Lucian adjusted the monocle suspended from a silver-white metal chain on his left hand and was about to activate "Fernando's Electromagnetic Messaging Technique" when he suddenly received an incoming signal calling for him. Puzzled, he accepted the connection — who could be looking for him at precisely this moment?
After a brief burst of crackling static, Natasha's voice came through, equal parts tense and relieved: "Lucian?"
"Mm, I was actually just looking for you." The corner of Lucian's mouth curved upward involuntarily, a faint smile forming. To reach him the very moment he had arrived in Altor — Natasha must have been calling repeatedly for dozens of minutes straight.
After all, he had astrology to confirm her safety, but Natasha had no way of knowing whether he was alive or dead in such a short time. With Dracula potentially returning early and the anomaly of the Crimson Moon hanging over everything, even someone as easygoing as Natasha — even with as much faith and confidence in her friend as she had — couldn't help but be consumed with worry.
Phew. Natasha let out a clear, audible breath and said with straightforward candor: "That puts my mind at ease. Before, Prince Dracula turned back before even getting close to the mountain range where the impostor was hiding, and I was worried you wouldn't have enough time. But it looks like you pulled it off? The Crimson Moon anomaly — that was you, wasn't it?"
Having personally participated in the affair, with the Crimson Moon appearing at the exact same moment, unless Natasha was an idiot she could have figured out it was connected to Lucian using her toes.
Phew. Lucian exhaled lightly as well. So it seemed Prince Dracula had relied on the mysterious connection between first-generation vampires to determine the real from the fake at a great distance, and made an immediate decision to turn back, without ever coming into contact with the impostor or Natasha and the others. That meant he didn't need to worry about her being cursed.
"The Goddess of the Silver Moon was summoned by me, but why the Crimson Moon appeared — I'm not sure about that. And whether this counts as a success, I'll need to wait a while for feedback before I know." Lucian couldn't exactly say he had been "chasing skirts and forgetting his friends," failing to contact Rhein first and having no idea what was happening with the Netherworld and his condition. Of course, Natasha had helped him, so confirming her safety first was only right.
He paused for a moment, then said with an involuntary smile: "Regardless, thank you for your help this time. Otherwise, Prince Dracula could have killed me with a single spit. At least you didn't get caught up in—"
"Naturally. I'm a brave knight you can count on," Natasha cut him off, quite pleased with herself. "Enough chatter. Where are you? I'll return the disguise mask."
Lucian was well accustomed to Natasha's straightforward, no-nonsense style and quickly gave his location.
In less than ten minutes, Lucian saw Natasha flying toward him on Camille, now clad in her milky-white knight's armor, still striking and radiant as ever.
"Tch, what a shame this disguise mask only works on the same gender..." When Natasha handed the mask back to Lucian, she looked at him with genuine regret, apparently imagining what he would look like with a woman's face.
Lucian gazed helplessly at the sky where the Silver Moon still hung high and silently accepted the mask.
Natasha had just been making a casual joke out of habit, and seeing that Lucian wasn't willing to discuss "gentlemanly" topics of this nature, she didn't press the matter. She chuckled a couple of times, then turned slightly serious: "I've heard Prince Dracula specializes in curses and nightmares. You should go back as soon as you can and have your teacher or Granny Hathaway give you a thorough check. Mm, preferably the Eye of the Curse — he's the authority in that area."
"I'm fine. I was hiding inside a defensive maze lock, and before Prince Dracula could break through the formation, I successfully summoned the Goddess of the Silver Moon and scared him off. I didn't take so much as a scratch." Lucian couldn't help but smile again, a gentle warmth blooming in his heart.
"Good." Natasha nodded lightly, then glanced at the sky. "When you summoned Etana, the frozen, ethereal black, white, and grey surrounding the Silver Moon — that was the same strange extra-dimensional space that appeared by Lake Ercino, wasn't it? And Mr. Rhein and Cardinal Saer de's oddities are connected to it as well?"
She had no intention of prying into Lucian's secrets. She was merely raising questions without expecting answers, while also reminding him that if she could see through it, other powerful figures who had witnessed the collapse of the Great Cross formation would likely piece it together too. After all, the silent world of black, white, and grey had surfaced publicly, and even though no one had subsequently found the entrance, that wouldn't stop them from connecting the two events. He would need to be even more careful, even more discreet.
As for the Saer de and Rhein matter, she believed that only she — thanks to Lucian's earlier tip-off — could see through it. Excluding Saer de and Rhein themselves, of course.
"Mm. Mr. Rhein and Cardinal Saer de joined forces specifically to find the entrance to that strange extra-dimensional space. In the end, Rhein was 'betrayed' by Saer de, who had hidden the secret, and got trapped inside. I did this to help him escape, which is why I assisted in summoning the Goddess of the Silver Moon. But the secrets of that extra-dimensional space run deeper than I imagined, and I still don't know whether it was a success." Since Natasha had already identified a good number of issues, Lucian didn't try to hide things. He gave her a rough account, though he avoided touching on deeper secrets. Besides, Natasha's unconditional help had only deepened his trust in her.
Natasha nodded solemnly: "After the fall of the Arcane Empire, even though wars continued between the Northern and Southern Churches, nothing on the scale of a continent-wide upheaval has occurred since. This strange extra-dimensional space that both Cardinal Saer de and Mr. Rhein deem important apparently conceals a mysterious existence on par with Etana, the Goddess of the Silver Moon. It might just be the key to the beginning of yet another great era."
As she spoke, a smile of resolve, confidence, and yearning appeared on her face: "And every great era brings the fall of numerous powerhouses, while even more newcomers rise to reach new heights. I think I can hear the battle-lust in my blood, Lucian — let's push ourselves to improve together!"
"Heh, I've already caught up to you. Maybe I'll surpass you before you know it," Lucian deliberately "provoked."
Natasha accepted the "challenge" with delight, her expression both excited and joyful: "Then let's see who reaches the ninth rank first, and who steps into Legend first. If you lose, hrm hrm..."
She flashed a grin with faintly sinister undertones, as if she were harboring a little secret of her own.