Inside the alchemical carriage compartment.
The fire in the stove had already gone out, but the residual warmth remained.
So the interior of the carriage was quite comfortable.
Yalina, the bride from The Robber Bridegroom, sat in her seat, feeling extremely at ease, and before she knew it, she had drifted off to sleep.
By the time she had finished enjoying a good rest and was awakened by Levi's voice, she climbed down from the rear ladder of the alchemical carriage compartment—only to discover that they had already arrived in front of an estate.
A pale, deathly white full moon hung high above the treetops, like a giant eyelidless eye, nailing its cold gaze onto the silhouette of the estate.
Under that gaze, the stone walls seemed to seep a bluish-gray chill, while creeping vines coiled around them like frozen blood vessels.
The shattered windows at the tips of the towers resembled hollow eye sockets, as though they were staring back at the sky's enormous eye.
As moonlight flowed over the withered garden, every shadow twisted into the posture of kneeling in worship.
Even the sound of the wind passing through the ruined estate carried a faintly shrill, mournful tone.
Yalina pulled her clothes tighter around herself, inexplicably feeling a trace of cold.
Her fiancé's estate had already felt somewhat quiet during the day—but at night, it exuded an eerie, unsettling sense of horror.
Especially the moon above the estate—after only a few glances, Yalina felt a strange heaviness in her chest.
Levi also sensed that something was off. With a thought, he cast a Detection on the estate:
[An estate under the gaze of an evil god, where a dark ritual is being carried out, using a young girl as a sacrifice.]
[Yalina's fiancé is, in truth, a follower of an evil god, using rituals to please demons in exchange for blessings.]
[His knightly power also comes from that evil god.]
[There are two other followers of the same evil god, both possessing knight-level power.]
[If this ritual succeeds, one of the followers within the estate will ascend to the rank of a Great Knight.]
Seeing this information, Levi was momentarily stunned. None of this had been mentioned in the fairy tale.
And in a proper fairy tale world, an evil god appearing like this… wasn't that a bit beyond the scope?
But then Levi quickly thought of something—demons had appeared many times in fairy tales before.
So the existence of an evil god, while unexpected, was still within reason.
Levi pondered for a moment. Since Detection had not indicated any immediate danger, he decided to go in and take a look.
Just then, Yalina turned her head toward him.
Forcing a smile, she said to Levi, "Thank you very much, Mr. Levi, for accompanying me on this not-so-long journey."
"I will honor our agreement."
"When I return tomorrow, I will give you what I promised."
"For now… you may leave."
Yalina felt that something about this estate was wrong.
But she didn't want Levi to take any risks for her.
Levi, however, shook his head. "That won't do. We agreed that I would escort you to your fiancé's estate."
"This is my fiancé's estate," Yalina said.
"I know," Levi replied, "but I haven't escorted you inside yet."
"But…"
Before Yalina could finish, Levi cut her off. "Miss Yalina, if you want me to leave sooner, I suggest you don't waste any more time."
"…Alright."
Yalina could see his good intentions, and a warm feeling rose in her heart. She stopped insisting and said, "In that case, let's go in together."
With that, she walked ahead, heading toward the part of the estate where light was visible.
Levi smiled and followed behind her.
The estate gates were open.
So the two of them entered without obstruction.
And along the way, they didn't encounter a single servant.
Both of them possessed above-average physical abilities, and their walking speed was fast.
Before long, they arrived in front of the lit room.
Faint sounds could be heard coming from inside, somewhat noisy.
Hearing those sounds, unease crept into Yalina's heart, and her nerves tightened.
Suddenly—
a rather strange voice cried out, startling her.
"Turn back, beautiful bride! Turn back and go home! Leave this den of robbers, leave this place at once, and return home!"
Yalina looked around, and quickly discovered that the voice came from a birdcage hanging above the doorway.
Inside the cage was a small bird resembling a nightingale, flapping its wings.
It was the one speaking.
A nightingale… that could speak.
Yalina was astonished.
Levi also noticed it, and immediately reacted—this was the strange bird from the fairy tale The Robber Bridegroom that had warned Yalina.
