As Jonam advanced deeper into the darkened streets, Asteri sat crosslegged atop the collapsed tower.
She held her head with her hands, staring longingly at the horizon.
"You should get down. Even at this distance, you're still exposed," Nysa said.
"I don't care. It's been a while since I looked at it." Asteri's tone was devoid of her usual brattiness. She seemed strangely mature.
"Looked at what?"
"...— where she died..." Her voice was barely louder than a whisper, but Nysa heard it clearly.
"..."
Amidst Nysa's silence, Asteri continued, seemingly speaking to herself. Her gaze was directed at a crooked spire adjacent to an abandoned building with blackened spots.
"We used to watch the stars there... on nights like this one. She disliked the sunlight. It was blinding and burned her skin. The moonlight, on the other hand... Beautiful."
"Did you use to live in that building?" Nysa asked after approaching the girl, half-curious. "The burned one."
"What brought that up?" Asteri didn't even glance at her, entirely focused on the spire.
"You used the spire and the building as landmarks when we interrogated Bianor's shadow. I simply connected the dots."
"Hm... Yes, you could say that," Asteri nodded. "It was crowded but fun. You could see her room from the spire. We used to give signals to each other through the window."
Nysa furrowed her eyebrow, confused. "Who are you talking about?"
"One afternoon, I was waiting for her atop the spire. I could see her smile so clearly... Then I could hear her screams."
"There was a fire, and I saw it slowly climb up the floors. I didn't move. I didn't know how to warn her. I—... I watched her burn. She cried, melted, shrieked, and I merely observed." Asteri turned her head, sorrow in her voice despite her inexpression. "Does that make me a bad human?"
"There are countless measures for good and evil in humans. I can hardly answer your question if I can't even classify myself."
Asteri shifted her eyes downward, sighing. "It's hopeless. I can't like you. In these circumstances, you're supposed to comfort me."
"Such notions are unfortunately foreign to me. I can't give what I've never received." Nysa cradled her knees as flashes of her childhood came back to her, one after the other.
The lashes, the tears, the begging—she had learned very early that screaming did more harm than good. Displays of emotion merely added fuel to the fire, but she could never fully eliminate them. Bottling them up in a shell would always make them spill, sooner or later.
What was the solution then? It had come up to her one day while she was recovering from one of her mother's fits.
Indifference was her ideal state, yet it seemed so out of reach. Hence, she developed an alternative, adequate method to attain her goal...
"Hey! You up there! Get down before you get buried in the rubble."
An elderly voice echoed under the collapsed tower, prompting Nysa and Asteri to look down.
An old, gray-bearded man holding an oil lamp waved at them.
"The foundations are unstable. The ruins could crumble again at any moment! You girls shouldn't be playing there."
The oil lamp's feeble light helped him better see their faces as he approached. "What are you even doing perched up there at this hour? You should be in your homes. Kids these days—"
He suddenly cut himself short, staring at the clueless duo.
His eyes widened when he took a good look at Asteri, his expression going through the apparent distortions of shock, disbelief, and then fear.
"Myrine... What—... what are you doing here? You—...You shouldn't..."
Asteri shrunk away from the light, reacting strangely to the old man's words.
"I... I buried you myself. How can this be...? It's impossible. No, you're not Myrine!" He threw the oil lamp into the water. "You're a monster! Get away from me!"
He darted off into the darkness, loudly rambling as he crossed the unlit streets.
"He's going to give away our position." Nysa easily kept him in her sight despite the obscurity. "Shadow, kill him."
"No, don't! He's not an enemy!" Asteri yelled, but Nysa's shadow had already slithered away to follow the old man.
"It doesn't matter. Don't scream. You'll alert the Henosis Seekers."
Asteri clenched her fists. "It does matter! Don't you have a heart? How is killing so easy for you?!"
Nysa nearly lost her temper. "It's not—"
Something whistled through the air, heading towards Asteri's head.
Nysa swatted the object with an enhanced fist, breaking it apart. She felt the cold touch of metal, then heard the crumbling remains of a destroyed dagger landing on the ground.
