The first light of dawn had only just pierced the Darkness when the mage corps returning from Caelid poured into Stormveil Castle like a long black serpent.
Among the troops entering the city, one escort of twenty Battlemages stood out in particular.
They parted from the main force before the city gates. The others returned to the barracks to rest and prepare for the march to Liurnia of the Lakes.
This unit, however, had a special mission: to deliver Sellen and her spoils safely before the Lord.
Sellen rode at the very front of the escort, sitting tall and elegant in the saddle, her long hair streaming in the wind.
Under her lead, the escort passed through Stormveil Castle's streets without obstruction.
The two Noxians captured in Sellia Town were placed at the center of the formation, while the Battlemages guarded their flanks and rear.
Mounted on her warhorse, Sellen lightly touched Lusat's magic notebook tucked against her chest.
Throughout the journey, the contents of the notebook kept surfacing in her mind. Those profound magical theories and intricate spellcasting techniques flashed before her one after another.
The meteor sorcery Lusat had used on the battlefield was something she had never learned at the Magic Academy. Clearly, it was a masterpiece Lusat had completed only after leaving the academy.
All along the way, Sellen had traveled while devouring Lusat's magic notebook with near-starved intensity.
By now, she had studied Lusat's achievements almost thoroughly. All that remained was to return and teach that foolish disciple of hers as well.
As for why the two Noxians had been brought back with her, there was a reason for that too.
When she noticed that the reinforcements Nolan had brought back from the Land of Shadow also included Noxians, she decided to bring these two along as well.
"Noxians," Nolan called out, looking at the two shackled women before him.
Had he known their names, he would certainly have called them directly. Unfortunately, he did not.
Of the two women, one was a swordswoman, and the other a monk.
At that moment, they stood blankly before Nolan, expressionless, as if time and imprisonment had numbed them completely.
The sea breeze blew in from outside the city, gently lifting their torn and filthy white robes, faintly revealing patches of dark gray skin beneath.
That dark gray stood in sharp contrast to the fair skin of the Numen maids around them, making them impossible to miss at a glance.
In truth, there were already Noxians among Nolan's forces, the group he had brought back from Ymir earlier.
They had been a group with no home and nowhere left to go, and so they had chosen to follow him.
Like the Numen, the Noxians were an outsider race.
According to the Numen maidens, their ancestors had once lived together with the Noxians in that legendary Eternal City.
But one day, the Noxians committed a great sin that angered the Supreme Deity.
Celestial beasts fell from the sky and ran rampant. The once-prosperous city finally collapsed, sinking into the dark world beneath the earth.
There were three Eternal Cities in total. One was Nokstella, located beneath Liurnia of the Lakes. Another was Nokron, beneath Limgrave. The last was the Nameless Eternal City beneath the Altus Plateau.
During the previous struggle between Nolan and Radahn to become Lord, the Starry Sky was unsealed, and a meteor fell into the Mistwood north of Fort Haight in Limgrave.
The tremendous impact shattered rock and split the land, causing the earth itself to cave in and form a vast crater.
That crater happened to be the passage leading to Nokron, the fate that had long been blocked from Princess Caria.
At the time, the Flame Bearers had been busy supporting Ranni as she rescued Nolan's future mother-in-law and annexed Caelid, so they had not devoted much attention to this underground city.
However, once Caria learned of it, Blaidd immediately rushed over from Liurnia of the Lakes.
Nolan also sent Eleonora to lead the Nox Legion and delve underground with him, exploring that isolated subterranean world.
Princess Caria valued the Eternal City so highly because it hid the Fingerslayer Blade, a weapon capable of killing the Fingers.
Ranni had always longed for that blade. She wanted to use its power to destroy the Two Fingers that manipulated her fate.
Nolan, however, did not seem especially concerned about it, and even Ranni was no longer as fixated on the blade as she once had been.
Otherwise, she would certainly have sent more Carian Knights to guard it instead of choosing to attack the Academy of Magic.
When Nolan saw Sellen approaching, a delighted smile appeared on his face. He quickly stepped forward and gave her a warm hug.
Then he accepted the magic notebook Sellen handed him and said softly, "Teacher, you're finally back."
Like a happy child, he added, "You even brought me a gift."
"What are you planning to do with these two Noxians?" Sellen showed no resistance to Nolan's enthusiasm.
After all, if not for this student's inexplicable sense of responsibility last time, her remarkable talent and bloodline as a sorcerer would probably already have been passed down as those old fellows at the academy had wished.
"I haven't decided yet." After a brief exchange, Nolan's attention shifted to the two Noxians. He turned toward them. "How did they end up in Sellia Town?"
"Sellia Town was once Noxian territory. Ancient Stargazers gathered there and devoted themselves to the study of star and moon sorcery. The night sorcery mastered by the Night Sorcerers actually originated from them."
Sellen slowly walked to Nolan's side and stood beside him as she continued, "Later, the Golden Order Dynasty rose and conquered Caelid. These Noxians were captured and imprisoned at that time."
At this point, Sellen paused briefly, as though feeling a touch of emotion over that history.
Then she changed the subject, looked at Nolan, and spoke with faint displeasure.
"As for the 'Eternal Darkness' you asked me to find, I took the mage corps and turned Sellia upside down, but we found nothing."
"I truly don't know where you heard such nonsense. That was the sorcery that caused the fall of the Eternal City. How could it possibly have been left to those Night Sorcerers?"
Sellen crossed her arms and gave Nolan a reproachful look, clearly annoyed by the fruitless search.
To find the sorcery Nolan had mentioned, she had personally led people in a thorough search of Sellia Town and the surrounding area, sacrificing a great deal of precious time she could have spent studying Lusat's magic notebook.
In the end, they had found nothing. All that effort had been wasted.
Faced with Sellen's complaint, Nolan could only shrug wordlessly.
He felt helpless too. He had no idea whether it was a difference between the game and reality or simply the wrong timing. In any case, he trusted that Sellen would not lie to him.
On second thought, Sellen was right. How could an important sorcery that had destroyed an entire dynasty be as easy to find as it was in the game?
If that forbidden sorcery were truly so easy to obtain, he did not believe no other sorcerer would have been tempted by it over the course of thousands of years.
Scratching his head, Nolan slowly walked down the steps and finally stopped before the two Noxians.
He looked down at them from above, the corners of his mouth lifting into a faint smile, and said softly, "There are members of your people in my army as well. So, why not let me become your Lord too? You can live on the surface with them."
At Nolan's words, the two Noxians finally reacted. They slowly raised their heads and met his gaze, a faint stir passing through them.
But that stir vanished in an instant. They quickly regained their resolve and said in unison, "We have our own Lord!"
"Lord…" Nolan asked softly. "You mean the Mimic Tear?"