Today, Lea heads to the underground level of the cathedral, where she will officially join the Abyss Hunter, the special mystical department of the church, who work closely with the Inquisition.

  Unlike the sacred and solemn atmosphere of the cathedral, this pce feels more like an underground dungeon, with something watching her constantly.

  The warm sunlight couldn't reach here, making Lea tense up. Worst of all, she has to go in alone.

  With only torches as the light source down the stairs, Lea silently compined about how outdated it was. Her temporary room and the cathedral were modernized with electricity and light bulbs; even her old church had them.

  After two minutes, she reached a metal gate with the emblem of the Church of the Three Rings on it. Swallowing, she knocked on the door.

  Though she tapped lightly, the sound still echoed loudly, perhaps due to the structure of the door. This made her jolt a bit. Slowly, the door opened from the inside. A man in bck and gold clothing peaked out, staring at her up and down.

  He was a middle-aged man with blonde hair, cut short but still a bit messy, giving him an unkempt look, looking at her with sharp blue eyes. Lea wanted to criticize his appearance, being part of a well-maintained church, and all. But she gulped, feeling an uncomfortable gaze from him.

  It wasn't anything bad, as if he was judging her in some way.

  "You must be Miss Darkwill, welcome to the Abyss Hunter.", despite his sharp looks, his voice was friendly and calm, "Come in."

  She followed him inside, seeing a stone round table where other members of the department were sitting. With four members here, ten seats are empty.

  The older man had dark hair and green eyes; he had a permanent scowl on his face. He was just sitting there, doing nothing. He reminded Lea of the grumpy old man who was always te during Mass in her former home.

  The young man who seems to be in his early twenties like Lea, has blue eyes and messy brown hair, quite handsome in her opinion. If she were just a normal girl, this person would be someone she would gossip about. He was drinking tea while reading the newspaper.

  This is... way more rexed than I thought... she remarked.

  "Just ignore them, follow me.", the blonde man waved his hand, beckoning Lea to follow.

  Lea followed without saying a word, going into another room on the opposite side of the gate. There were altars in this room, five of them in fact.

  The one in the middle was a statue of three rings locked together, but unlike the emblem Lea was wearing, this one had eyes in each ring, and ten pairs of wings. It looks strange and heretical...

  "Why does the symbol look like that?", Lea carefully asked, trying to calm herself.

  "There were times our Lord descended in their true form in the past, artists and devotees tried to capture their image.", he expined, "Though they all went insane, this is what they left behind, some of them anyway."

  Lea narrowed her eyes, staring at the other four statues. They were different interpretations of the Lord, some more simple and some just don't make sense.

  "Why are you telling me this?", Lea narrowed her eyes; she felt something... off.

  "It's just a fun trivia.", he chuckled, waving her worries away, "This is what keeps the city safe, these statues bear the Attributes of our Lord. And this is the pce where we will conduct your initiation to become a Pathstrider after you choose which Path to walk."

  She felt something was wrong, very wrong. His voice and breath were real but... he feels so fake at the same time.

  "Who are you?", she asked him while backing off toward the door.

  Hearing that, he smiled, "John Doe, an Abyss Hunter."

  The more she looked at him, the wrongness increased. Just then, the door behind Lea burst open. The other two Abyss Hunters who were at the round table stepped in.

  "Judgement!!", the older man shouted, raising his hand toward John Doe.

  With a roll, he dodged a golden cross that appeared from nowhere.

  The younger man also raised his hand, "Order: Everyone shall cease their movement!!"

  Lea felt her body tense, feeling an oppressive weight coiling around her.

  "Do you think this could stop me?", John Doe smiled, casually pulling out a handgun.

  He did not aim it at the Abyss Hunters or Lea; instead, he aimed it at his head. His gaze turned fanatical.

  "In the name of Akasha!!"

  Bang!!

  He ended himself, yet... his body was shattered like broken gss... nothing remained.

  More people came into the room after hearing the commotion. Lea herself dropped to the ground, shaking. Everything happened so fast, she didn't know what to do...

