Daren held his breath at the chillingly cold air.

Exposed to the ruthless killing intent that could not be approached, Daren clenched his trembling hands tightly and barely opened his mouth.

“I apologize. I will correct it.”

As Rodrick roughly released the collar he had grabbed, Daren’s legs gave out and he fell on his bottom.

“Vice-captain, are you alright?”

Supported by the elite knights, Daren stood up and swallowed his saliva.

“Captain. His condition seems to be getting worse.”

“Worse than when we were searching for young master Felice?”

“Can we stop him?”

“……”

We can’t. He could state it with certainty. Their lord was already beyond the level that anyone could stop.

It would probably take a legendary dragon to stop him.

Their main mission was to be ready to kill him at any moment.

The moment he goes on a rampage, to prevent damage to everyone. To prevent greater harm.

They had been trained that way and lived with the resolve to throw away their lives at any time. But instinctively, they felt it. We can’t stop this. This feeling of powerlessness was a first.

“Sir.”

Lost in thought, Daren came to his senses at the voice of the child pulling his frozen fingers.

“Yes, young master. What is it?”

Although Noel was a bastard of the Beatus family, all of Rodrick’s people were respectful to him.

Daren knelt on one knee and met Noel’s eyes, who shone with gravity.

“Can you knock that man unconscious?”

“Pardon?”

“Excuse me?”

“??”

Question marks appeared on the faces of the knights, including Daren.

“I said we have to knock that man out!”

“Young master. That would be difficult…”

“Is it possible?”

Everyone looked at Noel as if he was crazy, but only Daren asked seriously.

Daren knew that Noel could use magic.

Daren, who had been in charge of Noel during the entire search, knew. That the child had used magic without fail whenever there were signs of Rodrick going on a rampage.

It was shameful, but for now they had no choice but to rely on the child’s magic. Noel nodded his small head.

“No, vice-captain. This is crazy.”

“Shh- be quiet.”

This conversation could be heard by Rodrick, whose nerves had become sensitive. Or he might not hear it, distracted by his search for Diana.

Either way, it didn’t matter. Those footsteps had to be stopped right now. Noel could feel it.

There was something huge ahead of them. So ominous it gave him goosebumps.

Whatever it was, the ominous energy would surely be the trigger for Rodrick.

“I agree. If we keep going like this, we’ll die of exhaustion.”

The longest they had lasted on the battlefield without sleep day and night was a week. It was too much.

At this point, over ten days, this march was madness. What more could come from adding madness to madness but death?

Their physical and mental states had already passed their limits.

“Yes, let’s try to stop him somehow.”

“Huh, so what should we do?”

Everyone swallowed dry saliva in tension as they watched the back of their lord walking through the pathless forest.

Noel, whose mana had barely returned, also showed clear signs of tension.

It was a moment when he desperately missed Diana.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Again.”

Ven-si was repeating the same words hundreds of times.

“Again.”

The drops of sweat running down her cheeks gathered at the tip of her chin. Diana wiped her sweat and let out a deep breath.

“Again! Concentrate! Why can’t you even do this simple thing?”

As expected, is it because there’s a lot of ordinary human blood mixed in you? Ven-si muttered.

Diana didn’t know either.

Diana, who had endured and accomplished the Beatus training well, had a serious lack of talent in magic.

“……”

“……”

“Again!”

To think it wouldn’t go as desired to this extent.

It was a really simple teleportation magic. The distance was less than six or seven steps from here to there.

The appetizing red apple trembled and stopped on the magic circle without moving.

The man who had been a bear stood restlessly beside Diana.

He had prepared both a towel to wipe her sweat and a cold drink to quench her thirst, but he couldn’t find the timing to step in.

It was tremendous concentration. She seemed determined not to rest until she succeeded.

All he could do was hold Diana’s hand whenever she consumed mana. She replenished her energy by absorbing the man’s curse.

“Oh?”

Finally, will she succeed?!

The apple disappeared on the magic circle. And it appeared on the magic circle drawn right next to it, emitting light.

But only half of it appeared, as if it had been cut off.

“……”

“……”

Ugh! Ven-si sighed irritably and grabbed his white hair as if pulling it out.

“You can’t do it! Don’t do it! No, this won’t work. Learn something else. You’ll end up teleporting people in half at this rate.”

“Um, where did the other half of the apple go…?”

“I don’t know, it probably went to some other space. Forget it. Why do you have so little talent when you have excellent mana qualities?”

Ven-si said, frustrated, tapping his staff that was as tall as him.

“Huh, learn something else or give up. Ah. Right, I’ll give you a magic tool I made. Then it’ll be fine, right?”

But unfortunately, Diana didn’t know how to give up. If other objects don’t work, I’ll teleport myself.

“Then teach me a magic that can teleport me.”

“Are you crazy?!”

“No! Young lady!”

A child who can’t even teleport other objects wants to teleport herself. It was no different from a suicidal act.

The man, who had the same thought, dissuaded Diana with a pale brown face.

“I really want to learn this.”

Her enthusiasm was tremendous. She wanted to learn teleportation magic just in case she was kidnapped again.

