What she saw could only be described as an unfortunate accident. Even if she couldn't tell exactly what had been taken from her to make her end up like this, it was the result of a Numbered asking to be bound and a human saying "yes".

In order for her to return to normal, they would technically have to get rid of that contract.

But in general, a contract with a Numbered could not simply be broken, because of the leverage that was set up for the "Gamble", which wasn't a one-time thing in an exclusive contract with a high-ranking one.

'When a contract was unlawfully broken or lawfully fulfilled, the leverage turned into your contract payment - with the payment plan set to 'cash on the nail, bitch'.'

If both parties wished, a contract could also be annulled, as long as the leverage could still be returned without causing damage. But a Numbered wouldn't agree to a contract or ask for one if they thought it was reasonable to undo it.

They weren't human, so they didn't necessarily think like one.

And there was the other problem - this leverage would always vary, depending on the Numbered and its unique ability. 'If you lose your arm when fulfilled, it may not be lost when annulled, but if the leverage is destroyed upon being laid down for the contract, there's nothing to give back.'

Although, to be honest, the latter was rare. Still, it could happen at any time. And in this case, she didn't know what she was seeing and if it was reversible.

But whatever it was that had to be given up, it didn't necessarily mean the death of the contractor. Sometimes, even for the powerful Numbered, a body part was enough. An arm or a leg wouldn't kill you if you lost it.

But the price depended on what the Numbered was like in nature. Certainly, the strength of a Numbered could be vaguely measured by their number. After all, the older a Visitor became, the more power they would gather, and the earlier they were Numbered, the older they would be.

But just because their overall power was greater, it didn't mean that they would definitely outperform another Numbered further down the scale. Some had a special ability that put them above the rest, and if all the conditions were met, they might even be able to take on the King of All - Number 1, if it truly existed out there.

'Well, in theory at least.' She looked at the girl lying in front of her. 'This is one unique skillset, alright.'

Something told her that it was one of those very special Numbered that had led to this. There was no cautious way around it, she had to know what she really saw in front of her, since she was no doctor.

Rowena's dry mouth felt as if it had been glued shut. It was physically difficult for her to utter even a few words. "What exactly are her symptoms?"

Norina, staring down at the lifeless body on the bed, acted as if she had been snapped out of a very long dream. Slowly blinking, she looked around the room before finding the complicated expression on her mistress' face.

"She," she started to answer, but then her voice died in her throat, "um, her organs don't work well anymore. Her bones are brittle and the skin is as you can see. She can't see and her ears are getting worse." The maid's voice was a mere whisper, and her sister didn't even react, so it could mean that she didn't hear her say it, depending on how bad "getting worse" was.

'So it's like she's dying in all aspects. What was her leverage? Or does her condition have nothing to do with the Numbered? There is a Numbered, I can sense it.'

'It is Number 88, the Ruler of Time. His name is Chronos,' help came from where she hadn't expected it.

'Of course it is.'

'You must look for Chaos, the Ruler of Space.'

'Of course I do.' Her sarcasm had reached its maximum output when her brain suddenly clicked. 'Wait, were those words coined after them?'

'It is likely so.'

'But why do I have to look for him? I have no leads.'

'Leads… There is one right in front of you. They are twins - one does not go without the other.'

'Oh, isn't that just great?' With a sigh, Rowena sat down on a small chair by the bed. 'So we have another one, possibly an enemy if things go sour. What about Charlotte then?'

'Worry not, as he would not dare harm his brother's contractor.'

'How are they even brothers in the first place?' It wasn't possible, because the Numbered weren't people; they weren't born regularly.

'Until their third stage,' he started to explain, 'Chronos and Chaos were one.'

'What? How?' It meant they were one being until their Demon stage.

'It was a mutation. Two souls had merged into one as it should, but both retained their own consciousness. By the third stage, they had two legs, two arms and two heads on one body.'

'You mean to say that they split at the fourth stage?' She had never heard of something like this being possible, it almost split her mind as well.

It would mean they had gone from being one Phantom to being two individual Demons. In Grade 3, the Visitors would explore their unique characteristics, but it was all very nebulous and disorganized. That was the reason for the term "Phantom".

They would already find themselves a name, but be a bit confused about their own nature. A perfect self would be created as soon as there was clarity about what they were and who they were, which would give them their final unique appearance and make them complete.

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So by the time they reached Grade 4, they were ready. They had their unique abilities and visible traits, and their evolution was complete. A Sentinel was just the pinnacle of their strength, and with it came their title and notoriety among others of their kind.

A Grade 5 didn't necessarily change physically from its Grade 4 state, it simply meant that it was now strong enough to reach the realm of a higher being. And when it was strong enough to be considered a god...

'In the end, they were both marked as Numbered, even though the split should have done something to their accumulated power as individuals.'

'That is correct. That is why it took so long for them to be numbered,' he said, 'but not at the same time. The Ruler of Space is Number 99.'

'Still within the first hundred, then.' She clicked her tongue and folded her arms across her chest. 'But how do we know that Chaos doesn't already have a contractor in another country? Or another world, for that matter.'

'Because Chronos wouldn't have chosen a body that was too far away from Chaos. He would have preferred not to enter a contract at all.'

'You seem to know them well.'

'...I have met them before. It was a long time ago.'

By the time he had taken to answer, she judged that he wasn't willing to talk much about that part, but there was a more pressing matter to ask about anyway.

'Back to the beginning, Pan,' the noble started, 'Why do I have to look for the brother again?'