It was precisely because of its warning that, in the original story, Yalina had raised her guard.
With a thought, Levi cast a Detection at it—
[A being that was originally an ordinary yet beautiful young girl, who, after approaching a certain old witch's magical castle, was transformed by a spell into a nightingale and imprisoned in a birdcage.]
[The old witch gave this nightingale to the three followers of the evil god, so that they could contact her whenever needed.]
[The kind-hearted nightingale will warn every unfortunate girl deceived and brought here by the robbers—but those girls ultimately cannot escape their fate.]
After receiving this information, Levi's eyes narrowed slightly.
He hadn't expected that a mere bird in The Robber Bridegroom would have such a background.
'This fairy tale really is full of witches who curse others at every turn…' Levi thought to himself.
At this moment, the people inside the room also heard the noise outside.
Several burly men walked out—each holding blades, clad in leather armor, their appearances fierce, their bodies covered in scars.
When they saw Levi and Yalina—
Levi was completely ignored.
Their gazes fell upon Yalina instead, and a lecherous light burst forth in their eyes.
"What a lovely little beauty."
"Come inside with us."
"We'll make you feel the utmost pleasure."
As they spoke, several of the men reached out to grab Yalina. As for Levi, they had no such gentleness—one of the men was directly sent forward, raising his blade to cut him down.
Yalina didn't hesitate for even a moment. She drew the short sword at her side, avoided the man's grasp, and in one swift motion, thrust her blade straight into one of the men's bodies.
The strike was both ruthless and precise.
Caught completely off guard, the man was stabbed through. Blood sprayed out, his entire body going limp as he collapsed to the ground, convulsing briefly before dying.
Another man, whose attack Yalina had just evaded, saw this scene and was startled. His expression turned serious as he drew the weapon at his waist and lunged at Yalina.
Once he got serious, he actually unleashed strength at the level of a knight squire.
But Yalina's reaction was faster, her movements more agile. She easily dodged his thrust, seized the opening, and with a single slash, cut off his right arm.
"Ah! My arm—!" the man screamed in agony.
Yalina seized the opportunity and thrust out another strike, piercing straight through his throat.
The man clutched his throat, unable to cry out, his expression twisting as he collapsed to the ground, dying soon after.
But Yalina did not relax.
She hadn't forgotten Levi.
Turning her head to look in his direction, she found that the man who had attacked him had already fallen silently to the ground—by the looks of it, thoroughly dead.
Meanwhile, Levi stood there with an indifferent expression.
Yalina was startled. It was as if she were seeing Levi for the first time, studying him deeply.
Levi noticed her gaze. His expression didn't change in the slightest—he simply smiled faintly.
Only then did Yalina come to a realization—someone who dared to wander alone like this… how could he possibly be simple?
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but the nightingale in the cage cried out again—
"Careful! Careful! Beautiful bride, handsome knight—danger! Danger is about to descend!"
Yalina froze for a moment, her gaze unconsciously shifting toward the nightingale in the cage.
She saw the nightingale's wings pointing toward the room.
Following its direction, Yalina looked toward the room.
At the doorway, three men appeared—each with cold expressions, black energy still lingering around their bodies.
One was a middle-aged man with a full beard.
One was a burly bald brute.
And the third was a handsome man with sinister eyes—it was none other than Yalina's fiancé, Jacob, whom she had met a few times before.
They stepped out of the room, followed by six or seven vicious-looking men.
The three leaders, the ones emanating black energy, glanced coldly at the three dead companions on the ground, their expressions completely unmoved.
On the contrary, when they looked at Yalina, delight appeared on their faces.
The bald brute spoke first, "Perfect. We were just lacking a sacrifice that would satisfy our lord. And now—she's delivered herself right to our door."
"I'll say this first—this woman is my fiancée. In the next ritual, I will take a larger share," Yalina's fiancé, Jacob, said.
"We can discuss that later. Right now, the most important thing is to capture them," the bearded middle-aged man said, his eyes locked tightly onto Yalina.
Jacob showed a displeased expression, but he seemed to have some reservations. He cast a glance at the burly men behind him, and they immediately spread out, moving to surround Levi and Yalina.
