Inside the sanctuary chamber—
the atmosphere had finally settled.
Lucifer and Elenya were both fully fed now.
Lucifer rested quietly against Vaelith's shoulder, though visible suspicion still lingered within his tiny crimson eyes whenever the black cat entered his field of vision.
The grudge remained alive.
Elenya, meanwhile, looked entirely satisfied with existence itself.
Her tiny wings fluttered lazily behind her while she happily clung to Vaelith's arm, completely at peace with the world.
Nearby, the cultist stood silently while holding her healed wrist.
Then she slowly lowered her head.
"My Lord…"
Draven turned his gaze toward her calmly.
The cultist hesitated briefly before speaking again.
"I have a request."
Silence filled the sanctuary chamber.
Then—
"Please go with me."
She bowed even lower immediately afterward.
"If we enter the city now…"
A brief pause followed.
"We can acquire more feed for the young master and young miss."
Her voice remained careful.
Respectful.
"But Blackwater is not a place I can safely navigate alone."
Draven stared at her quietly for several long seconds.
The black cat's tail flicked once against his shoulder.
Then—
"Alright."
Simple.
Direct.
The cultist visibly relaxed almost immediately.
But before either of them could move—
the sanctuary chamber doors opened.
Aldric walked inside while casually drinking from a half-empty bottle.
His clothes had at least been partially replaced since the disaster at the Veil Sea, though faint cracks still lingered across portions of his exposed skin like remnants of damaged porcelain.
He took another slow drink.
"…Don't remember being included in the decision to stop the damn ship."
His crimson eyes shifted toward Draven.
The room quieted slightly.
The cultist answered carefully.
"The ship sustained heavy damage."
A pause.
"It needed repairs."
Aldric slowly turned his gaze toward her.
Cold.
Sharp.
"I don't remember asking you."
The atmosphere instantly froze.
The cultist immediately lowered her head again.
Draven moved before the tension could deepen any further.
He stepped forward calmly and handed Lucifer over to Vaelith first.
Then Elenya.
The babies immediately made tiny protesting noises.
Vaelith accepted both effortlessly.
Draven's voice remained calm.
"Take care of them."
Vaelith lowered her head slightly.
"As always, my Lord."
Draven continued walking afterward.
Straight toward the exit.
Straight toward Aldric.
The cultist hurried after him immediately.
"Y-Yes, my Lord."
By the time they reached the doorway—
Aldric still had not moved.
He remained standing directly in front of the exit while lazily drinking from the bottle in his hand.
Silence filled the chamber once again.
Draven stopped directly before him.
"Move aside."
Aldric did not move.
Did not flinch.
Crimson eyes met cold black ones in absolute silence.
The atmosphere thickened instantly.
Even the mana within the room seemed to quiet itself instinctively.
Then—
Draven spoke again.
Flat.
Unmoved.
"Get lost already."
Silence.
Aldric slowly lowered the bottle from his mouth.
Then grinned.
Wide.
Dangerous.
"…That's a hell of a way to talk to someone who just saved your ship."
Behind them—
the cultist looked like she deeply regretted existing anywhere nearby.
Aldric finally stepped aside with a lazy wave of his hand.
"Relax. I don't have time to play with you."
His crimson eyes flicked briefly toward Draven again.
"And I don't have the strength for it either, so stop being so damn annoying already."
He turned away, already beginning to walk down the corridor.
The cultist hesitated briefly—
then quickly followed behind Draven instead, clearly uncertain which direction counted as "safe" anymore.
Draven's gaze sharpened slightly.
"If you still have enough energy to keep yapping," he said flatly,
"then go fuck yourself."
Aldric paused mid-step.
Slowly turned his head.
For a moment—
it genuinely looked like he might snap.
Then—
he exhaled heavily.
"…Damn brat."
No retaliation followed.
Only irritation swallowed down through visible effort.
He continued walking.
"Yeah. I'm coming too."
The cultist blinked from behind Draven.
"Why?"
Aldric did not slow down.
"Because I don't trust you people alone in a city like this."
A pause.
"And because I don't feel like getting stabbed in the back while I'm half-dead."
The cultist frowned faintly.
"You can't go out looking like that."
Aldric raised a brow.
"Yeah? That's because someone destroyed my damn ring."
Silence.
Draven stopped walking.
Without even turning around, his hand slipped into his storage ring.
A moment later—
a simple necklace flew backward through the air.
Straight toward Aldric.
He caught it one-handed effortlessly.
"Use that instead."
Draven's voice remained calm.
"Now shut up."
Aldric looked down at the necklace for a second.
Then scoffed softly.
"Could've given it to me earlier."
Still—
he put it on.
Mana pulsed once.
Instantly—
his appearance shifted.
The crimson aura surrounding him dulled.
His hair color subtly changed.
Even his facial structure altered slightly.
His overwhelming presence became suppressed beneath layers of concealment.
Not erased.
Just hidden.
As though an entirely different person now stood there.
The cultist glanced toward him uncertainly.
"…Why do you even insist on coming?"
Aldric tilted his head slightly.
"Calm down, rat."
Her eye twitched immediately.
"Don't call me—"
"Are you upset," he interrupted lazily, "because I'm ruining your little date plans?"
The cultist froze completely.
Her face turned bright red almost instantly.
"Wh-What?! It's nothing like that!"
Aldric gave her a completely flat look.
"Yeah, yeah."
He waved a hand dismissively.
"Me and your lord. Whatever you say."
The cultist opened her mouth—
then slowly closed it again.
Because arguing with him genuinely felt like a waste of oxygen.
Draven started walking once more without looking back.
Aldric followed immediately behind him, still wearing a faintly amused smirk.
And just like that—
the strange group stepped out of the damaged ship and into the endless smoke and steel of Blackwater.