Eric was in his office meditating. After giving some advice to Lea, he went ahead in preparation for his Fourth Step ritual.

  As one of the rare Pathstriders who took two supplementary Paths, with his main one being Madness, the other two being Transfiguration and Ash. Being bold, he had asked Lady Keter if it was possible to take on another Path.

  Her answer was yes and suggested he take Order. He had to think of how to incorporate it into this tangled mess of extraordinary powers.

  Madness' Fourth Step ritual is to be fully consumed by insanity and crawl out of it; there is no time limit.

  Transfiguration is the essence of transformation. He took this, so he gets the transformation ability, easing his insanity.

  Ash is the nature of the end, bringing him closer to death, yet it has a special ability when combined with Madness - Resurrection. Though it dulls his mind a lot.

  With all of them together, his Pathstrider name is Undead. And it is extremely taxing for him to maintain his sanity as an Undead.

  Lady Keter suggested Order to regain control. If he successfully takes it, he'll be a Knightmare.

  The benefits are immense, but that comes with the difficulty. How can he be consumed by his own madness while maintaining order?

  This was something he had to figure out himself... or ask that being for help.

  Checking the surroundings with his senses, Eric let out a sigh and csped his hands together.

  "Error of Existence;Monster of Infinity, Everywhere and Nowhere;The Actor under the Lightless Shine."

  Darkness in his room condensed, and Eric took a sharp inhale. Madness may help him control himself, but merely looking at this creature made him grasp at what's left of his sanity. His entire being screams that it shouldn't exist, it shouldn't be here, it was something unholy in the purest of senses.

  "Miss Mashhith...", he said respectfully, "What can I offer you for your power?"

  He blinked, and the creature in front of him vanished, repced by an uneasy sense at his back... which was facing the wall. This "Miss Mashhith" was behind him, in his walls.

  This being, as far as he knew, existed within the same Library. But unlike Lady Keter, it can go in and out of it freely, so he sometimes can only catch a glimpse of it.

  But it has a special power; it could forcibly impnt Attributes into people. With a higher risk of becoming a Horror.

  "Miss Mashhith" whispered into his ears, a sweet yet entirely hollow voice, as if the void itself was speaking. His expression turned grave, hearing what it wanted.

  "I accept the deal..."

  =0=0=

  "Get me to Melton Street, Antoe District!! Quick!!", she yelled as she forcibly opened a cab.

  Being too intimidated by her gaze, the driver smmed the pedal and sped off. Blitzing through the industrial area to head straight to her destination.

  Lea was in a panic, clenching the revolver in her pocket. She feels like she would need to control herself to not randomly fire at the first monstrosity she sees.

  She looked out of the window, and she saw something, "Huh?"

  "Stop the cab for a moment.", she spoke colder than she expected.

  The driver smmed the brake, flinging her forward. Luckily, she had her seatbelt on and used her hand in time to support herself.

  She opened the door, seeing a middle-aged man wearing three pendants like hers, out of breath.

  "Come in!!", she urged.

  Seeing her pendants, the man used all of his strength to get in, falling helplessly into the seat. Lea took the chance to put on his seatbelt.

  Her head snapped to the driver, "Get going!!!"

  He smmed the pedal again, going past the speed limit. All he could think under all that pressure is "Why me?!"

  He swore he would find another job after this.

  "T-Thank you...", the man let out a sigh of relief, "I thought I was going to die..."

  "I just hope we make it in time...", Lea muttered, still gripping her gun tightly.

  It took her five minutes to find a cab; at this speed, they might reach their destination in another five minutes.

  Both Abyss Hunters use this chance to rest and steel themselves. That was when the burning eye pendant vibrated again.

  Both of them clutched their own, hearing the desperate cries of the Abyss Hunters on the other side.

  "By the Lords!! There are five more Horrors!! We can't contain them in the building!!! We need the Bishop!!!"

  Accompanying those shouts were growlings of monsters, noises of something trying to break through the door.

  Then the transmission went quiet.

  Lea and the man look at each other. They know they can't do anything about this.

  As they were travelling toward Melton Street, someone was watching them.

  A woman with short white hair, wearing all bck clothes. She hums a melody as she sits on a chimney, her lightless eyes gaze at the speeding cab in the middle of the night.

  "I wonder how this one would turn out to be~", she pyfully spoke, the silver eight-pointed star on her back shining brightly.

  =0=0=

  Reaching Melton Street, Lea opened the door and threw ten Hern coins at the drive.

  "Keep the change and fuck off!!", she smmed the door shut.

  The other Abyss Hunter was taken aback, but he did not dwell on it; he continued to run forward. Lea followed suit, catching up to him quickly.

