“It’s toward Honor Square.”

Matian moved quickly in that direction as if he had received an oracle.

The man who had been riding a borrowed horse, complaining of pain all over his body, leaped onto the saddle of a horse that the soldier had brought and spurred it on.

The others with them were puzzled, but Rukna knew why he was doing that.

The holy sword must have told him something.

“Let’s go together!”

Rukna immediately followed after him. But Matian turned his horse’s head and blocked her way.

“No. You wait here.”

“Why?”

It would be dangerous there, and I don’t want you to get hurt. But Matian couldn’t bring himself to say those words.

He knew Rukna’s character well.

If he said that, she would be upset, asking if he didn’t trust her skills, but she wasn’t someone who would get scared or shy away from danger.

“…Your weapon.”

“This?”

Rukna held up a staff that was too crude to be used as a weapon.

“A club doesn’t suit you.”

Matian sighed deeply and threw Rukna a sword that the horse’s owner had tied to the saddle.

“According to the holy sword, the Red Eagle has appeared at the military academy and Honor Square. It seems the missing children are being held at the military academy. You go rescue the children first.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll go to Honor Square. It seems the sealed demon’s egg has appeared there.”

‘In the end, is fate unavoidable?’

Rukna recalled the prophecy book of Karzan that she had seen long ago.

In it, Matian, the last survivor, had faced the Black Sage helplessly and met his death.

“Can’t I go there too?”

“Please save the children first. The holy sword says that will prevent the demon’s egg from fully opening.”

Matian said that while clenching his teeth. Then he nervously muttered to the holy sword at his waist that he wouldn’t give it a goodbye kiss or anything.

Overhearing his monologue, Rukna scratched her cheek in embarrassment and nodded.

The holy sword must have a good reason for sending her to the military academy.

“Be careful, Matian. I won’t heal you if you come back injured.”

“I was planning to return covered in glorious wounds, so that’s a shame.”

“I’m not joking.”

“I wasn’t joking either.”

Matian raised one corner of his mouth in a crooked smile, recalling old times.

“You’re right, I won’t need healing. But I’ll be eagerly awaiting your kiss.”

And he turned his horse’s head forward again.

‘Chad, you bastard, what the hell did you do to the school!’

The military academy was filled with black fog. The bodies of royal soldiers lay strewn on the ground, clearly attacked by something.

‘Demons.’

Rukna drew her sword and cut through the fog, crossing the campus.

Terrible screams could be heard from the direction of the Greyton dormitory.

Having frequented this place for 6 months, she could roughly determine the location even without good visibility.

The familiar shape of the ground under her feet led her in the desired direction.

Swish.

A hair-raising sound brushed past her ear. She widened her eyes but could only see thick fog.

Biting her lip hard, Rukna swung her sword while exuding holy power.

Crunch. Along with the feeling of some beast-like thing being cut by the blade-

“Shriek!”

-the horrid sound of a demon was heard. Then her body was lifted into the air and slammed into the ground.

In the fog, her body felt sluggish and she couldn’t quickly respond to the enemy’s attacks.

The one fortunate thing was that she could handle holy power.

As the holy power, with properties opposite to black magic, flowed from Rukna, the black fog dissipated bit by bit and she achieved victory with little difficulty.

Some of the lesser demons were even purified beyond just being subdued, meaning they were low-level demons.

‘Strange. The black magic is so thick in the air that it stings my skin, but why is the Red Eagle nowhere to be seen?’

There were only corpses, no living black mages. It was as if she had arrived at a place where a battle had already occurred.

Rukna quickly headed to the dormitory.

She occasionally stumbled over rocks but didn’t slow her pace.

Arriving at the first-floor lobby of the dormitory-

A red-haired man stood with his back turned. It was Chad.

His hands and body were covered in blood even redder and darker than his hair.

With a murderous appearance, he was leisurely appreciating the mural of a hero from the Demon War like a carefree gallery visitor.

“You came earlier than expected, Luca.”

Saying that, Chad spun around. His red lips held a seductive smile.

“You…!”

“What are those things? You have a talent for taming demons too?”

That treacherous bastard.

As Chad waved his hand in the air as if shaking something off, the demons that had been tamed by Rukna and were following her popped like balloons.

“Our Rukna is so capable. Good at seducing people and good at seducing demons.”

“Let the people go.”

“Too late. The ritual is already underway.”

“Damn you!”

Rukna quickly headed upstairs toward the screams.

The corridors were filled with pools of blood and screams, but no people could be seen. Were they all trapped in the rooms?

Rukna smashed down the doors one by one, searching for places where survivors might be.

Many had already died with painful expressions.

The cheerful faces of the children from the flyer flashed one by one in her mind.

It was devastating.

Would there be any survivors? Whose screams could be heard now?

‘I may have been unknowingly entranced by the black magic. Get a grip.’

Wiping away tears, Rukna headed upstairs. And there she searched dozens of rooms.

Room 414. In her old room, she found a barely breathing child. The child was hiding under a desk, curled up.

“Kid, snap out of it!”

