‘Eustar.’

Laila groped in the pitch darkness, searching for Eustar. It was so dark she couldn’t even tell if her eyes were open or closed.

Moving her eyelids, she felt no sensation. She couldn’t tell if the cold thing touching her palm was ground, water, or ice.

‘Eustar!’

She moved her consciousness, searching only for Eustar’s presence. No, perhaps ‘moved’ wasn’t the right word.

She only thought she was ‘moving to find him’, but perhaps her body was actually motionless, abandoned in the darkness…

‘Eustar, where are you? Please, hear my voice. Listen and answer me.’

The sensation at her fingertips seemed to change slightly… Was it her imagination? No, it wasn’t.

She felt a very faint warmth nearby. Laila concentrated all her senses and carefully moved her fingertips. Very slowly, with the determination not to miss even the slightest gap.

‘Eustar!’

The moment her hand touched his cheek, Laila felt a shudder as if her whole body would burst.

Just confirming that life remained in him made her heart start pounding fiercely. She felt her blood surging through her body, screaming. The spread-out blood vessels pulsed rapidly.

As she was about to call out Eustar’s name once more, her vision brightened as if a curtain had been lifted. And then she heard a voice.

“Lady Kristrad! Damn it, Lady Kristrad!”

Momentarily confused by the ear-splitting voice, Laila couldn’t gather her wits. The expanse of deep golden wasteland before her eyes tilted at an impossible angle, then righted itself.

Only after this happened several times did Laila realize she was lying on the ground with her cheek pressed to it.

“Lady Kristrad!”

She soon realized that the person shouting madly beside her was Branch Manager Felix. His red hair was a mess.

Not only was it disheveled, but it was also covered in dirt, making parts of it unrecognizable, and there were even traces that looked burnt. What surprised Laila most was his blood-covered face.

“Felix, you…”

As Laila stirred, trying to get up, she burst into violent coughing. Her throat felt scorched, and tears welled up.

“Lady Kristrad, please don’t strain yourself.”

Felix said, supporting her. As Laila finally managed to sit up, she was momentarily frightened by her hazy vision.

Fearing she might have gone blind, she soon realized it wasn’t her eyes that were the problem. Her vision was obscured by smoke and dust rising from the wasteland.

As a gust of wind blew, the thick sandy dust scattered southward. Only then could Laila spot a few familiar faces among the Knights of Tentinella.

Branch managers, senior knights, and members… They all seemed tired and drained. Marnak, in particular, seemed worse off. She could tell he was standing only by sheer willpower.

“Those people…”

Opposite the Knights of Tentinella, closer to the city, another group of people was positioned. She saw figures wearing dark hoods and energy masses flickering like flames at their feet.

“They are magicians, Lady Kristrad.”

Felix answered, gritting his teeth. Laila let out a short, sigh-like breath and looked around.

“Eustar… Where is Eustar?”

“You mean His Royal Highness? He’s over there. Can’t you see?”

Felix pointed above Laila’s head. On top of a rock that had been sharply cut like a small cliff, she could see Eustar.

“Oh my goodness, Eustar.”

Where did such strength come from? As soon as she saw the motionless Eustar, Laila shook off Felix’s support and stood on her own two feet. Eustar’s body and face, lying on the rock, were covered in scratches and scorch marks.

“Eustar, wake up. Can you hear me? Eustar!”

“Lady Kristrad!”

Felix urgently approached and grabbed her shoulder.

“Lady Kristrad, please calm down. His Royal Highness is fine. I checked his breathing earlier. He’s just unconscious right now…”

Laila let out a long sigh. It was a sigh mixed with both lament and relief.

Pressing her throbbing forehead, she finally had the composure to look back. Just knowing that Eustar was alive gave her renewed strength to fight.

“Why is everyone just standing still?”

When she asked, Felix shot another murderous glance at the magicians’ camp and said,

“Who knows what’s going on in those sinister minds. Until Lady Kristrad and His Royal Highness suddenly appeared here, they were attacking non-stop, but then they suddenly stopped like that. Our side is also very tired, so we’re in a standoff, but we don’t know when the battle might resume. We’ve almost cleaned up though…”

Felix looked at Laila.

“Wouldn’t it be better for you to retreat, Lady Kristrad?”

Laila shook her head.

“I can’t do that.”

She swallowed once. Her throat still felt scorched and rough, but the pain like swallowing fire had subsided somewhat.

“I can’t do that. I… I have to finish this.”