  "I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Dean Rumenhar.", the man said, his blue eyes turning golden as the noises got louder and louder. From the look of it, he was a Judge.

  "Lea Darkwill.", she replied curtly.

  With her emotion radar, she could sense at least a dozen people gathering not far from her position. She took out her gun and slowed down, being cautious.

  Then, from a house, something burst out. It was a white feathered beast, three meters in size, with its body close to that of a bear. Yet its face is a stretched-out human face, constantly letting out bellows of agony. Lea was hit with an uncomfortable feeling, like the monster in front of her shouldn't exist, a Horror.

  Dean, by her side, instantly raised his hand, "Judgement!!"

  A golden cross instantly pierced the Horror, causing it to let out a scream of pain, and made it even more uncontrolble.

  Dull gray chains were unleashed by several Pathstriders, trying with their weight to tie the Horror down.

  "Who the fuck just tries to kill it?!", one of the Abyss Hunters who was chaining it down shouted with fury, "Do a better fucking job!!!"

  Dean flinched and put his hand down, hiding behind Lea.

  Lea herself doesn't know what to do in this situation. Her Malediction was pretty much useless...

  Then she heard whispers coming from the monster.

  "He...lp...kill...save..me...kill..me...."

  But wait... didn't the person in the transmission say there were five more Horrors...?

  She felt a powerful pulse appearing right next to her. Lea ducked down and avoided a slice. But Dean was unfortunately cut in half.

  She briefly looked out, seeing a tall pale white and nky figure with swords extended from the forearm. The stretched out face from head to the stomach briefly stares at Lea before disappearing.

  "There is one more over here!!! It can vanish and had swords for arms!!!", she shouted for all to hear.

  She immediately leaned against a wall, covering her back. She felt pity for Dean, who had to die just like that.

  "That's a No-Witness!!", someone else shouted, "Severance and Veil!! Everyone who isn't dealing with the Feathered Bear, face your backs to each other or a wall!! It can't attack you upfront!! We just need to hold out until the Bishop comes!!!"

  What can she do with Malediction? What can a Vilin do in this situation?!

  She csped her hands and quietly prayed. She was quite far from the others, so she was essentially alone.

  "Alchemist of Infinity;Embracer of Origin, Child of Purity and Silver;The Monarch cd in Argent Light..."

  "Lady Keter, I am in a precarious situation. Please help me find a way to deal with the Horrors!"

  Then she heard Lady Keter's calm voice in her head, "At the First Step of Malediction, you gain the an ability called Mockery. As long as your insults hit close to home, the target will take damage to their Mind. Of course, you would also provoke them into targeting you."

  That's even worse!!! Lea wants to scream so badly. She doesn't want to attract these monsters' attention!!

  Snap!!

  The chains holding the Feathered Bear down snapped one by one; they couldn't hold on any more. The giant Horror raised its cws and was about to swipe at the nearest Abyss Hunter.

  Lea didn't want to see another death when she hadn't processed Dean's demise. There was a deep instinctive fear in her, telling her that she must close her eyes.

  Yet she didn't want to.

  Bang!!

  She fired a shot at the Feathered Bear, penetrating its head. The Horror stopped and looked at her; the wound quickly healed.

  It roared and began to run toward her.

  Gritting her teeth, Lea gred at the Horror. She felt the whispers of Malediction telling her information, knowledge she should not have—

  "Are you going to sh out about your failure?!", she roared, her voice loud and clear.

  Everyone turned to her, even the Horror stopped in its tracks in disbelief. Was this woman really insulting it at this moment?

  Yes, she is.

  Lea is someone who easily gives in to peer pressure, even from herself. She is a brave coward.

  "When you became a Pathstrider, what did you say to yourself?! Huh?! Did it involve becoming a monster?! Becoming something against the natural order?! By the Lord, are you stupid or what? Look at you now, a poor, miserable wretch mindlessly attacking everything it sees!! Why are you so keen on letting everyone know you are an absolute failure?!"

  The Feathered Bear was offended; it roared back at her with ferocity as if trying to rebuke her. Of course, Lea does not understand animal speech.

  "What? Are you going to bark? Is that all you can do?! Did you forget you're a human or something? What would your mother by the Lord's side think of you?", she gred back with even more intensity, "Did she wish for you to become a Pathstrider and end up so miserably? Not something healthy like a 9-5 job?"

  The Feathered Bear shrank back, its feathers quivering in denial. In life and in this horrific form, it had never been insulted to this extent. Everyone witnessing this was baffled. Someone actually talked down to a Horror!!

  It did not end there, "Back to becoming a Horror, why didn't you just die quietly rather than becoming a nuisance to everyone?! I could've gone to sleep by now!! You'll die either way. Did your mother encourage you to scream loudly like a baby every night?! You disgrace of a son!!!"

