Getting from one continent to another took a long time if you only used a carriage. To shorten the journey, teleportation portals and mana-powered trains existed in this world.

Leon stepped down from the carriage and entered Havon Station. After saying goodbye to Ben, he picked up his belongings and boarded the train.

Inside, the passengers were already taking their seats. Leon found the premium compartment arranged for him by Mai. It was a private space with a bed, storage, and basic travel necessities.

He placed his suitcase on the upper bunk, set his sheathed sword safely beside him, and sat down on the lower seat, letting out a slow breath. Leaning his head against the window, he watched the platform outside. The crowd continued to grow. Some people ran to catch their trains, while others stood in place, waving their final goodbyes.

“Attention passengers,” a calm voice echoed through the cabin. The sound was slightly distorted but clear, coming from the speakers mounted near the ceiling. “The train to the capital city of Zeraldia, Thymera, will be departing shortly. Please remain seated and secure your belongings.”

“Belongings, huh.” Leon glanced down at himself.

A simple shirt, pants, and a trench coat. Nothing about him stood out.

A sharp creak cut through the air.

Creeeak—!

“Capital City of Thymera! Departing!”

The conductor’s voice came again, amplified through the speakers.

The floor beneath his feet trembled, and with a sharp hiss—

Shhhh—!

—the train began to move.

Outside, the scenery shifted. The station walls slid away, replaced by the streets of the city, then by open plains dotted with watchtowers and relay posts. Korvitch slowly faded behind him. And with it, the noise, the heat, and everything else.

Leon’s focus turned to where he was heading and, more importantly, why.

Armathorne.

Zeraldia’s most prestigious dukedom, known for its powerful warriors and sacred lineage of Holy Swords. It was also the place that would be completely destroyed by Seraphina in the near future.

Leon let out a sigh as he reached into his pocket and took out an envelope. It was the formal letter of acceptance he had received from the duchy after sending them his secondary offer. He hadn’t actually opened it yet.

Carefully, he broke the seal and unfolded the letter. His eyes moved across the lines.

◈—◈—◈—◈—◈

To House Serpentine,

Your offer has been received and reviewed.

The Armathorne Dukedom will gladly accept your escort service under the conditions stated.

You are to report directly to the dukedom upon arrival. Your role will be assigned after an evaluation.

You are not to act independently within Armathorne territory without permission. All escort duties, if granted, will be conducted under our authority.

Any form of misconduct, insubordination, or breach of protocol will result in immediate termination of your position.

You will not interfere with internal matters of the Armathorne Dukedom unless explicitly ordered. Failure to comply will be treated as hostility.

In addition, due to the nature of recent incidents, all personnel entering the dukedom will be subject to inspection. Further details regarding escort duties outside of the estate will be provided upon your arrival.

Prepare yourself accordingly.

Duke Zorack Armathorne

◈—◈—◈—◈—◈

Leon lowered the letter slightly.

“…Strict.”

But not unexpected. If anything, the rigid tone of the letter merely confirmed what he already knew.

Armathorne was an isolated duchy, essentially operating as an independent military fortress on a peninsula. Even in the original game, very few characters were ever allowed entry past its borders. Leon himself had never actually set foot there before. In fact, throughout the standard game narrative, neither the Hero nor the Saintess ever visited the province.

Despite its legendary military reputation, the dukedom had few allies and even fewer enemies. It remained distant from outside affairs. The only time people encountered someone from Armathorne was during battles, expeditions, or continental war.

Seraphina was the sole exception to this rule. She was the only member of the Armathorne bloodline to leave the territory to attend the Imperial Academy.

‘It’s a little strange…’

As far as the game's lore noted, Seraphina was undeniably the strongest talent in the current generation of her family. However, she had seven older brothers. Logically, it would have made far more sense for the sons to attend the academy, yet she was the only one sent out.

Leon had ignored it before, assuming it was a convenient plot device written to get the game's villainess into the academy setting. Now, he was not so sure. There were too many details that did not line up. Details that were too suspicious to ignore anymore.

The first was the reason Armathorne had requested an escort.

The official explanation stated that they needed extra blades due to increasing demon sightings along the mountainous borders. With tensions rising among the nobles, it claimed Seraphina required protection.

That part was true. At this point in the timeline, dimensional cracks had slowly begun tearing across the continents. These cracks bled into the Demon World, allowing hordes of monsters to enter the human realm. Zeraldia was the worst-affected. The growing number of monsters was a legitimate security concern.

But there was something more important than that.

Seraphina herself.

The demonic seed within her would begin to grow as more cracks appeared, drawing in demonic energy and triggering it. Since demonic energy resonated with each other, the more unstable the world became, the stronger the corrupting influence of the seed grew inside her.

If Leon had to guess, the Duke wasn't trying to protect his daughter from external threats, but trying to hide her condition from the rest of the empire.

He had considered this possibility before. In his ninety-eighth and ninety-ninth iterations, he had tested two vastly different approaches to handle her.

In one, he reported the existence of the demonic seed directly to the Imperial Corps and called for her elimination. However, Seraphina managed to suppress its presence far better than he expected. When the Paladins arrived, she passed the Holy test with flying colors, showing zero trace of demonic influence. Instead, Leon appeared to be making false accusations. She killed him soon after.

