When there was about an hour left in the exam, Dagian Naveen noticed something amiss on the horizon.

A black shadow was growing like a calligraphy brush had drawn a blotted line of ink. As she watched, the stain on the horizon grew larger, dripping ever so slightly closer.

Dagian formed a mudra with her hands, circulated her prana, and summoned a minor ability of the emanation embodiment frame’s Garuda path to enhance her eyesight. Under that examination, it became clear that the expanding shadow was actually a dark forest.

It was quite the charming little thing. From the blackened ground, shadowy trunks grew in twisted spires towards the sky. They stretched out crooked limbs and bloomed with light-swallowing leaves. Black lily-like flowers dangled from their branches like bells.

“Nastaran, you’ve been working hard for some time now. How about a stroll to clear the mind?”

“What are you talking about? Those two bastards are still ahead of us!” Nastaran muttered, not glancing away from the hub. “Didn’t you want first place too?”

“Taking a step back will help you focus,” Dagian replied. “Furthermore, the gap between us and them won’t be closed by just a few moments’ attention.”

Nastaran grumbled.

“Okay, but let’s finish setting up this weather thing first. I want to stabilize our agricultural output and reduce the chance of floods. Ugh, when is Xander going to respond to our treaty request already? Did he get assassinated by those two again?”

Dagian came back to the hub and helped Nastaran establish a Weather Association for the territory, represented by a flying building that circled overhead. There were many options for what kinds of rituals it could perform, how it should split its authority with other government branches, and how it should resolve anomalous weather incidents. These decisions would affect how well it stabilized trading and agricultural conditions as well as its own political standing, determing the token bonus that it could yield.

At this stage, the simulation was growing quite complex. If the established infrastructure wasn’t managed correctly, the probability of civil strife — and consequently, the destruction of infrastructure and loss of token yield — would increase. Naturally, Dagian couldn’t allow that to happen.

Once they finished configuring the Weather Association, Dagian looked back out at the forest again.

It had expanded greatly to cover the neighboring territory’s hills in a curtain of thorny branches. Though the false sky within the Illusion Stage was set to daytime, it had dimmed; a hazy red moon had appeared over the forest like a mirage. The moon’s crimson light painted a matte gloss on the dark flowers before alighting to cast peculiar shadows on the ground, where the dark tendrils slowly crept ever outwards.

When they pressed against the border to Dagian’s territory, to her surprise, the border barrier didn’t obstruct it at all.

Dagian narrowed her eyes.

“Nastaran, let’s take a look now.”

Without waiting for an answer, she picked Nastaran up and flew her over to the forest edge.

Nastaran landed on the ground with a thump and a huff, combing her hair strands back into place. When she laid eyes on the forest, however, her words got stuck in her throat, and she rapidly scrambled back.

Dagian obligingly moved with her. “What’s wrong?”

“That’s the Nightmare Flower!”

Dagian looked at it curiously. “It seems rather large to be a flower.”

“Technically, it’s all one plant. Like how in aspen forests, the trees are all growing from the same root.” She glanced at Dagian. “Well, it’s not exactly a real flower, either. The Nightmare Flower is a cutting from the dark forest in the Unseelie Court’s reverse realm, so like most things of a fae nature, it’s more of a materialized concept than a living thing.”

“Is that why it’s able to modify the Illusion Stage’s terrain and pass through the barriers?”

“It must be. The Nightmare Flower can be ‘planted’ anywhere where there is a concept of ‘soil.’ I just don’t know why Rhoswen is crazy enough to plant this thing!”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Dagian, you don’t deal much with the fae in Kalarastriya, do you? Listen carefully. The Nightmare Flower is a dangerous parasite that grows by feeding on the blood and emotions of the things around it. The greater the negative emotions, the better it grows. The forest it forms is equivalent to a ritual ground for the Unseelie Court, especially relating to the Wild Hunt. It has the natural ability to agitate your emotions, pull you into nightmares, and submerge you into your unconsciousness until you can never wake up again.”

“Rhoswen is a nice girl,” said Dagian. “If she wanted to kill someone in the exam, she wouldn’t wait so long and use such an easy to dodge method. How long does it take for the Nightmare Flower to claim someone completely?”

“Seven days, but—”

“Ah, so it isn’t lethal at all for the duration of the exam. That’s fine then. Let me see about those illusions. I only need to stand within the forest boundaries, correct?”

Nastaran’s entire face scrunched like she’d just eaten a sour lemon. “…Yes. Don’t move out of my reach!”

It was cute that she cared so much. Dagian smiled before stepping into the encroaching blackness. The tendrils sprouting beneath her feet were soft and spongy. She gazed into the darkness of the forest.

