I opened my eyes slowly.
The world came back in pieces—the flicker of campfire embers outside the tent flap, the muted hush of the forest around us, the weight of the air that only came right before dawn.
Rei wasn't next to me.
Neither was Asmodeus.
But I could still feel both of them nearby.
Their presence carved into the rhythm of our travels like anchors I didn't realize I leaned on.
I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
Still not sure if I'd dreamt that because of memory, magic… or Metatron.
[Correction: All three.]
I sighed.
"Of course."
[Note: Dream data logged. Correlation markers updated. Future references may yield deeper clarity.]
"I didn't ask you to do that."
[You didn't need to.]
I reached for my cloak, brushing off invisible dust as I pulled it around my shoulders.
Still warm.
Still here.
But that dream wasn't going away.
Neither was the question it left behind.
Who was Rei?
And why did it feel like I'd known the answer since the beginning?
I was just fastening the last tie of my cloak when the tent flap rustled.
Rei stepped inside, a canteen in one hand and a small towel slung over her shoulder. Her sleeves were rolled up, and a few strands of damp hair clung to her forehead from the morning chill.
"You're up," she said softly, passing the canteen. "Figured you'd need this."
I nodded, taking it. "Thanks."
Her eyes lingered on me for a moment—searching, like she could still see the sleep tangled behind mine.
"You alright?"
I paused mid-sip.
Was I?
"…Yeah," I said. "Just… dreams."
Rei didn't press.
Instead, she reached for the cloth and began cleaning the outside of her boots. The quiet between us wasn't awkward—it had weight, but not tension. Like a conversation still warming back to life.
Then—
"I return victorious!"
Asmodeus' voice rang out from beyond the flap like an overly dramatic stage cue. "Lo! I have conquered the cruel gods of the forest and returned with offerings!"
He ducked through the entrance with a bundle of leafy greens in one hand and what looked suspiciously like a half-smashed fruit in the other. His coat was slightly lopsided, his hair wind-tossed, and his grin too big for this early.
Rei deadpanned. "You found spinach and an angry melon."
"It was feral," Asmodeus corrected, dropping the goods beside our supplies. "It bit first."
"You stabbed it," Rei said, eyeing the fruit.
"With precision and mercy." He retorted as he threw it toward Rei.
"You stabbed it twice." she shot back, observing the damaged fruit.
"Technically three times. The first one was a warning." He scoffed.
I shook my head. "You two are ridiculous."
"Yes," Rei muttered.
"Absolutely," Asmodeus said brightly, finally collapsing onto a folded blanket near the fire ring. "Morning, by the way. You look more alive than yesterday."
I took another sip from the canteen. "Define alive."
"Less pale, less haunted. Still cryptic, though. So—normal." He glanced at Rei. "Did you do something? Comforting hug? Stirring monologue?"
"She drank water," Rei replied flatly.
"Damn. Should've thought of that."
Asmodeus leaned lazily against a fallen log, chewing on a dried fruit strip he'd scrounged from his pack. His eyes wandered toward Rei, who was crouched just off the trail, carefully scrubbing a faint green smear from the side of her boot with a damp cloth.
"Still at it?" he asked, quirking a brow. "Pretty sure the slime's dead. We all saw it melt."
Rei didn't glance up. "Its acid wasn't. This boot's enchantment nearly gave out."
I glanced down toward Rei's gear—sure enough, the left boot was slightly discolored along the edge, the leather warped where slime residue had chewed too close.
"You should've said something," I said, shifting my pack slightly. "We could've adjusted the warding."
"I had it under control," Rei said.
Asmodeus snorted. "Sure didn't look like control when that slime latched onto your leg."
Rei raised an eyebrow, finally glancing up. "You were screaming."
"That was battle-yelling," he said quickly. "Totally different."
"Sure," she muttered, dragging the cloth down the boot's side with slow, precise strokes.
"Seriously though," Asmodeus continued, watching her work, "You're really attached to those boots, huh?"
"They've been enchanted for terrain shifts," she replied. "Replacements don't come cheap. And they don't break in easily."
He gave a lazy shrug. "Guess I'll have to find something durable next time we run into monsters. Maybe a slime-free zone."
"I'd appreciate it," Rei said dryly.
"Noted. No slimy terrain. Unless it's you stepping in it again," he grinned.
Rei narrowed her eyes. "Keep talking and I'll enchant your boots to squeak with every step."
I smirked. "Please do."
The underbrush rustled near the slope to their east.
Rei was the first to react—her head turning toward the sound, fingers brushing the side of her cloak where her charm tags were hidden.
"Finally," Asmodeus muttered, rising and brushing off his coat. "Took you long enough."
Eldric Albrecht emerged from the trees with the casual swagger of someone who believed fashion and punctuality should never mix. His platinum-blond hair caught the low morning light, and his cloak bore the embroidered seal of House Albrecht, still pristine despite the travel.
Behind him, three soldiers followed—light armor, alert eyes, and practiced steps.
