Lea, with the Shadow Guards, five including her, began to chase after the clowns. The one leading them knew the outline of the academy, leading them straight to the storage room.

  The one wearing a half-mask asked, "What's in the storage room that those crazy bastards want so much?"

  The group leader gnced back, he was wearing a bird mask with a hood covering his head, "I suspect it's a py script, said to be one of The Maker's earthly work."

  After a moment, he spoke again, "What are your names, and what can you do? I need comprehensive information to make out a pn. You can call me Kay, I can bind people in pce with chains, Third Step."

  "Dantes, Third Step of Judgement and Cloak.", there is no way Lea could reveal all her information. Malediction is too dangerous to be known...

  Malediction's maxim is to harm, but stay out of reach.

  Judgement's maxim is simpler, to never waver in any situation.

  Cloak's maxim is to always hide, to never reveal your true self.

  With all of that... the Avenger's Maxim is to never reveal yourself, and go through with your judgment from beginning to end.

  All of them introduce themselves one by one, all of them are either Second or Third Step Pathstrider... but from their tone compared to Judgement's lie detection, none were saying the whole truth.

  Soon, they reached a wide-open door, and the storage room stretched before them like a cathedral of forgotten history. Towering cabinets lined the walls, each containing artifacts wrapped in protective cloth or sealed behind gss.

  But cabinet doors hung open, their contents ransacked. Precious relics y scattered on the floor like discarded toys.

  Lea's emotion radar swept the space. Empty. No, not empty... concealed. The clown was here, hiding his presence somehow.

  Kay raised his hand, signaling the group to spread out. His chains materialized in the air around him, ethereal links that glowed faintly in the dim light.

  The other Shadow Guards moved into formation, each covering different angles.

  "Careful...", Kay murmured, "If it's the Maker's script they're after, they'll fight to keep it."

  Lea activated her Cloak, shadows gathering around her as she moved between the cabinets. Her Cursed Constructs writhed at the edges of her perception, ready to strike.

  A soft ugh echoed through the room—everywhere and nowhere at once.

  "Oh, how delightful! The little guards came to py!", the voice was melodic, mocking, "But you're too te. Far~too te."

  A figure dropped from the ceiling, the thin clown in the harlequin mask, nding with impossible grace. In his hand, he clutched a worn leather-bound manuscript.

  Even from a distance, Lea could feel the corruption radiating from it. Even if it was something made pre-godhood, it still holds terrifying powers linking back to its creator Kay's chains shot forward immediately, but the clown twisted, his body contorting in ways that shouldn't be anatomically possible. The chains passed through empty air.

  "My name is Sageo.", the clown announced with a theatrical bow, his accent carrying the harsh consonants of a foreign accent, "And I'm afraid this little treasure belongs to my Director now."

  Kay's posture stiffened at the accent. "A foreign agent. This is worse than we thought."

  Sageo's mask tilted, amused, "Oh, don't be so dramatic. I'm just a humble servant of art, collecting what rightfully belongs to the God of Theatrics."

  Then he split.

  One moment, there was one clown; the next, there were three identical copies spreading out in different directions.

  Bloom... Lea realized. The Path of self-replication, as long as one of them survives, he is still alive, even though it would take time for a clone to turn into the real deal.

  He was propagating himself.

  "Take them down!", Kay commanded, his chains dividing to target multiple clones simultaneously.

  The Shadow Guards moved as one, weapons fshing. But every time they struck a clone, it simply dissolved into red and bck mist before reforming elsewhere.

  Lea hung back, observing. Her Malediction whispered strategies— curse the space, not the target. Layer hexes into the air itself. But revealing that ability here would expose her Path.

  Instead, she focused on her emotion radar, tracking the real Sageo among his copies.

  There is a spike of genuine satisfaction, of triumph. The one near the eastern cabinet, clutching the manuscript tighter than the others.

  "The one on the left!", Lea called out, "That's the one holding the real Script!!"

  Kay didn't question her. His chains shifted instantly, wrapping around the indicated clone with brutal efficiency.

  The others dissolved immediately— Bloom clones couldn't exist independently once the original was restrained.

