Land of Shadow, Shadow City.
After what felt like an eternity of slumber, the golden-haired knight slowly opened her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling above her.
Strange... Where is this? Why am I here...?
Sitting up, she rubbed her temples, her consciousness gradually sharpening as fragments of memory resurfaced.
"Lloyd..."
Her body tensed, teeth gritting as she forced out the name.
But before the bitterness of betrayal could fully take hold, something felt off.
Wait... this place—
Lifting her head to look around, she realized she wasn't in the prison cell she'd expected, but in a clean, well-kept guest room. There were no restraints on her body. She was dressed instead in a soft, comfortable nightgown, and she felt no pain or weakness at all.
What... is going on?
Staring blankly at her surroundings, Leda's expression wavered in confusion.
If Lloyd had betrayed her, she shouldn't be in a place like this. But if he hadn't, then what was that last scene she remembered...?
Creak—
Just as she struggled to piece it together, the sound of a doorknob turning broke the silence.
A blonde woman wearing an eyepatch stepped into the room.
Hearing the door open, Leda instinctively tried to lie back down and feign sleep, but she was still groggy and too slow to react.
"Oh? You're awake."
The woman entered, a faint blush still lingering on her cheeks as she casually straightened her slightly disheveled clothes.
"He had some matters to take care of, so he asked me to look after you... You can call me Chaos."
"He...?"
"Lloyd."
Chaos pulled a chair to the bedside, sat down, and clasped her hands in front of her, her expression calm and gentle—almost harmless.
"He was here not long ago. If you'd woken a bit earlier, you might've caught him before he left. Unfortunately, just before you came to, he was assigned another task. He left only moments ago. It might be a while before he returns..."
A brief silence hung between them. Leda's gaze settled on the blonde woman's face, her single visible eye calm behind the eyepatch.
"What's your relationship with him?"
"Hmm... I suppose you could call us kin?"
"...Not just kin, right?"
Leda's tone sharpened slightly. She could still smell Lloyd's scent on the woman—strong, unmistakable—and the faint blush on her cheeks hadn't completely faded. There was no way they were only "kin."
Chaos simply smiled, offering no answer.
Though Leda found her strange—and admittedly wanted to know more about her connection with Lloyd—she had bigger concerns right now. Seeing Chaos wasn't going to elaborate, she decided to drop it.
"Then can you at least tell me what's going on?"
She pressed a hand to her temple.
"I can't remember how I got here. My armor and sword are missing too..."
Chaos shook her head slightly. "He didn't tell me the details, so I can't explain much either."
Then, with a small smile, she added, "But he said if you woke up while he was gone, you could wait here until he returned to talk. And if you wanted to go for a walk, I could accompany you... just not anywhere near armor or weapons."
"I see."
Leda nodded thoughtfully.
"Then I'd like to go out for a bit... Do you have anything else for me to wear? I can't exactly walk around in a nightgown."
"I'll find something for you."
Chaos rose from her chair, turning to leave.
But the moment she turned her back, Leda's eyes suddenly sharpened. The drowsy confusion vanished from her face in an instant. She sprang from the bed, lunging toward Chaos in a blur of motion.
She didn't know where she was, but she wasn't the type to let someone else decide her fate.
Confident she could take down this seemingly harmless woman and use her as leverage, Leda reached out—
Chaos turned her head.
Not just a glance—her neck twisted a full one hundred and eighty degrees, like a broken doll.
"Hmm. He did mention your mental state wasn't too stable. Seems he was right..."
The voice was eerily calm.
Even Leda froze for a moment, her blood running cold.
Before she could act again, Chaos's face opened its eyes.
But not the ones in her eye sockets.
"Sorry, miss, but I don't like being touched by anyone other than him."
The blindfold over Chaos's eyes remained perfectly in place.
Yet beneath it, her cheeks, lips, and the bridge of her nose began to swell—small lumps of flesh bulging outward, quickly growing and then splitting open into countless eyes.
Or rather... into clusters of rotting, madness-infected grapes.
The instant those "grapes" opened, Leda froze where she stood. In the next heartbeat, the madness sealed within those eyes leapt across their gaze, piercing her spirit and flooding her mind. The insanity ignited within her like fire.
"Ah—!"
The flames of madness burst through her body. Leda fell to her knees, clutching her face as if her very soul were burning, screaming in agony.
As soon as she collapsed, the phantom "grapes" on Chaos's face faded away.
Chaos watched her writhe for a few seconds, then turned her head toward the maid-dressed jester who had suddenly appeared beside her.
"What are you doing here?"
"Nothing much. Just watching."
Elizabeth lowered her gaze to the writhing Leda, then looked back up at Chaos. After giving her a slow, critical once-over, she glanced down at her own body and clicked her tongue.
"Mine's clearly bigger, and softer too. So how come he spends so much time with you, but barely a minute with me?"
Having seen what was happening in Leda's room, Elizabeth couldn't help but feel that life was terribly unfair.
