The moment I realized that Lord Loren had sensed me and Dagger, I shoved Harvey into her hands.

"Run!" I shouted.

She stumbled back a step, before she nodded and ran towards the others. Good. Dagger was a Third Star martial artist, which was why I handed Harvey over to her. She could move faster than me and get Harvey to safety sooner. In the meantime, I intended to intercept our enemies and buy time for her.

Before Dagger reached the limit of my invisibility bracelet and revealed herself, I breathed out a [Concealing Mist], spreading it out as far as I could. The thick white mist covered a large portion of the grassy field, engulfing the martial artists. It almost reached Lord Loren and his companions.

Despite the thick white mist's sudden appearance, the martial artists didn't panic. Instead, they drew their swords and rushed towards me. I expected as much. They were all at Third Star, so my [Concealing Mist] wasn't as effective on them. Still, given the situation, even the tiniest advantage could help.

I rushed towards one of the martial artists, moving like a wraith. At the same time, I kept an eye out on Lord Loren and his companions. The martial artist rushed into the thick white mist to join his comrades.

To my surprise, Lord Loren and the cloaked woman remained where they were. It appeared they intended to observe things for the time being. That worried me, but right now I needed to focus on the martial artists. They were the most immediate threat.

When I drew close enough to my first target, I used [Lightning Dash] to close the distance between us in an instant and took his head. The coppery smell of blood filled the air. He didn't have time to react before he died.

However, this broke the invisibility effect of my enchanted bracelet and revealed my presence to the others. They let out angry shouts when they realized I killed their companion and chased after me.

I ran, relying on speed and my [Concealing Mist] to keep ahead of my opponents. While they weren't terrible, they weren't as skilled as Lord Miles. However, it didn't help that I had to keep an eye on Lord Loren and the cloaked woman, just in case they intervened. The former was a Fourth Ranked Awakened, which made him the most dangerous enemy in the area.

The martial artists split into two teams of two. Each team worked together to try and box me in, closing in on me with each passing second. However, I kept sliding out of their trap. This infuriated them.

After riling them up enough, I went on the offensive. I charged one of the teams and used [Mist Sword] to summon six illusory swords. They floated in the air around me as I rushed towards the two martial artists.

Neither of them seemed worried, even though I killed one of their comrades. I guess they thought I had gotten lucky. Fools. I intended to prove them wrong.

I sent all six of my swords towards one of the martial artists, using them to distract her. At the same time, I used [Lightning Dash] to close the distance between me and the other martial artists. He had just enough time to swing his sword, which I dodged, before I thrust my sword into his chest.

He stared at me in disbelief, before coughing up a mouthful of blood. I twisted my sword to finish him off, before pulling it out of his chest. As he fell to the ground, I turned to face his teammate. She yelled in anger, before charging to attack me, ignoring my illusory swords.

This was a mistake.

The swords attacked her from behind, inflicting several small wounds. This gave me the opening I needed to use [Fourfold Slash], slicing her to bits. I saw no reason to use [Storm Dragon's Claw] on someone like her.

Two bodies lay on the ground beside me. The stench of blood and gore filled the air.

I turned to face the remaining two martial artists. However, to my dismay, that was when Lord Loren decided to take action.

"Useless," he called out, his voice ringing out in the night. "Catch the other one and retrieve the boy. Kill any witnesses."

"Yes, my lord," the cloaked woman said.

She rushed in Dagger's direction, giving my [Concealing Mist] a wide berth. Realizing that the others were in danger, I moved to intercept her. However, Lord Loren didn't give me a chance.

"No you don't," he said. "Little rat."

He spoke an incantation and formed a series of mudras with his hands, before stomping on the ground. A wave of roiling earth headed in my direction, spreading throughout the entire grassy field.

Tsk.

Even if he wasn't a scion of House Montgomery, he was related to them somehow. They specialized in Earth magic, which was one of the reasons why we were on bad terms with them. Our elements were polar opposites of one another.