  The young Abyss Hunter approached her, holding his hand out, "Miss, are you alright?"

  Looking at his hand, she shakily grabbed it, letting him help her up.

  "You must be Miss Darkwill, right?", he smiled, "I'm Andre Fang, you are safe now."

  "Who... was that...?", Lea hesitantly asked.

  Andre looked at the scene of the crime with a grim expression, "Die, leaving no trace behind, the characteristics of members from Akasha Monodrama."

  Hearing that, Lea gritted her teeth, feeling that she was once again attacked by that terrorist organization. She was frustrated and angry, but above all else, her resolve was strengthened.

  =0=0=

  "Is she okay?", Andre asked Captain Owen, who was looking at the woman in the interrogation room from this side of the one-way mirror.

  "She is pretty unstable, Father Aragin said that she wanted to become a Judge. But I don't recommend she does that.", Owen replied.

  "Still, I can't believe those Akasha bastards infiltrated and took her right in front of us...", Andre looked at her with concern, "A Veil secret organization like them is pretty dangerous. But..."

  Owen nodded, "They want something from Miss Darkwill; there must be something special about her."

  Though they realized Akasha Monodrama was seeking Lea out, they don't know what they want with her since her background is completely ordinary without a suspicious note. Thus, the Renlou Archbishop decided to let her join the Abyss Hunter to keep an eye on her as well as use her as bait.

  Despite successfully drawing out one of them, it was all for naught. And they couldn't just reject her. For one, it would shake her faith, and it would be really awkward to just kick her out.

  Plus, the Abyss Hunter Department always cks staff.

  "Until we hear from the Bishop, it's alright to keep her with us. If she is fine with it, we will begin her initiation into the world of mysticism.", Owen decred.

  Andre could only nod and sighed, "I will get the clerks to get ready."

  He entered the interrogation room, looking down at the gloomy girl.

  He forced a smile, "A frown doesn't fit a dy like you, Miss Darkwill."

  Lea merely gnced at him, "What will happen to me?"

  She was honestly scared; the interrogator merely asked her some basic questions. She was afraid the Lady Keter would get exposed, branding Lea with heresy crimes.

  "You will join us, of course.", he acted cheerful, "Sorry for the rush job, but the situation is pretty dire, so I'll get you to where you can choose your Path right away."

  Lea widens her eyes, "Is it okay for it to be... I don't mean to be rude, but... cking decorum?"

  "Bah! Everything will be fine.", Andre waved it off with a smile, "Our job is quite rough, so the church gives us every chance to rex. And what year is this? Year 135 of the Fourth Era? Most of the stricter rules are abolished."

  Being a woman of faith, Lea really wanted to scold him, but in this pce, he is her superior, so she kept her mouth shut.

  In the end, Andre led Lea into another room, where there were bookshelves lined up on the sides. With a table in the middle.

  Surprisingly, in this entire underground facility, this is the only pce that had electricity running with tubur lights. This pce doesn't look that gloomy, so Lea was quite pleased.

  "Our church had collected about ten Logs from the Heretic, of course, that includes others aside from the 14 Neutral Paths. Combined with trading with other churches, we have a total of seventy Paths. Though some of them were damaged beyond repair or missing pages", Andre expined, "We currently only have Order, Equilibrium, and Judgement as completed Paths, but you can choose others if you want to."

  "Why? Isn't it safer to choose ones we have complete information on?", Lea inquired.

  "Well, that would make us quite predictable.", he ughed, picking up a book titled "Log 118 - Illusion".

  The log looks quite new, likely transcribed from the original or using a printing press. Once again, Lea felt the power of modern technology and silently thanked the Ryteline Kingdom.

  "Like this one, we only have up to the Fourth Step, above that we don't know anything.", with a sigh, he set the book back in its spot, "Feel free to look around and find which Path suits you."

  After that, he left the room. Lea went ahead and picked up the Illusion Log, flipping it open to see that it only contained the Honorific Title of the Path and the First Step ritual. After that, it was all bnk.

  Unlike the organic wordings in Lady Keter's Library, this is a lot more bone dry... Lea thought, pcing it back.