  Sageo struggled against the chains, his body shifting, trying to slip through the links, "Clever girl. But you're still—"

  His words cut off as his form began to bubble and expand. Flesh propagated wildly, limbs multiplying, faces pressing through his torso in grotesque profusion. Bloom pushed to its absolute limit.

  "He's going to explode!!!", one of the Shadow Guards warned, backing away.

  Kay's chains tightened, trying to contain the expansion, but Sageo's ughter echoed through the distorted flesh, "Too te! HEHHEHEHEHEHEHEHE! Please await the next show, dear citizens of Ryteline!!"

  The mass of flesh erupted outward, not violently, but in a shower of red and bck petals that dissolved into nothing. When the cascade ended, both Sageo and the manuscript were gone.

  Only a single bloodstain remained on the floor, shaped like a theatrical mask of comedy and tragedy.

  Kay cursed under his breath, his chains retracting, "He escaped. And he took The Maker's script with him."

  Lea approached the bloodstain carefully, her Cursed Constructs probing it. The corruption had soaked into the stone itself, marking this pce. A calling card. A promise of return.

  "We need to report this immediately!" Kay said, turning to the group, "A Zankur operative infiltrating the Royal Academy, stealing artifacts tied to an evil god. This is bigger than a simple theft."

  Lea tightened her chest, Zankur... the Eastern neighbor of Ryteline, its mortal enemy...

  The other Shadow Guards nodded, already moving toward the exit.

  Lea lingered for a moment, staring at the bloodstain. Her mind raced with implications. The Wondertainment Troupe, the Maker's followers, and someone from Zankur, all converging on Ryteline. All targeting Dawn's showcase as cover for their true operation.

  And Lady Keter had known. She'd seen it coming and said nothing.

  "Dantes.", Kay called from the doorway, "We need to move."

  Lea tore her gaze away from the bloodstain and followed, her shadows trailing behind her like regrets.

  Outside, she could hear the commotion dying down. IS7 had arrested the street performers. Auger's voice carried over the crowd, smooth and reassuring, telling festival-goers that everything was under control.

  But Lea knew better.

  This wasn't the end. It was barely the beginning.

  The Maker's script was loose in the world now, marked with Sageo's blood, calling out to its creator like a beacon...

  =0=0=

  The private study was a small but secure location with reinforced walls, no windows, a single door that Dawn had personally locked behind them. The aftermath of the Academic Showcase still buzzed outside, but here, silence reigned.

  Dawn sat behind a modest desk, fingers steepled, her expression carved from iron.

  The pyful princess who'd teased Lea earlier was gone, repced by the ruthless strategist who'd navigated Ryteline's political ndscape since childhood.

  Auger leaned against the wall, Excalibur resting beside him, hat tilted low but eyes sharp.

  Lea stood near the door, mask still in pce, though her Cursed Constructs had retracted. Her report had been clinical, precise—the Wondertainment Troupe, Sageo's infiltration, the stolen manuscript, the Zankur accent.

  Dawn spoke first, her voice cold and measured, "A Zankur operative at the Royal Academy, at the same time as the exhibition."

  "The Academy's security failed on their watch, not mine, but the political fallout will nd squarely on Ryteline's doorstep.", she leaned forward, her amber eyes glowed with calcutions, "And the council war hawks will use this as ammunition regardless of the actual facts."

  "The question is whether Sageo's origins matter at all.", Auger said carefully, "He's a member of the Wondertainment Troupe first, a Zankur citizen second. The distinction is critical."

  Lea shifted uncomfortably, "His accent was distinctly Zankur. I think I can pinpoint that heavy accent if I heard it a second time."

  "A coincidence of birth, then, a cultist who happens to be from enemy territory steals a divine artifact from Ryteline soil during a public event.", the princess's tone suggested she found little comfort in that, "Even if Zankur's government had nothing to do with it, try expining that nuance to nobles who've been itching for war since the border skirmish st year. But I highly doubt those crazed bastards would say anything."

  Auger tapped his cane once against the floor, "Then you control the narrative before they can twist it. This wasn't a Zankur attack; it was an assault by The Maker's followers."

