Chapter 752: The Shadow’s Next Move

The morning after I encountered the hooded figure, I made a decision.

I would not tell anyone what I had seen.

Not yet.

There was no point in frightening Mia, Lilith, or the War Council with a suspicion I couldn’t prove.

Someone was manipulating the attacks.

Someone understood how we reacted.

And, somehow, that person understood me.

But suspicion wasn’t proof.

Until I had something more, I would keep it to myself.

The problem was that keeping it to myself did not make the feeling disappear.

If anything, it became worse.

Every time I closed my eyes, I remembered those few seconds on the rooftop.

The way the figure moved.

The way he stopped.

The way he spoke.

You’re still searching.

Three simple words.

Yet they had stayed in my mind since the moment I heard them.

I had heard countless voices throughout my life.

Soldiers.

Mages.

Teachers.

Guild masters.

Enemies.

Friends.

The Emperor of Destruction.

Aamon.

Aaron.

But that voice was different.

It felt familiar in a way I couldn’t explain.

Not familiar like hearing someone I knew.

Familiar like hearing my own thoughts spoken aloud.

I hated that feeling.

****************************************************

By noon, another emergency meeting had been called.

The entire atmosphere inside the hall had changed.

People were no longer shouting as loudly as before.

They were tired.

The constant attacks had exhausted everyone.

Even the people who had once demanded immediate military action had begun asking whether they were fighting an enemy that actually existed.

Lilith sat quietly on one side of the hall.

Mia sat near the front.

The War Council members were gathered together.

Church representatives occupied the opposite side.

Authority officials filled the remaining seats.

I stood behind Lilith.

As usual, nobody paid much attention to me.

That was exactly how I wanted it.

One of the Authority commanders stood.

"We received reports from three regions last night."

A map was placed on the table.

"Two suspicious movements and one confirmed attack."

The room became restless.

"Where?"

The commander pointed toward the map.

"The eastern agricultural region."

Mia immediately looked up.

"Casualties?"

"None."

That surprised everyone.

"None?"

"Yes."

"What was attacked?"

"A storage building."

"Anything stolen?"

"No."

Mia frowned.

"Then why call it an attack?"

The commander hesitated.

"Because the building was destroyed."

I looked at the map.

"Was there dark mana?"

"Yes."

"Any bodies?"

"No."

"Any witnesses?"

"One."

"Bring them in."

The commander nodded.

A few minutes later, an elderly farmer entered the room.

He looked nervous.

He bowed repeatedly before the council.

The Authority commander spoke gently.

"Tell us what you saw."

The farmer swallowed.

"I was returning home late."

"What time?"

"Perhaps around midnight."

"And?"

"I saw someone standing near the storage building."

"Could you identify them?"

"No."

"Human or devil?"

The farmer hesitated.

"I couldn’t tell."

The Church representatives immediately began murmuring.

The commander raised his hand.

"Continue."

"The person stood there for a while."

"Did they attack the building?"

"I don’t know."

"You don’t know?"

"I saw the building collapse."

"How?"

The farmer shook his head.

"There was no explosion."

The room became silent.

"What do you mean?"

"It simply..."

He struggled to find the words.

"Collapsed."

"Did you see dark mana?"

"Yes."

"Where did it come from?"

The farmer pointed toward the building.

"From inside."

I frowned.

"Did the person leave?"

The farmer nodded.

"Yes."

"Which direction?"

The farmer pointed toward the west.

"Did you follow?"

"No."

"Why?"

The old man looked at him as though the answer were obvious.

"Because I wanted to live."

A few people quietly laughed.

Even I smiled.

It was the first honest reaction anyone had given during the meeting.

The farmer looked around nervously.

"I don’t know who they were," he said. "But they didn’t look like soldiers."

"Did they look like a devil?"

"I don’t know."

"Did they have horns?"

"No."

The Church representative immediately stood.

"Then perhaps the witness simply failed to see them clearly."

The farmer looked annoyed.

"I saw what I saw."

The room quieted.

The old man looked toward Lilith.

"Queen Lilith..."

Everyone turned.

Lilith straightened.

"Yes?"

The farmer hesitated.

"Are you truly trying to stop this?"

Lilith looked at him.

There was no political answer in her expression.

Only honesty.

"Yes."

The farmer nodded.

"Then I hope you succeed."

He turned and left.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Then Commander Rurik quietly said:

"Perhaps that is what we have forgotten."

Everyone looked at him.

"We keep asking who is responsible."

He looked around the room.

"But ordinary people are asking whether any of this will ever end."

Nobody responded.

**************************************************

The meeting eventually ended.

Again, no decision.

But this time, the silence afterward felt different.

People weren’t leaving angry.

They were leaving uncertain.

That was progress.

Small progress.

But still progress.

Lilith walked out beside me.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For staying."

I glanced at her.

"I was assigned as your guard."

She smiled.

"You don’t have to remind me."

We continued walking.

After a few moments, she asked:

"Did something happen last night?"

I stopped.

She looked at me.

"Why?"

"You’ve been different since this morning."

I looked away.

"Nothing."

Lilith studied me for several seconds.

"You are a terrible liar."

I laughed quietly.

"You’re getting better at reading people."

"I’ve had to."

She looked toward the city.

"Being queen teaches you quickly."

I nodded.

Then I noticed something.

A man standing across the street.

He wasn’t looking at Lilith.

He wasn’t looking at me.

He was looking at the meeting hall.

He stood completely still.

Then he turned and disappeared into the crowd.

