The Chasm – The Inverted City Ruins.
Lumine, Paimon, and Yelan followed Nolan's gaze to look at the dark red orb below them.
"What is that?" Paimon asked, touching her cheek curiously.
"The final leyline breach is right here. But it seems someone beat us to it.
"No telling if this energy overflow is their doing or not."
As Nolan spoke, he gathered Anemo energy in his hand, forming a wind projectile and hurling it toward the dark red orb below.
The green wind blast swept through the red orb—whose material was unknown—like tearing through a curtain, lifting it away in an instant.
Once the dark red "curtain" was stripped away, two towering crimson figures were revealed beneath it.
They resembled hilichurls in that they had roughly humanoid forms, but their appearance was entirely different.
Their heads looked like they were encased in dark helmets, with eyes shaped like sculpted diamond crystals.
Their necks and arms glowed with searing red heat, and behind them hovered a deep red halo.
With all these details combined, Nolan quickly recalled what these creatures were.
If he remembered correctly, they were among the stronger classes of Abyssal creatures—
Abyss Lectors!
Nolan instinctively activated his golden Eye of Judgment to inspect them:
[Level: 91]
[Level: 92]
Two Abyssal monsters above level ninety appearing at a leyline breach leaking energy—it was hard not to link the black mud incident with the Abyss Order.
He remembered that the Abyss Order had done something in The Chasm involving an apparatus designed to amplify the suppressive effects of the inverted city ruins—effects that weakened the "Curse of Immortality."
They were trying to restore those Khaenri'ah people who had already become monsters.
And that kind of device surely required energy. Probably a lot of it.
In The Chasm, leyline energy was likely the only power source they could tap into freely.
Nolan speculated that these two Abyss Lectors were here precisely to collect leyline energy from this breach.
"Hah, can't tell if we're lucky or unlucky—we just stumbled onto a big catch,"
Yelan said with a smirk as she looked down at the Lectors.
If she were alone and ran into something like this out in the wild, she'd vanish without a word. But with Nolan and Lumine beside her...
Well, tough luck for the monsters.
"Who goes there?!"
The two Abyss Lectors, who had been secretly siphoning leyline energy, were suddenly interrupted by Nolan's group and let out a shout.
"Fathomless Flames, take a closer look—that girl with the golden hair... isn't she His Highness's kin?"
The Lector on the left suddenly shouted this to the other.
"His Highness's kin?"
The other Abyss Lector looked at Lumine in confusion.
Nolan and his group landed a fair distance in front of the two Lectors. Upon hearing their words, Paimon gasped and said in shock:
"Kin... So you do know Lumine's brother, don't you?! Where is he?!"
Lumine had heard before that her brother was considered some kind of Abyssal prince—but she had never had a direct opportunity to confront any higher-ups in the Abyss Order.
She had hoped that would be the key to finding him.
Now, hearing these two monsters speak as if they were close to her brother—
Lumine had a sudden, burning urge to demand answers about his whereabouts.
"Hmph. Do you think you have the right to speculate about the Prince's location? Still, for the sake of His Highness's kin, we'll give you one chance to flee."
The Abyss Lector named Fathomless Flames declared arrogantly.
"Ugh, you jerk! What kind of attitude is that?! It's infuriating!" Paimon, her crown bobbing angrily, stomped her foot and looked to Nolan and Lumine.
"Forget talking—let's beat them to a pulp and then get answers out of them!"
"Torture for intel, huh? Paimon's sounding kinda villainous now," Nolan said with a faint smile.
"When dealing with those who don't know their place, you sometimes need... alternative methods. I support Paimon,"
Yelan nodded in agreement.
She herself occasionally had to tie up and interrogate suspects for intel—after all, they always tried to weasel their way out of heavier sentences.
"So arrogant! Seems we'll have to teach you a lesson!"
Fathomless Flames was furious. These humans were talking so casually about torturing them for information?
Did they think Abyssal creatures were made of clay?
Rage flared in his heart. He raised both hands, channeling the Abyssal power within him, and summoned a massive fireball above his head with searing flames.
This fireball burned with a dark red hue, as if it could incinerate the entire world.
