The moment she sharply retorted, Muge felt that something was strange. There was no reason for them to ask her such questions.

Nidora Fanang, the one controlling time in the library, was the most powerful magician among the five elders.

With a single gesture, she could vividly show events happening on the opposite side of the continent as if they were right before her eyes, and if necessary, she could manipulate the flow of time there at will.

Considering that even temporarily stopping time in front of one’s eyes consumes a considerable amount of magical power, anyone could guess how amazing Nidora’s abilities were.

Moreover, she was a magician who observed and explored events happening throughout Sierrow from within the tower.

They not only knew about the tragedy that occurred in the Hyanmorik royal family in detail, but also knew that the demon contractor was, in fact, Ord Hyanmorik. Just as Muge knew.

So as long as Nidora was there, they had no need to ask Muge any questions. Even about why she brought Laila and Eustar here…

“We knew.”

Muge’s head whipped back towards Nidora. Now, there was no trace of sarcasm on Muge’s face. Only bewilderment filled her large, round eyes.

“We saw that young witch and the foolish descendant of Hyanmorik erase the ghosts of Enes and his disciple. The witch looked into the disciple’s memories. As you said, the witch is an excellent medium. Even I, who have lived for nearly two hundred years, am envious of such ability.”

“It’s ugly when an old person can’t let go of greed.”

Muge’s body suddenly stiffened as she spat out her retort. Although Nidora hadn’t moved, Muge couldn’t move a finger.

“Nidora.”

“Be quiet, Sigrid.”

Muge’s eyes slowly moved towards Sigrid.

The human who created her, who gained an elder’s position after creating something not human. One who she could neither love as a father nor as a creator, but couldn’t deeply hate either.

“Sig…”

Muge forced her immobile lips to move, squeezing out her voice. But Sigrid disappeared into the darkness as if he hadn’t heard her.

“…Urgh!”

“Resisting will only increase your pain. Since you’re not human, I’ve given you a pain that only you can feel. Can you feel it? The magic flowing in your body changing?”

What are you doing? Muge wanted to scream, but she couldn’t. It felt like her insides were being torn apart.

Even though she knew that tearing her body apart would only reveal hundreds of magic stones and thousands of crystals connecting them, she suffered pain as if she were human with flesh and blood. It was so unfamiliar and so agonizing.

Nidora glided towards Muge, who was gasping for breath unable to even scream. Then the other elders, even Sigrid who had hidden himself, approached and surrounded Muge.

Nidora slowly bent down. Muge’s body was trembling with her eyes wide open.

Her small chest heaved violently up and down repeatedly, and her fingers bent in strange directions before returning to their original position with cracking sounds.

“That young witch will learn the secret. Then she’ll realize she has no choice but to abandon the descendant of Hyanmorik. It’s time for the foolish human bloodline to disappear. They have ruled this land for too long. We knew that Enes, excluded from the summoning, would leave this city and plant the seeds to hasten human extinction. But he disappointed us to the end. A seed that won’t even germinate without a shock strong enough to summon a demon.”

Muge’s eyes were half-rolled back. But even in her agony, she never lost consciousness. Because she was not a being that could die or faint.

What are you saying? Muge repeated the question that she couldn’t speak and no one could hear, screaming silently.

They knew about Enes’s existence. Even before he left the city, they knew what he was plotting, accumulating hatred step by step after being excluded from the summoning. Knowing this, they deliberately abandoned him.

To make Enes create a sink that would exterminate humans.

Nidora whispered.

“But the foolish descendants of Hyanmorik made that seed germinate, and now this kingdom is rushing towards destruction. King Ord is dying day by day, waiting for his knights to fill all those holes. How pitiful. That day will never come. Not only the bloodline of Hyanmorik, but all human bloodlines existing on this land will be severed. This land…”

Nidora’s body, which had been bent towards Muge, slowly returned to its original position. She looked down at the suffering Muge with a very cruel and arrogant gaze.

“Will exist for us.”

No.

“Sleep quietly until then, you lowly creature. When we have built mountains with human flesh and created rivers with their blood to take this land, we will wake you up and give you the honor of serving us.”

No, don’t say such crazy things.

Nidora’s finger slowly approached Muge’s forehead. Seeing the black smoke flickering at her fingertips, Muge’s eyes widened.

