Chapter 160: The Mirror Shows the Attack

The Return Ring return them onto Celestine Avenue beneath the clear morning sky.

Astral Heights was quieter than Elyndor. The streets were clean, the houses were large, and the tall walls surrounding each estate made it obvious that this was a neighborhood where ordinary wealth was not enough to impress anyone. At the end of the avenue stood the Ashcroft Manor, waiting for them exactly where they had left it.

Lily stared at the familiar building for several seconds before stretching both arms above her head.

"Finally," she said with a long sigh. "We’re finally home."

Maki glanced at her while adjusting the bag hanging from her shoulder. "We were home two months ago."

"That doesn’t count. We immediately left."

Reinhard nodded solemnly. "She’s technically correct."

"Don’t encourage her," Maki said.

"I’m simply supporting the truth."

Emily laughed beside him, while Yuna covered a small smile with the back of her hand.

"I was not complaining," Lily added with complete seriousness. "I was expressing my deep appreciation for having a bed that doesn’t belong to someone else."

"Very philosophical," Reinhard said. Emily laughed again, and even Yuna’s smile widened.

They had spent almost two months moving from one place to another, training, fighting, completing missions, uncovering the truth behind Vlad, destroying the Heart of Origin, climbing the rankings, attending the Glittering Lights Festival, and finally exposing the truth about the Black Moon. For the first time in a long while, they were standing in front of their own home with nowhere they immediately needed to go.

Lily walked toward the manor before anyone else. Maki called after her, "You aren’t even going to put your things away?"

"I have something important to do first." Lily opened the front door. "I’m checking whether the refrigerator survived without me."

Reinhard followed behind her with a laugh. "A heroic inspection."

Yuna smiled as she stepped inside. "I’m starting to understand why the refrigerator is always empty."

"I heard that!" Lily shouted from the kitchen.

Emily laughed softly as she entered the manor. The familiar interior immediately made the long journey feel distant. Lily was already opening cabinets and inspecting the refrigerator as if she had returned from a decade-long expedition rather than a few months away, while Maki organized the bags they had brought back, checking the documents and supplies that had accumulated while they were gone.

Yuna moved through the manor more quietly, inspecting the entrances, the defensive wards, the surveillance systems, and the Mana barriers surrounding the property. She stopped near one of the hallways.

"That barrier is slightly unstable."

Maki looked up from the documents in her hands. "You noticed that from here?"

Yuna smiled faintly. "Apparently." She placed her hand against the wall, and a small pulse of Mana passed through the barrier before settling back into place.

Reinhard raised an eyebrow. "So this is what S-Rank gets you?"

"Among other things."

"Convenient."

"You’re one to talk."

Reinhard smiled. He had only recently reached S-Rank himself, yet he was already beginning to understand how different the world looked from this height, feeling Mana in places he previously would have ignored, distinguishing the faintest fluctuations in barriers.

Yuna was experiencing the same change. Their family had become stronger while they were away.

Across the room, Emily had become quieter, walking through the manor slowly, occasionally touching familiar furniture or looking toward rooms she had not seen in weeks. Nothing was wrong with her. She simply seemed lost in thought.

Reinhard walked over. "You’re thinking again."

"Is that a crime?"

"Depends what you’re thinking about."

A faint smile appeared on her lips. "The Black Moon."

Reinhard’s expression softened. She had spent years carrying the memory of that incident alone. Yesterday, she had finally told everyone the truth. Now she could hear Lily arguing with Maki over food in the kitchen, Yuna checking the manor, the ordinary sounds of her family living around her. For once, those memories did not belong to her alone.

Reinhard reached for her hand. Emily looked down at their joined hands before gently squeezing his. Neither of them needed to say anything.

A few moments later, Reinhard looked toward the kitchen. Lily was arguing with Maki over breakfast. Yuna was still inspecting the security. Emily stood beside him. Everyone was relaxed. Everyone was home.

And Reinhard knew Baal was coming.

He didn’t want to spend the morning worrying everyone. They deserved at least a little peace. But there was one thing he wanted before that peace could truly begin. Information. He wanted to know exactly what Baal intended to do before they did it.

"Everyone," Reinhard called.

Lily appeared from the kitchen with food still in her hand. "You called an emergency family meeting," she said. "I assumed food was allowed."

"It was not."

Lily slowly lowered the food. "Then this meeting has already gone badly."

Emily laughed.