At first, she didn’t see anything, and she wondered if perhaps Nastaran had made a wrong judgment or overestimated the danger — people were easily scared and quite prone to exaggerating, after all — but then she saw a peculiar shadow swaying among the trees, appearing in her vision like a sunspot or a hazy mirage.

It felt familiar, like a name she should have known but couldn’t quite recognize. As she watched, the shadow slowly emerged from the forest. Its silhouette was painted in color; its shape was filled out.

Slowly, Dagian fell into a daze, like the half-dreaming state of an accidental afternoon nap. The shadow was in front of her now — or no, it wasn’t a shadow, but a person. That person had deep purple hair, just like hers… Or no, it was golden, like her father’s.

Or… like that person whose name was a taboo in her home—

The figure turned around, revealing her fair skin and crimson red eyes. She smiled, bewitching as the devil, holding out a single bloody hand towards Dagian as if in open invitation. Dagian didn’t feel any repulsion to the blood. She watched, entranced, as the figure parted her mouth.

The same voice spoke twice, words overlapping with each other.

— You are correct. We are the same kind.

— Come, young hero. Prove your blade with blood.

A strange ecstasy welled up in her, and Dagian smiled brilliantly. She stretched her arm out to call forth her divine sword…

“Dagian!”

Nastaran forcefully yanked her back by the arm. Dagian blinked in a daze. The illusion scattered like a morning dream.

The forest was still growing outwards. Its tendrils crept over the roads, and when it touched the buildings of a nearby town, the constructs wavered, crumbled, and were subsumed by the trees.

That was no good. They needed those to continue accumulating their score.

If the Nightmare Flower’s powers lay in illusion and confusion, then Dagian’s most suitable method of restraint was with the Sun path of the emanation embodiment frame. Being one of the Deva paths and possessing a strong purifying power, it was capable of bestowing enlightenment and dispelling illusions.

With a thought, Dagian poured out her prana and formed a projection of the sun in her hands. The artificial sun’s rays bent to gather in her projection and refracted back out to sear the Nightmare Flower’s encroaching growth.

The black tendrils greatly slowed under its light to a ponderous, caterpillar-like crawl, even showing faint signs of withering.

It proved that her sun was a suitable stopgap measure. Dagian tossed the sun projection up to hang in the sky. Where its light was concentrated, the forest’s advance then ground to a halt.

Nastaran breathed a sigh of relief, patting her chest. “Thank goodness. I was worried this thing would overrun us in the next few minutes.”

“It is merely temporary.” She looked at the distance, where the forest may have originated, and grinned. “To resolve the situation, I suggest that we dig it up from the roots.”

The look Nastaran gave her was faintly accusatory. “I thought you didn’t want to ‘stoop as low as waging war and plundering others.’”

“This is not plundering, but taking up a righteous cause.”

If it was not heroic or honorable, Dagian simply would not do it. It would be detrimental to her growth in the celestial-infernal frame and the emanation embodiment frame. She had been practicing very hard the past few years to maintain her upright principles; it would be a terrible shame for them to bend just because of one exam.

“Well, I’m against it,” said Nastaran. “Look at this.” She projected a territory map from her wristband and pointed to the huge swathe of land now listed under Acacius and Rhoswen’s names. Dagian stroked her chin, impressed by the scale of their ambition. “They could be anywhere in here — or even outside of them. How will you find them? If you find them, how will you stop them? Moreover, how can we protect our territory while we go out to fight?”

If Dagian maintained her sun projection, it could certainly buy them time until the end of the exam. But she didn’t like such a passive solution. Someone of her ability could surely do better than that.

As Dagian pondered, the wind blew, and a voice reached their ears.

“Dagian, Nastaran,” said Mehran. “Are you troubled by the dark forest? If so, Cardinal Jules, Roxana, and I have an alliance proposition for you.”

Nastaran looked at Dagian, half accusing, half despairing. Dagian smiled.

The world had a wonderful way of giving her exactly what she wanted, when she wanted.

“I would be delighted to hear your proposal, Sir Mehran. Please, speak.”

---

Mehran, as always, had good information on him. He explained, through his wind magic, that the Nightmare Flower had taken over half of the Illusion Stage’s territories, swallowing up countless students’ efforts. If it was not halted, it would continue to consume even more. Thus, an anti-Nightmare Flower alliance had formed. Jules had used her abilities to guarantee everyone’s cooperation through a contract.

However, their alliance was lacking something truly essential: firepower.

Dagian had great respect for Jules, of course. She was a capable and clever person with strong ideals; Dagian admired that kind of person! It went without saying that she was also rather fond of Roxana and her silver tongue, and Mehran, although he was a little timid, had his good points too. It was just unfortunate that the other alliance members were all weak.

