"Oh my, Leon~ why are you running away? It won't hurt much."

Alice called, holding her scythe upside down, her fingers rubbing the shaft like she was petting a cat.

Leon kept his eyes glued to that thick handle. He backed up a step without thinking, as if the thing might lunge.

"No, Alice, listen. I had a reason. Just stop approaching me. And… and please stop rubbing your hands on that scythe like that."

Alice smiled down at her hands, slow and lazy. She kept rubbing the rod where she gripped it like a spear, like she wanted to stab someone right now.

"Heh, it's all part of the process," she purred.

Leon forced a laugh that was half a cough.

"Alright, alright. Listen. Just listen, ok? I want Miss Lumina to go inside so we can jump from eighty-four to ninety-four."

Alice's eyes sharpened after she heard that.

"I am listening. But… you know, you look harmless, but the more I know about you, the more crack-headed you seem."

Crack-headed?

Leon almost choked on the thought.

'You are the crack-headed here,' he told himself with a private smirk.

He let his eyes flick to hers and kept his voice flat. "We are near the end of the book. The book just needs a final push to reach completion. Miss Lumina will clear the front, while we go in through another entrance. And also, you have to handle the attribute spells and take the isolated chimeras or any lesser demons if we encounter any. I'll watch, guide, and ensure nothing unexpected comes at you. Simple."

Alice tilted her head, thinking.

"Why can't we just go in together? Why are you so keen to leave me doing all the work?"

Leon shrugged, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"I'm drained out of mana. You saw me use that sword art earlier? Because of it, my mana is gone. So, I can only walk and talk."

She narrowed her eyes at him again, suspicious and amused.

"Trust you? After you tried to ditch me earlier? You cheeky bastard."

Leon shrugged again. "Call it strategy, it has to be done, otherwise she would be suspicious. Well, either way, it worked. Right?"

Alice rolled her shoulders, flexing her thighs like a coiled spring.

"Fine. But if I get fucked by some lesser demon because your mind is busy gazing at Miss Lumina, I will for real shove a rusty pole up your ass when we return."

Leon blinked, then smiled weakly.

"Noted. But please, no rusty poles. Also, along with my papers, I owe you dinner instead."

She snorted. "Dinner? With you?"

He met her eyes straight on, then nodded.

"Fuck you." She said.

Leon rolled his eyes, "Alright then, tell me what you want?"

Leon was desperate; he needed to get Alice to agree to this.

Alice thought for a few seconds, then answered, "That library on the Blood Tower that you mentioned earlier… I want you to take me there."

"..."

Leon himself never went there. But, knowing Veronica, she would agree to it.

That's what Leon thought; either way, he has to ask her sister first.

Sighing, he agreed, "alright, I'll ask her."

She spat out a laugh, the kind that was half threat, half thrill. "Alright then. Lead the way. And don't fuck this up."

Leon turned, using the Moonblade as a cane, and he walked towards a slim slope leading upward.

Alice followed him.

Getting his hands on the Moonblade was a success, now, the only thing left for him to do was to meet with one of the era's strongest humans.

'If I remember correctly, then, she might already be here…'

He glanced back at slide with the corner of his eye, recalling the condition.

'Alice. She did great until now, but—'

"Hey, can you walk a bit faster?" Alice scolded him, "even my grandpa has more stamina than you."

Leon sighed, then paced his movement a bit more. Truth be told, he was having a hard time climbing up the slope.

If one's entire mana got drained out, then the body would feel weakened. Without the mana core, a person could not survive. And a mana core needed mana to stay operatable. With Leon's mana entirely drained, it was now feeding on his body's energy, generating rough mana solely to keep the core functional.

It was like the body's backup power.

After arguing with Alice on the way, Leon stood in front of a small cave situated a few stories above where Miss Lumina went through. On the left, there was a lesser demon corpse without a head. Leon ignored it.

Twak!

Alice kicked it off the cliff.

"..."

"..."

"What?" Alice asked.

Leon just sighed, then told her flatly, "We'll enter from here." He pointed at the small cave.

Alice's eye twitched at it.

"Are you nuts?" she said.

The cave was literally small. You had to crawl on your four limbs in order to go in.

"This is the only way. And you will be at front. Don't worry, it leads to a bigger space inside if calculations are right."