Chaos's expression shifted slightly.
"Well, maybe it's because when someone demands that he tear flesh from the bone and eat it right in front of them... that's not exactly what you'd call play, is it?"
Elizabeth went quiet for a moment, then tilted her head defiantly.
"So it's fine for you to corrupt his essence instead?"
"Wasn't yours chained down too?"
The two traded jabs for a moment before Elizabeth sighed, cupping the two ample, jiggling "mounds" before her.
"Honestly, I used to be the most confident in this area... but somehow, I'm the one he avoids."
"Maybe try holding back a little? It's not like that part of you defines your essence. You might even enjoy it more."
"I've tried... but once I get carried away, I tend to forget."
Chaos looked at her thoughtfully, then offered, "How about this—when he gets back, we entertain him together. I'll help restrain you."
"Really? You'd help me?"
Elizabeth eyed her suspiciously. "You're not just looking for an excuse to get back at me, are you?"
"That was part of it," Chaos said without hesitation. Then, with a small smile, added, "But you don't exactly dislike this sort of thing. And since we'll be working together from now on, might as well get used to it."
Elizabeth thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Fine. I'll keep an eye on him and call him over once he's done."
With that, her figure vanished into thin air.
Chaos waited until she was gone, then lowered her gaze to the floor, where Leda had finally stopped screaming. Her breathing was ragged, but her mind had regained some clarity.
Bending down, Chaos leaned close and whispered softly in her ear.
"Do you still want to go out?"
After a long pause, a flicker of fear passed through Leda's eyes. She shook her head.
Chaos smiled faintly.
"Good. Then go back to bed and wait."
"Just like that pervert said—once he's finished with his work, she'll bring him here."
"All you have to do is wait."
...
On the other side.
Shadow City, underground.
Having just completed another batch of Witch-chan reincarnations, Lloyd stowed away the Crucible Fragment and stepped toward the newly reborn witches. After checking each of them carefully and confirming there were no issues, he nodded in satisfaction.
"Hmm. Everything looks fine."
Lloyd had been summoned by Messmer to help treat the witches.
When he and Leda had reached the Shadow Seal and begun speaking with the other side, the Flame Knight Medal in his inventory had suddenly started to tremble.
That was the signal they had agreed upon—once Messmer had prepared all the materials and ritual components needed for the witches' mass reincarnation, the medal would call Lloyd over.
So, after confirming that Miquella was indeed within the Shadow Seal and that he no longer needed Leda to guide him, Lloyd simply teleported her along with him—and then put her to sleep with hypnotic power.
It wasn't that he had any ill intent toward her. He just didn't have the time to explain everything while he was about to begin the reincarnation process.
Besides, seeing that Leda had barely rested while searching for Miquella these past few days, he figured the best thing he could do for her was let her sleep for real. By the time she woke up, his work would be finished, and he could explain everything then.
Yes—when Lloyd told her, "Get some good sleep first," he had meant exactly that. Nothing else.
After putting her under and asking Messmer for a room to keep her in, Lloyd headed straight here to begin the work. He completed the first batch of reincarnations, then, while waiting for the fragment's cooldown, stopped by Leda's room to check on her.
When he saw she was still asleep, he spent a brief moment with Chaos, who had been tasked with watching over her. Once that was done—and the fragment had cooled down again—Lloyd returned here to complete another round.
"At this rate," he said after finishing the next batch, "if you've got enough materials, we can wrap everything up within a day."
After making sure the new witches were stable, Lloyd found Messmer to update him and discuss their future placement.
"As you've seen," Messmer said, "the Land of Shadow has been torn apart by constant war. There's hardly any place left for them to live..."
"I did preserve the Numen Village. It's still as it was—untouched by the fighting. But I doubt they'd want to return there."
He paused before adding, "You've got quite a few Numen on your side, don't you? They'd probably prefer to live among their own kind. And going out into the wider world could help them recover mentally."
Lloyd considered it, then nodded.
"Alright. I'll check with the Black Knives about it. You talk to them here—if everyone agrees, I'll arrange the move."
Messmer nodded in return.
That settled that.
After finishing the discussion about the witches, Lloyd also brought up the Shadow Seal and Miquella.
"You want to use my fire seed?"
Messmer frowned at that.
Though he had been close with Godwyn and was willing to help where he could, this was one request he couldn't accept lightly.
The Fire Seed wasn't something he could just use at will. Like his sister, it demanded the sacrifice of his own life to ignite the Shadow Tree...
"You don't have to worry," Lloyd said. "That was just Leda's proposed solution. I never planned to use it."
"Then how do you plan to get inside?" Messmer asked, clearly puzzled.
Lloyd didn't answer right away. Instead, he turned his gaze to the side.
Moments later, a golden figure appeared, her expression dark and displeased.
"This whole system is rotten to the core. Fixing it would take more effort than rebuilding it from scratch. Just break it apart."