"Not on my watch!"
Seeing the Abyssal creature preparing to attack, Lumine immediately entered her "Abyss Princess" state.
Her pale golden eyes turned cold as she raised her hand and invoked her authority—disrupting Fathomless Flames's control over Abyssal energy!
Just as Fathomless Flames prepared to hurl the fireball toward them, he suddenly realized that his control over the Abyssal flames was slipping!
Startled, he quickly focused all his attention on stabilizing the energy—if he lost control now,
The fireball would explode right above his own head and tear him apart!
"Hey, Fathomless Flames, what's going on?"
The Lector to the left sensed something wrong when his companion didn't throw the fireball.
"Don't distract me!"
Fathomless Flames gritted his teeth, forcing himself to concentrate and maintain his grip on the Abyssal power.
Lumine, on her side, was starting to feel some strain. Although she possessed the authority to interfere with Abyssal power, the strength of that interference was still tied to her own power.
Currently at level 86, she was still quite far behind Fathomless Flames, who was level 92—so naturally, it was difficult for her to maintain control.
"Now's our chance!"
Paimon seized the moment, activating her skill to summon a phantom lollipop and hurled it straight at the Abyss Lector's face.
(T/N: I forget the attribute skill Nolan granted her, if you still remember do tell me)
Since obtaining skill from Nolan, Paimon had leveled up from level 2 to level 22.
That was more than enough to deal with common monsters and Treasure Hoarders.
But against a level-90-plus Abyss Lector, she was still a bit outclassed.
Still, perhaps because the Lector couldn't dodge at the moment, her lollipop phantom surprisingly landed squarely on its face.
There was a loud "smack!"—but the lollipop simply shattered into several pieces, dealing no significant damage.
"You insolent wretch! How dare you humiliate me like this?!"
Apparently, the Abyss Lector had a very strong sense of pride. The moment it saw Paimon attack it with a lollipop, it flew into a rage.
Its mind instantly formulated a way to retaliate.
But that brief lapse in focus caused its control over the Abyssal energy to falter just a bit.
That's when Lumine struck—seizing the moment and unleashing her full power to interfere through her authority!
In the blink of an eye, that moment of distraction caused the Lector known as Fathomless Flames to completely lose control of the fireball.
"Damn it!"
Without any stabilizing force, the fireball immediately began to swell—and the two Abyss Lectors had no time to dodge.
BOOM!
With a deafening explosion, the massive fireball detonated on the spot, engulfing them in blazing flames!
"Damn it all!"
The two Lectors cursed under their breath. Fortunately, they had strong resistance to Pyro. Even taking the blast directly, they managed to endure it.
But even so, the sheer force of the explosion left them dizzy and disoriented, unable to mount an effective counterattack.
Nolan saw the perfect opening.
He summoned massive, semi-transparent tentacles and slammed them down toward the two Abyssal monsters!
A fusion of psychic and physical attacks hit them with a thunderous smack, driving them straight into the ground.
Nolan didn't see a system prompt indicating they'd been defeated, which meant they were still alive.
So he kept hammering them with invisible threads!
At the same time, he summoned an "Lumine's Sword God" clone to watch over the surroundings in his stead, ensuring the Abyssal monsters couldn't escape without pursuit.
"Enough!"
Though the temporary setback hadn't caused major damage, taking that many hits pushed the two Lectors to their limits.
They finally erupted with powerful energy, blasting away the psychic tentacles that restrained them!
Just as they began channeling Abyssal power to wield flames and counterattack Nolan and the others—
That sensation—of someone watching over them—returned.
The "Lumine's Sword God" clone struck instantly, giving them no time to retaliate. The golden rapier slashed toward their heads in a flash.
"Damn humans!"
These two Abyss Lectors had focused more on cultivating their minds, and their physical prowess was comparatively weaker—especially compared to Nolan.
They barely managed to dodge the first strike, only to find a second one already incoming!
Unable to dodge, they quickly raised an Abyssal flame shield to defend themselves.
The tiny shield clashed against the golden rapier—and, unsurprisingly, was sliced right through. The blade was heading straight for Fathomless Flames's neck.
