The Mayor's eyes widened in shock as he processed Astron's words, his earlier confidence starting to crumble. "You're lying!" the Mayor shouted, his voice cracking with desperation. "You're just bluffing! You think you can scare with empty threats? You're finished, Astron!"
As if on cue, the door to the room burst open, and a group of n—tough, ard, and clearly prepared for violence—stord in. They quickly surrounded Astron, their weapons drawn, their faces set in grim determination. Among them were two individuals whose aura imdiately marked them as Awakened of higher ranks.
The Mayor's face twisted into a triumphant sneer as he watched the scene unfold. "See? You're done! There's no way out for you now."
But Astron remained calm, his eyes sweeping over the group that had surrounded him. He let out a quiet sigh, almost as if in disappointnt, and shook his head. "It's a pity," he murmured, his voice carrying a note of genuine regret. "I warned you."
Before the Mayor could respond, a sudden, unnatural movent caught his attention. The shadows in the room seed to writhe and twist, moving of their own accord. They snaked along the floor, climbing the walls, wrapping around Astron-like living tendrils. The n surrounding him hesitated, their weapons raised, unsure of what they were witnessing.
And then, in the blink of an eye, Astron was gone.
The shadows enveloped him completely, and when they dissipated, there was nothing left—no trace of his presence, no sign that he had ever been there. The room fell into an eerie silence, the only sound the heavy breathing of the n who had co to apprehend him.
The Mayor's face drained of color as he stared at the empty space where Astron had stood just monts before. "What... what just happened?" he stamred, his voice trembling with disbelief.
One of the Awakened n, his face pale, stepped forward and began to examine the area where Astron had vanished, but there was nothing to find. No footprints, no residual energy—just empty air.
"He's gone," the man muttered, shaking his head in bewildernt. "He just... disappeared."
The Mayor's triumphant expression twisted into one of fear and confusion. He had believed he had Astron cornered, that his plan had been foolproof. But now, with Astron vanished and his threats hanging in the air, the Mayor realized he had severely underestimated the man.
The room was heavy with tension as the Mayor's n exchanged uneasy glances, unsure of what to do next. The Mayor, for the first ti, was at a loss for words. The reality of the situation was setting in—he was no longer in control, and the consequences of his actions were beginning to close in around him.
Celia, who had been silent throughout the entire ordeal, finally found her voice. "Father..." she whispered her tone a mix of fear and disbelief. "Wh-what do we do now?"
The Mayor's eyes darted around the room, searching for answers, for a way out of the nightmare that was rapidly unfolding. But there was nothing—just the cold, hard truth that Astron had left behind.
Outside, the town of Shange remained oblivious to the events that had just transpired within the Mayor's office. But inside, the seeds of reckoning had been planted, and it was only a matter of ti before they bore fruit.
*******
As I slipped through the shadows, making my way to a safe distance from the Mayor's office, I let my mind replay the sequence of events that had led to this point. Everything had started to co together when I found that old shed on the outskirts of town—the shed that had once been Abigail Carpenter's refuge.
The mont I stepped inside, I could tell that this place had housed soone for a significant period of ti. The remnants of a small bed, the scattered clothes—it all painted a picture of a young girl who had lived here, hidden away from the world.
But there was sothing else, sothing more unsettling, that caught my attention.
The shed hadn't just housed Abigail. There were traces of others as well—multiple presences, though faded with ti, still left behind faint imprints that my [Eyes] could detect.
It was as if different energies had clashed and intertwined within that small space, leaving a residual aura that hinted at the darkness that had transpired there.
But the real breakthrough ca when I observed the couple during my reconnaissance of the town. The energy I felt in that mont wasn't just the natural aura of life; it was sothing far more potent and disturbing. It reminded of the energy I'd encountered in the shed, but with a twisted edge, as if it had been tainted by strong, negative emotions.
'Similar to Sylvie's, yet completely different,' I had thought at the ti.
The energy was a clue—an echo of sothing terrible that had happened, a spiritual residue left behind by a soul that had suffered greatly.
One can easily consider Sylvie's energy associated with [First Lord]. Her trait is [First Lord's Authority].
It is Divine Power.
A power that is different from the normal mana, sothing that is superior.
But then, what would the fact that this energy being similar to hers would an?
