The tournament officials didn’t make any announcements the next day. Rieren was going through the tiniest smidge of anticipation that she was allowed. She would have liked to find out what the second set of matchups between those who had progressed further into the tournament would be as early as possible.

But the administration decided that the competitors deserved a break. Thus, the matchups would only be announced in a few days.

That wasn’t a bad thing. It would grant Rieren all the more time to prepare, to train both herself and all the monsters who were still in the Trials of Ascendance.

More than that, it also gave her a brief respite to tend to other matters. Such as finding out if that had truly been Starloper in the tournament match against Zhalen.

It didn’t turn out to be easy. The first strategy Rieren employed was sending out Batcat to try to scout out the administrators’ quarters. But the little Spirit Beast wasn’t able to get close enough to spy properly. Like with some of the encampments of the various competitors, there was an active runic formation warding off would-be infiltrators like a Spirit Beast.

Rieren was tempted to curse. It made sense, of course. She likely wasn’t the only one trying to spy via various means. Everyone would be wary of being watched.

But it wasn’t like Rieren herself could march in there and dig up the truth personally. They wouldn’t allow monsters to invade that deep into the main tournament grounds. She would have to resort to other means of finding information.

Which was where her next potential method came in.

Rieren had received another little message via a messenger Spirit Beast. At first, she had thought that it was likely Amalyse wanting another meeting, or perhaps even Kalvia for some reason. A part of her wondered if she was hoping it would have been their supposed Empress.

It turned out the message was actually from Mercion. A name she hadn’t thought about in a while. Not after the end of the tournament’s first round.

“You came!” Mercion said when he saw Rieren. His smile didn’t fade even after he saw what Rieren looked like now, and she was certain it was his first time seeing her in person after her transformation. “I was starting to fear that you would never show.”

“I promised that I would,” Rieren said. “Did I not?”

They had chosen to meet near the braziers of the first round, away from the main area of the second round. It was best to remain discreet.

Rieren faced Silomene, who had also apparently chosen to accompany Mercion to the meeting. “So much for keeping things discreet.”

“You’re not happy to see me?” Silomene genuinely looked sad at Rieren’s statement. “Well, fine. I’ll be happy enough for the both of us.”

“I… unfortunately, this new form of mine cannot handle happiness.” Nevertheless, Rieren summoned a smile. “But it is good to see you again, Silomene.”

“We heard everything from second-hand accounts. But we wanted to hear it from you.”

Rieren raised an eyebrow. “And see it for yourself?”

“Well, you must admit that you’re certainly a sight to behold,” Mercion said.

“Lord Mercion!” Silomene shot him a glare before turning back to Rieren. “We just wanted to talk. Because no matter what anyone else says, we of all people know that a monstrous conversion isn’t the end of the road as everyone likes to pretend.”

Rieren had come in with a bit of her hackles raised. After how everyone else reacted upon seeing a monster, upon seeing that she was a monster, she couldn’t help but be a bit disbelieving.

But it was the very fact that Silomene had stated that Rieren herself had counted on.

“I know,” Rieren said. “It is the reason I decided to accept.” She faced Mercion. “I knew you of all people would understand at least a part of what I am currently experiencing.”

Mercion nodded gravely. “I assume a… conversion is quite different from possession, but the end-effect remains the same in both cases. You’re no longer trusted. You’re no longer capable of enjoying the same position and benefits that you did before. I know the feeling well…”

He certainly did. Rieren recalled visiting Mercion as he was being held captive after she herself had proven that he was being possessed by the Gravemark Puppeteer. The minutest of pangs made her grimace a little.

“A feeling you know well because of me,” Rieren said.

Mercion laughed sardonically. “Please don’t feel sorry for what you had to do.”

“Regrettable though the situation was, I do not regret what I did.”

Mercion nodded.

Silomene decided to pull the conversation back to more positive matters. “But that’s in the past. Lord Mercion was able to retain enough of his autonomy to get to a position where he could come here, after all. He was able to participate in the Trials of Ascendance. He was able to prove that his prior monstrous possession wouldn’t take away from what he could contribute.”

“We can do the same for you, Rieren,” Mercion said. “We can prove that your new condition doesn’t suddenly mean that you’ve switched sides, or whatever other nonsense.”