"Ah," Eldric called, striding into the clearing like he owned it. "Thought I heard the sound of disappointment echoing through the trees. Hello, Asmodeus."
"Took your sweet time," Asmodeus replied.
"I was waylaid by a collapsing bridge, two indecisive patrols, and a messenger who couldn't read a map. You're welcome, by the way—I rerouted the local scouts so they wouldn't stumble across your camp."
I tilted my head. "And you didn't think to send a bird ahead to let us know you weren't dead?"
"Where's the drama in that?" he said with a smile.
"Right here, unfortunately," Rei said, stepping forward—only to stop when Eldric's eyes landed on her.
His brow furrowed, sharp and confused. "...I don't recognize you."
Before Rei could respond, Asmodeus stepped in. "She's new. House support. Archives rotation."
"Support?" Eldric echoed. "Wearing that?"
Rei's current attire—formal, layered, and notably tailored for a woman—was… not exactly what House support usually wore. Eldric's eyes narrowed slightly, gears turning.
I was already shaking my head. "Temporary. She's filling in for someone who got reassigned."
Eldric stepped closer, curious. "And your name?"
There was a pause.
Then, Rei bowed down and spoke—measured and even. "I'm sorry for my insolence, Lord Albrect. I am Lilith."
A beat.
Asmodeus and I blinked.
Eldric, meanwhile, raised a brow. "Huh. Pretty formal. You from the old bloodlines?"
Rei dipped her head further, expression neutral. "Old enough my Lord."
Eldric shrugged. "Fine. Lilith it is."
Asmodeus let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
Rei walked past him, just brushing his shoulder. "You owe me," she murmured under her breath.
"Noted," Asmodeus whispered back.
I watched the exchange in silence, my eyes narrowing—not in suspicion, but with that slow, dawning sense that Rei had slipped off a mask she hadn't used in a very long time.
And if "Lilith" was her real name...
There was more here than Rei had ever let on.
I watched her walk away.
No limp. No twitch. No hesitation.
Just poise. Precision. A mask I hadn't seen before.
Lilith.
She said it like it meant nothing. Like it was just a name.
But the shift in her voice—the exacting way she held her posture—told me otherwise. That wasn't a lie.
That was muscle memory.
And I didn't miss the flicker in her eyes before she said it. The flicker that said: This is dangerous. Follow my lead.
I let the others resume their chatter—Asmodeus complaining about delayed breakfast, Eldric pretending he hadn't almost stumbled over his own soldiers. The usual.
But my focus stayed on her.
Rei—or Lilith, apparently—stood just beyond the warded edge of the camp, pretending to check the perimeter runes again. Her fingers were steady, but too slow. Deliberate. She was giving me time.
So I took it.
I followed.
She didn't look up when I approached. Just spoke softly, "You walk quiet when you want to."
"You lie well when you want to," I countered.
That got a twitch at the corner of her mouth. Not quite a smile.
"You recognized the name?" she asked.
I nodded. "He didn't. But I did."
She turned toward me then, her face open in that carefully composed way that wasn't quite a lie—but definitely not the truth, either.
"I didn't mean for you to find out like this."
"Like what?" I said evenly. "That 'Rei' is an alias? That the girl who swore she'd never hide from me already had one foot buried in a second life?"
Her jaw tightened.
"...It's not like that."
"Then tell me what it is like."
She exhaled through her nose, glancing back toward camp. "Not here."
"We're alone."
"No, we're never alone," she muttered. "Not with you around. You pick apart silence like it's a puzzle."
I didn't argue.
Instead, I stepped closer—enough to lower my voice.
"Rei isn't your name."
She nodded.
"And Lilith is?"
"It was," she admitted. "A long time ago. Before everything shifted."
I stared at her, watching the way her hands rested at her sides—tension curled into the knuckles. Not fear. Not shame.
Memory.
I could hear Metatron whispering faint threads of analysis beneath my awareness, but I silenced it with a thought.
This wasn't for him.
This was for me.
"You used it like it was armor," I said.
Her eyes flicked up, surprised.
"I know what that feels like," I added. "To pick a name and try to bury the rest underneath it."
A beat.
"I didn't want him to recognize me," she said softly. "Not because I feared him. But because it would've forced me to explain a life I'm not ready to revisit. Not yet."
"Are you going to explain it to me?"
She hesitated.
Then—quietly: "Eventually."
I stared at her for a long moment.
Then I stepped back.
"Fine," I said. "Eventually. But you will. And when you do, don't lie again. Not with your posture. Not with your name. Not with that mask you keep using like it's safer than honesty."
She swallowed. "Okay."
"Good."
I turned to walk away—but paused.
"...You still owe me an apology."
"For what?"
"For letting him call you by your real name before I could."
That made her blink. Then smile.
It wasn't wide.
But it was real.
"Next time," she said. "You first."
The moment hung in the air between us like lingering smoke.
