Nierodora did not panic even as she saw Eustar running along the wall. Magical tools were not surprising to her at all.

Rocks began to emerge from the opposite direction of where Eustar was running. The entire fountain shook and Nierodora’s face turned black.

With countless wrinkles appearing and disappearing on her face, she no longer seemed human.

“Eustar, be careful!”

Laila shouted as she saw a rock rising next to Eustar’s right leg. As Eustar’s foot slipped while trying to change direction, Laila felt something hit her back hard once again.

The moment she sensed it, Laila instinctively reached out her hand. The rock shattered into pieces and came crashing down.

“No!”

Nierodora was the most surprised. Eustar did not miss the opportunity and jumped off the wall, tightly holding onto both Muge and Laila.

“Fairy! Catch Laila and Muge!”

As Eustar shouted, the bodies of the two flew up in the opposite direction from where they had been running.

Before Eustar could even think that Laila and Muge were safe, he drew his sword at lightning speed and slashed diagonally across Nierodora’s body.

“Ugh…!”

A mouthful of blood spilled from between Nierodora’s distorted lips. Eustar should have delivered the final blow, but he leaped back instead.

If he had been just a little late, the toxic darkness erupting from Nierodora’s body would have put him in a fatal state.

“Cut her, Eustar!”

As Muge shouted, pale hands emerged from all directions to try and grab Nierodora. But the moment Nierodora waved her hand, they disappeared, screaming and shrinking.

“Ugh…!”

“Miss Olga!”

Sparks flew from Muge’s eyes as she was hit. Laila looked up at the fairy.

“Take Miss Olga to a safe place. Right now.”

“A witch and a human can’t defeat Lady Nierodora! We all need to run away from here!”

“Run away?”

Nierodora’s eerie voice was directed at them. Her pupils had turned pitch black like a demon’s. The moment she raised her hand, Laila quickly picked up Muge and whispered.

“I’m sorry, Miss Olga.”

After saying that, she threw Muge towards the entrance with all her might. Thankfully, the fairy caught Muge while screaming shrilly; otherwise, Muge might have hit the ground and been unable to return.

“What are you doing, witch! The young lady could have died! You’re terrible! You wicked witch!”

Laila said.

“Yes, I’m a wicked witch and a terrible human. So take Miss Olga and leave. As quickly as possible. To a safe place.”

The fairy shook its bright blue head back and forth, then flew quickly towards the door while lifting Muge.

As Nierodora blinked, something like a black sandstorm flew towards Muge. Without time to think, Laila blocked its path and squeezed her eyes shut.

“Laila!”

When the sand column approached with a rustling sound, Laila knew it would pierce through her body. She glanced back at Eustar for a moment, but it didn’t seem like he could block it…

— I can.

A chillingly low and familiar voice was heard. At the same time, Laila’s vision was covered by a black and solid darkness, then… her sight cleared again. She could see Nierodora’s hideous face distorted with shock.

Her eyebrows were raised almost to her hairline, her distorted eyes were filled with madness, and silent screams kept bursting from her mouth, which was torn vertically.

Laila sensed someone’s presence behind her. It was a familiar feeling. This empty yet imposing presence.

“…Badin.”

Dressed in clean black attire as if he had just stopped by on his way to a ball, Badin looked down at Laila with a strange smile.

“How are you here.”

Eustar said. His voice was mixed with doubt and confusion. But Badin didn’t answer him and just jerked his chin.

“This doesn’t seem like the time to be asking that.”

Eustar turned his head in the direction Badin was pointing and blocked Nierodora’s attack with his sword held horizontally. A bluish glass-like barrier formed where the sharp tip of the sword had cut upwards.

As the black sand cloud struck the barrier, there was a sound like thousands of glass windows shattering at once.

“You filthy demon! How dare you defile my fountain, I won’t forgive you!”

Black sand flowed down the barrier. When the barrier began to break with the sound of something shattering, Badin pulled Laila and Eustar back at once without even lifting a finger.

Finally, the barrier shattered and the sand writhed and coiled like mad snakes. For a moment, Nierodora thought they had all been devoured and smiled triumphantly. In doing so, she failed to see Eustar’s sword flying at her from the side.

“Urgh…!”

The long sword accurately pierced Nierodora’s side. However, the moment he pulled out the sword, Eustar saw the blood clots that had sprayed into the air gathering back towards Nierodora.