That would an sothing simple.
It is the reverse of Divine Power.
If the divine Power is the power of the heavens, this energy would an the energy of the underworld—the opposite of the heavens.
The energy of abyss, the energy of death.
It was then that I realized what I was dealing with Lingering Resonance, the phenonon where a person's intense emotions and unresolved trauma bind them to the physical world, even after death.
The diary was the final piece of the puzzle. Abigail Carpenter's words, though simple and childlike, painted a vivid picture of her life before everything fell apart. The entries were full of love for her parents and her daily life.
It was not complex as she was just a countryside girl and she had just written a diary to improve her writing. Thus, it was not long and detailed, but it is enough if you know how to read.
Though she didn't explicitly write about her confinent or the tornt she endured, the evidence was there in the way she described how she felt when she and her family were ostracized by the town.
Since she had written about her feelings in the diary of that ti, I ca to know that such a thing transpired.
And the fact that there were no people nad Carpenters ant that the family was long gone.
It wasn't hard to deduce what had happened to her, especially when I combined it with the other clues I had gathered.
As I pieced it all together, everything made sense: Abigail had been taken, confined, and ultimately broken by the cruelty of those who believed the lies spread about her. Her despair, her fear, her overwhelming sense of betrayal—all of it had bound her spirit to this place, creating the very blight that now threatened to consu Shange Town.
But it wasn't just the blight that had ford; there was also a sense of vengeance, an echo of the wrongs done to her that still lingered in the town.
This wasn't just about the land dying; it was about a spirit unable to move on, still bound by the horrors of the past.
'The dead who is bound by the emotions.'
Oddly similar to the case in the Mana Stone Mine.
Those who are wronged made such events happen.
From my vantage point on the roof of the highest building in Shange Town, I gazed down at the darkened landscape below.
The town was still, bathed in the light of the sun. The fields, once fertile and vibrant, were now lifeless, their soil tainted by the lingering resonance of Abigail Carpenter's pain. The air was thick with a sense of unease as if the town itself was holding its breath, waiting for sothing to happen.
'This town deserves whatever is happening to it,' I thought, my gaze cold as I observed the streets below.
The truth was clear: the people of Shange Town had allowed this tragedy to unfold, had turned a blind eye to the suffering of a young girl, and were now reaping the consequences of their actions.
I could see a group of young people walking down one of the streets, their laughter echoing faintly in the night air. They appeared carefree, but I knew better. I could sense the taint on them, the dark energy that clung to their auras like a shroud.
These were the sa young people who had likely participated in the act of cruelty that had led to Abigail's tornt. Whether they had been directly involved or simply complicit through their silence, they were all guilty in so way.
'They're part of it.'
It was hard to keep the anger to myself.
Because it reminded of that ti.
That ti when she had also lost her life like this, at the hands of those.
'The emotions you felt…..Was it similar to this girl?' Aren't the feelings of fear that she must have experienced similar?
It must be. And seeing that, how can I just turn a blind eye to that and act like it had never happened?
With a asured breath, I pulled out my smartwatch and opened a secure channel to the headquarters. My fingers moved quickly as I typed out the ssage, my mind already calculating the next steps.
TO: HQ
FROM: Astron Natusalune
SUBJECT: Shange Town Investigation Completion
Investigation complete.
Summary: The source of the blight in Shange Town has been identified as a lingering resonance caused by the spirit of Abigail Carpenter, a young girl who suffered extre tornt and was bound to the land by her unresolved trauma. The blight is not natural but a manifestation of her suffering, which has poisoned the soil and disrupted the town's livelihood.
Recomndations: Due to the nature of the curse, direct intervention may be required to either appease the spirit or neutralize the lingering energy. The town itself is complicit in the events that led to this situation. Further action may be necessary to address the root cause and prevent similar occurrences in the future.
The details are in the report, which is included in the attachnts.
Awaiting further instructions.
Astron Natusalune
I sent the ssage, knowing that my report would trigger a response from the higher-ups. This mission had been a test—a way to gauge how I would handle a situation where the lines between right and wrong were blurred, where the true enemy wasn't just a physical threat but sothing far more insidious.
'But first and foremost, let visit you first.' With that thought, I slowly moved, with my presence erased. It was the ti to visit the girl's cetery.
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