“…What?”

Lazarus looked at the mirror before him, his thoughts frozen.

Raising his hand, he hoped to see something, but he was shocked to see that the mirror before him remained reflectionless.

“What sort of…?”

Licking his lips, Lazarus turned his attention elsewhere.

He moved towards the bathroom to check the mirror there, but…

“Here too?”

The bathroom mirror similarly lacked a reflection.

Shaaa!

He turned on the tap water and closed the sink, hoping to see some sort of reflection in the water, but that also brought no result.

His reflection…

It was completely gone.

‘How does this make any sense at all?’

Lazarus extended his hand, and a black cat appeared over his shoulder, staring intently at the water.

“Pebble, did you notice anything these past few days? Did something happen to me?”

“…No.”

Even Pebble looked confused as an owl materialized from out of thin air.

Fwap!

“I’ve also not noticed anything.”

“Even you?”

Owl-Mighty was extremely perceptive as a [Mind] type monster. For even Owl-Mighty to be unable to detect a single thing…

‘The situation might be a lot more serious than I originally anticipated.’

Lazarus’s face grew grim as he stared at the mirror and the water.

No matter how much he tried, his reflection would simply not return. It was gone.

Since when?

‘Could it be since I’ve returned from the Strait? But I don’t recall anything happening there…’

The most sensible option would be to ask An’as and see if he had experienced any changes. However, just as he was about to do so, a crab appeared from behind his shoulder.

It stared at the water for a few seconds before mumbling,

“How strange.”

Lazarus’s eyes jumped up at the sight of the crab.

He was still not used to seeing the crab. Following the incident back in the Temple, and bringing the crab over to the ship, the crab, or more like coral, decided to remain with them for the time being.

Something about it not being fully recovered from the incident, and being too far from its previous home.

…Several months had passed since then.

Surely it had recovered.

‘Not that I’m complaining since it’s quite useful.’

More than anything, he also found its name particularly strange. Wobbles was it? He didn’t really get it, but it was something that had given itself, so he could only accept it.

‘What terrible naming sense.’

“Did you notice anything?” Lazarus asked as he stared at the crab.

“No.”

The crab shook its body.

“This is the first time I’m seeing such a phenomenon. However, it does appear to be something that has occurred recently. And…”

Moving further up my shoulder, Wobbles waved its hand on the water as its reflection was similarly gone.

“I also seem to be affected by it.”

“What…”

It was true.

The only ones that appeared in the mirror were Pebble and Owl-Mighty.

Wobbles and I were both missing.

But how…?

“I believe this has something to do with what happened at the Temple.”

I licked my lips.

“But I could see my reflection until lately.”

“The same goes for me, but I didn’t go with you during your recent expedition. This could more likely be an aggravation of what had previously happened to us.”

“You’re right…”

The crab’s words had merit to them.

But then…

What exactly was going on?

Why was he missing his own reflection, and what exactly happened in the temple?

“I am of the belief that the rumors from before weren’t wrong. We have indeed been targeted by the great primordial one.”

“What…?”

It was as if the very breath had been sucked away from Lazarus’s lungs.

He opened his mouth to shake away the possibility, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he couldn’t.

This…

His mind raced as the description of the great primordial one flashed in his mind.

However…

“Huh?”

He blinked his eyes slowly.

“Why can’t I remember?”

Lazarus’s brows furrowed as he tried to recall the information he had read regarding the great primordial one. He could remember the most basic information. About where it resided, what it was, but at the same time…

He seemed to have forgotten about several other key aspects.

“Wait, what?”

Lazarus felt his chest tighten as a possibility occurred to him, and he tapped on his ring, retrieving a certain book.

[Xa’ruhl, the one who rests beneath]

He remembered distinctly reading this book before, and as his fingers flipped through the pages, they eventually fell onto a certain page.

———

Those who crossed paths with Xa’ruhl found themselves unable to recall its form, as though every trace of its appearance had been erased from their minds. It was as if they’d never encountered it at all. Only much later did the truth begin to surface. But by then, it was already too late.

———

“H-ha.”

Lazarus’s face tensed upon reading the passage.

All of a sudden…

Everything.

Everything started to make sense to him.

“The entire time… I had been under its influence.”

While he was already aware of the possibility, it never truly dawned on him. Mainly… because he had forgotten about such a key piece of information. It was as though it had been stripped from his mind.

That was why the thought never crossed his mind.

When it did, the notion of such a strong creature targeting him made no sense, and while things did seem a little off back then, he didn’t notice too much.

His memories of the incident had all been wiped out.