  She went around, checking which one would catch her fancy... "Log 52 - Virtual", "Log 33 - Fire", "Log 95 - Entropy", "Log 26 - Corruption", and more.

  And her gaze nded on two books, "Log 5 - Order" and "Log 89 - Malediction".

  She checked out Order first, and... it was completely different from what Lady Keter said.

  Keeper of Peace and Harmony;Bane of Disorder and Evil;One who safeguards Order.

  The ritual is quite simple, chanting the Honorific Title in an orderly pce. Lea could just attend Mass and chant. Infinitely easier than what the Erudites have to deal with.

  She wondered why the Honorific Title was different. Was it the erosion of time ,or did someone deliberately change it?

  She recalled Andre, who was an Order Pathstrider. His powers seem to work normally, not that she knows what 'normal' is for Pathstriders.

  Shaking her head, not dwell deep in the topic. She picked up the Malediction Log...

  The Honorific Title was the same as the one Lady Keter gave.

  The Malice within One's Soul;Fire that Consumes All;Malediction of Malevolent.

  And it was as simple as Lady Keter said, she just needed to hurt someone, any means is accepted. As a woman of faith, she wants to adhere to her Lord's guidance, to help others, and not to hurt the innocent...

  But today's attack on her made her think twice. Akasha Monodrama had crossed the line, approaching her in the sacred ground of her Lord. That deserves her full malice.

  Gripping the book, she looked to the door.

  "I think I am ready, Andre.", she spoke out loud.

  Andre opened the door, seeing her holding the Malediction Log. He sighed and spoke.

  "You can punch me if you want.", he resigned to his fate.

  And Lea was dumbfounded, seeing him jump to a conclusion.

  "I... I don't want to hurt you...", she said.

  Both of them awkwardly stared at each other, then Andre ughed. He found this situation quite amusing.

  "It's alright, you have my permission—"

  Bam!!

  She punched him in the face before he could finish. Lea was stunned for a moment; she didn't know what came over her.

  But she quickly regained her composure and chanted.

  "The Malice within One's Soul!Fire that Consumes All!Malediction of Malevolent!!"

  In an instant, she was overwhelmed with bloodlust, dropping to the ground as her breath became heavy.

  Her mind screamed at her to kill everything in sight, to make their death slow and painful. Her chest was burning, making her grit her teeth... But at the same time, she felt a presence growing within her soul— as if something missing was found...

  Lea felt... a bit more complete.

  And a longing for the missing pieces of her existence. Instinctively, she knew the only way to do that was to continue being a Pathstrider.

  Not that she could walk away from it, this is a one-way road, after all.

  "Damn, that bloodlust is insane...", Andre rubbed his cheek, he was cautious in case Lea turned into a Horror.

  But Lea stood up, her breath still ragged, "I'm... okay..."

  Andre took a step back, "Just to be sure... what is your name and how old are you?"

  Lea answered, "I'm Lea Darkwill and...", she scowled, gring at him, "Did you just ask a woman her age?"

  For some reason, the bloodlust was even more intense. Andre felt she would strangle him at any moment.

  He knew this personality change was due to Malediction. But this is the first time the personality change was so drastic.

  "I'm sorry, I'm sorry.", he backed away, putting his hands up, "You don't have to be so tense."

  Lea kept staring at him, then withdrew her gaze.

  "Tell me what I have to do.", she spoke coldly.

  At this moment, she became a Pathstrider of Malediction.

  =0=0=

  "Why did I tell her to choose Malediction?"

  Inside the bck and white library, Lady Keter raised her gss of wine, flipping over another page of a book titled "Count of Monte Cristo". Opposite her was a creature shrouded in darkness, who was just sitting there.

  "Malediction is an Attribute of Evil, a Curse upon the world or the one she hated the most. It fits her the best, seeing how she was the only survivor in that attack."

  Lady Keter chuckled, flipping over another page.

  "Now what she wanted is opened to her. She can become a proper Avenger now."

  The creature murmured, which only the Lady of the Library can pick up.

  "That's why I called her Dantes, Mashhith."