Magic tools might not be usable in an emergency.

Ven-si tried to persuade Diana, but he couldn’t break her stubbornness. In the end, Ven-si had no choice but to back down.

“Then let’s do it this way.”

He would engrave the same pattern of magic circle on her and the specific place or person she wanted, so that she could teleport when separated.

Diana, who was quietly listening to the explanation, smiled brightly and agreed.

“Alright.”

Ven-si shook his head and warned Diana.

“But, you have to concentrate. Even if the magic circle is perfect, if you waver even a little or lack power while executing it, you’ll end up like that apple.”

“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Well, if you designate a specific place, it shouldn’t fail.”

Ven-si took a step back, thinking he might have scared her too much. Then the man standing behind carefully spoke.

“But that apple was also teleported without being designated to a specific place, right?”

“……”

“……Shut up. Bern.”

“Yes.”

The man who had been a bear. Bern quietly closed his mouth at Ven-si’s venomous gaze.

“It’s fine. This is something I specially researched and devised. You just need to inject mana. Simple, right?”

Before she could answer, Bern, who was standing quietly again, intervened.

“But that magic circle, wouldn’t it conflict with the lady’s curse pattern? What if it affects the curse pattern while imparting mana?”

The bear, who couldn’t use magic but had seen a lot, had considerable knowledge of magic.

“……”

But he had no choice but to remain silent.

“Huh, honestly, if you have enough mana and talent, you can teleport without a magic circle. But you, you have no talent.”

At the sharp words, Diana pouted her lips.

She was confident in throwing daggers aiming at vital points or moving stealthily, but she couldn’t understand magic at all.

“First, I’ll draw a magic circle on the back of your hand.”

At this rate, wouldn’t her whole body be filled with patterns?

It was when Ven-si was about to draw a magic circle on the back of her hand.

Boom! A roar rang out along with a tremor that shook the ground. She was startled and stiffened at the loud noise that could be heard even inside the room.

But both Ven-si and Bern acted as if it was no big deal.

“The forest is moving. Nothing to be surprised about. Okay?”

But she couldn’t help but be surprised. With a sweaty face, Diana hurriedly left the room. She clung to the corridor window railing.

The surroundings, covered with an ominous energy, were all dyed red. But it wasn’t because of that her heart was beating ominously.

In the rampaging forest, she felt a familiar mana.

“Rodrick?”

No, why is Rodrick here? He must have received the butterfly she sent as a message.

While her thoughts denied it, her body was moving diligently. But before she could take a step, her wrist was grabbed.

“Where are you going?!”

Ven-si asked fiercely.

“Outside……”

“Outside?! Are you crazy? I told you. Right now the forest is in a period of being turned upside down! Even ordinary humans are affected now.”

“I don’t care.”

The unstably rampaging mana was unusual. He needed her.

His curse was fluctuating severely along with the unpleasant rampaging ominous energy.

The taut tension seemed to strangle her neck. A string stretched taut to the point of not knowing when it would break was precariously connected.

Boom- At the roar heard again, this time a flock of birds fluttered up from a distant direction.

Over there. Diana sensed it.

“Let me go. I have to go.”

At the calmly ringing voice, Ven-si swallowed his saliva. How do I break this stubbornness?

“Bern, you go with her. I can’t go out together. Instead, I’ll give you this.”

Ven-si handed Diana the staff he never let go of even for a moment.

“Wave it when it’s urgent. Or just throw it roughly. It will move on its own.”

Diana took the staff and hugged Ven-si tightly. Then she started running without looking back.

“Young lady!”

As she left the witch’s house, the thick air blocked by the barrier enveloped her.

“Please ride on me.”

“What?”

With those words, Bern transformed back into a bear and roared. He stood on four legs and showed his back to Diana.

“Sorry. Let’s go quickly.”

Mounted on the bear, she held the short fur with one hand and the long staff with the other to maintain balance.

Boom- Thud-

“Do you hear it? Go to where you hear that sound.”

The bear started running on four legs with Diana on his back.

‘Right now, you shouldn’t use magic in the forest. Not only will it not be cast properly, it will be poison to each other.’

Amidst the scenery rapidly passing by at tremendous speed, Diana ruminated on Ven-si’s words.

‘There will be a place with a particularly large number of stone tablets. You must avoid that place no matter what.’

‘What is that?’

[This is the timeline separator]

Thud- With a roar that shook the vicinity, the elite knights were knocked out in an instant.

Noel, who was casting a magic to make Rodrick faint by draining his strength, ended up being affected in reverse.

It failed.

No. Looking at the man who had lost his senses in despair, Noel looked around.

The existence of the stone tablets embedded everywhere, as if foretelling death, seemed like tombstones announcing their deaths.

[This is the timeline separator]

‘What the hell is that? What are stone tablets that even…’

That which made even Ven-si swallow dry saliva. He said not to think of it as ordinary pieces of stone.

‘Dragon’s molt.’

Ven-si parted his lips heavily.

‘They are pieces that have fallen from a contaminated corpse.’