Flavian furrowed her brows. Beneath her translucent veil, her eyes flashed, gleaming, bubbling with thoughts. The bishop did not move. The priests and paladins behind him tensed.

“How dare you disrespect our lady?” Flavian said. “What right do you have to impede us?”

“We’ve detected traces of demonic activities in this region. They may be hiding among us.”

“Implying that our lady housed a criminal?”

“Please forgive our offence. But we must ensure that no cultists slip away under our eye.”

“My lady is exhausted.”

“We’ll only take a tiny bit of her time.” The bishop slightly lowered his head. “To compensate, I’ll cast a rejuvenation spell to ease her fatigue.”

Flavian did not answer, did not blink, did not move. Her attire stirred, and her air chilled. Faint orbs of light manifested within her long sleeves.

“You’ve done well, Flavian,” Antina whispered. “Stay by Mistress’s side.”

Despite how clear Antina’s voice was, the bishop and his team heard none of it. They stared at Flavian, who retrieved her power. The light orbs dispersed, and she lowered her head as if nodding off.

The bishop frowned. He took a step forward before he stopped. A chill descended upon him; his hair rose while his spirit shrivelled. He raised the relic orb, which generated glimmers of holy light around him. A sense of comfort coursed around his clerical cloak but failed to nullify the heaviness in his heart.

The believers behind him noticed his strange behaviour. They tensed up, preparing their weapons and spells.

“You are not worthy,” a freezing tone rang.

A figure made of darkness moved through the carriage door. Her hazy silhouette dripped like morning dews, creating a shadowy puddle beneath her slender appearance. Her features rapidly took form, revealing her breathtaking charm which stopped all hearts and commanded all attention.

Antina looked at the bishop. Under her piercing focus, he trembled. His grip on the orb tightened, tightened until the crystal crackled. The holy light protecting him became chaotic, affected by the terrible darkness that towered below them.

The bishop swiftly raised his hand to stop his team members from doing anything, although they too couldn’t do anything. Their gazes fixated on the mysterious maid, whose presence alone extinguished their Holy Power.

“Our mistress shall not be disturbed.” Antina did not wait for any excuse. “There will be no more warning.”

Beneath Antina, the shadowy puddle bubbled with tendrils and fires eager to let loose. They danced, celebrating their eventual release, though they remained obedient before their master.

These tendrils made no sounds, but their soundless screams still reached the bishop and his team. They instinctively ceased moving. Not even their minds could tell their bodies what to do.

Silence came and passed. No one could utter anything. Antina hmphed and turned around. She was about to enter the carriage when the holy orb grew brighter. Its radiance eliminated the oppressive power covering the bishop and his team.

Despite the bishop resisting her power, Antina did not care. She gave everything to her mistress, who was resting in the carriage. A burst of Evil Power rose from her mistress, but an unknown power was restraining it, devouring it.

Antina glanced at the orb, whose bright colour annoyed her. She snapped her fingers. The orb shattered.

The priests and paladins gasped. The bishop couldn’t react to the explosion, but the shards didn’t harm him. They dissolved as fireflies that flew to the sky.

“Our mistress detests commotion,” Antina said. “Leave before my patience runs dry.”

Flavian lifted her head. She smirked at the bishop and prepared to open the door for Antina, but Antina refused to let anyone see her mistress’s sleeping appearance. Flavian did not mind; she carefully waited for Antina to enter the carriage.

A faint rumbling interrupted the moment. Antina looked skyward. A man slowly descended on a series of invisible stairsteps until he reached the ground. He stood in front of the bishop and faced Antina.

The bishop and his team rigidly lowered their heads. “We greet Your Eminent.”

Archbishop Halton lightly nodded. He gave Antina an apologetic look. “Please forgive their offence, Miss.”

“Theirs is insignificant compared to yours.”

Smiling, Halton retrieved his Holy Power. His golden-rimmed cloak no longer fluttered. “Rest assured that we will not disturb your mistress.”

“I do not enjoy spelling out the obvious.”

“It is a sensitive period, Miss. The cultists have wreaked havoc unchecked for too long.”

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“And your stubbornness will let them slip away again.”

A thin translucent film rose from the ground. The Grand Formation glimmered then faded into obedience. Darkness painted the environment black, leaving only the carriage and the trapped victims.

Despite her unfeeling expression, Antina’s presence intensified. Her slick maid uniform stirred. Her sharp profile distorted, shifting between concrete and shapeless form.

Halton raised his right hand. A golden weight scale manifested above his palm. Golden light gushed out of his sleeves and gathered on one side of the scale. The pan lowered until a confusing immaterial mass appeared on its counterpart. The scale tipped from one side to another until it reached a balance.

The Holy Power and the mass climbed the strings attached to the pan, reached the fulcrum, and mixed into a point of dense brilliance. The scale quaked. A strand of Faith rushed into the point mass. The world brightened against the shadowy curtain.

“May you lend us your strength, Chosen One,” Halton said.

The point mass expanded into an oral portal, whose filmy surface rippled and twisted like a whirlpool. From it stepped out a lady composed of pure light. Her body solidified as the strand of Faith anchored her corporeal form.

Her laced silver dress spread like lively vines. Her aura naturally frightened the encroaching darkness, and her eyes peered through hidden secrets.

Antina met the lady’s gaze. Her spirit paled, shaken to its core. This all-purifying lady overlooked her, reached into her soul, and observed her fluctuating emotions.