  Under Lea's endless insults, the Horror shrank even further, curling to a fetal position while shaking its body, mentally trying to deny everything she said, rocking side to side, trying to comfort itself.

  The Abyss Hunters were stunned. Lea just did the impossible, she insulted a Horror into submission!!

  Far away, there was Owen, looking at her and taking notes in his mind, "We need more Malediction Pathstriders".

  Even though they only had the First Step, seeing this much convinced him it wouldn't hurt at all.

  If she heard what he thought, Lea would scream to burn the ritual for Malediction. The church doesn't need more Vilins!

  Cp.

  Someone cpped slowly, and an oppressive aura of darkness pressed against all of the present Abyss Hunters. Lea also felt it and instinctively turned her head toward the direction of this oppressiveness.

  There was an orb there, one growing bigger in her field of vision. Yet it was bck, like a void in the world, a hole without a single pulse to it.

  Turning off her emotion radar, Lea widens her eyes as she looks at that person. The woman in bck white short white hair, those lightless eyes that reflect nothing.

  That woman from Akasha Monodrama, the very same one who destroyed her town. With bloodshot eyes, Lea immediately fired her gun at the woman.

  From her shadow, a maw of bck flesh erupted, catching and dragging the bullet down into the eternal darkness.

  "That was quite a rude welcoming.", her voice was hollow yet pyful, emanating an aura of unholiness, evil, and corrupting.

  Her hollow eyes made contact with Lea, blooming a sly smile, "Hello again, happy to see you alive and well~"

  "N-No!! Stay away!!", Lea screamed, firing the rest of her bullets at the woman.

  "So rude~", she casually stepped forward with her hands behind her back.

  The bullets never even reached her, as the maws of darkness came and went, eating them all. Lea choked on her saliva, trying to back away, run away, retreat into the darkness.

  "Seeing you all are having fun here~", her smile turns wicked, "Why not add some more?"

  With a snap of her finger, screeches of abominations came from the sky. Looking up, the Abyss Hunters felt despair.

  Giant bloody birds with human faces as their wings, those faces are eternally stuck in a screaming expression, begging to end their misery. Each of them is at least 1 meter in size, and thousands are covering the sky. If they all attack, Ein wouldn't st long.

  "I am Sincir Apocrypha of the Akasha Monodrama, salutation to all.", she bowed like a performer on stage, "And, praise be to the Akasha~"

  There was no hint of reverence in her tone; it sounded like sarcasm more than anything. Lea turned around and ran, not caring about anything anymore.

  Sincir took a step forward— and vanished in front of all the Abyss Hunters, leaving only a faint trace of red electrical sparks.

  She caught up to Lea in an instant, appearing in front of her.

  "Your progression seems to be better than most previous experiments, what joy~", she was indeed joyful.

  "What... what do you want with me...?", Lea choked, holding her chest to calm herself down.

  "Nothing, really~", Sincir came in close, grasping the Vilin's cheeks, "I just love~ seeing people squirming in pain, wallowing about their destiny~"

  At that moment, the No-Witness appeared behind Sincir, instantly slicing off her head.

  Plop—

  The head dropped onto the ground. But even before Lea could process what was happening, Sincir's corpse melted, turning into a puddle of bck mud.

  "Ah~ that was very rude."

  Pak!!!

  An arm came out of the No-Witness, raising it up to the sky— then bck fme consumed the Horror, burning it to nothingness, and not even ash remained.

  There was Sincir, standing there with an eted smile. Those eyes without light bore deep into Lea.

  "Aaagh!!", she screamed, yet the woman's hand grabbed her hair and smmed her into the bck mud.

  She squirmed, trying to escape in any way she could. But Sincir's hand did not move, as if an entire world was pced on her head.

  "Eat~ eat~ ahahahaha~!!"

  The mud got into her mouth; it tasted vile, like eating all kinds of rotten food, and that was not even it; an indescribable foulness infected her tongue. As she reluctantly swallows the mud, her throat feels like it is burning, plunged into an inferno.

  Then it reached her stomach, the wretched nature from the mud wrecked her bowels, poisoning Lea with the wickedness.

  After thirty seconds had passed, Sincir let go, humming to herself a job well done.

  It was painful, so painful that Lea was paralyzed from the pain. All she could do was look from the side, with tears streaming down her face.

  "Pathstriders are those who simply seek to complete themselves, to get back what was supposed to be there.", Sincir began to monologue, "And we, Akasha Monodrama, the madness and insanity that stand in the way of this noble goal."

  "So cry in despair, children under the light of The Admirer, see if you can overcome us~"

  Sincir turned around, vanishing after taking the eighth step.