What would it feel like to be a lamb led to slaughter?
Humans aren't sheep, so they wouldn't know. But just moments ago, the workers barely escaping the Alchemic Steel Refinery might have felt something similar.

The refinery's death was like a slow, unmistakable blade aimed right at the neck. It was slow and easy to comprehend. Hooks dug into flesh, dragging bodies along. The people disappeared beyond the furnace's red-hot maw, spewing out intense heat, and screams mixed with bloody froth would burst forth and fade, like popping bubbles. The furnace devoured a person, and, unsatisfied, the hooks pulled in the next victim.

It was straightforward and predictable, with ample clues and time to interpret. The workers didn't need any high-level mental activity to realize they were nearing their end.

Even those who once begged for death over suffering in the refinery felt a visceral aversion to this kind of death.
Was it their conservative inclination that prevented them from accepting any death other than the one they imagined? Or had they merely said so but were unprepared to embrace death?

Whatever the case, the refinery did its job as an instrument of punishment, exposing its grisly secret. It wrung tears and blood from those who were said to have neither, brought atheists who had never prayed to clasp their hands in repentance, and even restored a will to live in those who had sinned in despair.

And so, as the workers faced a slow and measured massacre, it seemed their prayers reached the heavens. Someone burst through the ceiling.

Shey aimed a black staff at the furnace. Standing before the heat that could melt steel and the glowing red metal, Shey guarded herself with her ki and swung her weapon down.

"Ground Splitter, Red Sea Parting."

A black slash carved a red wave. The molten metal parted, as if a massive wave pulled back, and the intense heat made the metal cling to the walls like a terrified child. Shey peeled off her sweat-drenched clothes, scanning the floor. Just as the officer had said, there was a massive magic circle beneath the furnace.

Heat is the power of change. Without heat, molten metal hardens. This magic circle transferred the heat elsewhere, to melt alchemical substances.

"A magic circle on the floor… Tch, what a nasty design."

Shey clicked her tongue at the cruel design. The weakness of a magic circle is the circle itself. It could be broken if you understood the structure, even used against itself. But to examine the circle, the furnace needed to be emptied.

And if the furnace were emptied, there’d be no need to interpret the magic circle, let alone break or repurpose it. A ruthless yet efficient approach, befitting the Military State.

"Ground Splitter!"

For Shey, who had survived dozens of regressions, breaking it was easy. With the heat’s escape route gone, the furnace rumbled. Shey tried to escape before the molten metal surged back in.

That’s when Shey saw a smaller magic circle inside the broken one. A large, ominous ancient symbol that seemed to swallow up the smaller circle’s boundary.

Forbidden Rune, Devourer.

An ancient ritual using humans as material. A symbol of savagery, banned since humanity became the rulers of all. The most familiar yet most dreadful of all symbols, it glowed ominously.

A common person would never even come across such a forbidden spell. But for Shey, who had faced countless doomsday threats, this symbol had become almost familiar.

"In all this time, the Military State never used this, even though they had it."

The Military State had faced many crises in each cycle. With the regressor’s knowledge and the Resistance’s operations, their headquarters had fallen, and new regimes had taken over. They had gone to war only to collapse when another regressor joined the opposing side.

Yet, there was no account of them using this device to devour the workers. It was only ever a rumor, a ghost story dismissed upon hearing.

"Well, probably not for any good reason. It’s just a rational choice."

The Alchemic Steel Refinery was the goose that laid golden eggs. Cracking it open might reveal high-cost alchemical iron cursed with blood, but long-term, it would diminish the Military State's war capabilities. Rationally, there was no need to make steel by killing people.

So why did they make such a device?

The answer didn’t come easily. Even after leaving the furnace and hearing the workers’ cheers, Shey pondered. Why did the Military State create a device they’d never use?

"Outta my way, you filthy beasts! Ugh, to think I’d have to risk my neck for these scum!"

