Enya narrowed her eyes as she looked up at the black mountain before her. It… was extremely steep?
Right in front of her, a winding staircase led up to the top. The stone used to build it was the black rock of the mountain itself. In other words, the staircase was carved directly into the mountain—a massive engineering feat.
At the unseen peak, a layer of pitch-black clouds coiled, with lightning flickering in and out of sight. The scene reminded Enya of Antiros and the independent dimension she possessed.
In Antiros’s world, the sky was also like this—rumbling with thunderclouds that would sometimes burst out into terrifying bolts of lightning.
Enya had thought about having her own small world. She had tried flipping the core of 【Survival’s Conception】 outward, but it didn’t work. It could only exist within her sea of consciousness, as if anchored to something.
She looked at the mountain and the staircase, letting out a soft sigh.
“Just as I said…”
The mountain named Mount Blacksky would appear before her on its own.
Enya hadn’t deliberately searched for it; she just kept walking forward, as if fate had destined that they would meet when she arrived.
So she came to the foot of Mount Blacksky.
At that moment, Zeta’s voice came from not far behind.
“Sister Enya!”
“…”
Enya turned to look.
Zeta’s dress was still tidy, and the blue foxfire on her body had faded. Her fluffy ears on her golden hair twitched as she ran this way, and the big tail behind her swung especially fast.
Further away, the city was lit up with flames.
When Zeta was about five or six meters away from Enya, she leaped directly.
Enya watched her fly over and caught her with a helpless sigh.
She watched Zeta bury her face in the soft mounds on her chest, rubbing vigorously. Enya reached out and grabbed a fox ear.
Feeling the pain, Zeta put on a hurt expression.
“Eep! That hurts~”
“Alright, you’ve hugged and rubbed enough. Can you let go?”
Enya released the fox ear—which had a great texture—and then pinched Zeta’s cheek. The fox princess’s cheeks were exceptionally soft, and her skin was fair and delicate, feeling even better to the touch.
“Hehe~”
Zeta giggled foolishly and let go of Enya, then looked warily in the direction she had come from.
Her ears perked up, and her light blue eyes stared intently.
“Sister Enya, you go first. Some annoying person is coming.”
“Mm.”
Enya naturally knew who that annoying person was in Zeta’s words.
In the sky, an orange-red figure flew over at extreme speed. As it got closer, she could see that it was a deep red dragon, bringing with it a scorching destruction.
When it was a hundred meters away, the fiery red dragon transformed into a bright fireball, which scattered into sparks. The form of a young girl emerged from it, landing about ten meters away from Enya.
Yifu looked at the foot of Mount Blacksky, at the person and fox standing together. Ignoring Zeta’s hostile gaze, she looked directly at Enya, squinting as she examined her.
Enya didn’t hide. She looked up and pushed back the hood covering her head, revealing the silver hair and face beneath.
Yifu pouted and said angrily, “So it’s you!”
The person she thought smelled nice before turned out to be the one she was looking for. If she had known earlier, she would have used a capture tool on Enya back on the ferry.
Enya said flatly, “Unfortunately, it seems I won that competition you mentioned.”
“Heh…”
Yifu’s face was sulky.
Enya smirked and continued, “I can’t go back with you because I already have an appointment with her. I have to go with her first. How about you two fight it out?”
Zeta: “…”
Yifu: “…”
Enya blinked, seeing that they didn’t answer. She thought she had gone too far, but what happened next told her that the show was just beginning.
Zeta narrowed her eyes, and blue foxfire reignited on her body, even the fur on her body fluttering like flames.
…
This ability wasn’t her own; it was a power lent to her by one of her sisters before she left.
The fox princess raised her head, looking down her nose at Yifu ten meters away: “Hmph, stupid dragon. Sister Enya is already mine.”
“As agreed, winner takes all.”
Yifu also narrowed her eyes, and her orange-red vertical pupils glowed.
Enya covered her mouth, snickering to the side.
One thing she really liked was watching others fight over her—it gave her a strange sense of satisfaction.
When they were exhausted from fighting, Enya could step in as the good guy and mediate. Just thinking about it made her feel so sneaky and bad.
Enya cleared her throat and said, “How about this: whoever wins, I’ll go with them first. Then I’ll go to the other side afterward. You only decide the order.”
“Don’t get hurt, or I’ll be very worried and sad.”
Zeta’s ears twitched. She had heard this from Enya before—the other two protagonists were her two sisters.
Yifu also looked proud and turned her gaze back to Zeta.