Dagian respected weaklings too, obviously. But she wouldn’t rely on them, and with half her power tied up protecting her original territory, it was hard for her to display her full might against the Nightmare Flower. So under her urging, Mehran sent a message to recruit Luka too.

Nastaran, although she reluctantly agreed to Dagian’s participation in the alliance, refused to join herself. “We can’t both risk getting eliminated,” she said. “I’ll stay here and continue the work for now; if it gets too dangerous, I’ll retreat. Besides, if I keep working, it’ll help us accumulate an advantage later. Assuming, of course, that you can win!”

Nastaran was full of good ideas. Dagian left behind the sun projection to protect Nastaran and their territory.

It took active power to maintain, which would limit her techniques and her ability to switch to other frames. But Dagian was nothing if not flexible! Such a small problem was well within her capabilities.

With all matters settled, Dagian followed Mehran’s directions to unite with the alliance’s group in person. Manifesting the power of the Garuda path, she summoned a pair of golden wings and flew inland towards a central grassland territory.

On the way, she swung by Xander’s territory. He’d set up anti-air defenses that nearly shot her down. So unfriendly!

“Xander,” she said, once they’d cleared up that whole misunderstanding, “we’re on our way to take down Acacius and Rhoswen’s forest. Want to come?”

He scoffed.

“Shouldn’t you have heard my answer from Mehran already? I don’t want to get involved with that guy. Feels like things keep going wrong around him lately.”

“But if we defeat them, we’ll get to divide up all the tokens they’ve collected. Don’t you want in?”

Xander looked tempted for a moment, but in the end, he shook his head.

“I’ll give you a piece of advice from the North,” he said. “Whenever Iyiria’s nobles start tearing into each other, just let the dogs fight each other. If you get involved and fall to their level, you’re the one who’ll lose.”

“If we don’t succeed, the forest will affect you too, won’t it?”

Xander was calm. He looked out at the dark forest that was growing at the border of his territory.

However, strangely enough, every time the tendrils started stretching over the border, they’d quiver, like a little animal in fear. In the end… they didn’t quite have the guts to grow over it.

“I think I’ll be fine,” he said, and gave her a deep look. “Take care of yourself, Dagian. Don’t let yourself be tainted by their ways.”

Dagian laughed, bid farewell, and left.

Flying gave her the opportunity to observe the dark forest that had swallowed up so much of the Illusion Stage. Half the sky had dimmed, and the red moon there had grown brighter. Occasionally, peculiar whispers could be heard from between the forest’s trees.

Rhoswen really had an excellent sense of aesthetics. It was just a little gloomy! If there was a bit more sun, and the bloody scent was a little less strong, the forest would have been a lovely place for a stroll.

But serving as the battlefield where she could stretch her limbs wasn’t bad, either.

Everyone had gathered together in a cleared agricultural field, next to a half-completed road whose far end was being swallowed up by the forest. It was a surprisingly large group, comprising at least twenty people, many of whom looked rather gloomy. Presumably, they were people whose territories had been snatched away by the forest completely.

Luka was there, and since he was present, Verica was there too. Dagian landed next to Mehran and flicked her long hair back into place over her shoulder. “Hello, everyone!”

Mehran nodded back. “Hello, Dagian. I’m glad you’ve joined us. Since everyone has arrived, let’s solidify our plan.”

The first problem was locating Rhoswen and Acacius in the forest. The one to propose a solution was Jules. As someone who dealt so heavily with the Seelie Court, she was naturally familiar with its inverted side’s dealings as well. “Since Rhoswen and Acacius are using the personas of the Wild Hunt, they will be bound by its rules,” she explained. “We can draw them here with a ritual of safe passage.”

Dagian stroked her chin as she looked at Jules’ smile. She couldn’t help but wonder. Considering Jules and Rhoswen’s alignments, did Jules, perhaps, have other motives for wanting to suppress Rhoswen here?

That was perfectly fine, though. A hero was always magnanimous enough to encompass their companions’ wayward and selfish hearts.

The second problem was that, while the ritual of safe passage would compel Rhoswen and Acacius to approach, it wouldn’t draw them out into the open. Dagian, with her power split, lacked the pure strength to drive back the forest’s growth enough to expose them even if she knew where they were.

Thus, Mehran came up with the next solution: using Dagian’s light as the core to construct a Clear Heart Formation of the 5E frame.

“It’s tricky to merge different frames like that for a ritual,” Roxana remarked. “Are you certain you can pull it off?”