Compared to the Erdtree, the Shadow Tree was an inherently flawed imitation—an unhealthy "shadow." After being violently severed, it had shattered completely. Its laws and rules were in chaos, scattered everywhere. Alice didn't even need to look closely to know that repairing it would take far more effort than simply creating a new one.
Then she added quietly,
"What I mean is purely violent demolition—not burning it down with your flame. Otherwise... well, you know what I mean."
Lloyd understood perfectly and gave a simple nod, offering no objection.
Though the plan was set, he didn't depart right away. He was still overseeing the witches' reincarnations, and Leda's situation also needed attention.
After finishing their discussion about the Shadow Tree, Alice suddenly seemed to remember something. In a rare moment of initiative, she made a request of him.
"I've marked a location for you. Go there when you have the time."
She didn't explain why, and Lloyd didn't ask.
Once their conversation ended and the fragment's cooldown was nearly over, Lloyd returned underground to complete another batch of reincarnations.
This time, after the process ended and he was about to find a place to rest while waiting for the next cooldown, Elizabeth appeared.
"She's awake," she said.
Lloyd nodded and followed her to the room where Leda was. There, he found her sitting in bed, wrapped tightly in her blanket, curled up against the wall—like someone trying to vanish into herself.
But upon entering, Lloyd didn't speak to her immediately. His gaze first fell on Chaos, who was standing beside the bed. He gave her a small nod.
"Thanks for taking care of her."
Chaos stood, walked over to him, and with a faint smile pressed a finger to his lips.
"You shouldn't say things like that, dear."
"Between us, there's no such thing as 'trouble' or 'favor'..."
"I'm just being polite."
Lloyd reached up and lightly pinched her cheek before continuing, "I'd like to talk with her for a while."
"Alright. I'll wait outside."
Chaos nodded, then stood on her toes to give him a light kiss before leaving the room with a smile.
Once the door closed, leaving only the two of them, Lloyd walked to Leda's bedside and sat down in the chair Chaos had just vacated.
"How was your sleep?"
"...Terrible."
Leda lifted her head, her expression tangled and uncertain as she looked at him.
"Who are you really? And why did you do this to me..."
Lloyd didn't answer right away. Instead, before her eyes, he summoned two flowers—one purple, one gold—and held them in his hands, gently rolling them between his fingers.
"I am Trina's 'Oathsworn King,' and also the chosen 'King' of Seriel—Malenia's chosen one."
The words fell into the room like stones into still water, and silence followed.
Leda stared at the twin flowers glowing softly beside him. Her lips parted slightly, but no sound came out.
Wait... that means...
After a long pause, she finally found her voice.
"Then Lord Miquella..."
"I'll bring him back," Lloyd said simply.
"The explanation's complicated. I'd have to convince you I'm telling the truth, find ways to prove it, guard against betrayal... and all that would only waste time. So I chose a quicker method."
"But I can promise you this—we're not enemies. And I have no intention of hurting you. I just didn't want things to get messy."
"That's all."
A long silence filled the room before a quiet sigh broke it.
"Never thought I'd live to see the day someone called me a burden..."
Leda gave a small, self-mocking laugh, then met his eyes again.
"I believe you."
"Or maybe... I just don't have any other choice."
"A smart choice."
Lloyd nodded, then reached out and tousled her golden hair.
"Alright. Don't worry. Once I'm finished here, I'll go find Miquella. You just rest for now."
"...Alright."
She nodded, then hesitated. Her gaze flicked toward the door as a certain blonde figure crossed her mind.
"Um... one more thing. The woman you left to watch over me—she is...?"
"She's Frenzied Flame."
Silence.
"...The Frenzied Flame Maiden?"
"No. The Frenzied Flame itself. Not a messenger."
Dead quiet.
Leda looked at Lloyd, then at the door. Memories of the pain she'd felt earlier surfaced—along with the faint, almost gentle voice she'd heard amid it.
Her mind went blank.
"No, I mean... the Frenzied Flame, and that maid—those two..."
"The maid? You mean Elizabeth? You should know her too. Out there, people usually call her the Formless Mother.
Now she's... well, my maid, I suppose."
Leda went completely silent.
After confirming she was stable and there was nothing more to discuss, Lloyd stood and left the room.
Judging by the time, the fragment's cooldown should almost be over. He ought to head back soon...
Hm?
Just after closing the door behind him, Lloyd sensed something wasn't right.
"What exactly are you two planning?"
Chaos and Elizabeth stood on either side of him, closing in with matching smiles. Lloyd frowned, puzzled. They didn't reply—just kept smiling as they slowly drew near.
Then—
A system prompt appeared before his eyes.
[Special Domain: ???]
[???: In this battle, neither side can inflict damage on the other. HP will be replaced with a special Sanity Gauge, which can only be reduced through specific means.]
[Hint: A large treasure chest lies ahead—requires both hands to open.]
[It's time to speak.]