Another month drifted by. Eros let out a long, centered breath as he felt the revitalized power coursing through his veins.

  Finally, he had fully recovered. Magical backlash was truly a nightmare to deal with; it had taken three whole months of recuperation to get back to his peak.

  Barbara, however, remained unimpressed. "That was a Divine Art," she noted nonchalantly. "If it were anyone else—even a Transcendent—they would have been instantly incinerated. The fact that you’re still breathing is a miracle in itself."

  Eros clicked his tongue. Divine Arts... truly terrifying things.

  Sensing the surging spirituality within him, Eros felt a restless itch for action. He glanced at the night sky through the window, then turned to Undine. "I'm going out for a stroll. I've been stuck without being able to use my spirituality for months; I'm about to go stir-crazy!"

  Before Undine could even protest, his left eye had already turned into a light-swallowing void. He stepped forward and vanished directly into the shadows.

  This was Barbara’s power. According to her, at her peak, she was the Sovereign of Shadows, the one who held authority over the dark! Even in her weakened state, bypassing the Academy's detection arrays through shadow-leaping was child’s play.

  Eros hopped from one architectural shadow to another, rapidly putting distance between himself and the dorms. Soon, he emerged outside the Academy gates. Looking back at the massive entrance, he was genuinely surprised. "That was fast!"

  Indeed, a trip that usually took quite a while on foot had been completed in a dozen leaps, all while remaining completely undetected.

  "If I recover further," Barbara said with a hint of disdain, "I could take you directly into the Shadow Realm." Eros knew she wasn't talking about his family's private realm, but the "Reflection of the World" itself—the true Shadow Realm from which his ancestors had "clipped" their own pocket dimension.

  As he moved further from the Academy, he noticed the skill orb representing [Divine Art: Nature's Shelter] glowing with increasing intensity in his soul. Is the second passive triggered?

  This was the first time since acquiring the skill that he had felt it activate, likely because he was finally out in the wild instead of being cooped up at home or school. This was his strongest state—two powerful buffs active at once.

  Feeling the tempestuous power within, Eros lamented, "Why aren't there any blind evil spirits or cultists jumping out tonight to test my skills?"

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  Barbara’s lips curled into a smirk. "Your wish is my command."

  Eros froze. Wait, really? There’s actually someone? "Where?"

  "Three kilometers ahead. There are four people. Two of them... you will find very interesting."

  Intrigued by her mysterious tone, Eros didn't hesitate. He began stealthily moving toward the coordinates. He wasn't worried about safety; if Barbara hadn't warned him of danger, it meant his current strength was more than enough to handle it.

  Elsewhere, beneath the canopy of trees.

  Natalia Romonss, her vibrant red hair flowing and her figure elegant, looked at her daughter with a mix of shock and wonder. It had only been a month since they last met, but her daughter had noticeably... rounded out.

  Sensing her mother's scrutinizing gaze on her body, Ayesha Romonss (disguised as "Thomas") gritted her teeth in silent fury.

  It was all that pervert's fault! Every single day, he forced her to eat out with him, and every single meal, he compelled her to finish a three-person portion. In just one month, she had gained a significant amount of weight.

  Sensing her daughter’s shame, Natalia cleared her throat. "It seems I don't need to ask how your time at the Academy has been going."

  Ayesha pouted. She wanted to say she was miserable. She wanted to scream that a weirdo was stalking her. But she composed herself and got down to business. "Mother, I have successfully located the Forbidden Object."

  The thin, gaunt man standing beside them, who had been silent until now, asked urgently, "Where is it?"

  "It’s currently in the Containment Room. The Church people seem to be trying to crack its seal."

  The other man present, a stocky individual, looked tense. "Have they discovered anything?"

  Ayesha shook her head, looking troubled. "I can't be sure. The Containment Room is guarded by Sacristans of the Three Churches. Without permission from the Deans, no one gets in."

  A frontal assault? Sacristans were Sequence 6 professionals, and there were rumors of Transcendent-level powerhouses sitting in the Academy. Not to mention the Holy Artifacts. A direct attack by their small group would be a suicide mission.

  The group fell into a grim silence. Natalia looked unwilling to give up. "Are we really going to abandon this?"

  The stocky man sighed. "Unless Ayesha gets a chance to enter the room legally, or the Order sends high-ranking members to assist, we’re not getting it back."

  The thin man’s eyes suddenly darted around as a plan formed. "Hey, haven't the Churches in the capital been hunting a 'Night Remnant' for the past two days? Do you think we could use that?"

  The stocky man stroked his chin. "You want Ayesha to join the hunt?"

  "Exactly. If she manages to kill that Night Remnant, the Church—following its usual rewards system—will likely let her into the Containment Room to pick an item as a reward."

  "That’s a brilliant idea!" the thin man said, his face lighting up with excitement.

  "But how strong is this Night Remnant?" Natalia asked, voicing her concern. "And we don't even know where they are hiding."

  Silence fell again. If the target was far stronger than them, they were walking into a trap. Finally, the thin man said, "We don't have many options. Let's try it. If things look bad, Ayesha can always abandon the mission to save herself."

  They all nodded in agreement.

  Just as they reached a consensus, a voice suddenly drifted down from a nearby tree.

  "Um, cough, cough... Sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering... could you tell me more about this 'Night Remnant' being hunted?"