Scene: The Ivory Tower
Eri's entrance silenced the priest academy's hall. Sunlight haloed her silver hair as she bowed, voice like wind chimes over ice: "Eri. Transfer student."
A collective breath caught. "Skin like moonlit porcelain..." "...saved first-years from A-Rank wolves!" "A goddess walked among mortals!"
(Unseen by them, Nero's mental growl echoed in Eri's mind: "Touch her, and I'll rearrange your bones.")
She took her seat beside Saki—a girl drowning in sorrow Eri couldn't yet fathom.
Scene: Shadows and Whispers
Perched on a gilded rooftop, Nero dropped Darky—now a fluffy void-black cat. "Taverns. Markets. Listen for the king's secrets."
"Can I maim a few nobles?" Darky purred.
"Subtlety," Nero flicked his ear. "Or Whity babysits you."
As Darky vanished, Nero melted into the slums. Soldiers kicked a starving child. "Taxes or blood!"
Nero's shadow twitched.
The soldiers collapsed, choking on phantom blood. Nero lifted the child, pressing a jade amulet into his palm. "Rub this before meals. It'll summon bread and stew." He vanished before gratitude could form.
Scene: The Genius and the Cat
In a lab strewn with holographic schematics, Mari slammed her fist. "Stupid nano-circuit! Why won't you—?"
"Phase variance in the fourth quadrant," a voice observed.
She whirled. A silver-haired stranger leaned against her door. "Adjust the photonic resonance... here." His finger tapped the floating blueprint. The defense cube hummed to life, glowing like a captured star.
"Impossible! That algorithm took Saigo's team six months to—"
"Wanderer," he bowed, already dissolving into shadows. "Pleasure."
Darky, meanwhile, endured a worse hell:
"KITTY!" Tavern girls swarmed him. So fluffy! So cu—
HISSS! He bared needle-teeth, fleeing to a crumbling alley—where a skeletal girl clutched him.
"Everyone's gone, Neko-sama," she whispered, fever-hot. "But I'll heal this kingdom... I'll..."
Darky's eye pulsed crimson. Malnutrition. Organ failure. Weeks to live. For a heartbeat, hellfire gathered at his paw—then snuffed out. He nudged a rotten crate. Beneath it: a stash of stolen gold coins. "Buy medicine, brat," he muttered, leaping away.
Scene: Ghosts in the Fountain
Nero stood in the ashes of his childhood home. Only one thing survived: a music box, its melody etched into his soul.
That night, by a moonlit fountain, he played it.
The song was a lullaby his mother sang. A promise Ayumi once made.
Notes like liquid silver spilled over battle training grounds. Ayumi froze mid-strike—that melody. Memories ambushed her:
Flashback: Festival Night
Young Ayumi pressed a jade pendant into Nero's hand. "For you!"
He grinned, handing her a twin music box. "Now we match."
Their shared laughter harmonized with the tune—a moment frozen in amber.
Present
Ayumi sprinted toward the fountain. There—a figure dancing barefoot in the shallows, movements achingly familiar. Nero's grace. Nero's sorrow.
Their eyes met. Cosmic blue clashed with her recognition—
CRACK!
Eri's voice shattered the trance through their soul-link: "DINNER'S COLD! WHITY, DRAG HIM BACK NOW!"
Nero vanished. Ayumi's hand closed on empty air.
Scene: The Devil's Lullaby
Back in Eri's dorm, Nero nuzzled her neck. "Forgive me, my queen?"
"You charmer," she sighed, anger melting.
As they ate, Eri frowned. "Something festers in this academy. A power... equal to ours."
"Devil-gate user?" Nero's eyes narrowed. "Or something older?"
"Tessa Akihiro hides it best," she murmured. "But his aura screams of dark seekers."
Nero swept her into bed. "Enough shadows for tonight." His kiss was a vow. "I'll unravel them tomorrow."
Scene: Princess and the Doubt
In the royal quarters, Ayumi stared at the moon. "He's alive, Rei. That dance... the music..."
Her brother—crown prince Rei, whose presence bent light like a blade—holding her shoulder. "Moonlight Dagger kills gods. Whatever you saw was a phantom... or a traitor mimicking him."
But Ayumi's fingers traced her jade pendant. "Phantoms don't summon calamities."
Elsewhere
General Zoke's report chilled the war room: "The Frost Calamity was at 10% power. At full strength... it would've devoured nations."
The king steepled his fingers. "Find this 'Primordial One.' Offer kingdoms for his allegiance... or hell if he refuses."