She looked directly at me.
"None of those events mattered by themselves. They were merely pieces being moved across a board."
She gently tapped the table with one finger.
"Over decades those microscopic changes accumulated until every Eternal in that region began behaving exactly as Aldric expected. When he finally moved, the important Eternal carrying a Contract fragment happened to be inside the same region. That alone wasn’t enough because Verilux would immediately respond if the Eternal Saints died too quickly or summoned him."
I looked at her curiously.
"So how did he avoid that?"
"He made sure Verilux was looking somewhere else."
The old woman leaned back comfortably.
"Months before the operation began, resistance cells across three neighboring regions simultaneously increased their activity. Settlements deliberately exposed themselves before disappearing again. Even several fake sightings of hidden resistance headquarters were carefully leaked."
A faint chuckle escaped her.
"The entire Prime Territory became convinced that a massive offensive was about to begin."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"Exactly as Aldric intended. And then the entire offensive was concentrated on a decoy region."
I nodded slowly.
"So Verilux arrived there."
"The beast spent most of its attention moving between the neighboring regions where it believed the real threat existed. The region containing the Contract holders suddenly became the safest place in the Prime Territory."
Her eyes gleamed with amusement.
"There were three Eternal Saints there. The three Eternal Saints didn’t particularly like one another. They were equals, ambitious enough to constantly compete yet proud enough to refuse cooperation. Aldric had spent decades quietly feeding that rivalry through countless insignificant events until each believed himself more competent than the others."
She took another sip of tea.
"When intelligence reached them that an unusually important resistance leader had finally revealed himself, all three independently decided to capture him first. They all walked into the same battlefield believing they alone had discovered the opportunity. They trapped themselves."
The old woman’s smile slowly widened.
"The resistance never intended to fight an army. Everything revolved around those three individuals. The moment they arrived, formations hidden beneath the battlefield activated, spatial barriers isolated the area from the outside world and more than ten Saints emerged from concealment simultaneously."
Her voice gradually became quieter.
"The battle lasted less than ten minutes."
I stared at her.
"Three Eternal Saints..."
"Were killed."
She finished calmly.
"The Contract fragment was removed before the battlefield collapsed."
"But Verilux noticed the instant the third Eternal died."
Her expression slowly lost its warmth.
"Aldric had already predicted that as well. And so he stayed behind."
"He deliberately released his full soul aura and fled in the opposite direction while the strike team escaped with the Contract fragment. He knew Verilux would pursue the strongest target first, and he also knew the Eternals would never allow the man responsible for killing three of their Saints to simply die."
"They captured him alive."
I didn’t interrupt.
"The fragment reached us."
She looked toward the city beyond the window.
"Aldric never came home."
Another long silence followed before she quietly added,
"The Eternals have spent centuries trying to break him. They want the locations of our settlements, the identities of our spies, the pathways beneath the Soul Sea and every secret he ever carried."
She slowly shook her head.
"They’ve never succeeded. Among the Ironharts we don’t remember him because he stole a Contract fragment."
Her eyes met mine.
"We remember him because after enduring centuries of torture, he still hasn’t surrendered even a single member of his family."
The image of a man spending decades manipulating an entire region, orchestrating the deaths of three Eternal Saints and then willingly sacrificing his own freedom so that others could escape refused to leave my mind.
What impressed me wasn’t his strength, though becoming a Late Saint was already a feat few could ever achieve.
It wasn’t even the fact that he had stolen one of the most valuable objects in existence from the Eternals themselves. It was the sheer conviction behind it all.
Aldric had known exactly what the price would be from the very beginning. Every step of the plan, every year spent preparing it and every sacrifice it demanded had led toward a single inevitable conclusion.
Yet he had walked that path anyway without a trace of hesitation. It wasn’t courage born from desperation or a reckless gamble made in the heat of battle.
It was a conscious choice made by a man who had measured the cost, accepted it and then moved forward regardless. The more I thought about it, the more terrifying that kind of resolve seemed.
"Where is the fragment now?" I asked.
Evelyn blinked before a curious smile crossed her face.
"It is someplace safe."
"You don’t know where it is?"
"No."
The answer was immediate. For a moment she remained silent before taking another sip of tea.
"Now that I’ve answered so many of your questions, why don’t you answer some of mine?"
I could already tell she had no intention of discussing the Contract any further.
"What do you want to know?"
The old woman studied me for several seconds.
"Why is a living person sitting in the Null Realm?"
I smiled faintly.
"I am working with Amun."
The teacup nearly slipped from her fingers.
"What?"
I nodded.
"That’s the reason I’m here. The goal behind my arrival is to free the Prime Territory from Eternal control."
"You what?"
Her eyes narrowed as though trying to determine whether I was joking.
"Boy, are you even listening to yourself? Do you have any idea what you’re saying? And more importantly, why would Amun send you to accomplish something like that?"
I couldn’t help chuckling.
"Honestly? Hard to say."
The answer only seemed to irritate her further.
"I’m serious."
"So am I."
I spread my hands helplessly.
"Maybe he believes I can do it."
Evelyn slowly looked me up and down. The scrutiny felt far more intimidating than being interrogated by Samuel.
When she finally spoke, her voice was completely serious.
"Can you?"
I considered the question for a moment before shrugging.
"I’ll try."
The answer earned an unimpressed look.
"If it works, great."
"And if it doesn’t?"
I smiled.
"Then I go back."
Evelyn looked at me for a long moment before shaking her head.
"You do understand what you’re saying, right? We’re talking about the Eternals, not some local tyrants you can overthrow with a clever plan. Every one of them is powerful enough to destroy worlds. Then there is Verilux, the Phantom armies spread throughout the Prime Territory and, more importantly, six Contract fragments that are still in Eternal hands. Do you realize how impossible that sounds?"
"I know. That’s my job. I don’t have all the answers right now and honestly I don’t even have half of them. But Amun sent me here for a reason and I believe I’ll figure something out eventually."
Evelyn studied me for several seconds, her gaze moving from my face to the soul fluctuations around my body as though trying to understand what exactly Amun had seen in me.
Eventually she nodded.
"Alright. If you say so."
She took another sip of tea before continuing.
"In that case, if you need help, let us know. Whether this plan succeeds or fails is something for the future to decide, but if an Ironhart is leading the charge against the Eternals, the family will stand behind him."