[Realm: Uhorus]

[Location: Verdantis]

[Capital City]

The office space they found themselves in was far larger than Lucinda initially expected.

Calling it an office almost felt inaccurate.

It resembled something closer to a private study merged with a living chamber, spacious and furnished. The wooden floor beneath their feet was pristine enough to reflect the light filling the room, much of it covered by a thick azure carpet threaded with gold patterns.

At the center of the room sat two plush couches facing one another with a polished round table between them. Resting atop the table was a silver tray carrying an elegant teapot alongside several antique teacups, each painted with golden detailing.

At least two towering wooden shelves stretched along the walls, filled almost entirely with grimoires, tomes, scrolls, and old bound texts. Some looked old enough to crumble if touched carelessly, while others had some mana.

Lucinda’s eyes lingered there for a moment longer; she could feel it. Those dense layers of enchantments mixed through many of the books themselves.

Protection spells and preservation magic, some far more complex than ordinary enchantments.

("Well, I suppose this is exactly what a court mage’s office should look like,") Lucinda thought.

The room was also strangely bright.

There were no lanterns, candles, or fireplaces. Yet warm light still illuminated the office evenly without a visible origin.

Lucinda recognized the spell almost immediately.

A passive illumination enchantment woven into the room, advanced too.

The sort maintained constantly without active concentration.

At the far end of the office rested a large desk table accompanied by a finely carved chair. Unlike the rest of the room, that area looked occupied. Parchments were scattered across the tabletop alongside opened tomes, loose notes, quills, and half-finished formulas written in elegant script.

It looked lived in.

Meanwhile, Lyra sat comfortably upon one of the couches, one leg crossed over the other as she leaned back slightly into the cushions.

Victoria and Fiona occupied the couch opposite her.

Victoria appeared entirely at ease, with her posture relaxed and her fingers resting neatly against her lap as though this were simply another pleasant discussion over tea.

Fiona looked considerably less comfortable; she was tense. Her ears twitched occasionally beneath the ornaments adorning them, and her eyes moved carefully around the room as though trying to absorb every detail at once.

Agatha, meanwhile, had wandered slightly away from the seating arrangement entirely.

The blonde girl stood near one of the shelves quietly examining the various tomes and grimoires with restrained interest. Her expression remained unreadable as usual, though her gaze lingered longer on certain texts than others.

Cor’nella, notably, was nowhere to be seen, likely just hiding somewhere amongst the books or avoiding a ’boring’ discussion.

General Mai remained near the doorway instead of sitting, straight-backed and silent. Even here, inside reinforced walls, she looked like someone prepared to react to danger at any second.

The atmosphere settled for a moment before Victoria finally spoke first.

"While we certainly appreciate the invitation to your private office," the blonde girl began smoothly, crossing one leg over the other, "I must admit I am rather curious why you would choose to discuss such matters with outsiders rather than the people of Verdantis themselves."

Lyra gave a soft hum.

"As I stated earlier," the Court Mage replied easily, "Lucinda is part of the reason."

Her crimson eyes shifted toward the white-haired girl nearby.

Lucinda blinked once, then tilted her head slightly.

"Me?" she questioned.

"Yes," Lyra answered simply.

The Court Mage leaned back further into the couch, though her gaze sharpened.

"Verdantis is not nearly as united as outsiders tend to believe." Her tone remained calm, but there was exhaustion to be spotted. "The Inheritors largely do as they please. Our knights are stretched dangerously thin. And most of the governing body is currently more concerned with preserving what little stability remains."

A bitter amusement briefly crossed her painted lips.

"Or preserving their own skin."

No one interrupted her.

"And besides," Lyra continued more lightly, "you are all friends with Mikoto."

That made Lucinda straighten slightly, Fiona’s ears twitched, and Agatha glanced sideways from the bookshelf.

"So that alone makes you considerably easier to trust."

Victoria smiled at that.

"Well," she mused softly, "then I suppose we owe Mikoto our gratitude once again." Her smile dimmed just slightly afterward. "A shame the thanks cannot currently be directed toward him personally."

Lucinda immediately noticed it.

The small shift in Fiona’s expression and the slight tightening in Agatha’s gaze.

("Ah, they still do not know,") Lyra realized quietly. The Court Mage hummed softly to herself before deciding not to linger on the topic.

Not now, there were already enough heavy things in this room.

"Regardless," Lyra continued smoothly, "let us discuss this rather troublesome calamity instead."

The atmosphere shifted immediately.

"What you are all wondering about," Lyra said calmly, "is the nature of these extreme Abyssal reactions."

"Is it not primarily caused by overwhelming opposition against the tears?" Agatha questioned from near the shelf, finally turning fully away from the tomes she had been examining.

Lyra nodded once.

"That is indeed a factor," she admitted. "But only for lesser responses."

Her fingers tapped lightly against the armrest.

"When the tears detect resistance, they increase deployment numbers. More Abyssal Creatures. As in larger swarms and escalated pressure." Her crimson eyes narrowed. "That much you already know."

Lucinda listened carefully.