The wave of roiling earth caught the two martial artists and threw them off their feet. I leapt over it. However, Lord Loren must've anticipated this, because he cast another spell. Before I landed, the ground beneath my feet split open to form a yawning hole.

I didn't have time to react before I fell into the hole. However, the hole wasn't as deep as I feared. I landed without issue. The moment my feet touched the ground, I used [Lightning Dash] to run up the side and escape. Good thing too. Less than a moment later, the hole collapsed in on itself. If I had stayed for even a second longer, I would've been buried alive.

This was why I hated fighting Earth wizards. They turned the very ground beneath my feet against me. The more powerful ones could even create earth, which just added to my annoyance. Dirt wasn't supposed to attack a person from above. It was just unnatural.

"Clever little rat," Lord Loren said. "I'm tempted to recruit you." He shrugged. "Unfortunately, I have my orders. That means you have to die."

A sense of foreboding filled me as he began to cast another spell. Without hesitation, I used [Elusive Mist] and stepped away from my current position. A moment later, countless stone spikes erupted out of the ground, each one as tall as a person and as thick as my arm. They turned the entire grassy field into a death trap.

Thanks to [Elusive Mist], I managed to avoid most of them, though one of them grazed my arm. Warmth spread down my sleeve as blood trickled from the wound.

The two martial artists weren't so lucky. The stone spikes impaled them and lifted their bodies into the air. How callous. While they were my enemies, I didn't think they deserved to die at the hands of the man they worked for.

I needed to kill Lord Loren. It was going to be difficult. Unlike before, when my friends and I fought the Third Ranked demon summoner and fiend in the Icefall region, Lord Loren didn't have an obvious weakness that I could exploit.

However, it was the only chance we had at surviving. While I could try and run, I didn't think I'd be able to get far. He could manipulate the earth and turn it against me. While I was fast and agile, I didn't think I could dodge all of his attacks. Sooner or later, one of them would land. When that happened, I was dead. And that didn't even take into account the others.

Since flight wasn't an option, that left fight.

My heart hammered in my chest and I tightened my grip on my sword. Despite the dire situation, I felt a smile spread across my face. Perhaps I was insane, since a part of me was having fun. It had been too long since I faced a true life and death situation.

I leapt up and headed towards Lord Loren, leaping off the sides of the stone spikes and using them as footholds. My actions must have caught Lord Loren off guard, since he didn't react right away.

"A bold rat," he said a moment later. "Bold and foolish. Let me show you the difference between us."

Lord Loren cast another spell. The ground shook, before one side of the former grassy field lifted into the air. A moment later, the other side lifted up as well. The two moved towards each other, like a book closing, with me right in the middle. If I didn't escape, I'd be crushed and impaled.

I ran, pushing my body to its utmost limit to move as fast as possible. Even then, it would be a near thing. Lord Loren decided not to take the risk and the walls of spikes started closing in on me at a faster rate. I felt like an ant, about to be crushed by forces much greater than myself.

Just as the walls of spikes almost reached me, I used [Lightning Dash] to speed through the last stretch. I made it through just as the walls of spikes slammed into each other with an earth shaking crash.

Lord Loren looked at me with a mix of annoyance and incredulity. However, I didn't give him time to react. I used [Lightning Dash] to try and attack him. Lord Loren rapidly cast a spell and a wall of earth emerged from the ground, blocking my path.

I used [Lightning Dash] again, this time to move around the wall and attack Lord Loren from the side. By this point, I was running low on mana. However, I didn't care. All that mattered was killing Lord Loren.

I managed to get closer to him the second time, but he managed to erect another earth wall just in time. Annoyed, I decided to leap up and attack him from above. For the first time since he arrived, Lord Loren looked a little fearful.

To my dismay, even my aerial attack failed. Lord Loren used his two earth walls to form an earth dome, which protected him on all sides.

Damn it.

I landed on the dome and considered my next move. However, a moment later, the dome exploded outward with considerable force. This sent me flying off, though I managed to twist around and land on my feet.

With the earth dome gone, Lord Loren and I faced each other once more. He glared at me, his face twisted with anger.

"How dare you humiliate me like this, you little rat?!" he shouted.