Rieren crossed her arms. There was something the two of them hadn’t told her in all that. Something that they had neglected to mention. She couldn’t figure out what it might be, but she decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it didn’t matter in the big picture.

“How exactly would we go about proving such a thing?” Rieren asked. “You both must realize that I was seen aiding and abetting the monsters. That I led them against the human cultivators in the first round and personally disqualified some of them.”

Mercion shook his head. “Tell me this, Rieren. Are you actually against all of us now?”

“I could care less who I was with or against. All I seek is to attain my goal—winning this tournament and obtaining a straight path to the imperial court at Vanharron.”

Silomene and Mercion looked at each other. It occurred to Rieren she had never spoken to either of them about what her ultimate goals were. Though, a part of the reason behind that was because she herself hadn’t been wholly certain of them. Or at least, not fully certain how she would achieve her objectives.

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But now, there was a clear path ahead of her. Something direct and achievable. Something Rieren could accomplish.

“Your aims are lofty,” Mercion said. “But I assume that’s true for everyone who’s still in the tournament.”

“Regardless,” Silomene said. “We just want to help, Rieren. We are your friends, and we have proof that you didn’t join the monsters of your own volition.”

Mercion nodded enthusiastically. “That’s right. We’re here to tell you that we heard the Gravemark Puppeteer take claim of converting you to your current form.”

Rieren didn’t react. She had seen the Gravemark Puppeteer interfere in the tournament on her behalf as well. It had pretty much convinced her that the Puppeteer was responsible for her current state. But just because she had seen it didn’t mean it was true. At least, that was what all her doubters and enemies would claim. What proof did she have?

“That does not suffice as evidence, unfortunately,” Rieren said. “I am afraid if you expect anyone to believe that, then you are mistaken.”

“We know that. That alone won’t work, of course. But in conjunction with everything else we can and should try, it will be a good building block to regaining your…” Mercion looked like he was struggling to find the right word. “Everything!”

Rieren snorted a little. “What am I to do, Mercion? Go on missions at the behest of the Clanmistress and prove my worth? Swear fealty to our so-called Empress yet again and put my life in her hands? It is not practical.”

“Of course it isn’t.” Mercion was starting to sound rather frustrated. “There are ways, however. But none of them will work if you go into it with this kind of a mindset, Rieren.”

Rieren was tempted to sigh again, and inwardly cursed that she wasn’t able to. Admittedly, he wasn’t wrong. She was perhaps looking at the idea uncharitably from the get-go, perhaps influenced by the bias of what she had experienced over the last eleven days.

“Fine,” she said. “Show me a practical direction that I can go, Mercion.”

“Simple. Win the tournament, just like you’ve been meaning to.” He stepped forward so that she was looking into his fierce eyes. It was a little strange to note that she stood almost half a head taller than him now. “But do it not just for yourself. Do it for us and the Shatterlands.”

Ah. Now it began to make sense what Mercion was getting at.

“Did the Clanmistress…” Rieren’s original question would have come out a little accusatorily, so she modified it a bit. “Does she know about this?”

As much as Rieren had tried to modulate her, Mercion still frowned. “No, she doesn’t.”

“Trust us, Rieren,” Silomene said, holding her hands together before her. “We are truly here to help you. We are your friends. We were afraid you might truly have changed, that there might be some merit to how everyone has treated you, but we decided to judge it for ourselves and offer our assistance at the same time. And now, it’s obvious that you aren’t what they claim.”

“Am I not?” Rieren raised an eyebrow. She bit her lip. No, that was again too combative. It was just, she had been too immersed in her new monstrous side, too expectant of opposition from anything human. “I apologize. You are kind to offer me your help. I am simply unsure that there might be anything any of us can do to salvage… all that was lost.”

“There is.” Mercion looked thoughtful. “We just need to find proof.” He slapped a fist into an open palm. “And then we’ll be set to make our case. We’re both aware that Clanmistress Avathene isn’t unreasonable. She hasn’t even spoken with you in person, now has she? If she can give me a chance, I’m sure she’ll do something for the saviour of the Shatterlands.”

Rieren laughed a little. “She has spoken with me once, though not in person, no. But I understand what you mean.”

Mercion wasn’t wrong. Avathene was doing the best she could given her circumstances, just like all of them, and that had meant taking a seemingly neglectful approach when it came to Rieren’s condition. But if they could secure some proof to present, they could turn things around.