Alice just stared at the cave, then at Leon.

"Out of all those entrances, you just had to choose this one... what are you planning?"

She slit her gaze at him.

Leon just said, "It's a shortcut."

"Again, how do you know all of this?" Alice asked.

"I read about the Black Mountain in my sister's library."

Alice couldn't argue with that. She wanted to go to that library of the Blood Tower too. Now, she was invested.

"Alright," saying that, she crouched down on her four limbs and inserted her upper half into the cave.

"Fucking hell, this place stinks!!"

"Just move ahead," Leon said.

Alice crawled a bit further, enough for Leon to follow. With his Moonblade in one hand making enough space, he crawled inside. Unlike Alice, his weapon didn't transform into a ring.

"Ah, this smells like rotten egg in here," Leon commented.

Alice groaned. "It smells like piss. Don't tell me it's the lesser demon's dumping—"

Leon stopped her. "Please stop. Even if it is, I don't want to know, and neither am I interested. Keep your unhinged thoughts to yourse—"

His eyes unconsciously glanced forward, then darted away. He quickly averted them to the side.

Alice noticed. "What? Why did you stop speaking?"

Leon blabbered, "Nothing..." still averting his eyes from looking front.

For the entire time until they reached the open space, he didn't look ahead.

"Haaaah..." Alice pumped in a lot of fresh air. "This place doesn't stink anymore."

Leon coughed, "Yes. The inside has ventilation. You can feel the chill air too."

Alice turned and saw Leon's face. It was bright pink.

She blinked, not understanding at first, then she said, "You're all red. Did you think about Miss Lumina the whole time?"

"Hey." Leon narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't say nonsense stuff. And let's move ahead. We'll be encountering chimeras and lesser demons, so keep your voice low."

"Heh, well anyways," she whispered, matching his pace, "tell me, Leon. Do you really like her?"

Leon sighed. 'She's been on this since yesterday. Did it really show on my face?'

"Why do you think that?" he asked.

Alice smirked. "Well, your face flushed whenever you see her, so..."

Leon frowned. "So you thought I had a thing for her."

Alice shrugged. "Well, yeah. What else would I think?"

Leon was not okay discussing this stuff. He felt weird.

"When did you start having an interest in romance?"

Alice raised an eyebrow. "Huh? I never had, and never will. I'm just attracted to the fact you fell for someone who doesn't even exist in our time."

Leon ground his teeth, muttering, "Again, for the hundredth time, I don't have anything towards her. It's just respect and admiration."

Alice gave him a side-eye.

"Respect and admiration, huh? Sure. Keep telling yourself that."

They reached a point where the cave split into two ways.

"Where to?" Alice asked, turning her head to him.

Leon answered flatly, "Right."

She followed without arguing.

On their way till here, Leon had ordered her to cast an influence spell on herself, a baiting-type charm that would make her the target piece for any chimera or lesser demon lurking around. That gave Leon enough time to think, analyze, and tell her what to do next.

Honestly, it worked better than he expected. They had already taken out six chimeras using this same strategy.

"I didn't know we could use this spell like this," Alice noted.

She was smiling. Actually smiling.

Never had she enjoyed herself this much, not even when she was with her grandpa during training. She didn't know if it was because of the exam or simply because Leon's way of doing things was so damn crazy.

He seemed calm, almost detached, just like her grandpa.

'Leon Valentine,' she thought.

The name etched itself in her mind. Maybe… maybe she would even give him a chance to do a joint research with her when they returned to Eclipse.

He had earned that much.

'Hehe…'

Walking in front, she suddenly froze. A presence, it was cold, heavy, and a weird, terrifying chill crawled down her spine.

"?!" Her eyes narrowed.

"Hold on."

She raised a hand, signaling him back.

"I am sensing two frightening presences—"

But the word died in her throat.

Because the world tilted in her perspective when she turned to look at him.

She saw Leon's eyes widened, his lips parted in shock as he looked down.

'Wait.. he's looking down?' Her mind thought.

Alice felt her perspective shift unnaturally, like the ground itself was moving, like she was suddenly shorter—no, lower.

But she was standing. She was sure she was still standing.

Then, her vision darkened.

Thud—!

Alice's head rolled, stopping right beside Leon's feet.

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