Nox sucked in a cold breath when he heard that name. Initially, when the teenage girl had said the woman's name started with an "E" and described her red eyes, he tried to deny it.
Now that he had heard it fully, Nox was greatly saddened. He lowered his head.
Mistress Eve was one of the most important people in his life—her status was just below that of his mother.
'I must hear her side of the story before I jump to any conclusions.'
Although he knew he was being biased, he didn't care. She had contributed to his strength and helped him when he was at his lowest.
She deserves that much.
Still, he couldn't help but wonder.
'So she was a demon all this time, huh?'
He had always known there was something strange about Eve. He remembered the first time he bumped into her as a child.
A small smile appeared on his face as his thoughts drifted back to the past.
Back then, he had been no older than five. Just a scrawny kid with oversized boots, darting around a sunlit courtyard with the other children of the Barony. His laughter had echoed across the field until he slammed headfirst into what felt like a wall of darkness.
Only… it wasn't a wall.
She stood six feet tall, cloaked in a black, form-fitting gown that clung to her curves like it was part of her skin. Her long, obsidian hair flowed like silk down to her waist, and her ruby-red eyes locked onto him with a soul-piercing intensity. A thick, ominous aura pulsed from her form, heavy and suffocating.
Even as a child, he had known—this was someone dangerous.
"She was beautiful," he murmured aloud, the memory tugging a smile from his lips. "Second only to Mom…"
He'd just stared dumbly up at her, frozen. Not from fear. No—it was awe. Pure, unfiltered awe.
Her expression had been cold. Her tone, colder.
"Keep looking, and you won't have eyes anymore," she'd snapped, like he'd just committed treason by touching her.
And what had he done? Apologized. Clumsily scooped up the thing she'd dropped—without realizing what it was.
He had picked up a skull.
Not some prop or ornament—an actual skull with glowing green eyes, which then spoke.
"Let me go, you pipsqueak!"
That voice had nearly made him scream. His hands trembled as the skull flew out of his grasp and returned to her palm like a loyal pet.
That day changed everything.
She'd said something strange as she walked away, muttering under her breath:
"Tsk… he looks just like him."
Even now, Nox didn't fully understand what she meant by that. But her voice—her presence—left a deep imprint on him.
He learned her name later. Mistress Eve.
She was a longtime friend of his grandfather, Nathan. Not a real citizen, but she held quite the status.
She came and went like a shadow. Always present at high-level meetings.
She lived on the outskirts of town in a gloomy mansion. Feared by the village brats, revered by the adults.
Some of the children called her a witch. Others believed she wasn't even human.
But to Nox… she was the first one who didn't treat him like a child.
The first who looked him in the eyes and saw the monster he could become—and didn't flinch.
She trained him in that mansion.
Helped him stand up after he'd been broken by Hendrix.
Pulled him out of the depths when no one else bothered.
Now she was the enemy?
His fists clenched at his sides as he snapped back to the present. The cold silence in the chamber remained.
Everyone was still staring at him.
They had no idea what Mistress Eve meant to him.
They didn't know about the late-night spars in her mansion.
Didn't know she was the one who taught him how to wield multiple weapons.
No one knew… except him.
And yet, here he was, hearing that she—his former mentor—had led the charge that nearly destroyed the kingdom.
"I see…" he whispered, his voice low.
Bridget was watching him closely, as if gauging his reaction.
"She needs to answer for what she did," Nyx said, her tone hard.
But his jaw clenched.
"Maybe…" he murmured, then added under his breath, "But I'll hear her side first."
That earned a few raised eyebrows, but no one spoke. Not even talkative Jack. They could only wonder what was going through his mind.
He seemed to be in inner turmoil, thinking about several things—and how everything had escalated to this point.
A part of him didn't even want to believe what he was hearing, but so many people couldn't be wrong.
The silence was thick.
Finally, he looked up, his expression unreadable. "Headmistress, do you mind continuing?"
Bridget nodded and began to explain. "She was unlike anything I've ever seen before. Most of the soldiers and a few experts died in the first ten minutes. They rose a heartbeat later and came for the rest of us."
Necromancy. His eyes flashed.
"One of the first places they attacked was the Academy. Because we were tired from the earlier fight against the Order of Flaming Rose, we tried to evacuate through the northern gate," Bridget said.
Her jaw tightened. "Eve's expression was emotionless all throughout. Every corpse she harvested grew her army. Awakened, Students, professors, groundskeepers—every fallen body stood back up in her colors."
Nox narrowed his eyes. "How many?"
"Half of the students along with the instructors confirmed dead," Bridget's voice cracked. "Only a hundred and twenty of us made it underground. Maybe fewer now—I've lost six patrol teams this week."
The torchlight flickered across hollow faces. For a moment, nobody spoke. Then Nox exhaled—cold and controlled.
"So the royal castle is still holding?" he asked.
"Barely. It's barricaded by layered arrays and reinforced by several royal artifacts. Eve can't overwrite that enchantment—not yet. It's the last safe refuge in Vermilion City."
He tapped Glacier's End against the stone floor, thinking. Then finally, he made a decision.
"All right. We abandon the city altogether."
Flash back chapter reference: Chapter 6: Awakening the class [1]