Lea finally entered her bedroom, keeping Hastur close by.

  But sleep felt impossible. Too many questions circled in her mind like vultures. Sincir's appearance, the sigil that could summon the Tome of Light, the offer of help with her Fourth Step, all of it pointed to something rger, something she couldn't see yet.

  She needed answers. And there was only one pce she could get them at this hour.

  Lea sat up in bed, her hand instinctively moving to her coat pocket where the sigil rested. She froze, her fingers brushing against the cursed object. The symbol of a book with an eye inside pulsed faintly with an uncomfortable light.

  Her breathing quickened. At the circus, she had witnessed firsthand the summoning of the Tome of Light. The sigil, the honorific title, and then that accursed book manifested, driving everyone within its presence toward madness with its half-truths and forbidden knowledge.

  She sometimes could still feel the maddening voice, the letters in the sky, the radiant glow of the God of Light...

  That memory was seared into her mind.

  "No.", Lea whispered firmly to herself, pulling her hand away from the pocket, "I'm not touching that thing carelessly."

  She couldn't risk accidentally triggering it. Even thinking about it made her heart race with panic.

  Lea took several deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down. She needed to give that sigil to Lady Keter. Get it out of her possession entirely. The Lady of the Library would know what to do with it, how to contain or destroy such a dangerous artifact.

  Steadying herself, Lea crossed her legs on the bed and closed her eyes.

  She kept her hands folded in her p, away from the pocket containing the sigil. She would not touch it. She would not risk it.

  Instead, she began to chant, her voice steady and clear:

  "Alchemist of Infinity;Embracer of Origin, Child of Purity and Silver;The Monarch cd in Argent Light."

  The world shifted.

  Color drained from everything around her like watercolors washing away. Her bedroom dissolved into that familiar monochrome expanse—the endless library stretching in all directions under an open sky. Above, the bck hole swirled silently, a wound in reality itself.

  Lea opened her eyes to find herself standing among the towering bookshelves.

  More importantly, the sigil was still in her coat pocket back in the real world. Here in the monochrome library, she was safe from accidentally triggering it.

  "My dear Avenger.", Lady Keter's voice came from the seat of honor, clear and pyful as always.

  "Lady Keter.", Lea greeted with a respectful nod, though tension still wound through her shoulders, "I apologize for the sudden visit."

  "You know I always welcome my Argonauts.", Lady Keter tilted her head slightly, "Though I can sense something troubles you deeply tonight. The circus still haunts your dreams?"

  Lea swallowed hard.

  "Sincir Apocrypha appeared tonight. She...", her voice wavered slightly, "She showed me a sigil. The sigil for summoning the Tome of Light. She said she could summon it whenever she wanted."

  Lady Keter's demeanor shifted subtly, "Did she now? And this sigil, do you have it?"

  "I took it from her.", Lea admitted, "It's in my pocket, back in the real world. I didn't dare bring it here by touching it. I... I couldn't risk accidentally—"

  "Very wise.", Lady Keter interrupted, her tone approving and calm, "The Tome's Honorific Title is indeed all that's required for summoning. You experienced that horror firsthand. That trauma is valid, my dear."

  "Even without seastone as a catalyst, the God of Light can be summoned with just a call. This sigil is merely to protect the user from going mad, not that a madwoman needs it in the first pce."

  "Then Sincir...", Lea said quietly, "She really could summon it whenever she wanted."

  "In theory, yes.", Lady Keter nodded, "Though whenever might be an exaggeration. There are still costs, still consequences. Each summoning attracts the Tome's attention more strongly. Sincir may have the means to both avoid its power and summon it, but she'd be foolish to abuse it."

  She paused, gncing back at Lea, "That said, she's the type to do something without thinking about it. A person with nothing to lose, nor gain."

  There was no real concern in her voice, more like an academic observation of an interesting phenomenon.

  "What should I do with it?", Lea asked, "I can't destroy it myself, can I?"

  Lady Keter snapped her fingers.

  The sigil vanished from Lea's coat pocket simply ceased to exist as if it had never been. Lea felt the absence immediately, that oppressive wrongness suddenly gone.

  "Done.", Lady Keter said simply, her tone as casual as if she'd just swept crumbs off a table, "Now then—"

  "Wait, what—", Lea started, stunned.

  But Lady Keter had already moved on, her gaze settling on Lea with detached curiosity, "You need the Honorific Title for the Path of Divinity, right?"

  The dismissal of the sigil was complete. Whatever had happened to it, whatever Lady Keter had done with it, clearly wasn't worth eborating on. It had been a problem; now it wasn't.

  Lea stood there for a moment, processing the abruptness of it all. Then she nodded slowly.

  "Yes. I've been thinking about how to do it. But I need the Honorific Title to complete the ascension."

  Lady Keter remarked, "Try cursing the air itself, your Malediction is now good enough to do something like that, just a few Hexes here and there to set the boundary. Though I suggest you do it out of Bathory's sight, she wouldn't want you to harm her people."

  "As for Silence, you just need to be... silent, just feel it when you complete the ritual."

  She extended her hand from her seat, "This is what you'll recite when you're ready to ascend to the Fourth Step. Speak it only when the ritual is complete, and you're standing in a pce of power."

