Chapter 170: The [Heart] of the City

When Erik opened his eyes again, the black temple had vanished. He was still lying on the bed in the garden of four seasons, his head lightly held against the Lord of Seasons’ chest.

The flower petals had returned, and white snow continued falling over the grass, but the peace from before was no longer whole.

At the edge of the sky, a very thin streak of darkness remained among the clouds, like a scratch on glass that had not yet healed.

“What was that just now?” he asked softly.

The Lord of Seasons looked down at him. Beneath the mist concealing her face, her smile had returned, yet the hand resting behind Erik’s neck still refused to let go.

“Perhaps just an uninvited wind.”

“You are not very good at lying.”

“Really?” She laughed, leaning slightly so that her soft hair spilled across Erik’s shoulder. “I have lived for a very long time, yet a young man still saw through me. Should I be embarrassed?”

“I think you should tell me the truth.”

“Then the truth is that I cannot keep this garden open forever.” The Lord of Seasons stroked his hair, her voice softening. “There are gazes we should not allow to find us. And my time is shorter than you think.”

Erik braced himself and sat up. He looked at the arm holding him and suddenly noticed small points beneath her faintly glowing skin dissolving like dust particles. They vanished quickly, leaving transparent patches that he had not noticed at all when he first arrived.

“Are you injured?”

“Not a wound that a Healer can treat,” she replied. “Erik, you asked why I do not return to protect Silver Moon. Now I can show you.”

She gently helped him sit beside her, then pointed toward the lake. The four seasons on the water’s surface immediately began to rotate slowly, revealing an image of a city glowing with light from centuries ago.

Silver Moon in the memory was larger than it was now. Its protective dome stretched far over grasslands and forests, covering even routes that people now knew only through old maps.

At the heart of the city stood a tower shaped like a lighthouse. Its peak did not emit a fixed beam of light. Instead, it pulsed with every beat, like a colossal heart sending energy in every direction.

“That is the [Heart],” the Lord of Seasons said. “The heart of the protective system. Sentinels maintain the resonant rhythms between the [Heart] and the mana veins surrounding the city. When everything was intact, people could travel farther, farm, and build beneath the protection of the dome of light.”

Erik watched closely. He saw female Succubi working alongside men at construction sites, children running through the grass beneath the city walls, and merchant caravans passing through gates shining with silver light. The sight was completely different from modern Silver Moon, where every tremor in the protective dome made citizens anxious.

“So what happened?”

The Lord of Seasons did not answer with words. She merely closed her hand slightly, allowing the image on the lake to shift to a moonless night.

In the darkness, a group of cloaked figures crept through the mana channels beneath the city. The marks on their wrists resembled the symbols in Rahapt’s temple, though every face was hidden.

They had not brought an army capable of defeating a Sentinel on a battlefield. Instead, they destroyed connection points one by one, diverted energy, and used a secret ritual to open a path to where the Lord of Seasons was maintaining the system.

In the image, a tall woman stepped out from a magic platform. Her appearance shone so brilliantly that Erik could not see it clearly, but the four-colored wings behind her immediately told him that it was the woman sitting beside him.

That woman fought amid collapsing pillars of light, counterattacking while keeping the protective dome from going out. Whenever a mana pathway was severed, she used a portion of her own power to reconnect it, preventing the neighborhoods above from falling into darkness.

But the assassins had prepared for that choice. They did not try to defeat her through direct strength. They forced her to choose between protecting the city and protecting herself.

Erik watched as the magic circles across the Sentinel’s body cracked apart. He instinctively moved toward the lake, but the Lord of Seasons gently caught his wrist.

“It has already passed. You cannot change it.”

“You were killed while maintaining the protective dome?”

“My true body could not survive that ritual,” the Lord of Seasons admitted. “I knew that before the battle ended. So I chose to preserve the energy necessary for the city instead of trying to prolong my own existence.”

Within the lake, the Sentinel raised all four wings. Four streams of light separated from her body, carrying the colors of young green, blazing gold, maple red, and silver-white. They flew in four directions across Silver Moon, passed through the mana veins, and vanished in different places.

“Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter,” she said. “The four portions of power that I divided. They continued maintaining the system while preserving the possibility that the protective dome could one day be restored.”

“Where are those four sources now?”

“That is what I want to ask you to investigate.” She looked into the distance. “After so many years, they do not necessarily remain as intact masses of mana. A will may sleep within a vessel, bind itself to a location, or find resonance in a suitable living being. You cannot simply open a map and collect each fragment.”

Erik remembered ancient symbols, sealed zones, and the strange seasonal phenomena he had heard about. He did not dare guess who possessed which part of the power, because even the Lord of Seasons had not pointed out specific locations.

“If they are still maintaining the protective dome, why is Silver Moon still weakening?”

“Because they have been separated for too long. The protection remains, but each part can only function within its own limits. The links can no longer hear one another’s rhythm, and the [Heart] does not have enough resonance to expand its light.”

The lake shifted to show present-day Silver Moon. The protective dome was far smaller than before, and the mana pathways at the city’s edge flickered like blood vessels lacking nourishment.

Some regions had already been completely swallowed by black mist, forcing the settlements within to retreat behind defensive lines.

Erik watched with a heavy feeling in his chest. He remembered the female soldiers at the outpost, those who had fought to exhaustion just to protect land that had once been safely beneath the dome of light.

“How can it be repaired?”

