...

  ...

  ...

  Six days ter, in the afternoon. The vilge was as lively as ever; streets filled with children's ughter and people chattering away. The casual cngs of hammers moulding metal could be heard as bcksmiths were hard at work in the vilge.

  The streets throughout the vilge, once made of dirt were now paved with marble stone thanks to Non's new "Transmutation" spell that could turn ordinary stones and rocks into marble stone.

  A few shops selling food and other goods could be seen on the streets. There weren't many people in the vilge, so the shops were small in number.

  The wall around the vilge, previously made of old tree logs was no more. Instead, a tall dark marble stone wall now surrounded the whole vilge, it looked beautiful, yet its dark color was intimidating from the outside. However, from inside the vilge, the marble stone wall was radiant silver in color, reminiscent of the moonlight.

  In the west-end of the vilge, the Four-story building meant to be the academy was already finished. It was a sight to behold. After Vigil and the others finished building it, Non used her Transmutation spell to turn the building's walls into white marble stone. Making it the most dazzling building in the whole vilge.

  It shone brightly under both the sun and the moon. After all, it was supposed to be a symbol of hope for the coming sves and the vilgers.

  A lot more changes had been made around the vilge in just 6 days. Non had also expined to the vilgers that the sves would be coming to live in the west-end of the vilge.

  Most of the vilgers, having lived under Torak's tyranny and knowing that in the Veilborne Empire, they would be no different from sves if they went to any official city, had no prejudice against the sves. Instead, they felt sorry for them, with a few worried that their arrival might cause trouble for their small vilge.

  But even so, they all believed in Non and trusted her judgement.

  The west-end of the vilge was separated but it was still an area within the vilge. Non had chosen this pce for the sves so that they could be separated from the vilgers while slowly getting them to intergrade and get used to life in the vilge.

  Most of the sves would come with a lot of trauma and might attack the vilgers, so she had to separate them for the time being and establish her dominance over them since more than half were of different races.

  ...

  At present, Non sat in her throne in the chief's mansion. Clearly tired and worn out, she had used a lot of magic to help around with the constructions in the vilge.

  "Haa... Did I push myself too hard?" She murmured to herself, lifting her head up to look at the ceiling as she fell into deep thought.

  'The sves will be arriving here tomorrow; everything is already prepared for them but there's a few I'll need to keep an eye on... Those half-devil kin.'

  Non had picked an extra 20 half-devil kin sves from the marketpce. All 20 of them were among the youngest of the sves, raging between 7 and 12 years old. And they all had one unique feature, red eyes.

  Even among sves, the half-devils were treated far worse because of their retion to devils. Even though they were once in the frontlines, helping in the fight against the devil's invasion many years ago. They were condemned and almost entirely wiped out after the war.

  They were truly a pitiable race, condemned by the humans they helped and hated by the devils they had blood ties to. Despite being half-human, half-devil, they were shunned away by both races and had no pce to call home in his world.

  Non wanted to change that, these children had no ties to the devils, not yet at least. And she wanted them to have a bright future and a pce to call home.

  Because of their unique situation, Non had pnned to let them live with her in the mansion. So, a second and third floor was added to the mansion, so that she could closely monitor them.

  These 20 children also had extremely high combat potential. They had the most talent for magic among the sves. Not ordinary magic, the half-devil race were Combat magicians.

  Unlike Divine, Ordinary, or Dark magicians who rely on long casting times, rituals, or supporting roles. Combat magicians specialized in rapid, efficient, and often violent spellcasting mixed with martial arts designed for war, duels, and close-quarters chaos.

  They were every sword master and magician's worst nightmare, this was also why the half-devil race was wiped out after the war. They were too much of a threat.

  "Haa... I'm going to be even busier starting tomorrow." Non murmured to herself as she felt fatigued just thinking about the future.

  ...

  ...

  ...

  Around midnight, back in Lunareth, in a hidden dungeon within the sve marketpce, Selia stood before the 320 sves chosen by Non, wearing a hooded cloak that hid her face. A tall man stood by her side. He was Sebastian, her older brother who was also wearing a hooded cloak beside her.

  "Sister, what do you pn to do with so many young sves?" He asked.

  "These children have been chosen by someone special. I can't tell you the details, but I can promise you that their suffering has come to an end. They will lead a different life from now on, free from their chains and cages."

  Sebastian remained silent. He wanted to ask for more details but decided to leave it be.

  Selia stepped forward and started drawing a big magic circle around the sves while her brother pced high quality mana stones around the circle.

