The sanctuary’s reading room was larger than it looked from the outside.

It had three long shelves against the side walls, a central table with four chairs, and a narrow window facing the inner courtyard. Light came in through there and from two lamps hanging from the ceiling. The place smelled like old paper and wood.

Ophélia went straight to the back shelf and started running a finger along the spines of the books. Takeshi stopped beside her.

"The text from the third period is here."

Said Ophélia as she pulled out a dark-covered volume with worn edges.

"It’s a translated copy, since the original is in another section and can’t be removed."

Takeshi took it. It was thicker than expected. He opened it to the index and searched for any section that mentioned the descent or Tot’s form. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Aoi and Nyx entered behind them. Nyx headed toward the shelf on the left and started checking the titles with genuine interest. Aoi stayed near the door, looking around the room without moving toward any shelf in particular.

Takeshi found a section titled Records of the Ninth Day and started reading.

The text was dense. It used formal language that was probably clearer in the original version, but the translation preserved enough detail to understand the content.

Nyx was checking the second shelf when she stopped and pulled out something that clearly wasn’t a historical text. It was a thinner book with a light-colored cover and cursive lettering on the spine. She turned it to read the title and then looked toward Ophélia.

"Is this also part of the sanctuary’s collection?"

Ophélia looked up, and when she saw what Nyx was holding, her expression changed.

"That’s not part of the general collection!"

Ophélia answered with obvious embarrassment.

Aoi walked over and looked at the book over Nyx’s shoulder. She read the title out loud.

"’The Lovers’ Promise?’"

The genre didn’t leave much room for interpretation.

"Is it yours?"

Asked Aoi.

Ophélia snatched it from Nyx’s hands faster than usual.

"Y-Yes..."

"And what is it doing in the sanctuary’s reading room?"

"I left it here by accident..."

She paused briefly.

"I was curious about romance, since the sanctuary texts don’t cover that subject."

Nyx looked at the book and then at Ophélia.

"How many have you read?"

"Only three... from the series."

Aoi said nothing, but her expression looked like someone processing deeply unexpected information. Nyx started asking something else, probably about the plot, and Ophélia answered with visible but controlled discomfort.

Takeshi returned to the text in his hands.

There was a section farther ahead describing the period after the descent. Tot had not interacted directly with most people. It had chosen a small group, though the texts did not specify the criteria for selection, and through them, it had transmitted the magic system. The process had taken years.

Takeshi was about to turn the page when he heard a noise outside.

It wasn’t a sanctuary noise. It was too abrupt and came from more than one place at the same time.

He looked up.

The room’s door burst open.

Two people entered wearing dark clothes with nothing identifying them. The first held a short dagger in each hand. The second carried something Takeshi couldn’t identify before Aoi was already moving.

Eclipse appeared in Aoi’s hand in less than a second. She blocked the first attacker’s strike and slammed the second into the wall with her shoulder.

Nyx moved toward the window and launched a burst of energy toward the doorway to create space.

More noises came from outside, mixed with the shouts of sanctuary workers and footsteps running across the roof.

Takeshi set the book on the table and stepped in front of Ophélia.

"Don’t move from here!"

He ordered, and Ophélia only nodded once.

The fight inside the room didn’t last long. Aoi eliminated the first attacker in four moves, and Nyx restrained the second, but at that moment the window shattered from outside and two more came in.

The room was too small for that many people. Aoi and Nyx were forced to move toward the center, and that opened space near the door.

One of the newcomers took advantage of the movement and shoved Takeshi into the hallway outside, separating him from Aoi and Nyx with Ophélia pressed against his back.

The door ended up between them and the rest of the group.

Takeshi grabbed a broom that was nearby.

An attacker stood in front of them, watching without moving yet. Behind Takeshi, Ophélia was pressed against the hallway wall. The sound of the fight inside the room was still going.

The attacker advanced.

Takeshi didn’t have Aoi’s technical skill. He knew that. He blocked the first strike, and the impact traveled through his arm all the way to his shoulder. He stepped back to steady himself, remembered what the instructor had said about weight and hips, and when the attacker advanced again, he dodged to the side instead of blocking head-on.

He gained two seconds, no more.

The attacker was faster than him. With every exchange, Takeshi lost ground. He used a burst of magic to reinforce his arm and managed to deflect a strike that would have hit his torso.

Ophélia was still behind him, motionless.

He kept fighting.

The problem was that the hallway had another side entrance Takeshi hadn’t considered.

The second attacker came through there.

Takeshi saw him too late. He turned to intercept him, but the angle was bad and the movement only halfway complete. The attacker didn’t go for Takeshi.

He went for Ophélia.

Takeshi moved, but he didn’t make it.

The sound was short. Ophélia didn’t even have time to scream.

By the time Takeshi reached her, Ophélia was already sliding down the wall with one hand pressed against her side. The wound was deep, and the amount of blood confirmed it immediately.

Takeshi caught Ophélia before she hit the floor. The attacker was already gone. He had disappeared the way he came.

"Ophélia!"

She looked at him. Her expression wasn’t panic. She was processing what had happened.

"It hurts..."

That was all she said.

Takeshi pressed his hand against the wound. He searched desperately for some solution.

Ophélia started growing heavier against his arm.

Takeshi found nothing he could do. There was no one else in the hallway. The fight in the room could still be heard, but farther away now, as if Aoi and Nyx had pushed the battle into another section.

Ophélia stopped pressing against the wound with her own hand.

Takeshi held her.

"Ophélia!"

He got no response this time.

The sky changed.

Takeshi saw it through the hallway window. The red came from every direction at once, the clouds darkened, and the sunlight vanished without any cloud covering it.

Then the entity appeared.

Sanity started dropping on its own.

[Sanity: 75%]

Takeshi tried not to look directly at it, but the hallway had windows on three walls and there was no direction without sky.

[Sanity: 60%]

He heard Aoi and Nyx leave the room and enter the main hallway. He heard them stop. Several seconds of silence followed.

[Sanity: 45%]

Then he heard Eclipse, and then he heard Nyx.

It wasn’t a long exchange. It was fast and made very little noise, which was the most terrifying part. Takeshi couldn’t move. His sanity kept falling, and every time he tried to organize a complete thought, the next one shattered before it could finish.

[Sanity: 30%]

The sound stopped, and slow footsteps approached.

Takeshi looked up.

Aoi stood at the end of the hallway. Eclipse was still summoned. There was blood on her clothes, on her face, on her hands, and it wasn’t hers.

[Sanity: 22%]

Aoi walked toward him. Her expression was not the expression of someone sane.

Takeshi tried to say something, but the words wouldn’t come out in order.

Aoi raised Eclipse.

[Sanity: 15%]

Takeshi failed to move in time.

[LOADING SAVE POINT]

Takeshi was sitting at his desk with his hands on its surface and his heart pounding at a speed that didn’t match someone sitting still.

He checked his stats.

[Life: 100%]

[Sanity: 15%]

[Points: 15]

He stared at his hands on the desk for a moment.

This was going to get harder.