Reinhard waited until everyone’s attention settled on him. "Before everyone gets too comfortable, there’s something we should do."

Emily’s expression changed first. "The Baal Family."

He nodded. The relaxed atmosphere immediately disappeared. Maki placed the documents down. Yuna stopped inspecting the barrier. Even Lily lowered her food.

Reinhard looked at each of them. "We know Baal is interested in Emily. We know they’ve been manipulating people around her, and we know they’ve been researching the Black Moon. They’re clearly preparing something, but we don’t know how they’re going to attack us."

Maki crossed her arms. "You think they’ll come here?"

"Eventually."

"And you want to know how," Yuna said.

"Exactly."

Reinhard reached into his belongings and pulled out the Mirror of Possibilities. The strange artifact reflected the room around them, but the reflection seemed deeper than an ordinary image, as if another world existed beneath its surface.

He had used the Mirror before, but this time he wasn’t looking for a general future. He wanted an answer to a very specific question.

He held the Mirror in front of him. "Show me how the Baal Family will attack the Ashcroft Family."

The surface rippled. The room disappeared from its reflection. Five possibilities began to form.

The first future appeared. The Ashcrofts stood outside the manor as a group of Awakeners approached from the street, and the battle began almost immediately, Mana exploding across the road as the Ashcrofts overwhelmed the attackers. The fight ended quickly, but several Baal members escaped.

The image faded.

Reinhard frowned. "Not good."

Lily tilted her head. "We win."

"And they escape."

Maki immediately understood. "Which means we learn almost nothing."

The second future appeared. This time, the manor was completely fortified, every entrance protected, almost no opening for an enemy to exploit. The Baal force approached, studied the defenses, and retreated.

Lily nodded approvingly. "That one sounds safer."

"It is," Reinhard said. "But useless," Maki added.

"Exactly."

The third future appeared. The Ashcrofts left the manor before Baal could reach it and intercepted the attackers several streets away. The battle was harder than the first, and one A-Rank vanished through a spatial ability and escaped while the others were defeated.

Yuna frowned. "They’re prepared for retreat."

Emily watched the scene carefully. "So fighting them outside gives them exactly what they need."

"That’s what I think."

The fourth future appeared. This time, the Baal force entered the manor, and the Ashcrofts immediately responded. The attackers were overwhelmed, several defeated, but some escaped through a secondary route.

"This one is better," Reinhard said.

"They’re inside our territory," Maki said.

"Their escape routes are already limited," Yuna added.

"But not enough."

He looked at the final possibility.

The fifth future appeared. The Baal force entered the manor, but this time the Ashcrofts did not immediately attack. They let the enemies move deeper, one group through a hallway, another into a separate section, a third advancing farther, until the manor seemed to close around them. The Ashcrofts appeared from different directions, separating the attackers, isolating one A-Rank, then another, dividing the B-Ranks into smaller groups and overwhelming them before they could regroup. The battle ended with several enemies defeated, but others remained alive. Surrounded. Captured.

The vision disappeared. The room fell quiet.

Lily was the first to speak. "That one."

"Yes," Maki said.

"Definitely," Yuna agreed with a small smile.

Emily looked toward Reinhard. She already knew what he was going to choose.

Reinhard selected the fifth possibility. The vision vanished, but the information remained in his mind: the enemy’s likely approach, their preferred penetration route, the ideal battlefield, the points where the attackers could be isolated, and, most importantly, the chance to capture several A-Ranks alive. He hadn’t needed to fight anyone to gain any of it. He had simply looked at the possibilities and chosen the one that gave them the greatest advantage.

Emily looked at him. "You’re going to let them inside?"

Reinhard smiled. "Exactly."

"You want to control the battlefield," Yuna said.

"And make retreat difficult," Maki added.

Lily’s eyes widened. "So we’re turning our house into a trap?"

Reinhard considered the wording. "I prefer the term hospitality."

Lily laughed. Emily shook her head with an amused smile, while Yuna’s lips curled upward. Maki simply sighed.

"If we let them enter, they won’t know where everyone is."

"We can divide them before they realize what’s happening," Yuna continued.

"And prevent them from supporting each other," Emily added.

Lily raised her hand slightly. "Then we hit them one group at a time."

Reinhard looked around the room. "Exactly." This wasn’t simply his plan anymore. It was theirs.

