It was an autumn day when the leaves had turned yellow; the manor lay in a desolate hush as wind swept dead leaves across the lawn. Parked here as well was a huge armored magitech vehicle.
Yvette stood at the villa gate, watching Abella help Lant lift suitcases into the vehicle, then heard her say, “What are you doing—why is there a dog in the car? It stinks!”
“Sorry, Sister Abella.” Lant apologized reflexively, then patted the little yellow dog in the vehicle and smiled faintly. “Two people training alone is too lonely—I thought bringing it along would cheer me up.”
The little dog lay on the floor, lowering its head and behaving meekly before that cold, terrifying beauty. Its silent, restrained shyness easily recalled the ordinary, self-doubting Demonkin boy who had arrived seven years ago.
Back then he had been all will and no other skill, and Abella had taken her time tormenting him. But after the curse on his bloodline was lifted and he mastered true “demonization,” Lant grew into a combat expert at a startling pace and finally won Abella’s recognition—she no longer wore a sour face at him every day.
Unfortunately, even after becoming Yvette’s third disciple and legally calling her teacher, his rank still didn’t surpass Abella’s. Outside training, Abella still set him to work like a servant—strict class lines remained. Thıs content belongs to noveⅼfire.net
Lant didn’t mind. After years of being tormented by the Lady Handmaiden, he harbored little hatred; he had been so ashamed of himself back then that he despised himself.
Once he became a full Demonkin with terrifying talent, the fragile part of him finally found a pillar of support. It only balanced out his old inferiority—making him normal again, nothing more.
He respected his teacher like any decent student, worked hard and dutifully, did chores within his ability, missed his family sometimes, cared for animals, and kept a clean, pure heart—no bad habits. In short, boringly ordinary to the point of being uninteresting.
No one taught him to change that.
After becoming a formal student, he didn’t spend much time studying with the teacher; most of his instruction came from Abella, who taught him technique, sparred with him, and protected his life during aberration hunts—so in a sense Abella was half his teacher and someone he privately felt grateful toward.
But as a revenger he couldn’t stay on Ish Island forever. The local aberrations were no longer enough for him; he needed to leave the sheltered environment where a teacher covered for him and temper himself in places with no safety net to truly grow.
It would also raise his chances of encountering an aurora and returning home.
Seeing Lant’s goofy smile and that dull, timid little yellow dog, Abella smirked.
Over the past seven years Lant rarely lived on the manor; he moved often and kept various small animals. That yellow dog was a pup born to a female dog he’d raised; he liked it and had looked after it for months—bringing it along on trips seemed reasonable.
Used to being a strict instructor, Abella’s scolding of Lant had almost become instinct. Now her tone softened a little: “If you don’t mind the trouble, fine—bring it.”
Then she walked toward another vehicle in the corner of the manor.
For the sea crossing, Lant needed a craft, and the armored vehicle he used was one of the magitech vehicles Yvette had hand-built over the years. She’d made four iterative versions; the one Lant drove was roughly the third version—combat capability and range were similar, the main difference being comfort.
Still, as a precaution, Abella had to escort him across the sea in case a high-tier aberration caused a crash; it would be a shame for his training to end before it started.
“I’m ready to go, Teacher.” Lant turned to Yvette and his expression shifted into heartfelt respect.
Ever since his transformation, she had become his rebirth parent and the person he respected most in life—even equaling his deceased parents and sister.
It’s worth noting that after the shackles of the Demon God’s curse were broken, he not only gained exceptional magical talent and the temporary explosive “demonization” ability, but his lifespan also increased—conservatively, he’d stepped onto the threshold of long-lived beings.
So after seven years his appearance had changed little—just a touch more mature—but he was still that inconspicuous country boy, concealing remarkably formidable combat power.
“If you see an aurora, let me know.” Yvette nodded calmly. She’d prepared long-range communication equipment so Lant could contact the island in real time; if he had to return to the Otherworld, he could at least say farewell.
“If you meet the Machinist race, tell them you’re one of them first. If you’re found out, then consider admitting you’re from another world.”
“Understood, Teacher.” Lant had already heard of the Machinist race and was curious about those mysterious beings born from alchemical constructs.
“Don’t rely on demonization too much. Solve things normally and use your head first.”
“Yes, Teacher.” Lant nodded obediently despite already knowing all this.
What else mustn’t he forget? Yvette thought, then went upstairs and took down from a cupboard the Tome of Earth Magic and the Tome of Heavenly Punishment—books long shelved and nearly forgotten—and handed them to a bewildered Lant. “These are for you.”
“!” Abella gave a strangled cry, remembering long ago being beaten by a black dragon using a battle magitech grimoire.
This was pure cheating.
The Master giving those books to this brat—what if he used them against me on the crossing?
Abella felt a sudden pang of unease as she thought of her past behavior, and she eyed the two battle magitech grimoires that Lant had just been granted access to.
Lant, oblivious to Abella’s thoughts, asked curiously, “Something wrong, Sister Abella?”
“Nothing.” Abella looked up at the sky.
“I will learn everything in these, Teacher.” Moments after receiving access to the magitech grimoires, Lant realized how precious they were and swore earnestly.
He hadn’t yet grasped the grimoires’ terrible combat potency, especially the dreadful one-button combos, but the spells inside were already priceless. Over the years he’d learned composite spells—self-healing life magic, close-combat defensive and enhancement spells, and some physical training. He hadn’t deeply studied pure earth or lightning magic.
Yvette hummed and added, “If you return to your hometown, try to find out how your Second Senior Brother is doing. If you’re in danger, you can look for him for help—watch out for each other.”
Lant solemnly promised, then bid his teacher farewell and climbed into the driver’s seat. With the engine’s low hum, the armored vehicle slowly lifted, and together with Abella’s vehicle, it headed toward the distant horizon.
His destination was the Blacktide Continent. Yvette had once circled that continent and cleared most of the high-tier aberrations, so she marked out safe zones for him. She was also familiar with the marionette kingdoms along the route.
Besides that, he had another task: find a marionette kingdom and, with their help and the Sanctum, deliver an apology message to a predecessor named Ice Rain.
Yvette had apparently agreed a hundred years ago to meet Ice Rain on the Jadeite Continent but had failed due to force majeure; whether that senior still waited there was unknown.
After Lant and Abella’s magitech vehicles vanished into the sea-sky, Yvette lingered on the roof of the Black Tower Building ruins for a while,
feeling a little wistful.
In terms of dedication to students, she had favored Rosalyn most, Dugrabi second.
Abella was an informal disciple who had learned far more than Lant did, but it’s less justifiable to boss students around than maids, and Abella harbored unrealistic fantasies about becoming a formal student—so things got stuck.
As for Lant, she couldn’t say she disliked him, but she had outsourced most teaching to Abella and admittedly wasn’t very attentive.
Still, none of that prevented Lant from feeling deep gratitude; he would charge into fire and water at a single word from her, without hesitation.
What a steadfast child.
After watching quietly for a long time, Yvette turned and resumed her peaceful life, waiting for Abella to return.
Ten days passed and Abella had not come back, but a message from Lant arrived first—sent to Yvette’s study via the Elemental Wave Communication Device as a recorded note.
“Teacher, I asked the Grand Elder of the Agasha Marionette Kingdom to help, and through the Sanctum I obtained information about Senior Ice Rain.”
“She went to the Arctic a hundred years ago because of a mysterious legend tied to the Remnant Abyss, and then disappeared—never returned. The Sanctum’s Gracebearers searched the Arctic, but none returned; the entire search team went missing.”
“But the Sanctum also says the missing people are still alive, and she is included.”