  "And when the council asks why we're so quick to absolve Zankur of responsibility?", Dawn's eyes fshed, "When they point out that this cultist conveniently originated from our greatest enemy?"

  "You remind them that the Maker's corruption knows no borders.", Auger replied evenly, "That zealots come from every nation, including our own. That responding with military aggression would be exactly what the Maker wants. Chaos, degradation, the colpse of order into theatrical violence."

  Dawn exhaled slowly, forcing herself to be calm, "You're right. I need to frame this as successfully defending against evil god worshippers rather than Zankur unching a covert operation."

  She looked to Lea, "But privately, I need answers. Who gave them the Academy's yout? Who knew about the Maker's script being stored there?"

  Lea's mind raced. Seeing the deeper picture.

  "There's another concern...", Lea said quietly, "Sageo mentioned the Wondertainment Troupe will be preparing for a 'show'."

  Dawn's expression darkened, "Which means they're pnning to use the script for their next big py soon."

  She looked to Auger, "Can your Bond abilities track it?"

  "Possibly, but that would require establishing a connection to either Sageo or the Maker directly.", Auger's tone made clear he found neither option appealing, "The safer approach is monitoring Wondertainment Troupe movements. If they're staging another ritual, another performance, they'll need preparation time."

  "Then we watch them.", Dawn decided, "IS7 will maintain surveilnce on known cultist cells; those crazy bastards would need more actors for whatever py they are pnning. The Academy increases security protocols. And I manage the political damage with the council."

  She fixed Lea with a sharp look, "You stay close. If things escate further, I want you where I can see you."

  Lea nodded, though unease crawled up her spine.

  "One more thing.", Auger said quietly, "The Maker's followers also stole some artifacts, mostly archeological items, but who knows what they would do."

  Dawn's fingers tightened on the desk edge, "Then we have limited time to locate them before they do something catastrophic..."

  The weight of those words settled over the room.

  "The fact that Sageo is from Zankur is unfortunate timing.", Dawn continued, her voice taking on a bitter edge, "But it's ultimately irrelevant to his actual threat. He's a Pathstrider devoted to an evil god, and that transcends national borders."

  She stood, her decision made, "I'll present it to the council that way. Emphasize the religious extremism angle, downpy the geographic coincidence."

  Auger pointed out, "Just strategically emphasized."

  "All politics is strategic emphasis." Dawn moved toward the door, then paused, "Auger, I'll need your counsel when I address the council. Your reputation carries weight they can't easily dismiss. Lea, return to your quarters, but stay alert. If anything feels wrong..."

  "I'll report immediately.", Lea finished, then she added more, "I can create some extension wards, helping me monitor the pce better."

  Some quick calcutions ran through Dawn's mind, then she nodded, "You do that, I give you full clearance."

  Under her mask, Lea smiled. Using the chaos for herself... even if it potentially damages her retionship with Dawn...

  As they filed out, Lea caught Auger's eye. He gave her the faintest nod acknowledgment, perhaps, or warning.

  Outside, the Academic Showcase was winding down, festival-goers dispersing into the evening. Dawn's nd telephone demonstration had been well-received despite the chaos, several nobles and merchants already expressing interest in funding.

  But beneath that success, corruption had taken root.

  And somewhere, perhaps still in Ryteline, perhaps already fled... Sageo clutched the Maker's script, waiting for the perfect moment to unleash whatever horror it contained.

  Lea pulled her mask tighter and vanished into the shadows.

  The Fourth Step still awaited. But now, so did something worse.

  Not war with Zankur, that at least would have been straightforward.

  No, this was worse. This was the slow corruption of a theatrical god, spreading through his devoted followers, using stolen divine knowledge to stage performances that would degrade the world itself.

  Lea's Cursed Constructs writhed at the edges of her shadow as she walked. Soon, she would complete her Fourth Step. Soon, she would stand on the foundation of the Path of Divinity.

  But what use was ascending toward godhood if gods like The Maker already existed? If divinity itself could be so thoroughly corrupted and unkilble?

  The questions had no answers.

  Only the path forward remained.