The Lord of Seasons touched the lighthouse-shaped [Heart] with one finger. Four rings of light appeared around the top of the tower, but each one had a missing section that prevented the light from closing into a complete circle.

“Bring the four seasons near the [Heart], help them find their shared rhythm again, and reignite the lighthouse. That is how Silver Moon’s protective capacity can be restored.”

“Is the power of the four seasons all that is needed?”

“No. The mechanisms left behind by the Primal Succubus were designed to respond to the bonds between living beings in the city. Trust, peace, and sincere happiness can nourish that resonance. A place filled only with fear and coercion cannot light the [Heart] in the way it was originally meant to.”

Erik frowned slightly. “That sounds like what the pink pen was created to do.”

“You understand quickly.” The Lord of Seasons smiled. “It is the same principle. Voluntary closeness creates strength more lasting than coercion. But the [Heart] is not a machine that can be activated by throwing in a few happy emotions. The four seasons must be found, the mana veins must be connected properly, and those involved must genuinely wish to protect this place.”

“Then must the men in the city participate as well?”

“If they still wish to call Silver Moon their home, of course.” Her voice grew slightly stern. “I am not asking you to build an order in which Succubi must bow before men, nor do I want history to return to the era when men were hunted. The protective dome was created to protect the city’s residents, not one group that holds power.”

Erik raised his head. “But why me? Silver Moon has many people stronger than I am, more knowledgeable about magic, and more familiar with the city’s systems.”

The Lord of Seasons was silent for a moment. She pulled him closer and placed her large hand over the left side of his chest, right where his heart beat within this dream-shaped body.

“You have just spoken half the answer,” she whispered. “You know you are not the strongest person. Yet when you saw a female soldier controlled by Dark Mist, you still tried to save her. When Elowen fell, you did not run away. You could have been protected, but you chose to stand in front of others.”

Erik remembered every moment on the battlefield. He did not feel proud in the way she described. He only remembered the pain in his right arm, the helplessness when Elowen was sent flying, and the fear that he would not reach her in time.

“I just did not want them to die.”

“That is exactly why.” The Lord of Seasons smiled softly. “I did not choose you because of the face that keeps so many Succubi awake at night, nor because your lightning wings were so beautiful that they made the whole city fall silent. I chose you because of what you just said.”

Her hand remained on his chest. Her fingers moved slowly, drawing a small circle through the thin layer of his clothes. Erik felt slightly ticklish, while the woman’s voice became so gentle that he could not bring himself to brush her hand away.

“Only a heart that can still ache for others can lead the lost seasons home.”

“But what if I fail?”

“I cannot promise that you will succeed. Nor do I want to turn your kindness into chains. If you do not wish to take this on, I will respect that choice.”

Erik looked at the four rings of light around the [Heart]. He remembered the female soldiers who had smiled at him, remembered Felyn and the others living in a city they believed was safe.

Even without a request from the Sentinel, he did not want to watch Silver Moon continue shrinking beneath Dark Mist.

“I will investigate. But I cannot promise that I can solve everything alone.”

“That is the best promise you could give.”

The Lord of Seasons leaned closer. Her hair brushed over his shoulder, and the fragrance of flowers blooming after rain spread around his neck.

When Erik tried to ask how he could find the four seasons, she placed one finger against his lips and stopped the question.

“I have one more gift for you.”

“It is not the pink pen, is it?”

She laughed brightly. “Why do you keep thinking about that pen? Or do you truly want me to try its effects on you?”

“I am only asking as a precaution.”

“What a cautious man.”

She gently pushed Erik down onto the flower-covered bed. Before he could understand what was happening, the Lord of Seasons had braced both hands on either side of his shoulders and knelt upon the mattress, leaving enough space for him to move freely.

With her body over two meters tall, her shadow nearly blocked out the summer sun above. Soft strands of hair fell along both sides of Erik’s face, while the lightly opened collar of her dress shifted to reveal mature, seductive curves.

Erik looked at her, then at the sky that had disappeared behind her.

“Is the way you give gifts always this unexpected?”

“No.” She lowered herself, her voice sweet beside his ear. “I simply think that if a man has thrown himself into danger for others, he deserves a little special care.”

“And that requires this position?”

“I can change positions if you do not like it.”

Erik was silent for several seconds, then coughed softly. “I did not say I did not like it.”

The Lord of Seasons giggled. She used one finger to trace the line of his collar, paused at the center of his collarbone, then slowly moved down to where his heart was.

Every motion was gentle and caused no pain, but her closeness made Erik realize that the figure before him felt strangely real.

Warmth passed through her fingertips, the mattress sank slightly under her weight, and the rhythm of her hair brushing his skin felt exactly like it would in the real world.

“You are wondering, are you not?” she asked. “I am only energy now, yet everything here still feels real. Do not think you can use the excuse that I no longer have a true body to claim that what just happened does not count.”

“I have not done anything.”

“Exactly. That is why I am considering whether I should tease you a little more.”

Erik sighed. “Do all Sentinels like bullying men this way?”

“Only Sentinels who meet someone that makes them want to smile.”

She leaned her face closer. For an instant, Erik felt that if he raised his chin just a little, he could touch those smiling lips. But the Lord of Seasons did not do anything more. She waited until he naturally looked back at her before gently asking:

“May I leave a guiding mark upon you?”

Erik looked at the hand resting on his chest. Her teasing just now had made him nearly forget that this was her true purpose. He slowly nodded.

“All right.”

At that moment, the Lord of Seasons bent down, placing a gentle kiss upon his lips.