Only a thin sliver of moonlight streaming through the windows illuminated the corridor.
Treasure Hall — "Star God's Miniature Garden." This Treasure Hall existed overlapping with Zebuldia, and within it, daylight was essentially nonexistent.
This was likely because humans, as a species, instinctively feared the dark. The Treasure Hall had been created by the Star God — once driven back by humanity — to understand what humans feared, so it was inevitable that it would be shrouded in darkness.
The Phantoms manifested within the Treasure Hall were likewise symbols of terror from a bygone era. Murderers who struck under the cover of night. Monsters born in clandestine laboratories. Restless souls of the dead, whispered about in urban legends.
Among these, the "Sobbing Lady" — once whispered among children with dread — was also a symbol of fear summoned through Mana Material.
A spectral girl appearing as a symbol in school buildings at night, in hospitals, or on unlit street corners. Sometimes lurking, sometimes creeping close, sometimes cursing — this emblem of a feared ghost was now, in the Treasure Hall of the Star God's Miniature Garden, where many of the Phantoms could barely comprehend human speech, positioned as a sort of leader. If you consider that the half-speaking Murderer Monster Diggie was still one of the more reasonable Phantoms in the Miniature Garden, that should be understandable.
The Star God who had been driven out by humanity had yet to show signs of returning. But its mission — to gather fear — was proceeding smoothly.
There had been some accidents. They had caught a knight who overcame his fear of Diggie and the Lady and charged in anyway. The flow of power into the Treasure Hall had diminished, causing the Spirit Abduction — which should have remained hidden until the proper time — to be exposed. An unprecedented monster had been seen prowling outside the city. And a woman who could actually see the Lady, who was supposed to be invisible, had appeared.
But after those incidents, things had been going well.
Right now, the interior of the Treasure Hall was filled with the silent screams of those they had abducted. Along with that, the Lady's power had grown, and there were still sealed demonic forces within the Treasure Hall waiting to be unleashed.
The people outside had begun investigating the Spirit Abduction, but as long as they were careful in selecting targets, there was no problem.
After all — no one could enter this Treasure Hall unless they were invited.
Linoleum corridors. As she gazed up at the dark sky through the row of old windows, she heard wet, shuffling footsteps behind her.
"Ugh… you… stop it…"
"Don't bring them here. Just dump them wherever you like."
A hoarse voice. The Lady frowned at Monster Diggie, who was carrying a knocked-out human under one arm.
She didn't know where he'd snatched this one from, but rumors of the Murderer and the monster had been spreading throughout the imperial capital, so he'd probably used one of those.
Monster Diggie was a grotesque creature. That knight named Hugh had been unaffected, but an ordinary person who saw his form would likely lose consciousness from sheer terror.
The Spirit Abduction operated on rumors. The Lady had been the first to spread them, but the rumors had long since left her control, propagating on their own. Which rumors led to the Spirit Abduction — the people outside had begun investigating, but it was a futile effort.
All of them. Every single rumor was an entrance to this Treasure Hall. Rumors were just rumors, whether real or fake. The Lady merely needed to quietly hide the foolish humans who tested those rumors.
"Grrr… I want… to kill… the neck… I need to scratch it…"
"Even you… I understand how you feel, but stop it."
Monster Diggie had been born with the identity of a Murderer who collects heads. Resisting that instinct must have been agonizing.
But death itself was already understood to be terrifying. The mission of the Lady and the others was to discover what people feared — people who had once fought the Star God without fearing death.
The Lady lowered her voice soothingly toward Diggie, who was bowing his head and suppressing his murderous intent.
"Be a good boy… and don't make me angry. The fact that you can't follow instructions is bad enough."
The moment she said that, the corridor vibrated faintly. That thing was here again.
What era had this Phantom been pulled from, and what had it originally been? She sighed and looked down the corridor.
Protruding from the dimly lit corridor was a strange triangle, reflecting the light dully. The triangle swayed left and right in silence, gliding toward her.
No one who saw that thing would be able to identify it. Even the Lady herself had doubted her own eyes the first time she'd seen it.
Monster Diggie laid the unconscious human on the floor, picked up the chain connecting his severed head, and began swinging it in circles.
The triangle was approaching at high speed.
No — it wasn't a triangle.
It was a dorsal fin.
A few meters away from the human, the dorsal fin rose sharply, and the full form hidden beneath the floor was revealed.
It was a shark — from tail to snout, jet-black, a shark that could swim freely through the ground. Unable to introduce itself, it was a Phantom the Lady and the others called the Demon Shark.
Monster Diggie hurled his chained head at the Demon Shark as it leaped wide, aiming to bite the human in half.
The sound of a head being crushed flat. The Demon Shark, struck by the monstrous strength that could swing steel beams like toys, was sent flying and vanished by burrowing back into the floor.