The skin that had been split open, revealing raw flesh, was also coming back together, changing in a mottled pattern like mold growing.

“What is this…!”

Nierodora’s black eyes flashed. Her downturned mouth corners evoked an ominous fear. As she waved her hand, air as heavy as a boulder struck Eustar’s left cheek squarely.

It was such a strong force that he couldn’t even groan, but even as his body was flung back, Eustar threw something towards Nierodora.

There was a popping sound in the air, and then blackness, no, something even darker and more distant than that, completely obscured Nierodora’s vision. It was ‘borrowed night’. A chilling voice flowed from Nierodora, enveloped in darkness.

“Do you think you can defeat me with such trickery?”

You can’t. Eustar thought. He couldn’t. He knew. ‘He’ could never defeat Nierodora. No matter what he did, even if he gave it his all. Even if he had a Deceptor.

But the other person remaining there was different.

The moment Eustar’s gaze reached Laila, she was already rising into the air. Surprisingly, Nierodora failed to notice her presence. Badin’s black wings were wrapped around Laila. Like a shield.

Catch it. Badin’s lips moved, and Eustar could understand exactly what he was saying.

A long, black sword was placed in Laila’s hand. As black as obsidian that had lost its luster, it was exuding an eerily ominous atmosphere.

“Now.”

Eustar whispered, panting. As if hearing his voice, Nierodora suddenly swept away the darkness spread out before her eyes.

“You…!”

Her black pupils widened. The corners of her eyes tore, and thin red blood streaks looked like dry, cracking earth.

Laila’s hand moved backwards. It was like the gesture of a child trying to hide something behind their back.

Sharp sand was about to pour out of Nierodora Panang’s vertically split mouth. And Laila’s arm stretched out straight and forcefully forward.

Nierodora Panang trembled in disbelief—though her face could no longer be called human, her expression was strangely accurate—and slowly, very slowly, looked down at her own stomach.

She could feel the sword that Laila had thrust in at once dissolving—just like the sand she was about to spit out—and seeping into her body.

Now they would become individual, very small blades, cutting and gnawing at her from the inside. She might have to scream thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of times until death.

“Aaaagh—!”

A scream burst from Nierodora’s mouth as it began to widen. Just before the scream full of hatred engulfed Laila, Badin’s wings shot upwards and wrapped around her.

“Know your place, lowly human. You shall pay the price for daring to speak insulting words to my daughter.”

“Aaaagh—! Aagh—! You filthy demon! You will burn in the midst of raging flames! Forever! How dare you, ugh, nargh.”

Black liquid began to pour out of Nierodora Panang’s long-torn lips.

She twisted her body in mid-air and frantically scratched her neck. She struggled, scratching her entire body regardless of her skin peeling off and blood splattering.

Badin looked down at Laila, who had fainted after stabbing Nierodora, and then dropped her into Eustar’s arms.

Eustar’s gaze as he caught Laila was complex. It wasn’t friendly by any means, but it wasn’t as sharply wary as before either.

The entire fountain, the entire cave began to resound as if it would collapse. Nierodora Panang’s body, which had been struggling like a moth stuck in a spider’s web, suddenly plummeted downwards.

A sharp stalagmite that rose from the floor pierced her body once more. Despite the horrible sound of all her bones breaking, she didn’t die and continued to writhe.

Small, black, worm-like things could be seen covering her entire body, slowly gnawing and sucking at her.

“Leave.”

Badin said. At that moment, Eustar felt an inexplicable chill. And he realized that he had no choice but to face it head-on.

It was like smelling a sharp, intense odor in the middle of a deep, deep tunnel, not knowing how far in they had come.

“You.”

Eustar said, cradling the collapsed Laila. Badin, floating in the air, bowed his head and smiled tiredly. His black wings, which had been glossy like an eagle’s, slowly began to disappear.

“Don’t worry. We’ll meet again soon. Although it won’t be a pleasant occasion for you.”

“……”

“Leave this place. Take my daughter and go. Destroy this harsh and cursed city, and do what you must do. Descendant of Hyanmorik.”

Eustar noticed Badin’s hand suddenly approaching his face.

As his hands, separated like the open mouth of a clam, clapped together with a sound, his vision spun. Even in his dizziness, he held onto Laila tightly in his arms to not let her go.

He felt their bodies endlessly falling into a distant space.