Silver Moon Phantasm.
The cell holding Hatsuyuki Karuta was constructed from white ceramic shaped like loaves of bread, barred by golden railings that resembled the strings of a harp.
Through those bars, the young girl and the little girl were playing a game of Gomoku.
The paper between them was covered in circles and crosses.
Although Hatsuyuki’s skill far exceeded Helen’s, the stack of discarded papers suggested they were evenly matched. Helen had realized long ago that the older girl was letting her win, but she kept the secret to herself; otherwise, the game would lose its charm.
Gomoku was their only way to kill the crushing boredom.
It had been over a month since they were moved into the Demon Realm. Helen couldn’t help but worry. Was Wang Yue okay? Why hadn’t there been any news? What was happening in the outside world?
Hatsuyuki Karuta tucked back her sleeve, reaching a slender, pale arm through the gaps in the cage. She drew a neat circle on the paper and set the pen down.
“Your turn.”
Suddenly, the air rippled. A Mist Door spiraled open, and a towering figure manifested before them.
A magnificent hooded black robe draped over a lean, upright frame. The fabric looked like heavy silk, embroidered with flowing, linear silver patterns that seemed to shift like liquid.
The face beneath the hood was stiff and uncanny, composed of tiny, clustered black roots. Its features were as fixed as a sculpture, clearly inhuman.
An arm extended from the heavy sleeve, carrying a lantern. The device was a geometric construct that looked like a fusion of shattered obsidian and viscous tar. Each facet of the obsidian reflected the little girl’s surprised face.
“Ed!”
Helen lunged forward, throwing herself against the ornate robe. Her little hands gripped the smooth, cold fabric. Like a puppy welcoming its master home, she bustled about, sniffing his scent while letting out urgent, whimpering sounds that wavered between tears and laughter.
Even though Ed’s face looked far more “refined” now, his essence remained. The little girl recognized him instantly.
He’s back…
The Master is back…
“Ah—!”
Helen suddenly tilted her head back and let out a trembling, high-pitched squeal of pure, marmot-like excitement.
Ed-Bear remained motionless, as still as a statue.
The Guild had equipped him with three Special Grade Relics: the Shadow-Touch Lamp, Death Stranding, and the Great Phage Interdiction.
The item he currently held was the Shadow-Touch Lamp, a man-made Special Grade Relic. Every Lantern-Bearer possessed a unique lantern, custom-designed to suit their combat style and the specific properties of their Armature.
“Ed, this lamp is so strange…”
Curiosity getting the better of her, Helen reached out to touch the obsidian on the lantern. Small shadow tentacles wriggled out from the stone, coiling around her fingers and tickling her.
“Enough. I have work to do.”
Ed-Bear lifted the little girl and perched her on his shoulder. He pushed open another Mist Door and headed toward the Tower District.
***
Room 202.
Wang Yue exhaled a long breath. Now that her avatar had returned, she could finally put the production of vehicles on the agenda.
She glanced at Delia beside her. The tea-haired girl was currently refining the differential gear for the “Sonic Spider” prototype. Ensuring eight legs moved in perfect coordination was no simple feat of engineering.
Delia’s fingers gripped her pencil so hard the knuckles turned white. Her lips were pursed in concentration, her expression solemn.
Wang Yue had to admit that a girl focused on her work possessed a certain elegant, intellectual charm. The delicate, thin-framed black glasses perched on her small nose only added to her aura of quiet brilliance.
Sensing Wang Yue’s gaze, Delia tried to ignore it at first. However, as the seconds ticked by, her face began to flush. Her mind went hazy, and the neat rows of numbers on the page started dancing before her eyes until she couldn’t calculate a thing.
Trying to hide her flustered state, she grabbed her coffee and took a sip, only to choke immediately. She broke into a fit of coughing.
“Don’t rush. Take it slow,” Wang Yue said, gently patting her back.