I raised my sword and braced myself. Right now, I was in poor condition. Low on mana, tired, and facing an opponent far more powerful than myself. Despite that, I didn't feel despair. As dire as the situation seemed, I still had a chance at winning.

However, just as I readied myself to attack Lord Loren, he twisted around and summoned an earth wall. I heard something impact it. Had someone tried to attack him from behind? It appeared so. I took advantage of this and used [Lightning Dash] to close the distance between us, attacking Lord Loren's now exposed back.

He started to cast another spell, perhaps to try and block me. However, a figure leapt over the earthen wall and threw something at him. Dagger. She bled from several wounds, but otherwise appeared fine.

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At the same time, a lightning bolt appeared out of nowhere, hurtling towards Lord Loren. I even saw a wave of shattered earth rushing towards him, which I recognized as one of Leroy's techniques.

Facing attacks on all sides, Lord Loren was unable to defend himself. Dagger's… dagger clipped his shoulder. Kaylee's lightning bolt slammed into him, causing him to convulse. Leroy's attack threw him off balance. This all left him vulnerable to me.

I didn't take any chances. I summoned my Aura and used [Storm Dragon's Claw] to finish Lord Loren off. A silvery-blue dragon surrounded my entire body and lightning crackled as I swung four times, aiming for his neck.

To my surprise, Lord Loren managed to defend against three of the swings using a thin strand of earth. However, the fourth swing cut through the strand and continued to his neck. I lopped off his head. He wore an expression of disbelief on his face, as if unable to accept that he died to people much weaker than him.

Lord Loren's body toppled to the ground, his stump of a neck spewing blood into the earth. Exhausted and pushed to the brink, my Aura faded and legs trembled. I almost collapsed to the ground, but someone caught me.

When I looked over, I saw Leroy gazing at me with an exasperated expression on his face. Like Dagger, he was covered in several wounds.

"You can ask for help, you know," he said in an annoyed tone. "You don't have to do everything yourself."

I chuckled.

"I was a bit busy," I said. "The cloaked woman?"

"Dead," Dagger said, retrieving her dagger from Lord Loren's corpse. "The bitch was a tough opponent. She would've killed me if the others hadn't helped."

"Harvey?"

"Safe," Leroy said. "Lady Kaylee is with him."

I nodded.

"Good. I'm going to pass out now."

And I proceeded to do just that.

When I came to, I found myself in my bedroom within the House Sturm townhouse. Instead of my adventurer outfit, I wore pajamas. The others must've brought me back after I passed out. Based on the sunlight streaming through the windows, it was late morning.

I took a moment to gather my bearings. My body ached all over. I hadn't noticed it at the time, but I pushed myself harder than I realized. It had been necessary, but I was paying the price for it now.

Thankfully, I hadn't sustained many other injuries. However, it had been a close thing. If Lord Loren hit me even once, I might've been crippled or even killed. I needed to be more careful. While I made it through this fight just fine, that didn't mean I would make it through the next one.

Of course, the obvious solution for that was to get stronger. Right now, Fourth Ranked Awakened and above were a serious threat to me. However, if I reached Third Star, they wouldn't be as much of a problem. I would still need to be careful, but the disparity wouldn't be so big.

I shook my head and pulled myself back to the present. I could worry about all that later. Right now I needed to get out of bed and check in on the others, Harvey in particular. The last time I saw him, he was injured. While I knew the others would take care of him, I needed to see him with my own eyes.

I got out of bed and washed up. Like in Sturm Manor, my room here had a bathroom attached to it, which made things convenient. After cleaning myself up, I changed into a casual outfit and headed out. I learned from a passing servant that Kaylee and my parents were in Father's study. I thanked the servant, before heading in that direction.

However, I stopped when my stomach growled and hunger pangs hit me. Right. I made a detour and headed to the kitchen to grab a quick snack. This flustered the kitchen servants, who didn't know what to do with a House scion intruding into their domain. Before they recovered their composure, I made a cheese sandwich and left.