Just then, a black longsword suddenly appeared—intercepting the "Lumine's Sword God" clone's attack in a flash.
With a sharp vibration, the released sword aura forced the clone to retreat, saving the Abyss Lectors from a fatal blow.
"Oh?"
Nolan looked toward the unexpected newcomer who had suddenly intervened and stood protectively before the two Abyss Lectors, his expression filled with surprise.
Golden short hair, a build similar to Lumine's, a black one-handed sword in hand, and a weathered, melancholic expression on his face.
Wasn't this the very person they had been searching forAether?
"Huh? Could he be…" Paimon murmured. Though she had never met Lumine's brother before, his clothing style and hair color were nearly identical to hers.
And the fact that he'd just saved two Abyssal monsters—it was hard not to make the connection.
"The Abyss Order's 'Prince,' huh?" Yelan folded her arms and stared at the boy who had suddenly appeared.
"Your Highness, forgive us for the trouble,"
The two Abyss Lectors knelt on one knee before the person who had saved them, bowing their heads in respect.
"No need for that. The Order can't afford to lose you right now."
The golden-haired youth, addressed as Your Highness, glanced over his shoulder and shook his head slightly.
Powerhouses like these two Abyss Lectors were rare even within the Abyss Order. For the sake of their greater plan, they couldn't be allowed to fall here without good reason.
It would be too great a waste. So when he saw they were in danger, he had no choice but to step in and rescue them.
"...Hah." With a sigh, Aether turned his gaze forward, meeting the eyes of the dazed, speechless golden-haired girl.
"It's been a long time, Lumine."
"Brother… it really is you." At the sound of the golden-haired boy's voice, Lumine was certain—the person standing before her was her brother.
She took a step forward, emotions surging, and asked urgently:
"After the god took you away, what happened to you? Why… why are you with the Abyss Order?!"
Aether didn't answer her right away. Instead, he glanced at the two Abyss Lectors behind him.
They understood his intention at once and used the "Spatial Transmission Network" to open a circular portal and stepped through it.
Aether then turned and walked toward the portal. Just before entering, he looked back and said:
"Lumine, we'll meet again. But until then… don't do anything that stands in our way."
With that, he stepped through the portal and vanished.
"Brother!"
Lumine rushed forward, trying to catch him—but her mind was a storm of confusion, and before she could take even two full steps, the portal faded out of existence.
"What the—? He just left? What does he even mean by 'don't stand in their way'? This is the first time we've seen him! How were we in his way already?!"
Paimon threw up her hands in exasperation, then floated over to Lumine and gently patted her shoulder in comfort.
"You okay?"
Lumine shook her head slightly, saying nothing.
Paimon groaned and rubbed her temples, clearly unsure how to console someone who had just reunited with—and immediately lost—their brother. In the end, she turned to Nolan and snapped:
"Hey, you! Why didn't you stop them when they were leaving?!"
"Well, because I couldn't," Nolan replied with a helpless laugh.
Just now, his golden [Eye of Judgment] had shown him that Aether was level 100—six levels higher than himself, and very likely already stepped into the realm of Archons.
It wasn't that Nolan feared someone who had just become an Archon, but… he also didn't want to get into a conflict with his future brother-in-law.
Not to mention, Aether was the leader of the Abyss Order. His true strength probably wasn't that simple—he could have some hidden trump card.
If they fought, and he still managed to escape, then he'd just made himself a new enemy. And that was unnecessary.
"Alright, I'll let you off the hook this time," Paimon muttered, hands on her hips, giving Nolan a suspicious look. Then, with a puzzled frown, she added:
"Now that Paimon think about it, when Lumine's brother said 'don't stand in their way'—he was talking about the Abyss Order, wasn't he?
"What exactly are they trying to do? And why doesn't he want us to stop them?"
Nolan walked over to Lumine, smiling gently as he placed a hand on her golden hair and softly ruffled it.
"Yeah, that brother-in-law of mine sure doesn't like to explain things clearly. Makes it hard for us to act. Heh… I don't think they've gone far, though.
"Let's go find him again and ask him properly."
(End of Chapter)
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