They descended slowly, each step measured, deliberate.
Kane led at the front, one hand lightly brushing the wall as if grounding himself in reality, the other hovering near his weapon. Behind him, Lily followed in silence, her hood pulled low, shadow swallowing the contours of her face.
Their footsteps echoed faintly in the narrow stairwell.
Not loud.
Not enough to alert anyone above.
But in the suffocating quiet, even that soft tap… tap… tap… felt dangerous.
The air grew colder the deeper they went. Damp. Heavy. It carried a faint metallic scent—something sharp that lingered at the back of the throat.
Lily noticed it first.
Blood.
Old… but not that old.
Her fingers tightened slightly beneath her cloak.
Neither of them spoke.
When they finally reached the bottom, the stairway opened into a wide underground space.
A laboratory.
Rows upon rows of glass chambers lined the room, each one sealed with thick, reinforced panels that shimmered faintly under the dim light. The glass wasn't ordinary—Lily could tell at a glance. Mana flowed through its structure, layered and reinforced to withstand immense force.
Even a mid-level mage would struggle to break it.
That realization alone made her uneasy.
They moved forward cautiously.
Inside the glass rooms, figures shifted.
Children.
And adults.
The adults all wore white coats, each stitched with the same symbol—a ring.
Lily's eyes narrowed beneath her hood.
The church's emblem.
But something felt… wrong.
These weren't priests.
There was no reverence in their movements.
Only calculation.
Cold, detached focus.
Each adult was busy recording something, scribbling rapidly onto papers as they observed the children in front of them.
One of them lifted a vial.
Another forced a child to drink from a narrow test tube.
Lily's breath hitched slightly.
Without a word, she raised her hand.
Mana gathered—dark and light intertwining, opposing forces bending into a fragile equilibrium.
The spell formed silently.
It didn't change their bodies.
Didn't erase them.
Instead, it distorted the way light touched them—bending reflections, shifting perception, making the eyes slide past them as if they were never there.
To anyone looking, the space they occupied simply… didn't matter.
She extended the effect over Kane.
He glanced back briefly, giving a small nod.
Then they moved.
Carefully.
Avoiding contact.
Even brushing against a table could betray them.
As they slipped deeper into the lab, the full horror revealed itself.
One chamber held a child whose body had grotesquely expanded—muscles bulging unnaturally beneath stretched skin. The structure reminded Lily of Olivia's enhancement magic… but this was unstable.
Too much.
Too forced.
The child trembled, veins pulsing violently.
Another chamber—
A girl.
Her fingers had elongated into curved, blade-like claws. She dragged them absentmindedly across the glass, producing a faint scrrrrch sound that made Lily's skin crawl.
And then—
She saw him.
A boy.
Small.
Too small.
Half her age at most.
He stood hunched in the center of the room.
His body…
No longer human.
A lion's maw replaced his face, teeth jagged and wet. His arms were thick, covered in coarse fur like a bear's, ending in crushing claws. His legs—sleek, powerful, like a panther's—shifted restlessly beneath him.
He wasn't just altered.
He was assembled.
Lily froze.
Her stomach twisted violently.
For a moment, the spell around her flickered.
Her instincts screamed at her to move—to destroy—to end this.
Mana surged instinctively in her chest—
A hand caught her wrist.
Firm.
Steady.
Kane.
She turned sharply toward him.
His expression was tight, controlled—but his eyes were clear.
"Not here," he whispered, barely audible. "Not now."
Her breathing was uneven.
"They're—"
"I know."
His grip tightened slightly.
"We're not strong enough to deal with everything here. Not without risking them."
Them.
The children.
Lily's jaw clenched.
Her gaze flickered back to the chambers.
To the smiling faces.
That was the worst part.
They were smiling.
Not all of them.
But enough.
As if nothing was wrong.
As if this was normal.
A cold wave of disgust washed over her.
Slowly… painfully… she forced the mana inside her to settle.
Kane was right.
They needed evidence.
Not a reckless attack.
She gave a small nod.
And they moved on.
The further they went, the quieter the lab became.
Fewer researchers.
Fewer occupied rooms.
Until they reached the very end of the corridor.
A single door stood there.
Unlike the others, it wasn't made of glass.
Solid.
Reinforced.
Layered with intricate mana seals.
Lily stepped forward immediately.
"This one," she whispered.
Kane moved behind her, turning slightly to keep watch over the corridor.
"Make it quick."
Lily crouched slightly, her fingers hovering just above the surface of the seal.
Her eyes sharpened.
Threads of mana revealed themselves—interwoven, complex, layered deliberately to confuse and trap anyone attempting to force entry.
But to her…
It was a puzzle.
And she was very good at puzzles.
Carefully, she traced the flow.
Not breaking it.
