Fear

Had they... left?

Celia did not let her guard down. She looked around warily, one hand still gripping her hand crossbow.

Until...

Nearly ten minutes passed...

The sun had already climbed above the houses, its light filtering through the gaps between the eaves and tree canopies to cast dappled shadows at Celia's feet.

There was still no sign of anything unusual around her.

Seeing this, Celia finally let out a sigh of relief. “Phew... It looks like they really left.”

However, as her racing mind settled, a flurry of questions rushed in.

What was their purpose? Were they here to kill her? Would they return?

The endless stream of questions cast another shadow over Celia's heart. Everything before her felt both terrifying and bizarre.

“At least I'm safe for now,” she consoled herself.

Exhaling slowly a few more times, she waited for her tense nerves to fully relax before she began sorting through her next steps.

First, she needed to gather information about the Silent Order to determine if it was indeed them and why they were targeting her.

Next, she had to find the mastermind behind the assassination attempt and resolve this series of events once and for all.

Yes, that was it. She would follow this plan.

For some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that this had something to do with the Abyssal Order.

...

After morning prayers, Celia hurriedly made her way to the monastery.

Passing through a quiet corridor bathed in morning light, she arrived at Ignis's room.

Ignis lived in a sun-drenched quiet room deep within the monastery.

Pushing the door open, she found the room's furnishings dreadfully sparse—only a single table, a chair, and a wooden plank bed. The only exception was on the windowsill, where a red rose sat, quietly burning.

Ignis herself sat quietly by the window, her eyes slightly cast down as she read an ancient book.

Unlike before, she had changed into a deep blue dress today. Paired with her icy blue eyes, it made her appear even colder.

Celia stole a glance. The book's title seemed to be 《Introduction to Elements》.

Although Celia didn't know what it was about, based on her past life's experience, books with "Introduction" in the title were never simple primers for beginners.

While Celia was lost in thought, Ignis's cold voice suddenly rang out. “So, have you made up your mind?”

Celia realized she was referring to choosing the Elemental pathway. She scratched her head sheepishly and smiled.

“Not yet, not yet, but soon, Sister Ignis!”

“Then why have you come to find me?”

Ignis usually seemed so cold and unapproachable that Celia didn't dare look her in the eye.

“Um... I wanted to ask about some hidden factions...” Celia said, feeling slightly nervous.

“Go ahead,” Ignis said without looking up, continuing to flip through the pages.

Celia summoned her courage and asked, “Sister Ignis, do you know anything about the Silent Order?”

Ignis glanced at Celia. “Why? Have you run into them?”

“No, no, I just heard someone mention them by chance.”

“I thought so. If you had actually crossed paths with them, how could you have made it here alive?”

“Why do you say that? Is that organization very dangerous?” Celia asked nervously.

Ignis sighed softly. She closed the book, set it aside, and said to Celia:

“Those people generally only take on assassination missions, and they never act without absolute certainty. So, once you are targeted by them, you are practically dead.”

So terrifying?!

But if that was the case... why hadn't the person she met this morning killed her?

Could it be that they weren't actually from the Silent Order, but belonged to some other faction?

“Which pathway does the Silent Order follow? What abilities do they have? Are there other factions with similar powers?” Celia threw out several questions in one breath.

Ignis crossed her left leg over her right and patiently explained:

“The members of the Silent Order are all Beyonders of the Hermit pathway. They usually keep their movements hidden, so even our High Tower Council knows very little about them.”

She paused and said:

“Initially, based on ancient records from the Second Epoch, we found that almost all Beyonders of this type possess some form of concealment and mirror-related abilities. Thus, we speculated that these might be the abilities they obtain at Rank One. However, we know nothing about their higher-rank abilities. For now, we've temporarily named their Rank One 'Mirror Hermit'.”

“It wasn't until the strain invasion in the Star Orchid Principality thirty years ago that we gained a deeper understanding of the Silent Order. At that time, the mycelium even spread to the Northern Territory, causing a massive number of deaths. Even now, we cannot confirm if that mycelium has been completely eradicated.”

“As for other factions, we haven't heard of any for now. There are only some scattered Beyonders of the Hermit pathway across the continent, but they rarely appear in our line of sight.”

“Mycelium?”

How did that have anything to do with the Silent Order?

The difference between mycelium and their previous abilities was way too absurd. Was it really an ability of the Hermit pathway?

Ignis seemed to perceive Celia's confusion and frowned slightly as well.