'Because they still belong together. Their powers resonate, because they were originally one.'

In other words, they literally split in half, even their very abilities were halfed in a literal sense. 'Again, how does it make sense for a Visitor to split in half?'

'When one soul cannibalizes on another, a Visitor appears. After that, they won't be able to eat natural souls, as their soul boundary will be complete.'

'Wait a second, what are you talking about? I thought they stopped eating because of their Life Force.'

'That is not untrue.'

'But it doesn't seem to be the real reason. Why is that something I have never heard of?'

'Because there was no need for you to understand it. It was good the way it was.'

Something inside her fought the instinct to yell at him, but Norina was already looking at her funnily, so she should keep her mouth shut.

'So that divine nonsense gremium told you you couldn't tell me, right?' She normally withheld from making light of the Divine Principle, in order to not get hit by unexpected lightning, but she was slightly disgruntled and had to let the world know somehow.

'Not necessarily. But there are things I cannot say related to it. It was better to not say anything.'

'Great. And you are telling me now because...'

'Each Visitor is the sum of two separate souls. The one that ate and the one that was eaten. The former is usually the dominant personality,' Pan told her, sounding strangely detached, 'but once you reach the fourth and fifth stages, the memories of both souls will resurface and remind us of who we once were.'

"Accepted theory" - it meant that scholars of many years had come to a conclusion that was accepted as the most likely answer to a question that could possibly never be verified with certainty. It was also what Celia had understood most of her knowledge to be.

However, she had never really thought about what was the truth behind these scientific theories and what was not. She just sat there, eyes wide open, while a few words tore huge holes into her basic understanding of the Visitors.

'I knew that Visitors became more humanlike, the further they went in their progression.'

They had also seemed to regain some of their conscience, which was the reason some of them abandoned emotions altogether and took a path where they acted as if they were gods that stood above all that which lived.

'That is true as well.'

'Yes, but there's a lot more than that to it. You never even mentioned that.'

'Would it have made a difference?'

For a second, she was taken aback. 'No, I guess not.'

'But you must understand now.' He paused, as if to give her time to prepare herself to truly understand the meaning of what he was saying, though she understood him well enough.

'I understand.' She needed Chaos to teach Charlotte how to control the powers of Chronos and take back the time that had been taken from her. 'Sounds like a nitpick, but why does she not look any bigger than a regular thirteen-year-old?'

'It's not that she has aged physically or mentally. It's that her cells reached the end of their life span, but so fast that they couldn't naturally progress with said time.'

'So she didn't actually get old, she's just... close to her expiration date.'

'Apparently.'

She sighed even harder. "Norina," she said, addressing the fidgety girl next to her, who seemed to have wanted to say something for a while but couldn't, "could you please get me a cup of water?"

"Um, uh, of course, I'll be right back. I'm sorry I didn't notice sooner." A little unsteadily, she shuffled out of the room, closing the door behind her.

"All right, we have about three minutes," she said loudly, loud enough for even a geriatric to hear, right next to the bed, "I may know a way to help you, but it will take time. And you must do as I say when the time comes."

There was a twitch in the body in front of her, an eye opened slightly, but her trembling lips made no sound.

"You must hold on until I return. No matter how long it takes, you have to fight. Persevere, Charlotte. You will see your sister again," she said, imagining footsteps approaching, her heart beating loudly for what she was saying, feeling the weight and responsibility of her words, "If you understand me, blink once with your eye."

For another second her eye was open, looking into the void, then it happened: One blink. It stayed open for a moment, then closed and remained shut.

Rowena put a hand on the one that was on the bed. It was still warm. There was some life left in it, she could feel it. She just needed a little more time.

"Can you feel this?" she said, pouring a bit of Mana into her, "You already have a Mana Path opened within you because of the contract you agreed to. You must know what I mean. Take that energy, breathe it into your bones as I have just shown you. Train until I return in three weeks - there will be someone who can help you with it."

She would feel the Mana entering her body anyway. When the door opened unexpectedly, she suppressed a reaction and turned around, smiling. "Sorry, Norina, I think we have to go back now."

"What? But..."

"Don't ask questions. This time you have to follow me."

Putting down the glass, the disheveled looking maid said goodbye to her sister, not even sure if she was awake and noticed her at all. But she did as she was told and followed her mistress back to the Marquis' mansion.

But the way they took now didn't lead to the young lady's bedroom, instead it led to the annex where the knights' barracks were located. One of those rooms was assigned to three specific people, who reacted with shock when someone came to their door in the middle of the night without any subtlety.

Even more shocked they were, as they opened the door to see who went there. "Young lady, what are you doing here? And at this time. Why are you not asleep?"

"One question at a time, Sir Sean," she replied, seeking the eyes of someone in the back, "I came here looking for you, Logan Randall."

Two pairs of eyes turned and burned into the third person in the room.

"What have you done now?" Sir Yaakov asked.

"I should have known there would be trouble taking you."

"No, wait," Rowena intercepted their impromptu interrogation, "I just need to ask him a favor. In fact, I have a favor to ask of all three of you."

That got their attention in a different way. They had their orders, which they would fulfill, even if she wanted to ask something that went against that, which she knew better than anyone. Hence, her favor was difficult to fulfill, she could imagine.

"There is someone sick. She needs help. I want Mr. Randall to take care of her because there is no one else who can." She swallowed. "No, there is no one else I can trust. Will you do this for me?"

Who else could she send, if not the one person who had once kept one of her secrets hidden?