With food in hand, I headed towards Father's study. When I entered, I found my family leaning over the desk, looking at something. Trent Jeffers and Caitlyn stood nearby. The former wore an impassive expression, while the latter appeared amused.

Father wore a clean cut outfit, while Mother wore a green dress. Kaylee wore the same nondescript clothing from last night. I frowned. Did she get any sleep? I studied her face. Based on the dark circles underneath her eyes, I would say no.

Everyone looked at me when I entered the study. Father frowned, while Mother marched up to me and flicked my forehead.

"What was that for?" I asked, rubbing the spot she flicked with my free hand.

"That's for making me worry," Mother said with her hands on her hips. "I know I can't stop you from risking your life and throwing yourself into danger. However, I can do this-" She flicked my forehead again. "-every time you come home unconscious. You're making a habit of it, young man."

I gave her a sullen look.

"No, I'm not," I said.

Mother snorted.

"Has it happened more than three times?" she asked.

I thought back on everything that happened since I transmigrated back to Lumina, before flinching.

"There you go," Mother said.

I sighed.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"Don't be sorry." Mother's expression softened. "Just come back alive. That's all I ask."

I nodded.

"How is Harvey?" I asked. "Is he alright?"

A thread of anxiety wound its way around my heart.

"Yes, he's fine," Mother said, giving me a reassuring smile. "Leroy and your sister brought him in last night. Joanna tended him. And before you ask, I also brought Harvey's family here. They should be with him now."

I let out a sigh of relief, though I still needed to see him for myself before to be completely reassured.

With my biggest concern addressed, I walked over to Father's desk. Mother joined me.

"Morning, Father," I said.

"Good morning, Gabriel," he said. "I'm glad to see that you're alright."

I flashed him a quick smile, before taking a bite of my cheese sandwich.

"What's this?" I asked with my mouth full.

Several pieces of paper covered Father's desk in an organized manner.

"Gabriel," Mother scolded. "Swallow your food before speaking.

I shrugged, before taking another bite.

"Notes sent over by the informant we met with last night," Kaylee said without looking up.

Right. Father and Mother still didn't know about the regression, which meant we needed to be careful about what we said. Kaylee and I actually discussed telling them the truth.

I argued for it, since it would make things much easier for us. Warning our parents against the traitors within House Sturm, for example.

Kaylee argued against it. She said that the regressors' greatest advantage was their knowledge of the future. However, with each change they made, their knowledge became less and less reliable. This included telling people about the regression. The Butterfly Effect, as the people on Earth called it.

I thought it was already too late by this point, considering everything that happened in the Icefall region, but I respected Kaylee's wishes. It was her secret to share, or not. However, I warned her that I would prioritize our family's safety. If keeping the regression a secret endangered our parents, I would tell them the truth.

"I find myself impressed by this informant," Father said, studying one of the notes. "Their information is clear, concise, and accurate. I might have to get in touch with them myself at some point." He glanced at Kaylee. "You said a school mate told you about this informant?"

Kaylee nodded. Ah, so that was the excuse she went with. I wondered how Father would react if he learned that Crawford held less than honorable intentions towards Kaylee. I found the thought amusing.

"Do these notes tell us who hired the martial artists to kidnap Harvey?" I asked after swallowing my food.

Crawford said he would find that out for us as well. Right now, it appeared as if House Montgomery were the culprits. However, that didn't make sense. Yes, Harvey was a gifted student. However, he wasn't worth picking a fight with House Sturm over. Unless picking a fight was their actual goal. I could believe that.

"Yes," Father said, studying one of the notes. "House Montgomery was behind it." He looked up at me. "Rather, it was someone who wanted us to think it was House Montgomery."

I raised an eyebrow at him. Interesting. I considered that possibility last night, but it was mere speculation on my part.

"How so?" I asked.

Father put down the note he was reading and tapped.

"According to these notes," he said. "The man you killed, Lord Loren, was from one of House Montgomery's collateral families. He had ties with some kind of underground organization. Not much is known about them, but they're tied to all kinds of illicit and criminal activities." His gaze sharpened. "This includes smuggling the materials necessary for demon summoning."

