Val greeted them with a simple smile.
His cane rested upright against the ground with effortless precision. Not a speck of dust touched his white suit. There was no stain upon it, no crease, no tear. It was immaculate, almost unnaturally so, as though the world itself had been denied permission to blemish it. His long white hair fell neatly down his back, smooth as flowing silk, and his brown eyes settled upon El with the swift brilliance of a falling star.
El narrowed his eyes and walked toward him.
When he came close enough, he bowed deeply and said, with great reverence, "I am back, teacher."
"Hoho!" Val exclaimed, his delight immediate and unrestrained.
But the joy did not last.
His gaze shifted past El and fell upon the three silhouettes standing in silence around Leon and Elias. They were motionless, dim in detail, yet far too clear in implication. At once, the brightness in his face dimmed.
A frown touched his features.
"Where are Arroz, Seraph, and Shingen?"
His eyes lingered on the shadowed figures. As he studied their outlines and distant features, his expression hardened further. Realization came upon him in stages, first suspicion, then disbelief, then anger.
"You mean to tell me they are dead?"
His voice cracked through the air like thunder.
Then he noticed the unfamiliar figure standing beside Leon.
His anger sharpened at once.
"You," he said, his voice rising. "Who are you?"
His gaze snapped toward El, severe now.
"Did you bring some defect back from the Descent of the God's Domain?"
Then his eyes swept over their clothing, and his expression darkened even more.
"And what is this?"
He gestured sharply.
"You return wearing their garments?"
His voice rang with open irritation.
"I sent you there to infiltrate their organization, not to become part of it."
El interrupted.
"Does it matter?"
His tone was calm, almost indifferent.
Then he summoned his inventory.
From the black void cube that appeared before him, he drew out a golden cup filled with water from the Astral Sea and held it out toward Val. The liquid within shimmered with a faint, otherworldly purity, carrying a quiet brilliance that was impossible to mistake.
A small smile touched El's lips.
"On our way to the Black Castle organization, we crossed an Astral Sea. Leon suggested that I collect a small portion of it, either as evidence or as a gift for you and the Order."
Val paused.
His eyes fell upon the cup, and the anger in his face loosened, though it did not vanish at once. He inspected it carefully, and as he did, the force of his irritation gradually receded. By the time he lifted his head again, his expression had softened, returning, more or less, to its usual pleasantness.
"Very well," Val said at last.
A faint smile returned to his face, light and measured, as though his anger had not vanished so much as withdrawn behind a more elegant curtain.
"I shall pardon you, just this once."
El smiled.
Then Elias stepped away from Leon's side and walked forward. When he came to a stop, he bowed his head low, his manner respectful, though there was something in his stillness that did not feel submissive.
"My name is Elias," he said. "I am not a defect. I am a ritualist of the Void Castle."
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
Then he lifted his head slightly.
"And I know what you are."
Val chuckled.
The sound was soft, amused, almost indulgent, but it did not carry warmth for long. His fingers remained loosely wrapped around the handle of his cane as he tilted his head by the slightest degree, studying Elias with renewed interest.
"You know what I am?"
His smile deepened just enough to become dangerous.
"Then tell me. What am I?"
Elias did not answer at once.
Instead, his eyes shifted.
He glanced around him, and only then did he seem to notice it.
The whole space had gone still.
Not quiet.
Still.
El was frozen where he stood, his smile unmoving, as though time had forgotten to carry it away. Leon too had become motionless, trapped in place with the unnatural stillness of a figure painted into the world rather than living within it. Even the air felt arrested, heavy and suspended, as though the moment itself had been lifted out of the ordinary flow of existence and pinned beneath an unseen hand.
Elias's gaze returned to Val.
For the first time, the atmosphere between them felt less like conversation and more like revelation standing at the edge of being spoken.
Then Elias said, in a low and certain voice,
"You are a Peacekeeper."
The words entered the silence like a key turning inside an ancient lock.
"A Peacekeeper? Young man, do you even know what, "
"Silence."
The word cracked through the air before Val could finish.
Then came the second, colder than the first.
"Shut up, lower angel."
Elias was gone.
Or rather, whatever had once worn the shape and quiet manners of Elias had stepped aside, allowing something older, sharper, and infinitely less human to emerge.
He now stood clad in a black trench coat that fell to his knees, severe and perfectly cut. Beneath it lay a fitted waistcoat and a crisp shirt, all dark with the elegance of deliberate restraint. Black trousers ran cleanly into polished boots that reflected not light, but the suggestion of it. A tall top hat cast a deep shadow over his face, while a slender, curved cane rested in his white-gloved hand with effortless authority.
Black smoke bled from his figure in slow, curling streams.
White fog covered his eyes.
He looked less like a man than an omen taught to dress itself in civility.
He was Nuez.
"You dare speak to me of station?" Nuez said, his frown deepening as he looked upon Val. "You dare raise your voice before a god?"
Val had changed as well.
The genial teacher was gone. In his place stood something radiant and severe, his body remade beneath a higher law. Two vast wings had burst from his back, broad and resplendent, fashioned of golden feathers and steel-bright blades. From his forehead rose two white horns, proud and gleaming, curving outward with cold majesty. He no longer resembled a mere man in a white suit. He looked like a sacred verdict given flesh.
Yet even then, his expression did not break.
"We stand upon the same threshold, Messenger of the Gods," Val said, his voice now carrying a metallic gravity. "I am a Peacekeeper, a righteous existence. We may be the lowest among them, but we are the ones who steady reality when lesser beings would tear it apart."
His wings shifted slightly, the sound of metal and feather passing through the air like the drawing of ceremonial blades.
"Peace is not mercy," he said.
His gaze hardened.
"Peace is law."
Oh.
El smiled inwardly.
He stood where he was and listened, not with awe, nor alarm, but with that quiet amusement reserved for moments when others mistook revelation for power. Their voices rose with authority. Their forms unfolded with grandeur. Titles, laws, divine stations, all of it entered the air with the weight of heaven.
And yet to El, the entire exchange felt faintly ridiculous.
At the same time, he leaned slightly toward Leon, who had been watching the scene unfold in stunned silence, his mind no doubt already racing to give order to what should never have been ordinary.
El murmured, low enough that the words belonged to Leon alone.
"Fools."