“Yes, we also find it strange. There are absolutely no records of such a bizarre ability from the Second Epoch; it's as if it appeared out of thin air. Of course, in the Third Epoch—our current era—many inexplicable phenomena have occurred, and there are events far stranger than this, so it's not that surprising.”

“In short, the prevailing view is still that it is one of the high-rank abilities of the Hermit pathway.”

But thinking about it carefully, the Beyonder she encountered on her way back probably didn't have this kind of ability. After all, Celia hadn't seen them use it from start to finish.

Therefore, Celia didn't dwell on it. She steered the conversation back on track.

“Then, could you tell me more about their concealment and mirror-related abilities?”

Ignis pondered for a moment before replying:

“Well, we don't know much about this, but I can explain some of the most basic abilities. For instance, with concealment, they should be able to hide their form for a long time. However, this concealment is not absolute; they must leave behind sound, scent, or some other trace of interaction with the outside world, or they would truly disappear completely.”

“Furthermore, this is only visual invisibility. Their physical body still exists and can still be touched. They will be forced to reveal themselves when they are attacked or when they attack others, and they won't be able to enter invisibility again for a period of time.”

“As for the mirror aspect, they can swap places with their reflection in a mirror. Their physical body enters the mirror while an illusory body takes the place of the original physical body. Simply put, it allows them to briefly enter an intangible state, and after swapping back, they need a certain time interval before they can use this ability again.”

It matches. It all matches...

No wonder footsteps could be heard on the ground, and no wonder they left after she shot at them. They had likely already used their intangibility ability once and couldn't afford to take another hit...

But this left Celia with an even deeper doubt.

Why didn't they attack her, instead wasting an intangibility ability? They clearly had plenty of opportunities.

The strange dripping sound, the eerie nursery rhyme, and the final footsteps... Did they do all of this simply to scare her?

Strange. Extremely strange...

But Celia didn't ask further. She planned to consult her Notes of Destiny when she got back, as Ignis might not necessarily know everything.

Her notebook required spiritual fluctuations to be activated. Based on her observations during this period, each spiritual item only had one chance to activate the notebook. Therefore, she had kept the copper mirror she stole from Vincent and placed it in her room.

After bidding Ignis farewell, Celia turned to leave.

Just then, Ignis suddenly called out to her again:

“Oh, by the way, we've arranged for several guards to protect you from the shadows during this period. Don't worry, they know their boundaries. They will avoid your private space and will absolutely not intrude on your privacy.”

After a brief pause, she added, “They will arrive tomorrow.”

Celia hesitated for a moment before nodding slightly.

This meant they probably wouldn't spy on whatever minor actions she did in her room. It seemed she could pretend to be inside in the future and slip out through the window.

After thanking Ignis, Celia quickly left the monastery. Passing through the pathway, she arrived at a main street.

The surroundings were still quiet—weirdly quiet. Only the occasional clanging of a blacksmith's shop echoed from afar.

As she walked further, the crowd thinned out again. Even though there was sunlight at the intersection ahead, it felt inexplicably gloomy to Celia, as if shrouded in darkness.

Atop a distant stone wall, an ominous raven perched, quietly watching her.

Celia knew that person had returned...

Dammit, why so fast? They didn't even give her any time to prepare!

Footsteps echoed behind her once again.

Her heart tightening, Celia quickly drew her hand crossbow. She pretended to walk forward, preparing to wait for the target to get close.

Only this time, the sound maintained a constant distance behind her, neither rushing nor lagging.

No matter how Celia changed her pace, the distance between the footsteps and herself remained exactly the same.

What was going on this time? Why wasn't the other party closing in like before?

Celia suddenly felt a sense of bizarreness, along with a trace of unease from losing control of the situation.

As she continued forward, the footsteps behind her remained unchanged. Even their rhythm seemed fixed, striking her tight nerves beat by beat, leaving her both anxious and terrified.

What was going on? Did the other party plan to just wear her down?

But what benefit would that bring them?!

Could it be that they really weren't trying to kill her? Then what was their goal?

No matter what, her goal this time was to take them down!

Since the other party was determined to keep their distance, if she attacked rashly like last time, there was a high probability they would dodge the bolt. Even if they didn't, they could simply use their intangibility ability and escape like before. Celia wanted to end this incident as quickly as possible.

So, what should she do?

Her avatar was currently unconscious, so she couldn't launch a direct sneak attack...

