"Hello, dearest brother... I have got some questions for you..."

Stepping forward, Zenith first slid the curtains back, allowing the bright sunlight to pierce through the dark room.

Seeing the entire room revealed, Sera and Elira’s eyes went wide... What lay before them was an absolute wreck. Opened briefcases, snapped staffs, and many more artifacts were scattered everywhere.

A fancy royal chalice was shattered right in the middle of the room, the glass catching the sunlight. Cracked mana crystals, torn runic scrolls, and broken staffs were scattered all over the floor. Weird metal compasses and rare potion bottles were knocked over, making the whole place look like the aftermath of a messy fight or someone’s absolute fit of rage.

Seeing Lucian’s face, Adrian immediately stumbled backward, scrambling away until he reached Zenith, who had already taken a seat on a chair near the window, crossing her legs comfortably as if she owned the room.

Grabbing onto one of her legs, Adrian started trembling shakily, his eyes wide with terror as he looked at Lucian’s face... After experiencing that traumatizing event yesterday, just looking at his brother’s face had become an unbearable torture for this mommy’s boy...

He tried to plead as he buried his face against Zenith’s boot...

"C-Captain... hic... h-how could you bring this monster... this maniac here... y-you saw what happened, right... sniff..."

His voice kept breaking, completely shaken by fear.

"W-what he did to me yesterday... n-no... sobs... get him away... kick him out of here... I already said sorry to him... please..."

Standing in the back, Sera leaned in and whispered into Elira’s ear...

"Hey..."

"What..." Elira replied, keeping her usual deadpan expression.

"Why are you stealing so obviously... I can see it all bulging in your pockets... whatever you stuffed in there..."

A second or two passed.

Elira just tilted her chin up, completely ignoring Sera, and kept her gaze fixed straight ahead.

Seeing her attitude, Sera just glared at her.

"You little..."

Ignoring the girls’ usual antics, Lucian stepped forward and sat down on Adrian’s bed. Near the bed lay an ancient-looking small glass ball with a tiny dark sphere floating inside it. He picked it up, examining it closely.

"So, my dearest little brother... why don’t you start talking... and tell me how you know Liebe?"

"Eepp...!!!"

Adrian squeaked, completely freezing up.

Seeing such a pathetic weakling on his team, Viktor, who was standing to the side, felt incredibly ashamed. Just then, Zenith gave him a signal.

Stepping forward, Viktor grabbed Adrian by the collar and hoisted him up into the air like a helpless puppy.

Then, releasing a heavy wave of bloodlust, Zenith gave Adrian a dead, piercing look...

"Adrian... don’t make us ask twice. What did Sir Liebe tell you to do?"

Gritting his teeth, Adrian nervously glanced around at everyone standing in the room. He finally realized that at this point, not even his own team was going to support him...

"I-It wasn’t my fault... Liebe just told me to read an enchantment..."

"What was that enchantment..." Lucian asked impatiently.

"T-That—" Adrian pointed a trembling finger toward his drawer...

"There is a blue runic parchment in there... I just knocked Aria unconscious and recited what was written on it... that’s all I did! That’s exactly what Liebe told me to do..."

Hearing this, Lucian’s jaw and fists clenched tight...

Then he let out a heavy breath and forced a chilling smile back onto his face...

"So, brother... You’re saying Liebe just casually told you that if you wanted to take revenge on your brother, you should curse someone close to him... and coming here, you knew you couldn’t trap Sera and Elira in such cheap tricks, so you chose Aria. Is that what I am supposed to understand?..."

He was slowly stepping closer. As he approached, Adrian panicked, curling his legs tightly up to his chest while still dangling helplessly in Viktor’s firm grip...

"H-Hey, how is this my fault... Liebe just told me that —"

Fwuom....

A dark, violet haze bled from Lucian, instantly choking the words right out of Adrian’s mouth...

Everyone’s attention snapped toward him, feeling the suffocating pressure...

Just then, Zenith abruptly stood up from her chair... as if a very important detail had just clicked in her mind.

"Wait... hold on, Lucian..."

He glanced over at her, his eyes cold.

"What?"

"I think I can help... if this is related to an enchantment..."

"What? You are already doing that..."

She shook her head.

"I meant with the help of someone I know... maybe without even going to Liebe, we can remove the curse from Aria’s body..."

Hearing this, Sera and Elira’s eyes widened slightly, right along with Lucian’s.

Nullifying his aura, Lucian looked at Zenith in confusion as she quickly walked over and pulled the parchment scroll out of the drawer.

Releasing Adrian from his grip, Viktor let him drop to the floor and walked toward Zenith and Lucian.

Zenith unrolled the scroll and flipped it over. Whatever was written on the front was in a readable language, but there were tiny, strange symbols inscribed on the back. Both of them squinted, trying to decipher the text... A few seconds passed, however neither could understand a single thing.

From behind, Elira and Sera leaned over Zenith’s shoulder to get a look.

"What language is this..." Lucian whispered.

"It doesn’t matter what language it is..." Zenith started to roll the scroll back up, though just then, Elira mumbled a few words out loud.

"Vak’tash... zyr’gul... rhel..."

Hearing those sudden words, Zenith whipped her head around, staring back at him in complete shock...

"Wait... can you read this?"

"Yeah, it’s the Demonic language... It’s easy. Here, give it to me."

elira casually took the scroll right out of Zenith’s hands.

For a couple of seconds, Zenith looked a bit embarrassed, suddenly remembering how she had punched Elira in the face yesterday. Plus, from this close, she couldn’t help but notice just how beautiful Elira was, which only made her feel more awkward. Still, she just stood there, watching her finger trace over the words... just like the rest of them were doing.

"See... it says right here..

The deal is made... Give the Noctis Sphere, and take what you wished for."