Then Rei—Lilith, whoever she truly was in that moment—nodded once and turned back toward camp.
I let her go this time.
No more questions. No more pushing.
For now.
By the time I returned, Asmodeus had found something resembling breakfast—charred root slices and a pouch of preserved meat he claimed he "liberated" from his father's stores. Eldric was halfway through lecturing one of his soldiers on keeping formation, though his words carried more pride than reprimand.
I caught Rei's eye.
She gave the smallest of nods.
Time to move.
"Pack up," I said. "We sweep east again. If we don't find anything in the next few kilometers, we rotate north."
Asmodeus groaned but stood. "We're rotating again? I'm starting to think the ruins are just a myth."
"Then you're free to go home and explain to Lord Hinata why you gave up after slimes and no breakfast."
"Harsh," he muttered. "Fair. But harsh."
Rei fell in step beside me, this time fully armored in that neutral calm she wore when she didn't want anyone reading her thoughts. I let it be. Her aura was sharp, focused. Whatever doubts she had earlier, they were buried beneath her attendant mask again.
We advanced.
The terrain was uneven—stunted trees twisted around old stone ridges, their roots clawing over ancient paths barely visible under moss. Mana residue drifted faintly through the air. Not dangerous, but charged. Like static before a storm.
Eldric moved ahead with two of his soldiers, checking every divot in the earth like he was born to scout. Maybe he was. His boots never made a sound.
"You see it?" I asked him after a while.
He knelt near an old slope, brushing aside leaves and dust with the flat of his blade.
"Tracks," he said. "Faint. Old. But not natural. Something passed through here that didn't belong."
"Monster?"
He shook his head. "No. People. But… not ordinary."
Rei knelt beside him, fingers tracing the imprint.
"Mana imprint's too deliberate," she said. "Whoever it was knew how to move quietly—but not how to erase their residue."
Asmodeus squinted from behind. "So… we're following ghosts now?"
"No," I said. "We're following carelessness."
Rei looked up. "Which means either they didn't expect anyone to find this place…"
"Or they expected someone to," I finished.
A silence settled.
Then Metatron's voice whispered just beneath the veil of my thoughts.
[Observation: Mana decay rates indicate residual presence within the last five days. Arcane distortion is increasing in the northeast quadrant.]
I turned my head slowly.
"The trail bends east," I said. "Slightly. Between the ridgelines."
"How can you tell?" Eldric asked.
I gave him a look. "Because everything around that spot is too quiet."
The group moved again—now more careful. More watchful.
We didn't speak unless we had to.
Rei's hand never left her side blade.
Asmodeus' fingers crackled occasionally with lightning, subconsciously charging with every step forward.
And me?
I listened.
To the birds that weren't chirping. To the wind that wasn't moving. To the pressure that coiled tighter with every step we took past the ridgeline.
We were close.
Not to the ruins.
But to something.
And the air knew it too.
We pressed forward through the narrowing gap between the ridgelines.
The light dimmed, but not because of the clouds.
Because the pressure changed.
[Warning: Localized atmospheric distortion detected. Arcane signatures spiking above—]
Plop.
Something wet and unpleasant splattered in front of me.
I stopped.
Another drop. Schlorp.
This one landed on Rei's shoulder. She glanced at it, confused—until it started to move.
A gelatinous mass squirmed along her sleeve like a sentient dumpling, wobbling once before trying to cling.
"...Oh, no," she said flatly.
Then it started to multiply.
"What the hell is—" Asmodeus began, just as a rain of wet, translucent blobs started falling from the sky like some divine joke.
Dozens. No, hundreds.
Splat. Plop. Shlorp.
"—YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" he shouted, ducking behind a low branch that immediately collected three squishy passengers of its own.
"Slimes as rain?" Eldric gasped, trying to bat one away with his sleeve. "Slime Rain?"
"They're not natural," Rei said through gritted teeth, already slicing two off her arm with clean, precise strikes.
"They're multiplying," I muttered. "Too fast."
[Alert: Atmospheric breach from localized mana field collapse. Unknown trigger. Creatures exhibit accelerated mitosis. Caution advised.]
"No kidding," I hissed.
A blob slapped onto the rim of my boot. I kicked it off with a curse, only for it to split into two mid-air.
"Oh good, they clone when agitated."
"This isn't rain," Eldric snapped, drawing his blade. "It's a trap."
"Noted!" Asmodeus shouted, summoning a small surge of lightning to zap a clump of the falling sludge—only to watch it absorb the hit and start sparking. "...Okay. New plan! Less zapping!"
"Can you stop trying to make everything explode?" I snapped.
"Exploding solves most problems!" He yelled.
"Not the ones that multiply when electrocuted!" I barked back
"Details!"
Slimes splattered across the clearing, wriggling as they landed, some already fusing into larger, vaguely humanoid forms. A few of the soldiers Eldric brought were already fending them off with polearms and enchantments, but the tide wasn't slowing.
Not yet.
Not naturally.