As for Dominion, her ability required her to have seen the target's physical body beforehand to control them. But this person was constantly hiding their form, which made things difficult.

Furthermore, there was no one around for her to control...

Wait... speaking of Dominion, did she have to control a human? Would it work if she controlled animals instead?

Conveniently, she remembered there was a raven perched on the stone wall ahead.

She tried to direct her mind toward it, but it didn't budge.

What was wrong? If she could control humans, animals should be a piece of cake... Let's try again.

She then tried to control a white pigeon on the eaves to her front right. The pigeon suddenly twisted its neck and looked in the direction she designated.

It worked!

That made things much easier!

The footsteps behind her rang out again. Guided by the proximity of the sound, Celia got a rough sense of the target's position.

She controlled the white pigeon to stealthily circle behind the person... then aimed at his approximate position and had it dive-bomb him!

The person didn't seem to expect an attack from a white pigeon. Caught off guard, his figure suddenly materialized.

It was a man cloaked in a mantle. Having just been struck by the pigeon, he looked around in bewilderment.

Seizing this opportunity, Celia whipped around. First, she used her Dominion ability to briefly control the man's mind, then raised her hand crossbow and fired at his position!

Jostled by the pigeon and with his mind momentarily controlled, the man had barely recovered when a bolt arrived right before his eyes!

Unable to dodge in time, the man could only use his intangibility ability, allowing the bolt to pass right through his body.

Boom! The bolt immediately exploded behind him.

The figure rippled like a reflection in water before quickly solidifying.

Seeing both of his abilities neutralized, Celia prepared to press her advantage.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Several bolts were fired, but not a single one hit. The man even stared blankly in her direction, not making the slightest effort to dodge.

Celia: “...”

But this man was also strange. After being forced to reveal himself, he completely stopped moving, standing there like a dumb target without her even needing to use her Dominion ability again.

Did he just give up? Or was he acting as target practice for her crossbow?

Still, Celia took her time. She lined up her aim slightly to ensure nothing would go wrong before firing off several more bolts.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Several muffled sounds of bolts tearing into flesh echoed from not far away, immediately followed by a violent explosion.

As the smoke slowly cleared, the man lay sprawled on the ground, blasted beyond recognition into a bloody mess.

Seeing this, Celia breathed a slight sigh of relief.

He must be dead now... she thought.

Turning around, Celia prepared to leave.

But right then, a bizarre laugh suddenly echoed behind her, sending shivers down her spine.

“Ha... Hahaha...”

Celia whipped around, shocked to find that the man had actually stood back up.

Half of his face had already been blown away, exposing the pale bone beneath. Yet his sole remaining eye flashed with a sinister light.

What was going on?!

Was this also an ability of the Hermit pathway? No, that couldn't be right...

A chill instantly spread through Celia's heart, and she felt the surrounding air grow much colder.

“Caw! Caw!”

Just then, the caw of a raven drifted down from above, echoing across the wide, empty street.

Accompanying the raven's caws, the man laughed even more wildly and maniacally, like a demon.

Hearing this wild laughter, Celia felt only bizarreness, absurdity, and dread. She instinctively raised her hand crossbow and fired at the man.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The bolts exploded once more. Amidst the splashing flames, half of the man's body was blown to pieces, yet he stood up again, swaying as if nothing had happened.

He was still laughing.

Her heart gradually filling with fear, Celia no longer cared about anything else. She continuously reloaded and fired, reloaded and fired!

Boom, boom, boom! Boom, boom, boom! Boom, boom, boom!

Ear-splitting explosions echoed relentlessly across this dead, silent land, even leaving a ringing in Celia's ears.

She held her hand crossbow with trembling hands, her entire body shaking with fear.

Yet, as the smoke slowly cleared, a charred skeleton was revealed inside, still standing perfectly upright!

“Hahaha... Hahahaha...”

Gradually, Celia could no longer tell where the laughter was coming from. She only felt her entire body shivering, consumed by dread...

By now, the man—who had become a skeleton—had somehow produced a palm-sized, grayish-white clay pot printed with a skull pattern. A strange black substance was continuously spilling from it.

Suddenly, he slowly tilted the pot, and countless plumes of black smoke billowed out...

Celia suddenly felt her vision blur. When she opened her eyes again, there was nothing in front of her.

The skeleton and the clay pot had completely vanished...

It was as if everything that had just happened had never occurred at all.