…But it became clear to him now.

Something had happened during the temple, and it had most likely come as a result of Sylas’s actions.

‘He must be the one behind everything.’

Lazarus was still unsure of the motivations that Sylas had in doing all of this, but he knew that he was planning something.

…And it wasn’t anything small.

“I must inform the others of the situation.”

Lazarus wasn’t the only one who had been affected on that day.

An’as and Anne had also been affected.

They… were all marked.

Lazarus didn’t waste a single moment and immediately moved out of his cabin, rushing up towards where the dock was located.

As the bright light from the white sun pierced through his eyes, and the long, gray white sky appeared, Lazarus saw another figure rushing out.

“An’as?”

As if sensing his gaze, An’as turned his head, his face pale.

Seeing his expression, Lazarus understood.

‘He must’ve also taken notice of the situation.’

An’as opened his mouth to say something, but Lazarus stopped him.

“Don’t worry. I understand. I’ve also noticed the situation. Let’s go talk with Anne about the situation. I’m also starting to realize why we didn’t notice any of the seven lords on our journey…”

It wasn’t as though the bounty had never been placed.

Far from it.

…It was mainly because those that came their way had most likely been disposed of, or never made it to them.

They were…

Xa’ruhl’s prey.

Nobody but it could touch us.

The thought made Lazarus’s body tense as he hastily looked around before spotting Anne standing by the bow of the ship. She looked lost in thought, her hair fluttering as she looked towards the distance.

Lazarus and An’as didn’t waste a second as they moved towards her.

However, just as they did…

Anne turned her head to face their direction.

“We’ve arrived.”

“Huh?”

“What…”

Anne stepped to the side, and it was then that the two of them noticed it.

The massive shadow that loomed in the distance and stretched throughout their entire vision.

“…We’ve reached the Remnant South.”

***

At the same time.

“Did any of you manage to get anything?”

“Well…”

Leon scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed look. Looking at Amell, he didn’t really know how to answer.

“I mean, we did manage to get something, but..”

“Here.”

Thud!

Kiera tossed a black piece of charcoal onto the ground, prompting Amell to stare at it speechlessly.

“This is?”

“Whatever is left of what we managed to get.”

“Wha…”

Amell glanced at Leon, who quickly turned his head away. Leon had no words… none that would make a difference, anyway. All he could do was fix his gaze on the surroundings, feigning indifference, as if distancing himself could somehow erase his presence from the moment.

“How many times does this make it?”

Amell looked at the charcoal piece before sighing.

He had long given up on expecting anything from Leon’s group. They always came back with pieces like this. Thankfully, the monsters his group managed to hunt were enough to feed everyone present.

Amell looked towards the makeshift camp they were in.

Tents were set up all over, while a large campfire stood in the middle.

Overall, the situation had stabilized quite a bit since their first days in the Red Zone. Although it was still far from great, it was manageable.

They were now able to get some proper sleep without needing to worry about getting ambushed every single second.

The tensions were also a lot lower, with everyone more relaxed and adept to their surroundings.

‘If things keep going, this might just end up being a breeze.’

Amell really thought things would proceed like this, but…

He ended up jinxing himself too early.

“Pack up your stuff.”

“What?”

Staring at Caius, who looked at everyone without much of an expression, Amell and the others looked at him in confusion.

But before anyone could voice out their concerns, Caius spoke,

“We can’t stay in the same place for too long. It’ll make us prime targets for the monsters. We need to keep moving every two days.”

“But—”

“This is the most basic information that we learn in our Empire. I’m sure everyone here has also learned it in the Academy.”

Although his words were met with quite a lot of protests, in the end, he wasn’t wrong. Everyone was somewhat aware of it, and all they could do was pack up their staff and leave.

“Where should we go?”

As they started to wonder about their next location, a figure appeared right above them, her hair fluttering.

“Huh?”

“Chancellor? Why are you…?”

The moment Delilah appeared, everyone grew tense.

Why was she here? Although they knew that she was supposed to accompany them, she wasn’t supposed to appear unless a large threat appeared.

Could it be…!?

“Don’t worry.”

Delilah landed softly onto the ground while staring in a certain direction.

“Since you’re moving, I’ll decide the next location for all of you.”

Her hand reached towards the space in front of her.

And then—

Riiiiiiiiiip!

Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, the very fabric of space before her ripped apart as she pulled it with her bare hands.

The cadets could only stare at the scene in shock as a portal appeared before them.

“Go.”

Delilah nudged them with her head.

“The next part of your trial is here.”