And darkness fell inside the tower.

Laila thought she was lying face down on a cold rock.

At first, she thought it was the floor of the library, but the texture under her hands was bumpy. The magicians’ library was made of stone, but it was pitch black and smooth. There were no bumps, let alone this dull gray color.

Laila suddenly raised her upper body and looked around frantically. She could see a small village in the distance. The scenery seemed familiar yet unfamiliar.

‘Rizikers.’

That name reflexively popped into Laila’s mind. It was Rizikers. Without a doubt. She examined the rock she had been lying on once more and jumped up startled.

It was that rock. The place where the ghosts of the children without eyes had gathered. On that day when she first met Eustar, she had made eye contact with Tommy’s ghost here and was nearly killed being chased by them.

“Why am I.”

Laila, catching her breath, blinked her wide-open eyes a couple of times.

Why am I here? How can I be here? Just a moment ago, I was in the magicians’ city, inside that library. I was about to open a book, and then…

“Eustar.”

Her voice, leaking out, was trembling with fear. She clenched her fists with all her might and shouted.

“Eustar!”

But only an echo returned. Laila listened to her own voice echoing eerily through the mountain valley, then quickly started descending the mountain along the trail.

Although she had climbed up and down countless times since childhood, she nearly tumbled down several times due to her feet slipping.

After narrowly escaping danger several times, Laila finally set foot at the base of the mountain, and a sigh of despair escaped her lips.

“…This can’t be.”

Her lips, chin, her whole body trembled. She closed her eyes and opened them again, but the scenery before her remained unchanged.

“This can’t be.”

Laila muttered the same words again with pale lips and staggered forward. The house that had completely burned down when she left this place was standing intact.

No, that’s not my house. It’s not mother’s house either. Laila thought. I don’t know this house.

The roof was thatched with dry grass, and the wooden pillars were positioned slightly differently.

When Laila lived here, there were bricks her mother had stacked under the wall, but now it was just a mud wall. The door was also made of shabby wood. It looked like it would fall off with just a gust of wind.

When Laila staggered and put her hand on the wall of that house, the old door suddenly flung open.

“Ah!”

Unlike Laila who was too startled to even make a sound, the person who came out of the house let out a short scream, startled upon seeing her. It was a woman.

She looked a bit younger than Laila, but in some ways, she might have been older. It was hard to guess her age just by looking at her face.

But Laila couldn’t take her eyes off her.

She was a beautiful woman with golden hair that shone like ripe honey under the sunlight and light brown eyes that were very striking. A woman Laila had never seen before, yet she felt like she knew who this person was.

“Oh my, you…”

The woman also couldn’t take her eyes off Laila. Laila instinctively realized it was because of her hair and eyes. The woman put down the empty basket she was holding and cautiously approached Laila.

“Don’t come.”

Laila stepped back. Unexpectedly, the woman’s expression turned worried. It was such a human-like, innocent-looking expression.

“You… you’re hurt.”

The woman said. Only then did Laila feel a stinging pain rising from her knee. Looking down, she saw bleeding skin through her torn clothes.

The woman, perhaps to ease Laila’s wariness, stopped approaching and spoke slowly.

“I have herbs. I’m very good at making medicine to treat wounds… If you’re okay with it, I can make some medicine to apply to your wound. It’s alright. I can make it quickly, and it won’t hurt at all. The wound will heal fast too.”

Laila, unable to sort out her increasingly confused thoughts, shook her head. “Who are you?” Her voice, clouded with fear, was tinged with moisture.

“Who are you? Is this… really Rizikers?”

The woman’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You know about this village? Where did you come from? This place is so remote, we rarely have visitors except for lost travelers who wander into the mountains occasionally.”

It’s true. Laila thought. She felt like she was about to collapse from exhaustion. She really was in Rizikers. But this wasn’t the Rizikers she knew…

Laila’s staggering body bumped against the outer wall. The mud wall was cold, but strangely, it felt as if it held warmth inside.

“Who exactly are you?”

As she asked, tears fell from Laila’s eyes. She couldn’t control the crying that burst forth.

The woman said:

“I’m the person living in this house. My name is Kristrad. Lilith Kristrad.”