  The sves were all in deep sleep thanks to a sleep spell cast by Selia.

  Four hours ter, the final mana stone clicked into pce, the magic circle surrounding the sves began to glow faintly. Lines of arcane script pulsed like veins of moonlight across the floor.

  Selia raised her hand and began chanting a spell. Her voice was calm with a hint of divine authority, woven with the sacred tongue of the Moon Temple.

  The magic circle responded immediately.

  The air inside the dungeon became heavy as silver aura enveloped the sleeping sves. The runes on the ground brightened, forming a protective dome of light around them.

  Sebastian took a step back, shielding his face from the blinding light.

  "You're using teleportation magic of that scale? Won't the Circle notice?"

  "I've already masked the spell's signature," Selia replied, her voice steady. "No one in Lunareth will be able to trace it—not even the Empire."

  As she spoke the final incantation, the space within the dome distorted with a soft hum, and then, like a ripple across a still pond, the children vanished in a fsh of silver light.

  All that remained was the hollow echo of Selia’s spell and the empty silence of the dungeon.

  Sebastian stared at the now-empty circle, then at his sister. "You're risking more than your position in the temple. You've already broken more ws than I can count."

  "I know," she whispered, lowering her hood. Her eyes, shimmering with the faint glow of lunar magic, softened. "But some ws are worth breaking."

  She turned and walked past him. "Come. We're done here."

  As the two siblings left the dungeon, neither noticed the faint flicker of a shadow lingering in the corner, silently watching.

  ...

  ...

  ...

  At the same time, on top of the mountain overlooking the vilge.

  Non stood there with her eyes closed and arms folded, it was around 5 a.m. in the morning and she had been waiting here since midnight.

  She wore her usual bck attire, and her silky-smooth bck hair shimmered under the fading moonlight and rising sun.

  The sky suddenly shimmered.

  A silver arc tore through the air above the mountain she stood on. Like a curtain being pulled aside, space itself opened, and from it, the first few children gently descended in soft rays of light.

  Child after child appeared, floating down as if held by invisible wings. Some looked emaciated. Some bore old scars. Many had tattered clothes and sunken expressions.

  Non stepped forward as the final child arrived. Her gaze swept over them all, especially the 20 half-devils, who even in sleep, seemed to radiate a quiet, dormant danger.

  Non raised her hand towards the sleeping children, intending to cast a healing spell on them but stopped midway. Although they were in bad condition, she noticed that there wasn't anyone wounded among them.

  She immediately thought of Selia upon noticing, as a High Priestess, her healing powers were second only to Eria, the Saintess. So, she was probably the one who healed them before sending them over.

  "Thank you." Non murmured with a soft smile.

  Turning her gaze over to the sleeping children, she waited silently for the sleeping spell to wear out.

  An hour or two ter, they began waking up. One by one they opened their eyes. Blinded by a rare sight of sunlight which they rarely saw back in the sve marketpce.

  They began looking around the unfamiliar ndscape and environment, curious but alert.

  One by one their eyes nded on a tiny figure standing before them not far away. Some recognized her while others felt she looked familiar.

  "I-It's you!" Rika suddenly spoke up among the sves as she recognized Non.

  Non looked over in her direction and smiled gently, not saying anything. She wanted to see every child's reaction first before speaking.

  Another girl with short gray hair, cracked horns barely peeking through her bangs, and eyes like burning coals.

  "You’re the one who brought us here," the girl said. Her voice was hoarse from disuse but steady. "What do you want from us? Are we weapons to you?" A boy, with only one arm asked not far away.

  Non didn’t answer right away. She took a step forward, her presence becoming heavy with each step. Like a predator watching prey not out of hunger, but judgement.

  Other than the human children within the sves, the rest felt her dominating presence. Their instincts telling them to obey the figure before them, something only a Demon Lord could do.

  This was also why people who were half breeds and beastkin were hated and discriminated against. They were subject to a Demon Lord's control, with the half-devils being an exception.

  During the war with the invading devils, the half-devil race was under the Demon Lord's army because the humans feared them. After the war with the devils was over, the Demon lord was betrayed and sin by the humans in an ambush. The half-devil race was also wiped out shortly after that.

  Although they weren't under the Demon Lord's control, they felt more accepted by the Demon Lord than the humans. This was why the half-devil race swore allegiance to the Demon Lord.

  "I won’t lie to you," Non said finally, voice cool but firm. "You are weapons. You are tools. But you are also children—cast aside, broken, hated by this world."

  A boy with a rge scar across his face snarled. "Then why save us? Why bring us here just to use us again?"