Mehran smiled modestly. “My family has a moderate attainment in rituals,” he said, which was true, but everyone was too polite to point out that the Sattari most famous for their ritual ability was an outsider who’d been forcefully married in. “However, for an ambitious project such as this, it’s always good to have more perspectives. Roxana, Verica, the two of you have experience performing large rituals in the Dragon Shrine; will you do me the honors of co-leading the performance?”

So it was decided. The three of them, in addition to some of the weaklings, would take the lead in performing the Clear Heart Formation to dispel the Nightmare Forest’s illusions. This would allow everyone to safely navigate through the forest, setting the stage for the final confrontation against Rhoswen and Acacius.

The ritual casters would be occupied, and Dagian, from her place in it, would be limited to mere long-range support. So the final task of suppressing the duo fell into the hands of Luka.

“Veric should come with me too,” Luka said.

Mehran’s eyebrows raised. “Why?”

“She’s effective against Acacius.”

“What does that mean?” Veric muttered.

Jules nodded slowly. “That is indeed a more important role than leading one of the formation nodes. Veric, are you up to the task?”

Veric fell silent, but finally, she nodded. “I can do it.”

Her reluctance wasn’t so surprising, given her self-doubt and the connection she’d forged with Acacius during the special assignment. It was quite the contrast with Luka, who hadn’t hesitated at all.

Dagian examined his stoic expression for any hints of his thoughts, and as usual, found it difficult to guess.

It wouldn’t stop her, of course. “Luka,” she called. “After achieving so much together with Acacius in the Fantasm World, how does it feel to be turning your sword against him?”

Luka thought about it.

“It feels pretty normal.”

Dagian laughed.

In some ways, she and Luka were really alike!

After discussing additional details about the rituals and rehearsing them, the alliance was finally ready to start.

Dagian felt a spark of anticipation as she looked out at the dark forest.

It was fun to compete with Rhoswen — though Dagian had never fallen from her place as number one in the grade, of course. And Acacius… well, in their first year, she had to admit she’d considered him a paranoid coward at best and a budding villain at worst. If there was a need to pay attention to him, it was only to see if he would grow into someone worthy of being cut down by her sword.

After everything that happened in KP-04, though…

She admitted it: she’d read him wrong. He’d outshone her in every way, made that trial of blood and fire into his crowning gem. Dagian was utterly convinced.

She wasn’t used to being wrong about people.

She was looking forward to getting to know him again.

To perform the ritual of safe passage, everyone first created small bundles from the miniature wheat stalks still left over in the agricultural field. Although it wasn’t true food, according to Jules, it was still symbolic enough to count as a harvest. She brought everyone to stand before the dark forest and began.

“Guardians of the forest, last of the wild ones, whisperers of the dark heart,” she said. With each address, the air grew heavier, and Dagian’s skin buzzed as if she was standing in a lightning storm. “Today, we travelers beseech thee for thy grace.”

Solemnly, she bowed down and placed her bundle of wheat before her. Everyone followed her actions.

“This is our portion of abundance; take it.”

Then Jules lifted up the collar of her long red coat. There was only a moment’s hesitation before she used a small dagger to cut off a piece of cloth and laid it out on the ground with a bow as well. She waited until everyone had cut their piece before continuing.

“This is our portion of providence; take it.”

Finally, Jules cut her palm. She let the blood drip into the palm of her other hand, curled like a makeshift cup. Tipping her hand, she poured the libation out, staining the wheat and cloth both. As everyone completed their offering, the scent of blood became stronger.

“This is our portion of suffering; take it.”

Lastly, Jules pressed her palms together and bowed to the forest deeply.

“May you watch over us, protect us from danger, and provide us safe passage until we reach our destination on the other side.”

As everyone finished bowing, the power gathered by the ritual erupted, turning the offerings into black dirt that scattered into the earth.

The Nightmare Flower could only be planted by a member of the Unseelie Court or the Wild Hunt, and in its initial stage, it had to be watered with their blood and emotions. Because of that, Rhoswen — and by extension, Acacius, who’d been linked to her — were bound to the personas of the Wild Hunt and the Unseelie Court as long as the Nightmare Flower grew. They had to respond to the ritual.

Still, it wasn’t hard to guess that this ritual was part of some plot, so the duo’s answer was delayed. The air trembled with the pressure of the incomplete ritual, and faintly, the shadow of a snake biting its own tail manifested in the air.

The power of history was not so easy to go against. Dagian didn’t quite dare to lift her head.

Finally, Rhoswen’s reluctant voice rang out from the forest.

“Travelers, you may pass safely here, so long as you do not break the three taboos. First, you may not step off the path. Second, you must not look over your shoulder. And third…”

The first two taboos of this ritual were always fixed, but the third could be set freely, according to who answered the ritual.

