Sched held Riana’s hand to help her sense her surroundings as he dismounted. Staying on horseback could have led to bigger issues due to the excited horses.

He also swiftly lifted Riana off the horse.

Sched pulled her close, holding her tightly so as not to lose her.

In the darkness, anxiously rapid breathing could be heard.

Her condition had been strange ever since they reached Paradel.

“Riana.”

“It wasn’t me. I…”

Riana mumbled something between hyperventilations, her body trembling.

“Riana!”

Sched cupped her terror-stricken cheeks with his hands, making her look at him.

In the pitch-black darkness, they could sense that their eyes met.

Only then did Riana’s breathing begin to calm slightly.

‘First, we need to gather those who have scattered.’

He thought coolly.

From all directions came sounds of crying and people searching for each other.

“Everyone dismount and stay close to the carriages and wagons!”

He heightened all his senses.

Though their surroundings had turned pitch black, Paradel’s land hadn’t sunk, nor had the sky fallen.

He could feel soil, weeds, and stones underfoot, and Ideana’s characteristic warm, gentle breeze brushed against his skin.

Nothing had changed except for the loss of vision. At least not yet.

He instructed those near the wagons and carriages to keep making noise by tapping on objects.

Perhaps due to the darkness, the sounds seemed distant.

“Let’s go.”

Sched took a step, holding Riana in his arms.

In the darkness, they could only rely on each other.

At that moment, Sched turned his head into the deep darkness.

Though invisible, he sensed something.

A presence from the opposite direction of where the Lester family group was located.

And that presence was approaching precisely where Sched and Riana were.

“Riana.”

Sched held Riana even tighter, hiding her within his embrace.

Sched realized.

The moment he rejoined the procession, that faceless killing intent would engulf the others as well.

Sched thought coolly.

At that instant.

Whoosh! Something sharp pierced through the darkness, flying towards him.

Sched instinctively pulled Riana aside, twisting his body to dodge.

A cold wind passed by his cheek.

“Oh my.”

Only then did the nameless presence in the darkness voice itself.

And gradually, the darkness surrounding them began to fade, their field of vision slowly widening.

Sched moved Riana behind him while remaining wary of the presence beyond the darkness.

“Who are you?”

Sched pointed his sword precisely towards the source of the presence.

Then, step by step, clearing away the fading darkness, the enemy revealed itself.

A long robe concealing the face, a height rivaling Sched’s, and violet eyes glinting ominously in the darkness.

‘Lupus?’

Sched wavered for a moment as he recognized him.

Those purple eyes and that build were undoubtedly of the Lupus clan.

“The feast has begun.”

Instead of revealing his identity, the unknown opponent bared his white teeth in a grin beneath his robe.

Simultaneously, he charged at the two, wielding an old, rusty sword with missing teeth.

Clang!

In an instant, the two swords clashed, creating a thunderous sound as if shattering heaven and earth.

Even the darkness surrounding them seemed to ripple and recede from the intense shockwave.

‘The sword…?’

Sched looked at the opponent’s rusty sword as he parried.

Normally, a clash of this intensity would cause the sword to break or lose all its teeth, unable to withstand the force.

Yet that rusty, worn-out sword maintained its form as solidly as if it were made of red flame iron.

Sched saw the black aura enveloping the sword.

It wasn’t the sword that was special. It was the unsettling power possessed by its wielder that was reinforcing the sword.

Black magic. A ‘heretic’ using forbidden sorcery.

Meanwhile, the masked opponent also looked at him with surprised eyes.

“You know how to use aura?”

The purple eyes hidden in the shadows tilted curiously as they observed Sched.

If priests had holy power, knights had aura.

When one reached a certain level in wielding swords and spears, they could use energy beyond physical strength, which people called aura, and those who could use aura were called Sword Masters.

“You’re a Lupus, but… I’ve never seen a Lupus who could use aura before.”

The face hidden by the robe chuckled.

As he said, until now, there had been no one among the Lupus who could use aura.

To reach the level of using aura, one needed experience and training that pushed the body beyond its limits.

However, the Lupus were born with physical conditions far superior to ordinary humans, so their ‘limit’ was much higher compared to others.

Until now, the Lupus had neither found the need nor the reason to push themselves to that limit.

Among the Lupus, there were even those who could perform as well as Sword Masters without using aura.

But Sched Lester was different.

“Not going to use more aura?”

One hand of the heretic, who tilted his head slightly, turned completely black.