“Senior’s hand… Senior’s hand is…”
Delia’s cheeks were crimson. Every stroke of Wang Yue’s hand made her shudder and tense up, and she began making incoherent, soft chirping sounds.
At that moment, Matcha walked over to report the previous day’s progress. There were only three new defectors, a significant drop in the growth rate.
She then moved on to the status of the hamster competition. Since the entire student body had helped design the events, progress had been lightning-fast. Four popular events had already emerged: Cage Bumper Cars, Battle Gyros, Hamster Sumo, and Unicycle Cross-country.
“And how is our star athlete, Dorothy, doing?” Wang Yue asked.
“Well… during the Cage Bumper Cars… things got a bit too intense. She… she threw up.”
“Eh? She got motion sickness from bumper cars? How is she now?”
“Her spirits are low. She’s currently resting in her nest.”
“That girl is definitely just being lazy,” Wang Yue said, standing up. “Forget it. Tell all the hamsters to transform back. We have the school-wide assembly soon. They can’t exactly listen to the great Granahl’s inspiring speech while sitting in someone’s shirt pocket. That would be disrespectful.”
For some reason, Matcha felt a sudden, soul-crushing pressure radiating from their usually gentle Dorm Head.
By late afternoon, the various grades were lined up in the small plaza.
A light drizzle fell from the sky, and the air was chilling.
The conversion rate of the students was far from what Granahl desired. Furthermore, the girls had recovered from their initial panic; their hearts were no longer easily swayed.
After a passionate but incredibly boring speech, the student representative, Pandora, took the stage.
The beautiful, black-haired girl stood there awkwardly, clutching her speech notes. she began to read in a stiff, mechanical tone.
“Respected teachers, dear classmates, hello. I am Pandora from Freshman Class Two. Today, I would like to share my journey of joining the New Church…”
It was a standard opening, the kind that usually led into a tragic backstory.
Then, Pandora’s tone shifted.
“I have a confession. I am an undercover agent for the Church. I was born only three months ago.”
“I am not human. I am a colony of protoplasm known as a ‘Living Husk’.”
“I am carrying a weapon of mass destruction known as the ‘Divine Punishment Box’.”
The atmosphere shifted instantly. The Restorationists present and Granahl herself were paralyzed by a mix of confusion, shock, and a sense of unreality.
This was exactly as Wang Yue had calculated. The Restorationists were lagging in the information war; they found it impossible to make accurate judgments when faced with such blatant, ambiguous honesty.
Then, Wang Yue strode onto the stage and grabbed Pandora’s clothes, ripping them open!
Rip!
Fabric fluttered into the rainy air. A snowy-white body was exposed to the elements, yet it didn’t develop goosebumps from the cold. Instead, it looked like a silicone product, possessing an eerie, unnatural stiffness.
Pandora’s back was turned to the crowd. Wang Yue stood by her side, gripped a zipper tab at the base of the girl’s neck, and yanked it down to her tailbone!
Zip!
The black-haired girl’s spine split open like a literal zipper. There was no blood. Instead, the two flaps of crimson flesh opened like a bifurcated pomegranate, shimmering with an eldritch luster.
And nestled within that flesh, a primitive, cryptic box was revealed!
Wang Yue raised her arm and shouted to the crowd:
“The damned Church intended to release calamity and misfortune from this box! They want to kill everyone in Evernight! They want to kill our brothers, our sisters, our parents, and our friends! We cannot allow this to happen!”
The sight of the physical evidence combined with Wang Yue’s roar triggered an immediate, massive uproar. The students were shocked and furious, breaking into heated, chaotic arguments.
Wang Yue turned to face Granahl, her expression one of utmost sincerity.
“Please, make your decision, Your Eminence!”
“You… you…” Granahl stared at her, teeth gritted. Flames erupted around her body, sparks hissing and popping as her fury caused the air to distort and explode. “I should have killed you on the very first day!”