Brushing off Felix’s restraint, she advanced towards the knights facing off against the magicians. One of the magicians who spotted Laila placed his palm on the ground.

With a thump-thump-thump sound, a golem made of earth and rock was created. With light shining from its hollow eye sockets, it immediately charged towards Laila.

“Lady Kristrad, step back!”

The moment the golem was created, Marnak and Byron stepped forward to protect Laila. But Laila now knew.

That feeling like her back was being struck, the feeling of Badin interfering with her magic – even without it, she could feel an overwhelming presence of magic within herself.

“Step aside, Branch Manager Marnak. You’re too exhausted.”

Laila whispered quickly in a low voice and waved her hand once in the air. Byron’s sword cutting the golem’s solid leg in two and the upper part of the golem scattering like a dried sand castle happened almost simultaneously.

“No!”

A dismayed cry erupted from the magicians’ side. Laila knew that confusion was also arising among them.

Some stood limply with their hands drooping, as if their sense of self had disappeared while being controlled by Neidora. Others were confused, unable to grasp the situation.

And a few others were taking offensive stances as if in a last desperate attempt. They were the ones who didn’t need to be controlled by Neidora Panang’s will. Those eager to recreate the tragedy of Jaokunst.

Laila slowly approached the magicians, passing through the Tentinella camp. She could see someone raising flames at the forefront. When she realized it was Jimius, she couldn’t hide her surprised expression.

“Jimius…”

Jimius, who had been standing with his arms crossed and flames enveloping his entire body, turned his head.

It was a very brief moment, but Laila saw flames flickering red or blue in his pupils. It was the gaze of a Decepter.

“Decepter…”

However, Jimius, or rather the Decepter, showed no reaction to Laila’s call. He turned his head back towards the magicians.

Only then did Laila notice that Jimius’s feet were slightly floating in the air, and she drew in a sharp breath.

What on earth is going on? Laila thought. Whatever had happened, the person in front of her was clearly not Jimius.

Felix and Byron, who had rushed over, followed her closely as if to protect her. As Laila continued to advance towards the magicians, Felix said,

“Lady Kristrad, it’s dangerous. We don’t know when they might attack…”

“It’s alright, Felix.”

As if hearing those words, flames burst right in front of Laila’s feet. But it posed no threat to her. Even the magician who had raised the flames was looking around in confusion.

At that moment, someone with a cold, gleaming gaze shouted,

“Step back, you filthy hybrid! How dare you interfere, you who sold your body to a demon!”

Laila’s eyes blinked silently. Just as the enraged Felix was about to charge forward, gripping his swords in both hands, Laila said,

“Felix, don’t go.”

“Lady Kristrad!”

“It’s alright.”

Repeating her previous words, Laila finally stopped walking. As the magicians at the front retreated hesitantly, Laila looked around at them with calm eyes and said,

“Yes, as you say, half of my blood comes from demons. If you want to know how efficiently I use it, keep talking.”

Mockery erupted again among the magicians.

“Hybrid!”

Then someone else shouted,

“Go back to the pit of fire!”

Laila’s lips moved almost imperceptibly. Suddenly, she recalled the last scene she had seen when leaving Rizikus.

The hostility and killing intent directed at her, the pointing fingers, flashed through her vision one by one. At that time, everything of hers was burning behind their backs. There was nothing Laila could do about it.

Rolling up her tattered sleeve, Laila extended her right hand diagonally forward.

As a bluish light seemed to flow from her fingertips, a huge magic circle formed above the magicians’ heads. Among the murmuring magicians, someone cried out in a terror-stricken voice.

“It’s a demon!”

“It’s the demon’s eye!”

Even Byron and Felix were looking at Laila with disbelieving expressions. It seemed as if a fierce wind they couldn’t feel was swirling around her. Her pomegranate-like eyes had deepened in color as if about to drip blood.

Under the huge magic circle, the magicians couldn’t flee or counterattack, instead stumbling over each other in confusion. As if trapped in one place by an invisible, narrow wall, they collided with each other, fell, and screamed.

Laila’s voice rang out clearly, cutting through the noise.

“You who dwell in the deepest place, awaken and come here. Come here for my adversary. Come here swiftly, bearing your golden breastplate.”

The magicians’ heads tilted back as if snapped. The same happened to Felix, Byron, and the other Tentinella members standing behind them.

They saw something larger than the biggest pillar of the temple extending down to the ground from the magic circle that had appeared in mid-air.