Three months later,Mrs. Elara died and was buried the same day, as she had stated before her death. Abigail convinced Draven to adopt Maya, since she had no relatives, coupled with Abigail’s plea of feeling lonely at the villa.Meanwhile, upon presenting the mana user to the Dark Mist, Commander Shaw got his children back, although it did not fully release its hold on him. He had gained full disclosure of the system and its dark motives. It planned to take over human minds, reasoning, and free will, after sacrificing over two hundred million lives in its ritual overtaking process.He learned Nathan’s hatred for the current president and how he planned to have the president sacrificed among the two hundred million human lives.The mana user underwent training sessions with one of the system’s accomplices, Eliris Nytheris. She possessed magical powers described in historical myths. She had vibrant amethyst hair, deep blue ocean eyes, and a perfectly sculpted face.The mana user’s train

Back at Northgate...“Where is he?” the voice asked, its intensity shaking the ground beneath the estate.“He is at the heart of Acaryn’s city,” Eliris Nytheris replied, her blue eyes gleaming beneath the moonlight.“Good. Keep an eye on him.”“There is a new problem,” Eliris said as she crossed one leg over the other, seated on a lounge chair beside the pool.The voice echoed from a mass of dark mist. It twisted slowly before forming a towering beast nearly twelve feet tall. Its presence suffocated the air around it, pressing against the walls and rippling the water in the pool. Yet Eliris remained still, her expression unreadable, as though the creature before her was nothing more than a passing inconvenience.“Which is?” the mist asked.“He is getting stronger. His aura alone was overwhelming. That is why he was able to sense my shadow moving past the room.”“What?!!” the mist bellowed, the force of its voice causing the ground to tremble again.Eliris merely tilted her head, her

At Draven’s villa...“A bomboclast?” Draven asked, urgency etched deeply into his voice.Kylen stood before him with stiffened posture, one hand clasped behind his back as the tension in the study thickened.“From my findings, the bomblast came from a nearby warehouse.” He paused briefly before lifting his gaze to Draven again. “There were no casualties and no visible flames. Just the deafening sound strong enough to make the ground tremble.”A heavy silence followed.Draven released a breath he had not realized he was holding and shifted his gaze toward Abigail and Maya seated across the study.“Relax, Dad. We’re both fine,” Abigail said as she reached for Maya’s hand, her eyes carefully searching her face. “Are you okay?”Maya nodded once.Abigail turned back to Draven.“Dad, I know you might see what happened a few moments ago as a threat, but we still have to go to the restaurant and celebrate Maya’s win.”Kylen’s lips parted slightly.What is wrong with Abigail these days?Draven

Silence rippled through the villa in gentle waves.Everyone was asleep, or so Draven thought.He shut his room door firmly, sliding the locks into place.“I have to keep training.”With that, he shut his eyes and lowered himself to the floor, sitting at the rear end of his closet with his legs folded and his hands resting on his lap.A blinding surge of blue flames burst from his skin, enclosing him like a barrier.The flames illuminated the room brilliantly, their intensity nearly unbearable.His eyes snapped open.He was in the spirit realm.After his last encounter with the old man, he had trained alone.Within the span of three months, Draven had slaughtered over five hundred beasts. Every single one possessed terrifying abilities and immense might.The more mystic beasts he killed, the larger his spirit army grew.“I guess I’ll wipe out an entire quarter of the meres eventually.” He scoffed.His gaze swept across the field. It was clear and eerily quiet.Almost immediately, a pun

“Now it’s all over.” Eliris’s grin widened slowly, satisfaction glimmering in her eyes like dancing firelight.CLAP!!!!She slammed her hands together once.The sound tore through the air with terrifying force, rippling across the dark chamber realm like a violent shockwave.In the next instant, she vanished.A distortion twisted through the darkness before the mist as Eliris emerged gracefully from within it, her heels touching the floor without making a sound.“The initiation agreement has been signed,” she announced, her dazzling eyes glowing with triumph.The mist shifted violently.Its cloudy form churned and twisted before transfiguring into a massive armored beast cloaked in black smoke. Crimson cracks pulsed beneath the dark armor like molten lava trapped beneath stone.“He signed it?” it asked, disbelief dripping from its voice.“Yes, he did,” Eliris replied smugly. “He was always going to sign eventually, especially when his beloved daughter became the pawn.”The beast releas