Chapter 228: A Relaxing Evening?

Forty minutes later, the four of them rode the elevator down to the residential garage.

The mood was light and unhurried as they walked across the private lobby toward the parking bays.

Calista had changed into an elegant sapphire knit dress that reached her calves, paired with flat leather boots that gave her solid ankle support. Amber wore a tailored dark blazer over a cream blouse, while Zephyra chose a fitted black turtleneck and dark trousers.

Instead of taking the bulky armored truck, Evren drove a sleek midnight-blue sedan. They cruised down the tree-lined avenues of District One as the golden sunset gave way to twilight.

Evren chose a quiet riverside restaurant on the south bank of the imperial canal. The dining terrace sat on a raised cedar deck right beside the water, sheltered under a clear glass canopy.

The hostess greeted them warmly and led them to a corner booth with a panoramic view of the illuminated canal. Potted white lilies lined the railings, filling the cool evening air with a light, sweet scent.

Once they took their seats, the waiter handed them menus bound in dark leather. Evren looked across the table at Calista, who was admiring the soft glow of the lanterns over the water.

"Anything you’ve missed having, Calista?" Evren asked with a smile. "Order whatever you’d like."

Calista laughed softly, opening her menu. "Everything looks incredible. But after spending the entire day standing over hot formulation vats, that pan-seared river trout with garlic herb butter sounds wonderful."

"Make it two orders of trout," Amber chimed in with an eager grin. "And a plate of roasted golden potatoes for the table."

Zephyra tilted her head, closing her menu calmly. "I’ll take the slow-roasted lamb chops. And make sure Amber gets a double portion of roasted potatoes, or she’ll spend the entire meal eyeing mine."

Amber laughed, leaning against the wooden table. "I burned through half a tank of kinetic mana at Junction Nine! I’m entitled to extra carbs."

"You had three bowls of stew before we left this morning," Zephyra pointed out with a deadpan smirk. "Your metabolism after combat is an hazard."

Calista chuckled behind her napkin, shaking her head. "At this rate, Starlight might need to formulate an alchemical digestion pill just for Amber."

"Hey, I work hard for this appetite," Amber said with a proud grin.

"Keller’s escorts told me you wiped out nine heavily armed mercenaries in less than three minutes," Calista said, smiling warmly at the two of them. "Hearing about how effortlessly you handle combat, it’s hard to imagine either of you ever struggling."

"Trust me, it didn’t start out that way," Amber admitted with a chuckle. "My first year at the sword academy, my instructor told me my stance was brilliant, but I had zero spatial awareness around obstacles."

"What happened?" Calista asked, leaning in with genuine curiosity.

"I swung at a wooden dummy so hard that I completely overbalanced, tripped over my own scabbard, and fell face-first into a mud puddle," Amber admitted with a groan. "I spent the entire afternoon scrubbing swamp water out of my practice leathers."

Calista smiled warmly, setting down her water glass. "I always pictured Valkyries being completely graceful from the moment they picked up a blade."

"Not even close," Amber laughed. "I had bruised knees and dirt in my hair for five solid years."

When the food arrived fifteen minutes later, steaming platters filled the air with rich, savory aromas. They ate and talked with easy warmth, the conversation flowing naturally without any mention of corporate disputes or production quotas.

As the dinner progressed, Evren poured chilled peach cider into their crystal glasses. Calista looked down at her drink, then across the table at him, her expression turning soft and quiet.

"Thank you, Evren," Calista murmured, her voice laced with deep sincerity. "For bringing us here tonight."

"You’ve been working non-stop over formulation vats for three straight days, Calista," Evren replied gently. "You earned a relaxing evening."

"It’s not just the meal," Calista said, looking down at her flat boots resting firmly on the cedar deck under the table. "For two long years, I was chained in that underground lab having my mana drained by agony runes. Even after you rescued me and we went to The Celestial Spire, people couldn’t stop staring at my wheelchair."

She looked back up at him, her blue eyes filled with emotion. "Tonight, I walked through the front doors on my own two feet without anyone looking at me with pity or whispering about a broken heiress."

Evren reached across the table and lightly squeezed the back of her hand. "Because you aren’t broken, Calista. You are the Master Alchemist of Starlight, and this is what your life looks like from now on."