In the next iteration, he sent a private report to the Duke, asking him to investigate. The Duke submitted the report as harassment, and Leon was tried in the Imperial Court. Seraphina dealt with him again.

On the surface, there was no clear link between these events and the escort request, but Leon thought otherwise. A noble house requesting an escort for protection was normal. But Armathorne was not a normal house.

The idea that a warrior dukedom known for its Holy Swords would require an escort to protect their prized daughter was a little difficult to accept.

‘Not to mention…’

If it were a matter of safety, any one of her seven older brothers or a platoon of her elite family knights would have been vastly superior guards. Even a personal guard would have been fine. But the fact that the Duke actively sought an outsider suggested something else.

There was something he could not manage within his own walls using his own men.

And for that, he needed someone he could control.

Someone bound by contract.

Someone who would not question what they saw.

An outsider who happened to be an escort.

‘So that their little secret wouldn’t be out.’

Leon’s eyes narrowed, reaching a simple conclusion.

Either the entire family was involved, or only the Duke and Seraphina knew the truth. The latter seemed more likely. In a place filled with people who possessed divinity, hiding a demonic presence was difficult.

Seraphina’s control was strong, but not perfect. There would inevitably be moments when she lost control and leaked demonic energy. In those moments where she is the most vulnerable, she would attract danger, and she would need someone to handle it and keep it hidden.

Logically, any Holy Knight would eliminate her if they discovered the truth. Yet no one in her family had ever attempted it. That alone raised questions.

An outsider, however, would not act the same way.

An escort was ideal. They were controlled assets, bound by terms, and unaware of what truly mattered.

‘Especially… one without divinity.’

Leon recalled a specific requirement from the escort request.

“An Aura Knight of the Highest Order.”

An Aura Knight.

The fundamental power system of this world was divided into two main factions:

Divinity and Magus.

Divinity refers to those blessed with power from the gods.

Magus referred to those who used magic.

Some individuals belonged to both, such as the Hero and Seraphina. Others belonged to only one, such as the Saintess, who had the potential to awaken all the divine blessings.

These two factions dominated this world.

However, there was a third group that existed outside both.

Users who wielded ‘Aura’—the raw force born purely from the body itself. Aura was not granted by gods or shaped by magic. It was the manifestation of one’s life force, developed through relentless training and discipline.

In theory, anyone could wield it. In reality, almost no one did. Aura demanded an unsustainable amount of endurance, pain, and repetition. It required years of forcing strength into one's muscles and bones until the flesh itself became a lethal weapon.

Having no affinity for mana and having received no divine blessing from birth, naturally, Leon chose this path out of sheer survival.

He exhaled slowly.

An Aura Knight of the Highest Order.

Aura Knights were divided into ranks based on their level of internal refinement.

The Initiate: Who had only just awakened Aura, which was fragile and unstable.

The Low Knight: Whose Aura could reinforce the body and push it beyond normal human limits.

The Mid Knight: Where Aura flowed smoothly and could be applied to limbs and weapons, turning strikes into something lethal.

The High Knight: At this level, Aura was no longer simple reinforcement. It became control over output, flow, and impact. It was a realm few ever reached. At that stage, distance became less relevant and defense became fragile. Even magic constructs and divine barriers could be broken through concentrated force.

It had taken Leon a hundred regressions to reach that level as a High Knight of the Silver Order. The Silver Order was the faction of Aura users, and he stood at its peak. Because of the Anomaly, he now retained that strength.

In simple terms, it could be seen as if they were requesting a capable escort.

In reality, however…

“Hoo…”

Leon drew a breath.

It was a deliberate choice.

An Aura Knight of that level came with a specific advantage that most people overlooked.

Aura was a purely physical life force. Unlike magic or divinity, it didn't interact with the atmosphere or read energies.

This meant…

“They cannot detect demonic energy,” Leon murmured.

This was a fundamental limitation of Aura users. Aura vastly strengthened the body, including its speed, reflexes, and destructive power; but it did not function as a sensing medium nor could it differentiate between various types of energies.

Divinity users could sense demonic energy because their power naturally opposed it. Magus users could detect it because magic interacted with external forces. Aura users did neither.

This was why Aura Knights were blind to what they could not physically perceive.

For someone trying to hide demonic energy, this was ideal.

It worked in favor of the Duke of Armathorne and, more importantly, Seraphina, who carried a demonic seed.

Leon, as an Aura Knight, was the perfect tool.

He could deal with the consequences of her instability without recognizing the cause.

Because if the existence of her demonic seed were revealed before she awakened, the Armathorne Dukedom would be held responsible and put on trial.

They would be guilty by association, and the Duke himself would be directly involved.

Leon was almost certain that the Duke already knew.

But of course, these were all assumptions, and he still needed to confirm it.

He could be wrong.

But the pattern was too consistent to ignore, and he could not afford to overlook it.

That was one of the reasons he had sent the offer.

Leon leaned back in his seat and took a slow breath.

He would have to do a lot to uncover the truth behind Armathorne and its secrets. This would also help him in gathering evidence.

Once he reached the dukedom, it wouldn’t be long before he left for the Imperial Academy.

Time was short.

But this time, he intended to use it properly.