"Synchronization"

A low yet loud voice boomed inside Nathan"s soul.

Instantly, the veil thinned and thousands of new chains erupted from it.

CLANK-! CLANK-!

The rattling of chains intensified, drowning the void in a jarring cacophony.

They started shimmering in golden glare and began wrapping around the cracks ferociously.

The cracks started being closed at a swift pace.

The overwhelming number of chains cut through the turbulence before it could create more cracks.

Outside, in the reality, Nathan"s lifeless eyes turned golden. A string of notifications again appeared in front of Nathan.

[Rank: Meta --> Rank: Iota]

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[Error! Error!]

[Interference detected]

[Increasing rate of Edna]

[Error! Error!]

[Energy Insufficient]

Soon all the cracks disappeared and Nathan"s soul reverted to its usual empty void state.

After mending large cracks, the chains started disintegrating.

Finally, when the very last chain disappeared, a tired voice echoed from behind the veil.

"One year. Reach peak Enma rank in one year."

Like a puppet with strings cut, Nathan stopped spasming and fell back on the bed.

======

Leon was sitting on the training ground to regain his energy.

The Dungeon of trails was opening in a few days. He wanted to see how far he could climb on the first day. This was why he had increased his training intensity.

Luckily for him, he was also able to get a training partner. Leon was happy that skills that had stopped growing were again starting to grow.

He was meditating while looking back at his spars when a cheerful voice entered his ears.

"Leon~~ You were quite intense today too~~"

His eyes fluttered open to see the person in front of him. A well-endowed girl with apricot-colored hair was standing beside him with a bright smile.

Her hairs stuck to her skin, which glistened as the light reflected on them. She was wearing the training uniform and carrying two shotguns in the holsters.

She was Lilith Ashdown, someone Leon got close to in the past month. Over the past month, they had gone from mere acquaintances to good friends.

Now they would regularly train together in the training ground at the midnight. Her fighting style also taught Leon, who was only good in one-on-one combat, a lot.

Every day Leon could feel himself progress further even though he was never able to win against her.

He was happy to make friends with someone like her. But there was one thing about her that troubled him.

"How can you go on all night without feeling tired~ You are always so intense~"

Leon"s face blushed.

Lilith was talking about their daily spars, but the choice of words was too suggestive. Her tone as she spoke didn"t help much, either.

"Your face is red. Are you sick?"

Before Leon could respond, Lilith was already touching his forehead with her forehead.

"T-too close"

Leon subconsciously shut his eyes tight and his blush increased even more. His head was spinning, and he stuttered.

"Hehehe.. too easy."

Suddenly, Leon heard something. Opening his eyes, he could see Lilith, who was now standing back in her position, giggling like a child.

Immediately, Leon understood that she was playing with him.

"Do you need to do this daily?"

"Did you say something~~"

Leon could only grumble as he saw Lilith playing dumb.

She would always find a way to tease him. And Leon, whose only contact with females was his master, was no match for her tricks.

She was like a little devil that would get pleasure in teasing him.

Leon was about to open his mouth when he heard something. It sounded like metals rattling against each other.

Looking around, he tried to find the source of the sound. As far as he knew today, only Lilith and himself were present there.

As his thoughts reached this point, he remembered Nathan.

"He didn"t come today."

"Nathan?"

Leon nodded his head. This was the first time Nathan didn"t come to train. Nathan had come to train even on the day Susan defeated him.

"Did something happen to him?"

Maybe Leon was overthinking it. But he couldn"t erase the possibility of Ken doing something to Nathan behind his back.

Leon again heard the metallic sound.

"Can you hear it?"

Seeing the clueless look on Lilith"s face, Leon could tell he was the only one who heard the metallic sound.

"I should go check on him tomorrow morning."

For the whole night, Leon couldn"t erase the sense of foreboding he was feeling.

======

"Is he alright?"

Dressed in a black uniform, Leon stood outside Nathan"s room.

Only fifteen minutes were left for the cla.s.ses to start, yet Nathan had not left his room.

Leon was in a dilemma. He didn"t know if he should knock or wait for Nathan to come out.

He began tapping his foot on the floor. If he had known that this would have happened, he would have asked Lilith about the usual time Nathan comes to the cla.s.s.