Commander Toruk barged through, shoving workers aside with insults and curses. He approached Shey, visibly annoyed.

"Hey, kid!"

"Who are you calling a kid?!"

"Then should I say adult? Whatever! What are you doing right now?"

Shey hesitated briefly, knowing she was wrecking the place beyond what they had agreed. Destroying the refinery would cripple the Military State’s war capabilities. She and Toruk had agreed to avoid such destruction and focus on rescuing workers. Of course, Shey had no intention of sticking to that agreement.

Shey opted for shamelessness.

"I destroyed the furnace, so? That much was agreed upon, wasn’t it?"

They couldn’t possibly have noticed she’d broken the magic circle too. Shey had planned it that way.

"That’s not what I mean!"

But Toruk’s concern lay elsewhere. He pointed inside, visibly fuming.

"The presence inside the refinery is dwindling. It’s happening all over the refinery! We’re saving dying people, but the numbers are decreasing! Are you smuggling them out?"

A new issue. Reflecting on her actions, Shey shook her head.

"Not my doing."

"Then who is it? Who’s letting these societal trash escape?"

Not something Shey could answer. She had entrusted the task of saving each dying person to Tircanzaka, who wielded dark knights as extensions of herself. Ironic that someone notorious for killing should be best suited to saving lives. Perhaps life and death were two sides of the same coin.

"Ask Tircanzaka."

"...Hmph!"

But Toruk made no effort to hide his discomfort. Shey found his hesitation curious.

"What? Are you scared of Tircanzaka?"

"...Grr!"

"Really? No way."

Shey asked again, half in disbelief. Toruk looked away, unable to give a direct answer.

Toruk had a lot to say. Back when the kingdom’s temples were everywhere, Tircanzaka was synonymous with fear. The Knight Killer. The Nation of One. Queen of Night and Shadow. She had dragged her cursed body through countless temples, destroying them and cursing the faith.

Many heroes had died trying to stop her, only adding to her bloodstained history. Without the Blessed Enger Plains or the Shadowless Land, the Holy See might have fallen to her relentless onslaught.

The kingdom fell, replaced by the Military State, but the fear of vampires persisted. Even now, they’d tried to trap her in a light-based snare. To a relic like Toruk, such an act was unforgivable.

Of course, for Shey, born after the rise of the Military State and untouched by that fear, it was nothing more than a curiosity.

"Don’t tell me you’re asking me to talk to her because you’re scared?"

"Grr!"

"Well, aren’t you full of surprises…"

Shey had no qualms about helping when asked directly. It was better to act than to avoid, especially when trying to change a hopeless future. She owed Toruk, so Shey took a deep breath and called her name.

"Tircanzaka!"

[You called?]

The shadows answered first, and then she appeared, stepping from the shadow cast by the wall. The progenitor, Tircanzaka, approached them calmly, unfazed by the Military State, who had tried to trap her, or Toruk, who had driven them.

Shey asked, "They say the workers are disappearing. You know anything about that?"

[Perhaps they're hiding in terror before the impending doom?]

It was a blatant diversion. Her tone and body language made it clear she knew something. But a lie that everyone knew was a strong statement of will. Tircanzaka was resolute.

Glaring, Toruk braced himself.

"...We’ll see!"

And with that, he left, practically fleeing. Tircanzaka watched him with a faint smirk.

[Pitiful, isn't he? Such an amusing sight, torn between fear and pride. I find him… entertaining.]

"Entertaining? Why?"

[Those who fear me are less likely to bother me. Those who don’t trouble me, I let live.]

"Uh-huh. And what about me?"

Tircanzaka smiled softly as she continued.

[The world is not monochromatic. Those unafraid of me ensure I’m never alone. They too have their place.]

"Well, thanks… So why are you freeing the workers?"

[Is that a problem?]

"No, it’s fine. It’ll take the Military State ages to clean this up. I’m just curious."

She was about to answer when the face of the one who had made that secret request appeared.