A light blush dusted Calista’s cheeks, and she nodded with a tender smile, resting her fingers against his before returning to her dessert.

Amber and Zephyra watched the moment with warm, knowing grins.

By eight-thirty, they finished the honeyberry tarts, and Evren called for the check. With artisan entrees, chilled peach cider, desserts, and terrace tax, the bill totaled two thousand three hundred eighty-four dollars and fifty-five cents.

Evren tapped his card against the terminal, approving the transaction. Golden system text immediately flared across his vision:

[DING!]

[DETECTED HOST EXPENDITURE ON HEROINES: $2,384.55 USD!]

[EXPENDITURE TARGET: FIVE-STAR RIVERSIDE DINNER DATE]

[BENEFICIARIES: CALISTA VESPER, AMBER STERLING, ZEPHYRA NIGHTSHADE]

[APPLYING GLOBAL HOUSEHOLD HARMONY MULTIPLIER: 1,000X!]

[1,000X CASH REBATE TRIGGERED: +$2,384,550.00 USD DEPOSITED TO HOST BANK ACCOUNT!]

[HEROINE #3: CALISTA VESPER DEVOTION SURGED: 86% ? 90%!]

Evren pocketed his card with a satisfied smile as his phone buzzed with an instant bank deposit confirmation. Earning over two million dollars in liquid cash from a relaxing dinner while watching Calista’s devotion reach ninety percent made it the best meal he had bought all week.

They gathered their coats and walked out through the double glass doors, stepping onto the broad stone promenade along the riverbank.

The evening breeze was pleasant, carrying the soft lapping of the river against the granite walls. Lanterns cast warm golden reflections across the dark water as evening strollers passed by.

"The air feels incredible out here," Calista said, taking a deep breath and looking up at the clear night sky.

Amber stretched her arms over her head with a satisfied sigh. "Good food, a quiet walk, and no paperwork. I could definitely get used to this kind of routine."

"Do not jinx it," Zephyra remarked, walking lightly beside them with her hands tucked in her jacket pockets. "Every time someone says things are peaceful, something usually explodes."

Right on cue, the pleasant breeze died down completely. The warm river air went still and heavy, as if the entire atmosphere had frozen solid.

The temperature plummeted ten degrees in a matter of seconds, turning the autumn air bitterly cold. Across the canal, the dark surface of the river rippled with unnatural, vibrating concentric circles.

Calista gasped, her hand instinctively catching Evren’s sleeve as her mana perception spiked. "Evren, the spatial density across the water is tearing apart!"

High above the district, red emergency beacons flashed along the waterfront towers as the loud wail of civil defense sirens shattered the night. The automated emergency broadcast echoed from loudspeakers across the riverfront:

[WARNING: CLASS-A SPATIAL DISTORTION DETECTED — DISTRICT ONE RIVERFRONT]

[ALL CIVILIANS ARE ORDERED TO EVACUATE TO NEAREST REINFORCED SHELTERS]

Panic erupted along the promenade as pedestrians screamed in terror, scattering toward subway stairs and nearby buildings. Evren stepped forward instantly, putting himself between the women and the open water.

With a swift flick of his wrist, silver light flashed from Evren’s spatial storage ring. He retrieved Amber’s matched Void-Valkyrie twin sabers and Zephyra’s coiled Shadow Whip-Blade, which he had safely stowed before they left the tower, and passed them to their hands.

Amber caught the hilts and drew both blades with a resonant ring of metal, stepping up to his left shoulder. "That’s not a standard rift opening. Look at the sky!"

Zephyra took her whip-blade and melted seamlessly into the dark shadows beneath the stone railing, daggers of condensed shadow forming along her fingertips. "The ambient mana is burning like acid."

Across the wide river, the night sky fractured, and a massive jagged tear ripped through the dark clouds, glowing with a blinding red light.

Thick blood-red lightning crackled along the edges of the spatial wound, staining the dark river and the surrounding skyscrapers in deep shades of scarlet. A low, concussive hum rattled the concrete promenade as the tear expanded over the water.

Calista stared at the glowing fracture, her hands trembling slightly "W-what kind of monsters are inside that?"

Evren looked up at the bleeding sky calmly, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "I guess the night had other plans."