt completely black, others were torn apart so brutally that it was impossible to tell where one piece ended and another began.

Eula and Leon both slowed their steps.

They saw one person lay a few meters away from them, still alive but barely breathing. Their skin was melted, their limbs curled in unnatural shapes. And even their gender was impossible to distinguish.

Veronica crouched beside them. She lifted their chin and chopped their head off with ease.

She moved to the next one without saying anything, and Eula followed her lead without hesitation. Leon assisted them silently, one by one, they were easing them away from the suffering.

During this process, Veronica spoke quietly to Professor Theo. Whatever she said, Theo just nodded and before he took out a small needle.

He drew blood from the burnt arm of a survivor and immediately stored it in a tiny glass vial. Then he repeated the process again with another corpse nearby, collecting samples in separate bottles.

Leon noticed Theo keeping them in the folds of his robe. It was clear that Veronica had asked him to gather something specific.

After a long walk through the ruined houses and broken roads, they reached the center of the town. The place where the explosion had originated.

The entire town square was gone. A massive crater spread across the area, wide and deep enough that it felt like a meteor had crashed through the sky and landed directly in the middle of Tiara.

Leon stared at the huge hole in disbelief. "I cannot believe this is the same place."

Eula did not speak. Her eyes remained fixed on the crater.

Veronica raised her hand and signaled them to stop. "Stay there."

Leon blinked. "What is it?"

She did not answer. Her eyes were locked on something inside the crater.

Leon stepped closer and leaned a little to get a better view.

His eyes widened.

"That boy… it's the same boy from earlier."

The small child lay at the deepest point of the crater, he was alive. His small chest rose and fell weakly. But he noticed that his skin was almost colorless.

"He is still breathing," Eula said as she observed his faint movements.

"Interesting," Professor Theo whispered, adjusting his monocle to get a clearer view.

Leon activated his mana sense, focusing on the boy's core once again. What he saw made him step back slightly.

"Dark mana," he muttered.

The boy's mana core was no longer white. It had turned completely black, pulsing slowly like a corrupted heart sending dark mana through his fragile body.

Eula sensed it too. "That is not a natural state."

Veronica looked at both of them and nodded.

"What you are looking at," she said quietly, "is no longer a human."

Her eyes narrowed, and she added.

"That child has become a vessel of a demon god."

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