When the heavy door closed behind the Plague Doctor, a thick, unnatural silence settled over the house. Eni sat at the oak table, staring vacantly into an empty cup. Doc’s words about the Observer echoed in her temples, birthing a sticky, crawling fear. She felt less like a Hero and more like a Petri dish where some higher being was cultivating a specific strain of rage.

  Suddenly, the void in her head stirred. The Voice, silent until now, broke through softly—with a cloying, sugary concern that made Eni instinctively flinch.

  "Eni, my soul... Has something bad happened? You look as though you’ve seen a ghost."

  Eni jumped in her chair, her heart leaping into her throat. She quickly composed herself, forcing her voice to remain flat and detached. She decided to play his game.

  "Just... thoughts. Listen, can you tell me about the Archons? About their abilities, who they actually are... From what I’ve seen, they’re just a pack of maniacs looking for someone to butcher."

  The Voice in her mind practically bloomed. His tone became joyful, encouraged—like a teacher whose favorite pupil had finally asked the right question.

  "O-h-h! I knew you would understand me eventually, Eni! Finally, you’re beginning to look at the root of things!" The Voice paused for a moment, choosing its words. "The Coalition seems normal at first glance, even noble. Order, law, protection... but it’s just a facade, a rotten theatrical backdrop. Remember Captain Joe? Though he acts comically, appearing foolish or even kind, do not be deceived."

  The Voice's tone hardened instantly, becoming heavy and sinister:

  "If you were a man, he would have killed you without the slightest hesitation, simply for breathing the same air. You are lucky, Eni. You are a woman, and that is the only thing keeping his blade in its scabbard."

  Eni narrowed her eyes. There was a strange bias in the Voice’s words, but she chose not to argue.

  "But I asked about all of them, not just Joe. Mina told me about the Plague Doctor. She said he’s a total maniac. Kills anyone who so much as sneezes. Is that true?"

  "Yes!" the Voice answered firmly, almost fiercely. "He is dangerous beyond your comprehension. You are incredibly lucky the Archons haven’t recognized the true threat in you yet. He is no doctor; he is a reaper. He harvests entire villages under the pretext of quarantine."

  Eni walked up to the second floor, feeling her magical stockings pulse beneath her uniform, reacting to her internal tension. She sat on the bed, crossing her legs.

  "And the others? Tell me about all of them, Voice. I want to know my enemy's face."

  The Voice let out a soft, almost fatherly chuckle. There was so much false warmth in the sound that Eni nearly grimaced.

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  "Mhe... Curiosity is a fine trait. I am glad to see you rising above yourself. Fine, I shall pull back the veil of mystery. Listen closely, for this information was bought with the blood of many of my past... charges."

  The Voice cleared an imaginary throat, and misty images began to float before Eni’s mind’s eye.

  "I think I shall start from the weakest and end with those whose names should not be spoken in the dark."

  "The weakest is Captain Joe. The lowest link. He is a Dwarf, obsessed with maritime codes and primitive strength. In the Coalition, he is an errand boy, kept for his loyalty and loud voice. The feeblest of the Archons."

  "Next are the twin brothers: Abdi and Zombvi. They belong to the Ferrum race—beings whose bodies are partly composed of living metal. Individually they are vulnerable, but together they form a lethal symbiosis. Abdi is the unbreakable Tank who soaks up the blows, and Zombvi is the swift assassin. They are Nick’s ruthless hounds, devoid of morality or compassion."

  "Further up is the Plague Doctor (Doc). Physically, he is weaker even than Joe; his body is an almost withered corpse sustained by alchemy. But his power lies in poisons, gases, and treacherous tactics. He is the shadow that kills from within."

  "Fourth, Daedalus. An Eidolon, master of constructs. He is the western door to the world of mechanisms. Daedalus uses humans as living batteries for his kamikaze devices. Using an ancient artifact unknown to me, he forces iron to fuse together, creating massive steel monsters that obey his will."

  "Oh... Nimiro... The Chimera of Dreams. A narcissist, an egoist, and a madman. He considers himself the center of the universe. His abilities are chaotic: he can manipulate perception, forcing enemies to fight their own shadows. His unpredictability makes him the second most dangerous among the middle tier."

  The Voice went silent for a second, and Eni felt the temperature in the room drop several degrees.

  "Beyond them, Eni, are those you won't kill even after a hundred years of training. This is Nick’s personal guard."

  "First is Maeno. A High Kitsune, Nick’s lover and the mother of that crafty little fox named Vee. Maeno is arrogant and infinitely dangerous. Her power lies in illusions indistinguishable from reality, and in her sexuality, which is as much a weapon as her magic. She breaks a man's will with a single glance."

  "Then comes Iva. A Fallen Seraphim. She is obsessed with Nick, viewing him as a new God, and has even founded a cult in his honor. If Nick ordered her to burn the world, she would do it with a smile. Her power is the magic of True Light—because for Angels, light is not magic, but a fundamental force of the universe."

  "Alvi. Do not confuse him with Alvina. Alvi is the Voice of Darkness that gained self-awareness by devouring his brothers and sisters while still in the womb of the void. He pretends to be kind and rational, but do not trust him, Eni! He is pure entropy cloaked in words."

  "In the top three is Alvina. A High Dryad. She commands all the flora and fauna of this world. It is she who hates humans so much that she unleashed the Typhus upon this world—the disease that reaps your kind. She wants to purge the planet of the human infection."

  The Voice shifted to a hissing whisper, full of sincere, naked hatred.

  "And finally, those who must be destroyed at any cost. Even if it means burning the whole world and perishing yourself. They break the logic of existence. They are errors in God’s code."

  "Insip. The Axiomancer. He doesn't fight—he changes the rules of the game. If Insip wants you dead, your cells simply stop dividing. If he wants you gone, the world will forget you ever existed. Fortunately for us all, his intellect is extremely limited. He is autistic and withdrawn; even Nick cannot fully control this idiot-god."

  "And the last... Nick Nickincki. The Head. Of him, I will say only one thing: he is the Great Manipulator. Do not believe a single word, not a single gesture. He sees people as ink on paper—material to be erased or rewritten."

  Eni listened, her face gradually turning into a frozen mask of resolve. She knew the Voice was manipulating her, painting everything in the darkest colors, but the Doctor's words had confirmed it: she was at the very center of the web.

  "Voice," she said firmly, standing up from the bed. "Will you help me become strong enough to... handle this list?"

  The Voice responded with triumphant jubilation:

  "Of course, Eni! I have been waiting for nothing else! I have prepared a gift for you, my little Tank. Go to the Obelisk and look at what I have gathered for you."

  Eni walked outside in silence. The air smelled of ozone and the coming storm. She touched the pulsing stone of the Obelisk and saw that 3 free Skill Points had appeared in her menu. It was a massive stroke of luck—or a massive down payment on a future favor.

  Without hesitation, she poured them into her stats, feeling the muscles beneath her uniform turn to steel and her reactions sharpen to a razor's edge.

  "Thank you, Voice," Eni said coldly.

  She activated the teleportation, and her figure dissolved into sparks, vanishing into the abyss of the Obelisk.