Volume 5, Chapter 3: Foxfire and Shadows
Days passed.
The ruined village was rebuilding, and among the ashes stood the fox girl, her golden eyes burning with resolve.
> "If I'm going to survive… I have to become stronger," she whispered.
Her aura flickered small flames of foxfire surrounding her hands. It was weak, unstable, but growing.
The Ex's Darkness
Far away, her ex-lover once proud, now corrupted stood before an ancient altar. His voice dripped with malice.
> "The world that cast me aside will kneel. Even she will watch me ascend."
Dark mana poured from his hands, forming black wolves and crimson sigils in the air. He had begun to merge his soul with the remnants of a cursed beast the Wolf King of Vathra, a creature thought long extinct.
The Watcher in the Crowd
In a nearby city, Cael, under his alias "Arden Vale," leaned against a market wall, watching traders shout prices. His hood covered his eyes, but his thoughts were sharp.
> "Selene, the girl's foxfire is awakening," he murmured.
"Her potential could attract her ex… and others."
> "Do you plan to intervene again?" Selene asked softly from his shadow.
> "Not yet," Cael said. "Money, resources, balance… that's my priority.
Heroes and villains are just tools. Even she."
He smiled faintly, tossing a coin pouch to a passing orphan payment to spread coded messages through the underground.
The Ambush
That night, the fox girl was ambushed by the Wolf King's cultists. She fought hard, her foxfire forming shields and blades, but she was outnumbered.
When the final strike was about to land, a single slash of invisible force cut through the air.
Every enemy froze then fell in silence.
> "W-who… did that?" she whispered.
Only a faint shimmer remained a shadow flickering on the ground, then vanishing into the wind.
> "A shadow that protects," she said quietly, clutching her chest.
"Why does this feel… familiar?"
The Hidden Monarch
From the city rooftops, Cael watched her through the fog.
> "She remembers fragments," Selene murmured.
"The more you protect her, the closer she'll get to the truth."
> "Let her remember in time," Cael replied.
"For now, she grows strong. Her revenge will draw out greater threats… and through them, I will profit."
The foxfire burned brighter in the distance.
The shadows deepened.
And the Absolute Atomic Sovereign moved unseen shaping fate without ever stepping into its light.