Maki immediately began considering the manor’s layout. They adjusted defensive positions throughout the building, placed spatial barriers where they would be difficult to notice, and prepared several corridors that appeared undefended but would become controlled zones once the attack began. Routes that looked like escape paths were modified so that anyone using them would only be led deeper inside. Maki established communication between everyone so they could coordinate without giving away their positions.

Yuna chose the areas where she would intercept the strongest enemies, and Emily selected another section where she could respond quickly if something went wrong. Lily insisted on choosing her own position.

Maki stared at her. "Why are you standing there?"

"Because I like this spot."

"That isn’t a reason."

"It is to me."

Reinhard glanced over. "I support Lily’s innovation."

Maki looked at him. "Of course you do."

Reinhard walked farther into the manor, and his Mana perception expanded. The entire building seemed to open around him, the defensive wards hidden beneath the walls, the faint distortions of the spatial barriers, every point where the network ran strongest and weakest.

Before reaching S-Rank, the manor had simply been a building. Now he could almost feel it breathing.

Maki watched him. "Can you really sense all of that now?"

"Apparently."

"That’s cheating," Lily said.

Reinhard smiled. "I’m an S-Rank. We’re allowed a little cheating."

Yuna laughed quietly. Emily shook her head.

They continued preparing. Eventually, Maki noticed one section of the manor and frowned. "You’re leaving this entrance exposed."

"Yes."

Emily looked toward the same location. "Won’t they notice?"

"That’s the point."

Yuna studied the opening for several seconds. "They’ll think they found the weakness themselves."

"And they’ll believe they’re clever for finding it."

Lily crossed her arms. "That’s mean."

"Thank you." Reinhard looked completely satisfied.

The exposed entrance was not actually undefended. It simply looked that way, barriers hidden, corridors already prepared. Once the attackers entered, the family would close the paths behind them and separate the strike force. The enemy would believe they had found an opening. Instead, they would have walked directly into the trap.

As the others left to finish preparing their positions, Emily remained behind. The manor was quiet now. She looked toward the entrance they had deliberately left vulnerable, then looked at Reinhard.

"Are you sure?"

Reinhard knew what she meant. Not whether the trap would work. Whether he was certain enough to put everyone they loved into a situation where Baal could enter their home.

He reached for her hand. "I’ve already seen one way this can end." He glanced toward the place where the Mirror had disappeared before looking back at her. "I’m choosing the better one."

Emily studied his face, then smiled. "Then I’ll trust you."

Reinhard squeezed her hand. "I know."

She rolled her eyes slightly. "You could at least pretend to be humble."

"I could."

"And?"

"I’ve decided not to."

Emily laughed softly.

The family finished preparing as the afternoon passed, Maki checking the communications one final time, Yuna quietly inspecting Emily’s position, Lily predictably moving from the spot Maki had assigned her the moment nobody was looking.

By evening, everything was ready. The manor became quiet, no fireworks, no crowds, no festival music, only the faint sounds of the city beyond the walls and the peaceful streets of Astral Heights beneath the night sky. Celestine Avenue looked exactly as it always had. Calm. Safe. Ordinary.

Reinhard stood near one of the windows. Emily eventually joined him.

"Nothing?"

He shook his head. "Not yet."

She leaned against him. For several moments, neither spoke.

[Investment Opportunity Detected.]

[Target: Emily Ashcroft.]

[Current Rank: A.]

[Current Value: A+.]

[Objective: Take out the thirteen invaders without letting them kill anyone.]

[Difficulty Grade: C.]

[Success Probability: 60%.]

Reinhard glanced at the notification for only a moment and then his expression changed. His senses expanded beyond the walls of the manor. He didn’t hear footsteps or voices. He felt Mana, multiple signatures, powerful ones, moving carefully through the darkness while suppressing their presence.

Reinhard’s lips slowly curved upward.

Emily noticed. "They’re here?"

He nodded. "Yes."

She looked toward the darkness outside. "How many?"

Reinhard’s perception spread farther. One signature. Then another. Then another. He counted them.

Thirteen.

His smile widened. "Enough."

Emily raised an eyebrow. "That’s not an answer."

"It’s the answer you’re getting."

She sighed. "Reinhard."

He turned toward her. Emily held out her hand. He took it.

"Ready?"

She smiled. "Always."

Reinhard looked toward the exposed section of the manor, the weakness they had deliberately created. The Mana signatures were moving toward it. One. Two. Five. More followed behind them. The Baal strike force had found the opening.

Exactly as planned.

Reinhard smiled. "They’re here."