Rhoswen said, “You must not touch the territory hubs.”

Dagian’s mouth curled into a smile.

Good. It was as they thought.

As long as Rhoswen didn’t forbid fighting, that was enough.

The tracing of the serpent above them faded away. Dagian let out a sigh of relief and straightened out of her bow. Ahead of them, the trees of the dark forest pulled back their trunks and branches, parting to reveal a shadowed path heading into their depths.

Jules said, “Dagian, from here, we’ll be counting on you.”

Dagian smiled brightly. “Then everyone, please.”

A moment later, everyone’s various methods of blessings and augmentations fell on her body. Her vitality surged; her prana overflowed.

Dagian circulated prana through her chakras, formed a mudra with one hand, and manifested one of the powers of the Sun path: the chariot of the sun.

If she were a higher level, she could summon seven horses of light to pull it through the sky, but for now, there was only one. It tossed its head, burning with a crimson flame. When Dagian stepped onto the chariot, it let out a roar like a wildfire and pulled her into the air.

Dagian steered the golden chariot to follow the road, shedding bright light upon the black leaves below.

According to Jules, the Nightmare Flower was more of a dream than a physical thing; ordinary fire and light was utterly helpless against it. Under the sun chariot’s light, however, the forest quivered and shrank, revealing gaps between the trees.

Rhoswen and Acacius, bound by the ritual’s promise, were obligated to protect anyone who hadn’t broken the ritual’s taboos; as such, they were surely lurking nearby. Her sun chariot was, sadly, still insufficient to reveal their forms. But that wasn’t Dagian’s goal right now. Her eyes were on the gaps widening between the clusters of trees, forming new paths.

Now it was Mehran’s turn to move.

According to his arrangements, five small groups entered the forest and wove towards their ideal destination. Each group had someone proficient in the 5E frame and at least one other person who could guard them. After all, though Rhoswen and Acacius had to guarantee their safety, the ritual did not forbid them from tempting or scaring people off the path. In fact, it was practically tradition for the fae to do so.

As such, their shadows could occasionally be seen flitting through the trees. Occasionally, Rhoswen’s arrows would shoot out, or the darkness would flare to obscure a group’s vision. Fortunately, though these groups largely consisted of weaklings, they were still astute enough to stay firmly on the path. It would be too pitiful for Nithemoore’s reputation if they couldn’t even manage that much.

Dagian focused the sun chariot’s light on five locations, in the shape of a pentagon, and the five groups made way through the crooked gaps in the forest there. The appointed formation user in each group stood at the point of the pentagon and circulated the spiritual energy of the 5E frame. Dagian wasn’t well-versed in that frame, but she felt the shift in the air nonetheless when their formation was completed.

The Clear Heart Formation, renowned for its anti-illusion capabilities, took form. A faint, five-colored mist arose throughout the forest, curling in harmonious patterns as the forest began to lose its form.

Dagian steered her chariot over the forest paths, tracing along the formation’s patterns. The illusion-dispelling light of the Sun path lit upon the ground. Under the augmented effects of the formation and her light, the dark forest melted like snow under the heat.

But the Nightmare Flower’s forest, weakening as it was, still served to conceal its masters’ figures.

It was at this stage that Jules, Luka, and Veric finally made their move.

“Close your eyes,” Jules reminded them. “Although it’s not certain what Acacius gained from the KP frame, let’s not give him any advantages.”

Jules was not completely blind, and still had partial vision in the form of light sensitivity, so she closed her eyes as well. Tapping with her cane, she walked forward into the forest. Luka, with his Trajectory realm senses, carefully followed in her footsteps, and Veric, through some unknown means, did the same.

Dagian had anticipated a game of cat and mouse as the two groups stalked each other through the forest, like some kind of delightfully twisted mutual hunt.

Instead, as soon as the last member of their alliance stepped into the boundaries of the forest, the dark leaves struggling to persist beneath Dagian’s light rippled.

Acacius appeared out of the darkness like a ghost. With a graceful sweep of his wings, he soared up into Dagian’s light. His shadow fell upon the forest below like an eclipse of the sun. The faces of her allies turned towards the sky, every eye drawn his way.

Acacius laughed. Sing-song, he said, “I got you!”

His eyes swept over the forest, then turned her way. The space around him distorted like a kaleidoscope’s lens. For a second, she swore the eye-like patterns on his wings shifted to look at her.

Her vision refracted, fractured, and dissolved into complete and utter chaos.

It was from that moment that Dagian knew that their plan was going terribly awry.

Chapter 52 Back to Index