"Well done. But I wonder what era that creature actually lived in."
Of course it was terrifying, but a shark that could freely navigate through floors and walls instead of water — the idea that something like that had once existed was unbelievable.
Whether it understood the mission given by the Lady and the others was unclear, and the outside world should count itself lucky that it couldn't escape yet.
Even if a rumor about sharks that could swim through the ground and attack you were to spread, no one would be fool enough to test it.
As for the Lady, creatures like this shark that ignored orders and tried to devour anything alive the moment they spotted it were extremely troublesome. At least it didn't try to bite the Lady or Monster Diggie… but what about that knight named Hugh, who had confronted the Lady and Diggie without flinching — would he also be unafraid of the Demon Shark?
Her encounter with Hugh — who had overcome his fear of the Lady and attacked — had been unexpected, but it had given her an important realization.
Every era has its own terrors. No being exists in this world without the emotion of fear itself. And the terror she had read from Hugh and recreated — the "Cursed Spirit Stone" — would surely prove to be a powerful ally in making even the strong of this era tremble.
And when the Lady and the others had gathered enough fear, the Star God who had left behind this Treasure Hall would return.
"I'm not done… searching…"
Monster Diggie picked up the human and began walking again. The Lady called out to his hideous back.
"Be careful. Everyone is on guard against the Spirit Abduction now. They might send capable fighters out after us. Outside these walls, we're not invincible."
"…………"
Monster Diggie gave no answer.
Being cautious about human movements — for a monster of the type that attacked people without restraint, this would be an existential crisis.
This Treasure Hall was the Lady's territory. They would essentially never lose.
But the outside world was different. The Treasure Hall's perception-blocking ability didn't extend out there, so the possibility of being captured wasn't zero. The Lady, acting on her mission, could not permit such risky behavior.
So, the Lady looked up at the ceiling.
She could feel it. Someone was testing a rumor again.
In the outside world, the Spirit Abduction phenomenon was beginning to be recognized. If this continued, there might eventually be no one left who would dare test any rumors. She needed to secure as many people as possible before that happened.
Of course, she would choose her targets carefully.
"This feeling… it's Zebuldia Magic Academy."
The clothes the Lady typically wore were the uniform of Zebuldia Magic Academy.
That academy was the perfect place for the Lady.
It was full of children with just enough familiarity with the arcane and a strong sense of ambition and adventurous spirit.
The Lady and the others had abducted many people so far, but students were by far the most common. Luring them was easy, and capturing them was easy. Of course, one must not forget that nearly every student at Zebuldia Magic Academy was a powerful Mage — But Zebuldia Magic Academy's perception-blocking on the Spirit Abduction had also stopped working, and their vigilance had become extremely high. They had just abducted a student not long ago, so it was unlikely that new prey would come so soon.
"Moreover, the rumor being tested right now — it's the 'Unopened Ghost Classroom,' isn't it? I only just connected it."
The "Unopened Ghost Classroom" was a simple rumor with no complicated conditions attached.
It was a rumor that a ghost would teach the true essence of magic in Classroom 66 — a room now used as a storage closet that almost no one ever visited.
The Lady had spread several rumors related to the Spirit Abduction, but many of them attracted absolutely no one. Among the rumors spread at Zebuldia Magic Academy, the "Confession Magic Tree" was a failure case — no one tried it, and the connection was severed. But the Ghost Classroom had been one of the more effective rumors.
The Ghost Classroom existed in a low-traffic area. All the Lady needed to do was observe the student trying the rumor, and only when she determined it wasn't a trap, connect this Treasure Hall's door to that classroom's door, and abduct them.
However, just recently, that classroom had been verified by multiple people led by an incredibly powerful Mage who was incomparably stronger than any student she'd taken.
Not much time had passed since then, and now more people were coming. Rather than assuming it was another student testing the rumor, she should assume it was another investigation team.
She snapped her fingers, and the surrounding scenery shifted from the corridor to a classroom.
It was a replica of Zebuldia Magic Academy's Classroom 66. However, none of the objects present in the real-world classroom existed here.
In their place were rows of desks and a lectern. And a magic circle drawn on the blackboard — a stage replicating the rumored Ghost Classroom.
Currently, Classroom 66 and the Treasure Hall were overlapping. With a single act of will from the Lady, she could switch between them.
But until she switched, there was no way to interfere with the Treasure Hall from the real world.
"As expected, an investigation team. No matter how much they search, they'll find nothing…"
Though the supply of Mana Material had decreased and the ability to conceal the Spirit Abduction had been lost, the Star God's Miniature Garden remained a powerful Treasure Hall. Its characteristic of existing in a separate dimension was not a product of magical trickery — if anything, it was the divine work of the Star God itself. No amount of human investigation would reveal anything.