  "I didn’t save you out of kindness," Non said coldly. "I saved you because you are valuable. Because your strength was going to rot in chains, wasted and corrupted, until you turned into monsters. I won’t allow that."

  She took another step forward. None of them moved.

  "I will train you. I will feed you. I will clothe you. I will teach you how to fight, how to kill, and how to survive in a world that will never love you. But in return—" her eyes sharpened, glowing faintly under the dim light "you will obey me."

  "You will fight for this vilge. You will live as its citizens. Not sves. Not animals. Not forgotten trash. But my people. I will create a world that will not look down nor shun away from you."

  A long silence passed. Some of the children looked down, uncertain.

  One of them—a boy with broken shackles still clinging to his wrists whispered, "We've heard such promises before. But we were lied to."

  "I don’t make promises," Non said. "I make demands. And I reward loyalty."

  The gray-haired girl clenched her fists. "And if we refuse?"

  Non’s expression darkened, not angry, but absolute.

  "You are welcome to leave. But there's nowhere else to go. Not in this world. You've seen what it offers. You've lived through it. Here, you'll have a home, food, strength, and purpose. I know some of you were separated from your parents, take that sadness, anger, hatred, and hone it into strength for revenge."

  At this moment, Non stopped in front of the caged children, reaching for the hilt of her sword.

  Shhhk!

  In one smooth motion, she drew it. The dark bde gleamed, and the air around her shifted. Sword aura—heavy, powerful, and sharp.

  Then, her voice rang out, calm and steady.

  "Elemental Sword Arts: Fifth Form—Heaven's Release."

  The ground trembled. Wind roared to life around her feet. Her sword glowed with five colors. Red, blue, green, white, and gold. As fire, water, wind, light, and earth all surged into the bde.

  She raised her sword and took a deep breath. This was the first time she used her true power as a Level 5 Elemental sword master.

  Then, she moved.

  With a single ssh, she cut through the air.

  A wave of glowing energy shot forward, like a bde made of light and storms. It flew across the air, striking every cage in an instant. The thick metal bars didn't bend or shake—they simply vanished, sliced cleanly like paper.

  CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

  The broken cages fell apart, doors crashing open, metal melting into dust as the sword aura faded.

  Silence followed.

  The children stared in awe. Everyone speechless.

  Non slowly sheathed her sword with a sharp click. "The cages are gone," she said, her voice firm. "Now you are mine to protect should you choose to stay, those who want to leave can do so. I won't stop you."

  For a long moment, no one moved.

  The children stood in silence, the breeze stirring the morning mist around them. Then, slowly, the sound of soft footsteps broke through. One of the younger girls, barely 7 years old, with tangled brown hair and frightened eyes walked forward.

  She clung to the hem of Non's bck coat.

  "I'll stay..." she whispered. "Please don't send me back."

  Non looked down at her, eyes narrowing slightly, but her voice was gentle. "Then you're welcome here."

  That one step broke the dam.

  Another child stepped forward, then another. Soon, dozens of them were moving, some with hesitation, others with wide eyes, as if expecting a trap. But none turned to run. Not one.

  The gray-haired half-demon girl with cracked horns folded her arms. "I'll stay too," she said firmly. "But don't expect me to bow or beg."

  "You don't need to," Non replied with a smile. "Those who follow me don't need to bow or beg."

  That answer satisfied her. She nodded once.

  From the back, the 20 half-devil kin had watched in silence. Even as the cages shattered, they remained motionless—alert, wary, their red eyes glowing faintly especially after Non's dispy of powerful swordsmanship.

  One of them, a boy with silver-white hair and glowing pupils stepped forward. He looked no older than 12 but walked with a calm, unnatural poise. He was the oldest among the half devils.

  "Do you pn to control us, like the humans do?" he asked, voice emotionless.

  "No," Non answered, "I pn to teach you how to control yourselves—before your power consumes you."

  A slow breath left the boy's lips. Then he knelt, one knee on the rough soil beneath them.

  "I accept your rule... My Lord."

  The other half-devils followed one by one, kneeling in silence. It was not submission out of fear, it was acknowledgment of power, of instinct.

  Non exhaled, tension leaving her shoulders as she turned toward the rising sun. "Good. Then follow me. You’ve got a lot to learn."

  She began walking down the stone path leading into the vilge below, not bothering to look back. The children followed.

  The sun rose higher, bathing the path in gold.

  Today, the vilge was no longer just a vilge.

  It was a sanctuary.

  A battlefield in waiting.

  A kingdom in the making.

  A new dawn for the world to come.