  Lea approached and took the parchment carefully, reading the words written there:

  'Wandering across all MindMaster of the Deepest AbyssDwelling in All and Faceless'

  "This is the Honorific Title for the Path of Divinity.", Lady Keter crified, "After you've spoken those words while standing somewhere significant to your journey, you'll say the special name: Norem."

  "Norem...", Lea repeated quietly, feeling the weight of the sylbles on her tongue.

  Something about that name resonated strangely, as if it existed in multiple pces at once.

  "Precisely.", Lady Keter's luminosity brightened slightly, "That name is the key that opens the door to divinity. Without it, the Honorific Title is meaningless. With it, you'll transcend the boundaries between mortal Pathstrider and something more."

  There was genuine interest in her voice now, not for Lea's wellbeing, but for the process itself.

  Lea carefully nodded, "Thank you, Lady Keter. This is exactly what I needed."

  "I know.", Lady Keter leaned back in her seat, her tone returning to that distant pyfulness, "Though I should mention, Sincir's interest in you isn't coincidental. She mentioned helping you with your Fourth Step specifically."

  "What do you mean?"

  Lady Keter's tone remained perfectly calm and detached. "Akasha Monodrama seeks to revive a god, you know this already. Someone walking the Path of Divinity represents a unique opportunity. A potential vessel, a source of divine power, or perhaps even a sacrifice for such a resurrection."

  She said it so casually, as if discussing the weather rather than Lea's potential death or worse.

  Lea's blood ran cold, "You think she wants to use me?"

  "I think you represent multiple possibilities to someone like Sincir.", Lady Keter said with a casual shrug, "You could be a pawn, a catalyst, or an obstacle, depending on how events unfold. The fact that she approached you directly, offered help, and showed you the Tome's sigil. These are calcuted moves."

  There was no concern in her voice.

  "Or, she could be helping you for the love of the game."

  No warning born of care. Just stating facts. Lea felt Auger's warning stronger, that Lady Keter doesn't care about this world.

  "The Fourth Step is where everything changes.", Lady Keter continued in that same detached manner, "Once you stand on that foundation, you'll begin to attract attention from powers far greater than mere terrorists. Gods will notice you. Other Pathstriders on the Path of Divinity will see you as a potential ally or threat. The world itself will respond to your presence differently."

  "I understand the risks—"

  "Do you?", Lady Keter's interruption carried no warmth, just ft curiosity about whether Lea truly comprehended.

  "Understanding intellectually and experiencing viscerally are very different things. When you reach the Fourth Step, you'll begin to perceive the Laws that underpin reality. That knowledge alone has driven lesser minds to madness."

  She paused, then added with what sounded like practiced encouragement, "But I have faith in you, Dantes."

  The words felt empty. Mechanical. Like someone saying "good luck" without actually caring about the outcome.

  "You've survived the Tome of Light's presence once already. You'll do just fine."

  It should have been reassuring. Instead, it felt like someone stating statistical probability rather than expressing genuine belief.

  Lady Keter waved her hand dismissively, and the library began to dissolve around Lea. "For now, focus on your ritual. Find your eleven thousand. Complete your Fourth Step."

  The instruction was delivered with the same tone one might use to remind someone to return a borrowed book.

  The monochrome world faded, color bleeding back into reality.

  Lea gasped softly as she found herself back in her bedroom, sitting on her bed exactly as she'd been before the chant.

  She thinks about the Honorific Name again, not daring to speak out loud.

  ...Wandering across all MindMaster of the Deepest AbyssDwelling in All and Faceless...

  ...Norem.

  Lea sat there in the silence of her bedroom, processing the conversation. Lady Keter had given her exactly what she needed, the Honorific Title for her Path of Divinity. And she'd disposed of the sigil with a simple snap of her fingers, not even bothering to expin what she'd done with it or how.

  The casual dismissal of something that had terrified Lea was almost more unsettling than the sigil itself.

  There had been something hollow about the entire exchange. Like talking to someone who was expertly mimicking concern without actually feeling it.

  Auger's words echoed in her mind: She doesn't care about this world...

  Lea had always told herself that wasn't entirely fair. That Lady Keter was simply distant, enigmatic, pying some rger game they couldn't see.

  But tonight... tonight she'd felt it. That fundamental disconnect.

  Lady Keter provided information, guidance, even "encouragement"— but it was all surface level. Performance. Like an actress pying the role of a helpful goddess without truly embodying the part.

  The sigil that had caused Lea so much anxiety? Dismissed with a finger snap and not another word.

  Lea carefully folded the parchment and pced it under her pillow.

  Tomorrow, she would begin the real work. She needed to find a location in Renar where at least eleven thousand people would gather naturally.

  The more people she affected, the higher her success rate. She would aim for more than the minimum if she could find the right location.

  As she finally y down to sleep, Lea felt the absence of the sigil's weight in her pocket. It was gone now, disposed of as easily as unwanted trash.

  The Fourth Step awaited. Eleven thousand people. Eleven hours of sleep.

  And then, divinity.

  But now, she understood something crucial: she was walking this path alone. Lady Keter might provide the map, but she wouldn't actually care if Lea reached the destination or died along the way.

  It was a chilling realization.

  But also, strangely, a liberating one.

  With that thought, Lea closed her eyes and let sleep cim her.