She peered into the real world.
The investigation team numbered nearly ten. She had considered abducting a large group at once to gauge the level of fear, but this many people on the first incursion into the Miniature Garden was far too risky.
Moreover, this investigation team had almost certainly been assembled with the possibility of encountering the Spirit Abduction in mind. If they were utterly defeated again, it might give Monster Diggie a permanent trauma.
In the real world, the lock on the classroom door was rattling.
As expected, this time they were being cautious. The Lady had decided as much when the door opened with a click.
The two who entered the classroom at the front were — women. The Lady involuntarily held her breath.
The first was the same Mage who had come to investigate after the previous Spirit Abduction.
A Mage possessing magical power far beyond any of the students she'd abducted. In and of herself, she was someone the Lady would never target. But the problem was the other woman.
The other — was the woman she'd seen around town. The one with blazing crimson eyes, accompanied by a grotesque creature unlike anything the Lady had ever seen.
From that slender body, which showed not a shred of toughness, burst a strange power so foreign that even describing it as "consuming vast amounts of Mana Material" didn't come close.
The Mage-woman spoke as she surveyed Classroom 66, its shelves packed with items.
*'As expected, we don't seem to be the target. Let's just quickly confirm there's nothing here and move on.'* The Lady was right in front of her, but the woman's gaze passed right through her.
In the first place, this woman couldn't see the Ghost Classroom where the Lady stood. That was normal. The Lady existed in a separate dimension, a different phase — it should be impossible to see her.
—But the crimson eyes of the other woman had locked on to the Lady completely.
In those wide-open eyes, the Lady's own stunned expression was clearly reflected.
She was being seen. Without a doubt.
These were Mystic Eyes. An extraordinarily rare ability — eyes that could perceive other worlds.
Surrounding the woman were several grotesque creatures like the shadows she'd glimpsed in the streets, circling her as if guarding her. Those creatures, like the woman herself, could see the Lady.
But so far, they could only see her. The Lady was inside the Treasure Hall, not in the real classroom.
As the Lady held her breath, the woman blinked once and gave a small nod.
*'I see… I don't understand the mechanism, but… this might indeed be my role. Klein was right after all. I can't beat him.'* *'…Huh? Saya, did you figure something out?'* *'Lucia, step out of the classroom. I'm going to test something.'* *'…Understood.'* So this woman's name appeared to be Saya.
Saya stepped out of the classroom with the Mage called Lucia and closed the door. The other investigation team members who had accompanied them wore puzzled expressions.
Test something? What exactly did she intend to test?
The Lady frowned as Saya placed her hand on the door.
But it wasn't the real classroom's door she was touching. It was the Ghost Classroom's door — the door that connected to the Treasure Hall!
"!?! Wh-what…?!"
Impossible. To interfere with the door of a classroom existing in a different phase — It was unexpected. But there was no mistaking it.
This woman was the natural enemy of this Treasure Hall.
If this continued, she would break into the Treasure Hall.
Panicking, the Lady threw herself against the door and pushed with all her strength to keep it shut. Saya blinked at the door that wouldn't open and tilted her head.
*'It won't open? But according to the rumor, the Ghost Classroom door shouldn't be locked…'* The rumor said only chosen students could enter!! Give it up!
As the Lady prayed, Lucia spoke.
*'That's strange. You did unlock it earlier, didn't you?'* *'Because the door I'm touching is a different door —'* This was bad… This woman was stronger than the Lady.
In the first place, the Lady was feared as a spiritual entity — in purely physical terms, she was essentially just an ordinary human.
At that moment, Monster Diggie crashed through the window. She had told him not to enter since his form was ill-suited to this classroom, but perhaps he had sensed the Lady's distress.
The Lady desperately turned around and screamed at Diggie.
"Diggie! Help me!"
"GRRRRRR!!"
Monster Diggie grabbed the door and shoved it with all his might. His brute strength — that of a physically-attacking freak, Monster Diggie — was incomparably greater than the Lady's.
Whether Saya noticed or not, the Lady and Diggie were straining against the door with everything they had as she chatted casually with Lucia.
*'Can you hear any voices?'* *'…Not really?'* But this woman called Saya — she was strong. Even with Monster Diggie pushing at full force, it was barely enough.
As they resisted with everything they had, Saya let go of the door.
Had she given up?
The Lady, filled with desperate hope, watched as Saya spoke in a nonchalant tone.
*'It won't open. Fine, I'll just break the door.'* "W-Whaaaaaaat?!"
The Lady couldn't comprehend what she was hearing and cried out involuntarily. Behind Saya, a humanoid grotesque figure drew back its arm and swung with devastating force.
Panicking, she yanked Monster Diggie away from the door. The instant they moved, the door was blasted apart.