Rieren might also have asked what the point in it all was. Regaining the trust and friendship of her former comrades and allies? She was doing well enough without them, wasn’t she?

But that was only for now. In this tournament, success ultimately depended on her individual abilities.

Once this was over, however, Rieren wasn’t certain she’d be able to carry out everything she needed to succeed all by herself. There were paths to take and avenues she’d have to journey along where going alone would be significantly more dangerous. There were actions others wouldn’t take against her if she had the backing of those who held great social power.

In cases like those, Rieren would need the connections she had forged in the Shatterlands and elsewhere. Connections she could have crafted through this tournament as well, had she not become an Arisen.

“Exactly.” Silomene looked between Mercion and Rieren with a glint in her eye. “We just need to find something solid to present.”

“That is our main problem, yes,” Mercion said.

“I can acquire certain information and know how to get more.” Rieren mentioned how she suspected one of the tournament match officials was a godless Banishedborn, and that Elder Olg was haunting the outskirts of the tournament grounds as the Dreadflood. “But I cannot spy further on the tournament administration.”

Both Mercion and Silomene needed a moment to take in the surprising information. Having both a Banishedborn and the same S-Grade Abyssal that had nearly destroyed the Shatterlands earlier present here was shocking, to say the least.

“I told you, Silomene,” Mercion said, slowly shaking his head. “There is a lot more going on here than we can even begin to fathom.”

Silomene looked down with her brows furrowed. “It does seem like it.”

“There is,” Rieren confirmed. “The Emperor himself is no longer who he used to be.”

She explained how Astern was now the Emperor of the Elderlands, according to the figure Rieren had seen interacting with all the qualified competitors just before the second round had begun. It was a little harder for them to believe, since neither of them—nor almost any of the other competitors—had seen the Emperor face-to-face as Rieren had.

But the Emperor surely wouldn’t be the same man running after and chaperoning a runaway imperial bastard. Supposedly.

“Just as I thought,” Mercion eventually said. “There’s deeper trouble afoot.”

Rieren nodded. There was definitely something deeper going on. “If only I could get in and investigate the administration quarters. Or even interrogate Kalvia, because I am certain she knows a good deal of what has been occurring.”

“Then that’s where we might be able to assist,” Mercion said. “Administrative quarter investigation? We have it covered. Interrogating the Empress? That too.” Mercion thumped his chest. “Leave it to us.”

Silomene smiled in agreement. “Yes. We can ask Her Imperial Majesty what’s going on. You’ll just need to wait for our next meeting, Rieren.”

“I appreciate it,” Rieren said.

Mercion began pacing back and forth. “So let us set some things straight. I feel as though there is a great deal going on and it would be best if we made some sort of list to go by.”

They did so. Once things were settled in an organized manner, it turned out there weren’t as many aspects to all the mysteries surrounding them as she had thought.

There was the mystery of the Emperor’s sudden change in identity. Then there was the fact that Rieren had spotted a Banishedborn among the tournament administration. The monsters’ participation was a mystery on its own, some of which Rieren explained thanks to what she had learned from Elder Olg.

Then, of course, was the fact that Rieren had been manipulated into becoming a monster. Some benefited from her conversion—even apart from the devious monsters—and they needed to determine who.

Speaking of Elder Olg had also reminded Rieren that he had mentioned the existence of some sort of anchor that he was seeking. A connection between the Mortal Realm and the Divine Realm. Something similar to the shard of a sword she had pulled out of Mercion, one that had connected the Aether to the Mortal Realm around the Shatterlands.

“And for all this,” Mercion said. “We have two methods of finding out more, yes? The human side and the monstrous side.”

Rieren nodded. It was quite obvious who ought to take which part. She pointed behind her. “While you attempt to investigate the administration, meanwhile, I can talk to Elder Olg and perhaps he can shed some more light on the matter, at least regarding how the monster’s participation relates to the administration.”

With goals set in mind and something to work towards, they parted for the time being, promising to meet in two days. Rieren left with an inkling of pleasure taking root within her. She still had friends. Still possessed allies who could take an active hand in helping her.

Of course, there was Amalyse she could count on still, but her friend was busy with the tournament, just like Rieren was. Mercion and Silomene were completely free to do as they wished. That counted for a lot.

Now, she just had to hope that Elder Olg would have some more answers as well.