‘Damn it.’

Sched, despite being a Sword Master, rarely had to use aura.

Being a Lupus, he could usually perform as well as a Sword Master without needing to resort to aura.

But now was not the time to conserve strength.

However, the reason he hesitated was.

‘Riana…’

If he used aura properly, Riana, who was close by, might get caught up and injured.

But the enemy didn’t have the patience to wait for Sched’s deliberation.

The killing intent wrapped in darkness rushed towards him once again.

Simultaneously, a thunderous sound causing a gale erupted once more.

“Ugh!”

Along with a wind strong enough to violently whip hair, a wave of dirt spread like a tsunami.

The commotion reached as far as where the Lester family procession was, as if the wave had touched even that distant place.

“Aaaaah!”

“My lord! Are you alright!”

Voices echoing from far away in the darkness.

As Riana, who had lowered her body due to the wind, raised her head, a blue light was also swirling around Sched’s fingertips.

Blue energy extending from his hand to his sword. It was aura.

“You’re really strong, aren’t you?”

The heretic muttered in an interested voice.

“You’ll make the finest delicacy.”

The man smiled as he looked at Sched.

And once again, he charged towards Sched.

Several more whirlwinds swept across the darkness.

Sched persistently pursued him, countering his attempts to exploit openings.

After a few collisions, the heretic began to be pushed back little by little.

Bewilderment flashed from the tip of the pitch-black sword.

It was understandable. Until meeting Sched, he had likely never been at a disadvantage.

Sched, too, had never encountered an opponent of this level of strength.

However, the heretic soon dispelled his bewilderment and retreated far back.

Eyes gleaming with madness gauged his opponent.

‘The movements are… interesting?’

That Sword Master was certainly strong. Strong enough to be difficult for him to defeat.

But the movements were quite regular.

The heretic’s eyes turned to the woman beside the Sword Master.

‘He’s been moving with that woman as his center all this time.’

Even when using aura, he always swung while keeping his back to her, luring and protecting to ensure the heretic could never approach her.

His concern that she might get caught up in this fight, or that the heretic might target her, was palpable in every movement of his fingers and toes.

‘All this desperation over just one woman?’

The heretic grinned.

Meanwhile, Sched became even more acutely aware of the change in his demeanor.

However.

“It was fun.”

The heretic’s light farewell echoed in the darkness.

At the same time, his figure was completely buried in the darkness.

Just as Sched thought he might be retreating, a chilling thrill ran along his nerves.

“Sched!”

In the instant he perceived that cold sensation, Riana’s cry came from behind.

And then.

Thud!

A clear piercing sound rang in his ears.

With his heart sinking, he turned his head to find Riana behind him.

“Ha, what’s this now?”

Even in the darkness, the dripping blood was clearly visible.

The heretic looked at the woman who had blocked him, as if dumbfounded.

The black blade piercing through her abdomen.

“You’ve been keeping a mad woman with you.”

He hadn’t meant to stab the woman.

He had only aimed for the man’s weakness, taken to protect the woman.

Yet, ridiculously, the woman the man had so fiercely tried to protect had thrown herself in the way.

If it had been slightly off, her heart could have been pierced… what nerve…

The heretic sneered at the absurd decision.

‘That guy’s efforts have become laughable.’

He looked at the expression of the Sword Master standing far away.

The face that had remained cool and flawless until now was a mess of shock and despair, like a priest witnessing the fall of an angel.

“Riana…!”

Sched saw the blood staining her torso red.

For a moment, Sched’s mind froze along with time, unable to comprehend what had happened.

Very slowly, yet clearly even in the dark vision, the small body impaled on the sword tip collapsed lifelessly.

Sched reached out towards Riana, who was pierced by the black blade.

At that moment, the eyes of the man holding the sword hilt changed.

The heretic slightly twisted the sword stuck in Riana and pulled.

The jagged blade dragged Riana’s body like a hook.

Riana, who had collapsed powerlessly, was drawn into the man’s grasp like hunted livestock.

And after examining the woman’s face up close, the heretic grinned.

“This woman… she’s an Ideana, isn’t she?”

The heretic held Riana in his arms and pulled out the sword stuck in her abdomen.

With that, red blood gushed out of Riana’s body.

Riana’s body convulsed greatly once, then went limp.

All of this was clearly visible, even in the darkness.

Sched’s mind went blank.

At the same time, his heart pumped as if it would burst, hot blood surging from his toes to the top of his head.