I narrowed my eyes.

"Do you think this organization is related to the demon worshipers I clashed with in the Icefall region?" I asked.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Kaylee clench her fist.

"It's too early to tell," Father said. "However, it's not outside the realm of possibility. If they are, then the demon worshipers are a much bigger threat than I previously thought."

"It doesn't matter if they are or not," Mother said with a savage expression on her face. "I intend to exterminate them for daring to meddle with our family."

Even now, it still surprised me that my mother could be so violent. During my first life, she always appeared to be the ideal high society lady.

"Why would this underground organization want us to think that House Montgomery kidnapped Harvey?" I asked. "To cover their tracks?" I frowned. "No, that seems like too much effort."

"I think they wanted to create a conflict between our two Houses," Kaylee said. "If two great Houses fought one another, the effects would ripple throughout the entire Solarian Empire. Perhaps they wanted to take advantage of the chaos."

That made a horrifying amount of sense. I didn't know the full story of what happened in the First Timeline. However, from what I heard, the demons and their worshipers caused a lot of chaos and destruction. They orchestrated the fall of House Sturm, and likely many other Houses as well. I doubted the Clans fared any better.

"That's a possibility," Father said. "Regardless, we need to inform House Montgomery about this. Hiding this incident will only serve our enemies."

Kaylee grinned.

"And if we warn House Montgomery of the rot festering within, they'll owe us a favor," she said.

A favor from a great House was no small thing. I was sure Father and Kaylee could do a lot with that.

"We should be circumspect about it," I said. "To avoid alerting our enemies that their plan failed. In fact, it might be a good idea to pretend that their idea worked."

Father raised an eyebrow at me.

"Do you have an idea?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Lady Emmaline," I said. "I came into conflict with her a few times already. If I pick a fight with her, I could use that as an opportunity to pass along a message and arrange a private meeting. She should be in Sunheart, since the capital is the heart of high society."

Father nodded with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Bring Kaylee along with you for the private meeting," he said. "This is a good opportunity for her. She hasn't come of age yet, but we could set the foundation for her debut now."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Have you finally decided to name her as your heir?" I asked.

"Yes," Father said. "With your future secure, I can do so without worry."

I gave him a smile.

"Thank you, Father," I said. "I know you've been looking after me in your own way."

He gave me a regretful look in return.

"I just wish I had done a better job at it," he said.

"Well, I could've been a better son," I said. "So, rather than wallow in the past, let us look to the future."

Kaylee yawned.

"In that case, I should go to sleep," she said. "If I'm to accompany you to meet with Lady Emmaline, I should be at my best."

Father gestured towards Kaylee.

"Good," he said in a scolding tone. "I told you to go to bed earlier, but you refused to listen."

Kaylee shrugged, before she turned towards the door.

"Actually, stay for a moment longer," I said. "There is one other matter that concerns me."

My family all looked at me with curious expressions on their faces. I hesitated before speaking this next part. While I promised to keep the regression a secret, I still wanted to warn my family about the traitors in House Sturm. This was a good opportunity to.

"Father," I said. "This underground organization had its tendrils in House Montgomery, a great House. Yes, Lord Loren was from a collateral family, but even so. He may not be the only one." I paused. "What if this underground organization also has its tendrils in House Sturm?"

A heavy silence filled the study. Father regarded me with a serious expression, while Mother frowned. Kaylee looked at me and gave a faint nod.

"I can't deny the possibility," Father said. "I want to, but I can't."

"It's worth looking into," Kaylee said. "If there is rot within House Sturm, it's best to cut it out as soon as possible."

"You're right," Father said. "However, leave it to me. You two have your own tasks, and your mother is busy with her own matters. Dealing with the potential rot within our House is my responsibility."

Kaylee and I nodded.

"In that case, we shall head off," I said.

Father nodded and gestured for us to go. Kaylee and I left his study. However, as we walked out, movement from the corner of my eye caught my attention. Trent Jeffers clenched his fists.

Interesting.

I made a mental note of that before leaving.

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