“…Priestess?”

The scrawny boy blinked and looked at Rukna again to make sure.

“That’s right, it’s the priestess. You’re safe now.”

“Please just kill me. I don’t want to live anymore.”

The boy’s expression was blank, as if something terrible had happened to him. He muttered that he just wanted to be at peace now, as if giving up on everything.

“I… I’ll help you.”

Rukna purified the boy, who was steeped in black magic, with holy power.

As the sparkling holy power enveloped the boy, he made a puzzled expression and then color returned to his face as if he felt refreshed.

After that, she was able to find a few more survivors on the 4th and 5th floors. Since the black magic circle had been activated from the bottom up, the survival rate was higher on the upper floors.

The purified children quickly regained their composure. They followed Rukna like chicks.

And they arrived at Room 514.

It was Matian’s old room. Especially strong black magic flowed out from this room.

“Kids, quietly stand back for a moment. It seems a bit dangerous here.”

Rukna put a finger to her lips and signaled to the children.

The children cutely imitated Rukna, going ‘shh’ and putting their index fingers to their lips.

But one child who had been talkative grabbed the hem of Rukna’s clothing.

“But miss, are you really a priestess?”

“Yes, I am, so can you be quiet?”

“If you’re a priestess, why are you holding a sword? Are you going to kill someone? Are you a demon?”

“This isn’t a sword, it’s a staff. Be quiet for a bit.”

“No way, you’re lying.”

“It really is a staff. A staff that turns into a sword when it sees someone breaking the rules.”

Rukna smiled and asked again, “Now can you be quiet?”

The child quickly shut his mouth before the staff could turn into a sword.

Rukna grabbed the doorknob and turned it slightly. The knob on this room was also broken.

Rukna struck the knob with the sword’s hilt and opened the door.

Matian’s room, which now had a different owner, had an eerie atmosphere with thick black fog.

In the center of the room stood a cabinet. Soon, the closed iron door creaked open and Chad appeared from inside.

“Ta-da.”

As he appeared, Rukna drew her sword from its scabbard and held it warily.

One of the breathless children’s eyes sparkled.

“Look, the staff really turned into a sword!”

“Be quiet!”

“But it’s amazing.”

“That’s because that man broke the rules.”

“What rules?”

“The director of our orphanage said hiding in cabinets is something only mischievous kids do.”

“What interesting children. Don’t you think, Luca?”

Chad grinned at the children floating in the air. He had used magic.

The tentacles protruding from his back, resembling octopus legs, had all been cut by Rukna’s sword and were writhing on the floor.

He had tried to snatch the children but was attacked by Rukna.

Seeing that they weren’t regenerating, this seemed to be Chad’s main body.

“Those demons I painstakingly implanted in my body… You went too far.”

“……”

“If you want to save the children, get in that cabinet, Luca.”

Chad pointed to the cabinet.

Seeing the unusual black energy flowing from it, she was certain that entering it would drop her into another space.

“If you become the final sacrifice, I’ll let those children go. I mean it. I so desperately want to see you cry.”

“Why are you doing this to me? Why!”

“I wonder why.”

At first, it was because of Matian, but after that, it was just personal interest.

“There’s a very pure energy that I sense only from you.”

“You mean because of my holy power?”

“It’s not that simple, more like… the feeling of a soul that has received someone’s special attention for a very long time?”

Because the world cherished her, even rolling in the mud, she only sparkled brightly and clearly.

Chad wanted it. He coveted it so much he wanted to devour it. He felt that if he ate it, he would shine.

“So I want to remain as the most distinct form of emotion to you. This is an emotion greater than love, Luca.”

As Chad snapped his fingers, frost formed on the ordinary sword she held and it shattered with a clang.

“Don’t hate me too much… Ugh!”

Chad covered his stinging face.

Rukna, who had narrowed the distance, had left a cut on his face with the broken sword.

In an instant, Chad’s anger reached its peak and he grabbed Rukna’s hair while exuding black power from his whole body.

Rukna barely escaped his grasp by cutting off the caught hair…

“How did this happen?”

The black power Chad had been emitting suddenly cut off. He tried to focus his mind again, but the black magic was already depleted.

“This can’t be.”

Right now, this dormitory was a type of black magic circle.

The numerous sacrifices were used to open the demon’s egg, but they were also the source of his power. But what was the meaning of this?

His power was completely drained and it was difficult to even use ordinary magic.

Then Giselle appeared, panting for breath.

“Looks like it worked after all.”

The startled Rukna rolled her eyes and greeted her.

“Rukna! I cremated all those who were unjustly sacrificed with holy flames. Did I do well?”

But who dared to do this to my muse’s hair? Her clear eyes, filled with madness, turned to Chad.

“How did you get in here, Lady? I designed it so no one but Luca could set foot in here.”

“My elder brother may be weak in body, but he’s quite good at magic formula calculations. He knows a bit about the principles of black magic too.”

What? Chad went to the window and looked down.

Perta Golden, who had dismantled the black magic circle, was shivering like a sickly squirrel while being on guard.