I stared after him.

Lilith noticed.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Again, I lied.

But this time, I didn’t believe myself.

*******************************************************

That afternoon, I began investigating the eastern attack.

I didn’t go to the destroyed storage building.

Instead, I went to the surrounding area.

The attacker had been seen leaving west.

That was probably false.

The person behind the attacks had already taught me not to trust obvious information.

I followed the opposite direction.

Nothing.

I kept walking.

An hour later, I reached an abandoned road.

There was an old stone bridge ahead.

I stopped.

Something felt wrong.

The road was empty.

No people.

No animals.

No wind.

I walked beneath the bridge.

There, hidden behind a broken stone, I found another mark.

The same mark.

But this time there was something beside it.

A small metal object.

I picked it up.

It was shaped almost like a thin coin.

There was no magical engraving.

No mana.

Yet the moment I touched it, something happened.

A faint projection appeared above my palm.

I immediately dropped it.

The projection remained.

A map.

Not of the entire human domain.

A small section of the capital.

Three locations were marked.

One was the Authority headquarters.

Another was the Church sanctuary.

The third...

I recognized immediately.

The human arena.

My eyes narrowed.

Then the projection disappeared.

I picked up the object again.

Nothing.

Just metal.

A message.

Not an attack.

A warning.

Or perhaps an invitation.

I stared at the object.

Why show me these three locations?

The Authority.

The Church.

The arena.

Three places connected to the treaty.

Three places connected to the beginning of the conflict.

I thought about it.

Then the answer came.

Someone wanted me to believe the next attack would occur at one of those locations.

But which one?

I smiled faintly.

"You’re getting predictable."

The moment I said it, a voice answered.

"Am I?"

I froze.

I turned around.

Nobody.

The voice had come from nowhere.

Then a faint laugh echoed beneath the bridge.

I immediately released my mana.

Ice spread across the ground.

Shadow gathered around my feet.

Nothing.

"Come out."

Silence.

I waited.

Then the voice returned.

"You’ve improved."

My heart stopped for half a second.

That voice.

Again.

The same voice.

The same calm tone.

The same strange familiarity.

I looked around.

"Who are you?"

A pause.

Then:

"Does it matter?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because you’ve been interfering with my life."

Another pause.

"I’ve been trying to protect it."

I frowned.

"By attacking innocent people?"

"No."

"Then explain."

"I can’t."

"Can’t?"

"Not yet."

My grip tightened.

"Then stop hiding."

A faint laugh.

"You still rush toward answers."

The words struck me.

Again.

The same way of speaking.

The same observation.

I felt something stir inside my mind.

A memory.

A place.

Something impossible.

A world that shouldn’t exist.

I saw—

Nothing.

The vision disappeared before I could grasp it.

I shook my head.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing."

"Then why did I..."

I stopped.

The voice was gone.

The projection on the ground vanished.

The bridge became silent again.

I stood there alone.

But this time, I wasn’t confused.

I was certain.

The person behind the attacks wasn’t simply familiar with me.

He knew something about me that nobody in Edolas should know.

**************************************************

That night, I returned to Tech Genesis.

Aiden was still working.

He looked up when I entered.

"You’re late."

"I didn’t know I had a schedule."

"You don’t."

He smiled.

"That’s why I said you’re late."

I sat down.

Aiden studied me.

"Something happened."

I looked at him.

"Why?"

"You have the face you make when you’re thinking too much."

"I always think too much."

"Not like this."

I remained silent.

Aiden leaned back.

"Is it related to the treaty?"

"Partly."

"The attacks?"

"Yes."

He became serious.

"Then tell me."

I shook my head.

"I don’t have enough information."

Aiden didn’t push.

That was one of the reasons I trusted him.

After a moment, he asked:

"Do you want the company to investigate anything?"

I thought about it.

Tech Genesis had people everywhere.

Employees.

Merchants.

Transport routes.

Communication systems.

If someone was moving around the human domain, there was a chance the company had unknowingly recorded something.

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"I need information about unusual movements around the capital."

Aiden nodded.

"I’ll have someone compile it."

"Quietly."

"Of course."

I stood.

As I reached the door, Aiden spoke.

"Zero."

I turned.

"Be careful."

I smiled faintly.

"I usually am."

He didn’t smile back.

"I know."

Later that night, I stood alone on the penthouse balcony.

The city stretched beneath me.

Thousands of lights.

Thousands of people.

Thousands of lives.

Somewhere among them was the person behind everything.

I looked toward the horizon.

For the first time since this began, I wasn’t afraid of what would happen next.

I was curious.

Because whoever this person was...

they had made one mistake.

They had shown me something they shouldn’t have.

They had shown me that they knew me.

And now I was going to find out why.

Far away, in another hidden room, the hooded man stood before a mirror.

He stared at his reflection.

For a moment, his face looked tired.

Almost human.

Then he whispered:

"You shouldn’t have remembered that."

He closed his eyes.

The memory of another world surfaced.

A world of pages.

A world where Zero had once been nothing more than a character.

A world where events followed a predetermined path.

A world that was now changing.

And the man knew exactly why.

He opened his eyes.

"You’re getting too close."

His hand tightened.

"The story has already deviated beyond what it was supposed to become."

He looked toward the capital.

"And if you continue..."

His voice became colder.

"...everything will collapse."

He turned away from the mirror.

For the first time, there was uncertainty in his expression.

Not because Zero had discovered him.

But because Zero had begun to remember.

And that was something he had never planned for.