Victoria’s gaze remained fixed entirely on Lyra now.

"But," the Court Mage continued, "the conditions required for Abyssal Wardens to manifest are far more specific."

"Specific in what way?" Fiona asked quietly.

The Solkari leaned forward slightly, salmon-pink eyes focused carefully.

"I assume it is not simply due to stronger opponents appearing," she continued. "You seem far too willing to explain this at length for it to be something that simple."

Lyra smiled at the observation.

"Correct." Then her expression slowly lost its amusement entirely.

A shift everyone noticed.

"Before we continue," Lyra said quietly, "what I am about to discuss does not leave this room."

Mai’s eyes shifted slightly at that, meanwhile Victoria’s relaxed posture straightened just a fraction.

Even Agatha’s attention sharpened.

"It is a delicate matter," the Court Mage finished carefully. For a moment, silence settled across the office. Outside, winds howled against the windows of her office.

Then Lyra finally spoke again.

"But first..." Her crimson eyes swept slowly across everyone present. "Do any of you know the true nature of Abyssal Creatures?"

"...Their true nature?" Lucinda echoed softly.

The white-haired girl blinked once, somewhat caught off guard by the direction of the conversation. Her red eyes remained fixed on Lyra as confusion slowly settled across her features.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" she asked more carefully.

Lyra remained relaxed against the couch, though the atmosphere around her no longer felt casual.

"I am referring to their origin," the Court Mage clarified calmly. "These particular creatures specifically. The ones directly emerging from the Abyss."

A brief silence followed that explanation.

Lucinda frowned ever so slightly, meanwhile Victoria’s thoughtful gaze sharpened.

Then, surprisingly, Mai spoke first.

"They are still demons."

Every gaze in the room shifted toward the General near the doorway.

Mai remained standing where she was, posture straight-backed as violet eyes lowered slightly as if recalling something unpleasant.

"At least," she continued quietly, "the ones emerging from the tears connected directly to the Abyss are." There was tension in her voice as she spoke.

"The Abyss has layers," Mai explained slowly. "Countless depths stacked beneath one another. And the deeper one descends..." Her brows furrowed slightly. "...the denser the Abyssal Energy becomes."

Lucinda listened carefully, and even Agatha had fully turned away from the bookshelf now.

"That energy corrupts," Mai continued. "Especially lesser demons. Creatures too weak to resist prolonged exposure." Her gaze darkened. "Those are usually the ones twisted into the lesser Abyssal Creatures we have been fighting."

Her fists tightened subtly at her sides.

"They lose themselves entirely."

The room remained silent.

"Mindless," Mai said quietly. "Violent and reduced to little more than instinct and malice."

"And the stronger demons?" Victoria asked gently.

Mai’s eyes shifted toward her briefly.

"The strongest survive the corruption differently." A pause followed. "They grow stronger from it."

That answer lingered heavily in the room.

"Hm," Victoria leaned back slightly against the couch, one finger resting lightly beneath her chin. "Interesting," she murmured. "Even I was not aware of that much."

Her blue eyes turned briefly toward Lyra.

"So at the end of the day," she continued softly, "we are still dealing with demons."

"Yes," Lyra confirmed with a small nod. "Demons."

The Court Mage folded one leg over the other slowly before continuing.

"As for the tears themselves..." Her gaze lifted upward, almost as though she could see beyond the ceiling toward the fractured sky outside. "Their reactions are primarily dictated by perception."

"Perception?" Agatha repeated.

"The Abyssal Tears are semi-sentient," Lyra explained. "Not alive in the traditional sense. Not truly conscious either." Her lips twisted slightly. "But they react to threats."

Lucinda’s brows furrowed deeper.

"When resistance intensifies, they respond accordingly. Larger swarms and stronger manifestations. Greater deployment of corrupted entities." Lyra’s fingers tapped idly against the couch armrest. "And when necessary..."

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"They create Abyssal Wardens."

Agatha crossed her arms.

"Then why create them at all?" she pressed immediately. "Why not simply continue overwhelming nations through sheer numbers?"

"That," Lyra murmured softly, "is where things become rather unpleasant."

The room quieted further, even the faint sound of wind outside seemed distant now.

"The Abyss," Lyra began slowly, "is something that can only truly be described as putrid."

There was no exaggeration in her voice; if anything, that made the statement worse.

"It is unholy in every conceivable sense," the Court Mage continued quietly. "A place where corruption, ruin, hatred, despair, and defilement accumulate endlessly."

Fiona unconsciously frowned.

Mai’s jaw tightened slightly.

"It is the epicenter of everything foul," Lyra finished, and no one interrupted her.

Then Lyra leaned forward slightly, enough to draw everyone’s full attention.

"And naturally," she continued, "something so profoundly unholy reacts violently toward anything fundamentally opposed to it."

Victoria’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Lyra slowly raised one slender finger.

"And there exists only one type of being," she said quietly, "capable of making even the Abyss recoil to such a degree."

Her words lingered for a moment.

"And those beings..." Her crimson eyes moved directly toward Lucinda. "...are Angels."