Once that was settled, Enya turned and stepped onto the staircase of Mount Blacksky. She was curious about what awaited her at the top—was it the Kill Hall Master’s final trick, or some other existence wanting to spar with her?
“I’m curious.”
Enya muttered to herself and started climbing step by step.
She didn’t plan to transform into a dragon and fly straight to the top—that would take away a lot of the fun. She had finally gotten out; why would she rush to finish things?
As the main base of the Hall of Shadows, Mount Blacksky must have halls built along its staircase.
Enya ascended the stairs but didn’t see any bustle of people.
It was an organization specializing in assassination, after all. Silence inside was normal. Enya didn’t find it strange. If it were too lively, she would suspect something was hidden.
After climbing a section of the ladder to heaven, Enya looked back at the foot of the mountain. Blue and deep red light flickered as Zeta and Yifu were locked in combat. This fight would inevitably decide a winner.
“Sigh…”
Why did it have to come to this?
Not that Enya was being humble; she just felt that fighting to gain priority usage rights would hurt them.
But Enya couldn’t persuade them. Zeta and Yifu were both stubborn. If it were anyone else, she could balance things with words, but with these two together, Enya thought letting them fight might actually make them become friends.
“Well, I’ve said my piece. They definitely won’t fight to the death.”
Enya smiled and continued climbing.
She walked along the staircase and soon arrived at a building on the mountainside that resembled an ancient castle.
It was embedded in the black peak, and many people were standing guard. They also had their faces covered, but with plain whiteboard masks.
The arrival of Enya did not cause any change in the people here.
Holding the thought that since she was here, she might as well go in for a tour, Enya walked directly toward the open door without any concealment, entering the building belonging to the Hall of Shadows.
As soon as she entered, Enya heard a very familiar phrase.
“Where are you from, woman?”
It was a man wearing a plain whiteboard mask, also dressed in a black cloak. His voice was very hoarse, as if deliberately altered.
Enya didn’t answer, but the man tossed a plain whiteboard mask at her.
The man said in a deep voice, “Here, you cannot show your true face. And why hasn’t your face been ruined yet? Are you new to some hall?”
“I’m a tourist.”
Enya weighed the mask in her hand. Her golden-red dragon eyes easily pierced through the mask, seeing the ugly face underneath.
She used the Desire Demon Eye, forcibly instilling an emotion into the other party.
Then Enya asked, “Has anyone worn this mask before? I don’t like secondhand things.”
“No, noble lady.”
The man’s gaze toward Enya changed from anger to respect. Enya nodded and put on the mask.
“Show me around your place.”
“Yes, yes, noble lady. I am honored!”
The man walked ahead to lead the way for Enya.
He also considerately explained the situation here.
Enya’s current location was the Lamb Hall, one of the six halls of the Hall of Shadows. Three of them were named after sheep, deer, and wolves. After training was completed, the masks they wore would differ according to the hall they belonged to, and they would wear bone masks representing their origins.
The remaining fifth and sixth halls were the Hall of Shadows and the Hall of Slaughter, located near the summit.
The summit was wrapped in thunderclouds, and only those with sufficient strength could enter. To this day, only the two hall masters could set foot there.
The man also explained to Enya how to join the Hall of Shadows.
In short, bring the head of your closest person, abandon all mortal identities, destroy your face, destroy your voice, destroy everything you once had.
Only by completely converting to darkness could one become a member of the Shadows.
Very cruel…
Enya watched them—how they disfigured the faces of newcomers, smoked their throats hoarse, and trained without regard for life. When she went to see, someone had just died.
The dead person’s body was casually discarded in a dark corner, quickly disappearing there, while the others continued training.
All members of the Hall of Shadows were tortured by such training, their spirits broken and wills destroyed, becoming cold tools.
Their graduation ceremony was surviving a battle royale.
Enya saw that there were also some children here.
“Who are they…?”
“Noble lady, they are being trained to become Shadow Guards. The Hall of Shadows master has had some trouble and hasn’t returned yet, so they haven’t been sent to the Hall of Shadows or received the blood transfer yet. If you need, you can use them freely.”
The man said humbly.
Enya shook her head and turned to walk elsewhere.
The Church of the West Wind Goddess would take in homeless children and find among them those with talent to train as clerics.
The Hall of Shadows naturally did the same thing. Enya suddenly felt that this organization wasn’t running autonomously; there was a higher-level force behind it controlling it.
Demand creates the market. The Hall of Shadows was spawned by some kind of demand, maybe a move by some big shot.
But so what?
Enya had already said it: all who come are cut down, none who leave are spared.
“Take me up higher.”
“Yes, noble lady.”
Hearing this, the man quickly led the way.