Redirecting it.
Unraveling it thread by thread.
Time stretched.
Every second felt longer than it should.
Footsteps echoed faintly in the distance.
Kane's posture stiffened—but he didn't interrupt her.
Then—
Click.
The final layer unraveled.
The door slid open with a soft mechanical hum.
Lily stepped inside.
And stopped.
The room was… different.
Cleaner.
Organized.
Less like a laboratory.
More like an office.
At the far wall hung a portrait.
A man.
Ordinary.
Flat hair.
Round glasses.
Clean-shaven.
Nothing remarkable.
And yet—
Something about him tugged at Lily's memory.
Behind her, Kane stepped in.
Then froze.
"…Isn't that," he said quietly, "the beggar the church saved?"
Lily's eyes widened slightly.
She looked again.
The face.
The glasses.
Yes.
Recognition struck.
"I've seen him… in the newspapers," she murmured. "They called it 'salvation.' Said he turned his life around."
Her gaze darkened.
"This orphanage… it's his."
Silence filled the room.
The pieces began to fall into place.
Too neatly.
Too horribly.
Lily moved to the desk at the center of the room.
Her hands were steady as she opened the drawers.
One.
Empty.
Two—
She paused.
A book.
Worn.
Handled often.
She pulled it out.
On the cover—
A name.
Dylan Keir.
Lily opened it.
3/15
This marks the first day of my ownership of the orphanage. It is all thanks to the church. I swear I'll pay them back. If they hadn't saved me a few months ago, I might have already starved to death.
3/16
I want to repay the church… but how? The only thing I'm good at is concocting potions. Others say they're useless. Even my teacher dismissed them.
They just don't understand how to use them.
Lily frowned slightly.
Then turned the page.
3/17
I've figured it out.
I can eliminate the church's enemies—the royal family.
It's perfect.
I'll raise an army using the orphanage as cover. No one will suspect anything. The children… they can become soldiers.
My potions will make them as strong as basic-level mages.
Her grip tightened slightly.
The words grew more frantic.
More unhinged.
The royal mages might interfere… but they won't attack children.
And if that's not enough—
I'll use the traveling mages from the eastern routes.
Their bodies are filled with mana.
Perfect ingredients.
Lily's breathing slowed.
Colder.
Controlled.
She kept reading.
The oppressed will rise. The beggars, the commoners, the forgotten.
A revolution.
And I will lead it.
I will spread the church's greatness across this land.
The next entries blurred past—
Until—
4/5
Success.
The children defeated the traveling mages.
They brought back the bodies.
Lily closed the diary.
Slowly.
"…He's insane," she whispered.
Across from her, Kane had stopped searching.
"…Yeah," he said.
She walked over and handed him the book.
"Read."
As he flipped through it, his expression shifted from confusion… to disbelief… to outright horror.
"Th-this guy—"
"I know."
Silence.
Heavy.
Then something clicked in Lily's mind.
Her eyes widened slightly.
"…This isn't the church."
Kane looked up.
"What?"
"This… is him. Alone."
She tapped the diary.
"He's using their name. Their symbol. But this—this is his operation."
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then—
Lily exhaled quietly.
A small, almost imperceptible release of tension.
Relief.
The church she trusted…
Wasn't behind this.
Not directly.
But the relief didn't last long.
Because the reality in front of her was still monstrous.
"Let's go," she said.
Kane nodded, quickly tucking the diary away.
They slipped out the way they came.
Invisible.
Silent.
But now—
Every step felt heavier.
Lily couldn't stop herself from glancing back at the chambers as they passed.
The children.
Still smiling.
Still unaware.
Or worse—
Uncaring.
Her stomach twisted again.
She wanted to break the glass.
To drag them out.
To burn this entire place to the ground.
But she knew—
If she lost control here—
She might not be able to protect them.
Or herself.
They reached the stairs.
Ascended.
Each step pulling them further away from the nightmare below.
At the top, Kane relocked the door, restoring the seal as best as he could.
Lily dropped the invisibility spell.
Then immediately cast another.
Light bent again—
But this time, not to hide.
To change.
Their appearances shifted subtly.
Older.
Less noticeable.
Safer.
They stepped back into the orphanage halls.
Everything looked the same.
Clean.
Peaceful.
Normal.
It made Lily's skin crawl.
As they exited the building, she felt it.
Eyes.
Watching.
Judging.
As if the walls themselves knew what they had seen.
She kept her head down.
Didn't stop walking.
Didn't run.
Not until—
They turned a corner.
A carriage passed by.
Kane raised a hand.
They climbed in quickly.
The door shut.
And only then—
Did they both exhale.
Long.
Heavy.
Relieved.
But neither spoke.
Because both of them knew—
This was only the beginning.