"Wouldn"t I look weird if I suddenly went to him without even talking?"

Leon shook his head.

In his eyes, Nathan was a kind person who wouldn"t bother with such details. But Leon didn"t want to mess up his chances of befriending Nathan. So he decided to wait for a few more minutes.

To Leon, friends were a kind of special existence that would stick with you through happiness and sadness, joy and misery, success and failure, and thick and thin.

He was even more excited to make a male friend.

There were Anna and Lilith. But he mostly talked with Anna about alchemy-related things. It greatly surprised Leon when he came to know that Anna, a top ranker and genius mage, was interested in alchemy. Together, both of them hit off in the alchemy cla.s.s.

As for Lilith, she was also his good friend, but she was …..slightly weird.

"Yahallo!"

Rubbing his back, Leon looked around to find Lilith, dressed in a white uniform with blue linings, beside him.

"Why did you hit so hard?"

"Because I felt like someone was badmouthing me~"

"Why me?" Leon caught the question in his throat.

Looking at Lilith, who was smiling at him, a drop of cold sweat trickled through his back. Wasn"t he the one who was badmouthing her?

"What are you doing here?"

"Why are you waiting here?"

Lilith answered Leon"s question with another question.

Staring at her eyes for a few moments he sighed, he knew Lilith didn"t like backing down. So he had to be the one to answer first.

"I was waiting for Nathan to come out?"

Lilith"s eyes shined like a child who found her new toy as she looked at the door. She hopped to the door and began ringing the doorbell, crazily.

Leon gulped as he saw her actions. In his mind, the image of him and Nathan being together and away from Lilith changed to him and Nathan being together and teased by Lilith.

"Eh, isn"t it fine if there is someone to suffer together with me?"

He didn"t dislike Lilith. On the contrary, he was very happy to be her friend. But she was a little too much to handle alone.

As Leon was nodding to himself, there were sounds of things falling in the room.

"Stop! Stop! I am coming!"

With a click, the door opened to reveal a thin yet muscular youth. His hairs were damp, suggesting he was bathing, and he wasn"t wearing a shirt.

The youth shot his guests a surprised, then annoyed look.

Leon helplessly smiled. He knew that although Nathan gives everyone a cold shoulder, he didn"t mean bad.

"What?"

Remembered why he was here, Leon"s face turned serious and he question Nathan.

"Did something happen last night? Is everything okay?"

Leon hadn"t been able to sleep peacefully last night. Every time he tried to sleep, he heard the sounds of metal rattling. He couldn"t help but feel that it was related to Nathan.

"Huh?"

Looking at Nathan"s clueless face, Leon sighed in relief. It didn"t look like anything happened.

"Hey did you remember me now?"

"No"

Lilith immediately slipped her foot in between the gap before Nathan could shut his door.

"There is no need to be embarra.s.sed. I know you love me."

"No, I don-"

"I"m sorry, I can"t respond to your feelings. I already accepted Leon"s proposal."

Leon almost spat when he heard Lilith.

"He did? Good fo-"

"But I know you love me hopelessly and can"t live one moment without me. So, I"ll give you a chance."

"No, than-"

"Don"t thank me. This became possible only because of your pa.s.sionate feelings."

Nathan kept trying to shut the door, but Lilith didn"t budge.

Lilith"s shenanigans escalated and she started sniffing Nathan. Yet Nathan stood unperturbed in front of her, still trying to close the door.

Watching them, Leon smiled. This was the first time he saw Nathan speak so much.

As their banter continued, Leon"s eyes wandered to Nathan"s body. There was a long scar on Nathan"s sides and a claw mark over his chest.

Seeing the injuries, Leon once again realized that Nathan was a hard worker. He wasn"t crazy or insane, as others called him.

"I"m sorry. I"m not interested in dudes."

Noticing Leon"s stare, Nathan covered his chest and backed away.

"I"m no-"

"Leon, how could you? Were those pa.s.sionate nights we spent together a lie?"

"Wait th-"

"tch tch unfaithful b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

Leon felt betrayed. Weren"t both of them supposed to stand against Lilith"s tyranny? Why was he joining her side?

The image in Leon"s mind changed again. In it, Leon was fighting against not one but two devils.

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