The lady turned to Halton and, tilting her staff, showered the believers with healing light. The fatigue and dread plaguing the atmosphere receded into nothing, although the believers still dared not act recklessly.

“Who are you?” Antina said.

“I used to be called Maiden of Lunar Radiance, a Chosen One of age past.”

Halton pressed his hands on his chest, offering his most sincere greeting, and lowered himself until his back was parallel to the ground. “Chosen One, please bless us with the truth.”

“It’s not proper to peek at a sleeping lady, is it?” The Maiden looked at Antina. “What will you do, Young One?”

“Mistress . . . is resting. I cannot let you disturb her.”

“But she also doesn’t want you to get hurt, does she?”

Antina did not answer. She glanced at Flavian, who couldn’t even speak before The Maiden.

“You’re a curious being, Young One. As a Chosen One, I must destroy the evil threatening this world. Your nature . . . smells tempting.”

The shadow under The Maiden erupted. Countless thin arms reached for her, their claws tearing through the air and crackling the fabric of reality. They crashed with an invisible sea of power, of gentle waves, of soft pillows.

The claws punctuated the field. But as they sank deeper, closing in on The Maiden, their sharp blades corroded, morphed into silky threads. They fell on The Maiden’s dress like strings of clouds, of cool fog. They coursed around her like a trail, exemplifying her otherworldly appearance.

Unbothered, The Maiden drew her staff closer. She did not exert her power nor her will. Only a slight gesture.

Antina collapsed to her knees. The ground under her became a bedsheet cushioning her fall. Her maid uniform unravelled, their shadowy form dissipating. Her soul pulsated like a beating heart, but she could only feel the pain radiating throughout her body.

She was losing her essence. A burst of flames was purifying her endless desires. An ocean of emptiness gushed inside her consciousness, and she was sinking. Sinking was all she could do, for struggling was futile.

She gasped for breath and opened her eyes. She lifted her head to look at The Maiden, whose surprised eyes drew themselves away from her and at the carriage, at the secret behind the curtained door.

The Maiden returned to Antina. “I thought I could purify you, Young One. The world has become a strange place, hasn’t it?”

Antina wanted to stand up, but her legs would not move. She could only glare at her enemy. Her shadow bubbled, although it failed to produce anything.

“Unfortunately my anchor is too weak. I’d like to examine your nature, but yours is still less fascinating than hers.”

“Don’t . . . bother my Mistress.” Antina pushed against the ground. Her trembling legs popped up. “Take me, but not her.”

“Since when have I become that reckless? She’s beyond my means.”

Antina blinked. Her legs lost their strength. She sat back on the cushion, but her gaze shifted to the carriage.

The Maiden smiled and turned to Halton. “The evil you looked for is not here.”

“What did you mean by her nature?” Halton said. “Is she—”

“A lady’s secret is for her to disclose it herself.”

“But our duty is to eradicate the wicked.”

“She’s not wicked. She’s merely different.”

Halton would not argue against the Chosen One. The Maiden tapped Antina’s head. A burst of vitality surged into Antina. The Maiden’s body flickered. The Faith sustaining her appearance in the world was dwindling.

She merely looked at the sky, whose constellation had become unfamiliar. Time had never waited for anyone, not even the Chosen Ones.

The Maiden of Lunar Radiance leaned to Antina. “Tell your mistress I wished for her success.”

“What’s your relationship with her?”

“Her senior?”

The strand of Faith vanished. The Maiden of Lunar Radiance lost her body. Her spirit returned to the realm beyond, leaving Antina kneeling before nothing but a speck of light.

Antina rose to her feet, glared at Halton, and entered the carriage. Flavian rapidly drove it away from the patrolling team. The barrier distorted all perceptions, leaving the passersby unaware of the supernatural. Not even The Grand Formation could detect any anomaly.

“What should we do, Your Eminent?” the bishop said.

“The Chosen One has confirmed their innocence.”

“But she implied that they were not normal. We must investigate further.”

“Their power is beyond us, and they don’t intend on causing chaos.” Halton retrieved his scale of judgment. “Although they feel familiar.”

“Should we . . . report this encounter?”

“Great beings come and go undetected all the time. The undercurrent of our city is unyielding. We should not stir the waves.”

Halton clenched his fist and yanked at the air. Golden light fell on the ground, assembled into a crystal orb, and floated to the bishop.

“Take care of the orb. The Chosen One has hinted at the location of the cultists.” Halton waved his hand, dismissing the bishop. “They are toward the west; that’s where she glanced when talking to us.”

After the patrolling team departed, Halton remained alone amidst the sea of people. They could not detect him, nor did he wish for such. He manifested the scale of judgement and held it in front of him.

Eyes closed, he recalled the scene where the Maiden of Lunar Radiance subdued the mysterious lady. The scale did not tilt toward malice or evil. Only tangible goodwill toward her mistress persisted on the weighing pan.

He could guess the identity of the mysterious lady, that she was not Pure, that she was Corrupted. But The Maiden did not expose her. She gave her a profound smile, even though her nature contradicted the world itself.

How could a being born from foreign darkness be good? How could the Chosen One view the Corrupted One with an understanding gaze?

Halton did not know the history of the age bygone, but he was no mindless drone. His heavy heart weighed on his mind. He prayed to the God of Knowledge and vanished from the scene. His prayer rang empty.