Yalina had no choice but to move closer to Levi.
She knew her fiancé's strength—he was someone who truly possessed knight-level power, having been rewarded with this estate by a lord after killing a relatively dangerous monster.
Although Yalina had the ability to kill two of those burly men, she was absolutely no match for Jacob.
Not to mention that at Jacob's side stood two other men who seemed to be on equal footing with him—or perhaps even of higher status—along with a group of burly henchmen.
Yalina's expression turned grim. She also didn't believe Levi could deal with so many people.
Lowering her voice, she said to Levi, "I'm sorry… I've dragged you into this."
"In a moment, I'll try my best to hold them off. You run outside."
"Once you're out, spread the word that this place is a den of robbers."
Levi glanced at Yalina with a hint of appreciation. At a time like this, this woman still had such a chivalrous heart?
Even married couples go their separate ways when disaster strikes.
Let alone strangers like them, who had known each other for less than a day.
What a foolish woman.
Levi thought to himself. Looking at Yalina—her expression stern, yet unable to hide the tension and panic deep in her eyes—he simply said, "Alright."
Hearing this, Yalina let out a small sigh of relief. She had truly been afraid that Levi wouldn't agree to leave.
It seemed he was still rational.
And yet, there was a faint trace of dissatisfaction in her heart—perhaps because Levi had agreed too readily.
At that moment, her fiancé let out a cold laugh. "Trying to leave? That won't do!"
"You're both staying here today!"
"To become sacrifices for my lord!"
"Yalina, this is your honor—to return to the embrace of my lord!" Jacob said as he looked at her.
As a knight—and a very seasoned one at that, in the prime of his physical condition—his five senses far surpassed those of ordinary people. The whispered words Yalina had said to Levi had been heard by him word for word.
Yalina's expression immediately turned unpleasant upon hearing this.
At this moment—
Jacob no longer wished to waste time. With a wave of his hand, all his subordinates charged forward.
Yalina's entire body tensed.
At most, she could handle two or three of those burly men at the same time.
But now there were seven vicious robbers.
She simply couldn't deal with them.
At this point, Yalina's only hope rested on Levi.
She hoped that this mysterious traveler could handle four or five of them at once.
Only then would they have a chance to escape.
Although reason told her this was unlikely,
it was her only hope.
Yalina focused all her attention, gripping her short sword tightly, preparing to fight to the death.
At the very peak of tension—her eyes suddenly caught flashes of afterimages darting between the seven burly men, weaving through them before returning to her side and coming to a stop—revealing Levi's figure.
At the same time, fatal dents appeared in the vital areas of the seven vicious men's bodies, as if each had been crushed by a single punch.
The seven robbers didn't even have time to make a sound before collapsing, dead.
Now, only Jacob and the other two men remained.
Seeing this scene, their expressions tightened, their gazes all locking onto Levi.
The bearded middle-aged man's face darkened as he stared at Levi and said, "A Great Knight! You're actually a Great Knight."
The moment those words were spoken, Jacob, the bald man, and Yalina were all shocked.
No one had expected Levi to possess the strength of a Great Knight.
Under everyone's gaze, Levi remained completely calm. He merely gave a slight nod to the stunned Yalina.
Meanwhile, the bearded middle-aged man shouted loudly, "Attack together!"
"Hold nothing back!"
As he spoke, his body grew even more robust, and the pressure of his aura surged dramatically.
That was the activation of the life energy seed within his body.
This was something one gained upon reaching the knight rank—it could temporarily enhance all physical attributes, though at a great cost and for a limited duration.
But the effect was obvious.
This bearded middle-aged man seemed to have undergone some kind of ritual, boosting his strength so that his physical capabilities had reached the level of a Great Knight—though he was still somewhat inferior to Levi.
However, after activating his life energy seed, his physical attributes were significantly enhanced.
At this moment, it was actually Levi who was at a disadvantage compared to this bearded middle-aged man.
Levi's Great Knight strength referred to his physical stats reaching the level of a Great Knight.
As for the life energy seed—Levi also possessed one, but it was only at the knight level.
He had yet to raise it to the level of a Great Knight.