"We've been seen. Get down, now!"
"No, I can fight!"
"Damn you." Nysa slid down the tower, dragging Asteri by her tunic.
The next moment, three cloaked figures flew through the air.
As a magus of the Night Sorceries, Nysa could see in the dark as clearly as the day, yet their movements were still too fast for her to perceive anything but a blur. They crashed against the ruins with monstrous strength, further destroying the structure.
The impact sent countless debris their way, but Nysa swatted them one by one as she took her distance while holding Asteri.
The little girl's eyes flared with a golden glimmer, seemingly unfazed despite being yanked around.
"There are three of them. Lots of Mana around the limbs and torso. They're specialists in enhancement magecraft," Asteri said.
"Magi from the Henosis Seekers?"
"No. They're most likely Homunculi. True members of the Henosis Seekers aren't skilled in close combat."
Nysa cursed her bad luck as she dropped Asteri and ordered her shadow to return.
Not willing to give her time to prepare, the three figures lunged toward her at incredible speed, cracking the ground in the process.
Trained as an assassin, Nysa's preferred fighting method consisted of carefully planned assaults rather than direct combat. However, as a 9th-class Shadowbinder, her physical aptitudes were rarely matched at night.
She took on the closest Homunculus, evading his enhanced fist while crouching forward. A needle slid down her sleeve, and she caught it between her fingers.
The Homunculus noticed its glint yet failed to follow its movement. In the blink of an eye, Nysa had already stabbed his heart and throat, too quick even to catch blood on her weapon.
Despite that, the Homunculus still moved. Shimmering Mana coated his leg, and he delivered a kick so hard it cracked the bones in her enhanced forearm.
Had she not blocked the blow in time, it would have shattered her skull.
Nysa stifled a groan, feeling the agonizing throbs course through her limb. The sudden pain slowed her reaction, and she braced herself for another hit.
Whoosh!
A rock the size of a fist flew past her cheek, crashing into the Homunculus' face. It was strengthened with Mana, powerful enough to fracture his head. He went limp, tumbling down while his wounds oozed blood and brain matter.
"They're Homunculi! The core's in the head. It's useless to target other spots!" Asteri yelled from behind, picking up another rock. "I'll support you from here."
Barely catching her breath, Nysa adjusted her fighting posture as another Homunculus approached. She saw the third one skirt around her position, most likely trying to reach Asteri.
Nysa immediately spun around, throwing her needle toward his feet. It dug deep inside his heel, stopping him mid-run.
He answered swiftly, launching a flurry of daggers her way. At the same time, the other Homunculus hurled an enhanced fist toward her face.
Nysa skillfully bent her body backward, dodging the punch while grabbing the Homunculus' tunic. Her shadow came back with perfect timing, materializing into pitch-black blades that lacerated her opponent's legs.
Now unable to maintain his footing, the Homunculus was at Nysa's mercy as she enhanced her arms and forcibly hoisted him above her shoulders, using him as a meat shield against the daggers.
She finished him off with a needle between the eyes before flinging him at the remaining enemy.
Due to his wound, the last Homunculus barely jumped in time. He punched through a second rock thrown by Asteri while in mid-air, then slung another dagger at her.
To his surprise, a darkened hand, barely noticeable in the night, caught the projectile. It was coming from a solitary shadow on the ground.
"Behind you."
He heard a whisper in his ear as the sharp sting of a thick needle dug deep into his skull, ending his life for good. His corpse landed roughly next to his ally's, drowning in a pool of their mixed ichor.
Nysa appeared a moment later as if phasing out of the nocturnal obscurity. She had wrapped her injured arm in peculiar, gray bandages with occult inscriptions different from Heriperan or Olden Sethiae.
"Must be painful," Asteri said, heaving a sigh of relief.
"A little, but it's expected in battle," Nysa answered, a greenish hue in her eyes. She was far from relaxed. "Now, let's agree not to lie to each other anymore."
"Hm? What are you saying—..."
Nysa's shadow morphed into a blade as black as night, stopping inches from Asteri's throat.
"Answer me carefully," Nysa's tone was cold. "What are you?"