Silvia POV:
As the blinding light faded, I slowly opened my eyes and looked around in confusion.
"Luke...?"
My heart skipped a beat.
He isn’t here.
Panic instantly spread through my chest as I looked around frantically.
"No... where is he?" I muttered with trembling lips. "I was holding his hand..."
"LUKE!!!"
My voice echoed across the unfamiliar surroundings.
"I’M HERE! WHERE ARE YOU?! PLEASE ANSWER ME!"
I screamed again and again until my lungs burned with pain.
But no reply came.
Tears slowly streamed down my face as strength left my body.
I collapsed onto my knees, my hands trembling uncontrollably.
Then—
*Shatter.*
The sound of space breaking apart echoed nearby.
I quickly lifted my head.
A dark portal had suddenly torn open in the air, emitting an ominous energy that made my entire body tense instinctively.
"Silvia! Come back here! We need to leave immediately!"
A familiar voice called out urgently.
Moments later, a young man with black hair and sharp crimson eyes flew out of the portal at incredible speed.
It is my cousin—Evander Nightveil.
"Evan..."
The moment I saw him, my emotions nearly overflowed again.
"I lost Luke..." I whispered weakly, tears still falling from my eyes.
Evander’s expression darkened slightly, but he quickly grabbed my waist.
"Forget about him for now," he said seriously. "We have to go. This place is dangerous."
The next moment, he flew back toward the portal while carrying me with him.
But suddenly—
"Demonic spawn... die."
A cold, majestic voice thundered from behind us.
I turned around just in time to see a gigantic holy spear descending from the sky, radiating terrifying divine power strong enough to distort the surrounding space.
Evander’s expression instantly changed.
However—
Before the spear could reach us, a massive palm formed entirely from dark energy emerged from the portal itself and crushed the holy spear effortlessly.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The collision shook the surroundings violently.
Then a tall figure slowly stepped out of the portal.
The overwhelming pressure surrounding him made the air itself feel heavier.
"Father..."
My eyes widened in shock.
The one who had appeared is my father.
But before I could ask anything—
"There’s no time to explain," he said coldly.
The next instant, he grabbed both of us and pulled us into the portal.
Then the portal closed behind us, sealing the shattered space once more.
"Did you find out Kevin died?" asked a middle-aged man clad in heavy armor. His cold eyes stared down at the woman kneeling before him.
"I-I did, my lord..." the woman replied nervously. She was dressed in a waiter’s uniform, and her entire body trembled under the pressure in the room. "But it seems the news was deliberately suppressed."
The armored man narrowed his eyes. "Continue."
"A man named Luke started getting Miss Rose’s attention," she explained carefully. "Young Master Kevin became furious after finding out. He planned to assault someone close to Luke before killing him afterward."
She hesitated briefly before continuing.
"But Luke returned... and killed all of them."
The atmosphere instantly turned colder.
"Doesn’t he know Kevin belonged to the Kaeser Family?" the armored man asked in a chilling voice.
"M-My lord, from what I discovered... he knows," she answered while lowering her head even further. "He simply didn’t care."
For a moment, silence filled the room.
Then the man slowly clenched his fist, veins bulging beneath his armored glove.
"Good..." he muttered darkly. "Someone dares provoke my family and believes he can walk away as if nothing happened."
At that moment, another man standing nearby stepped forward. Unlike the armored noble, he looked calm and refined, dressed like a professional butler.
"Sir, directly targeting them may prove difficult," the butler said carefully. "Both Luke and that girl are currently traveling with the caravan."
"I know," the armored man replied coldly.
A dangerous smile slowly appeared on his face.
"Send the assassins after them. Those lunatics are perfect for this kind of work."
"Understood, my lord."
The butler bowed respectfully before leaving the room.
A few moments later, the sound of a woman screaming and pleading echoed out from the room.
### Luke POV:
[Host has gained 48,650P from defeating monsters ranging from E+ to F- rank within the last 24 hours.]
"Now that’s exactly the kind of morning I like waking up to," I said with a grin.
Right now, I had a total of **103,636P**.
Soon, I would finally be able to rank up.
But before that, I decided to strengthen Vargan and Vorak first.
Without hesitation, I purchased forty E- rank cores and forty E rank cores from the shop.
After transferring the cores into the Death Realm, both Vargan and Vorak immediately began absorbing them.
Not long afterward, both of them successfully reached **E+ rank**.
Now I possessed four elite fighters at peak E+ strength.
After mounting an undead wolf, I headed toward the caravan’s gathering location.
When I arrived, I was greeted by a massive scene.
More than fifty large wagon carriages were prepared for passengers, while over a hundred cargo carts carried various goods and supplies.
"What a huge operation..." I muttered.
Still, it made sense.
Most adventurers were returning toward the kingdom, and many powerful fighters were traveling alongside the caravan. Transporting goods under their protection was far safer than normal.
"Sorry for being late," I said while approaching Rose, who was busy assigning guarding duties to the adventurers.
"It’s fine. You arrived on time," she replied before pointing toward one of the passenger wagons.
I boarded the wagon and waited quietly for departure.
After some time, the caravan finally began moving.
Most of the journey passed peacefully. I spent my time chatting with other passengers and occasionally talking with Rose whenever she had free time.
Most people within the caravan were merchants, and Rose had personally taken responsibility for organizing their safety.
As night fell, the caravan eventually stopped to rest.
Fortunately, the journey during the day had been mostly uneventful. Aside from a few wandering monsters that were quickly dealt with by the adventurers, no serious ambushes occurred.
Workers immediately began setting up tents and preparing cooking stations for the hundreds of travelers.
A while later, I found Rose still busy giving orders to the workers.
I sat beside her, and the two of us casually began talking about her experiences as an adventurer.
However, somewhere in the distance, someone was staring at them with an expression that practically screamed:
*Why aren’t you two dead already, you lovebirds...*
At that same moment, Elena stepped out of her wagon and noticed Lily preparing food for dinner nearby.
Smiling lightly, Elena walked over and sat beside her.
But soon, she noticed Lily staring intensely toward a man and woman sitting together in the distance.
One of them was clearly Rose.
As for the man... he was unfamiliar to Elena.
"What happened, Lily?" Elena asked curiously. "Did that person do something bad to you?"
After all, she had already heard about the recent incident involving Lily.
Lily slowly came out of her daze and looked toward Elena for a brief moment before turning back toward Luke and Rose again.
"Elena... do you have poison?" Lily asked in a chilling tone.
Elena nearly choked in shock.
Did something terrible actually happen?
But then Lily spoke again.
"That bastard is acting all lovey-dovey with another woman. Can’t he come sit beside me instead?"
Elena froze for a second before finally realizing the truth.
So that was the man who had saved Lily that night.
"Lily, calm down. Maybe he doesn’t even know you’re here," Elena tried to explain. "And honestly, it just looks like they’re talking normally—"
But before she could finish speaking, Lily’s expression darkened further.
In the distance, Luke and Rose suddenly burst into loud laughter together.
"Tap... tap... tap..."
Lily began stabbing the meat she was preparing with terrifying speed.
Elena silently looked toward the meat with pity.
*Poor Luke...*
Without another word, Elena quickly decided to leave before Lily redirected her anger toward innocent bystanders.
After finishing dinner, I headed deeper into the forest to get some fresh air.
However, after walking for a short while, I noticed someone following behind me.
My expression immediately turned cold.
"Wow... I’m so happy for you, Luke. You even got yourself a girlfriend."
The moment I heard the familiar voice, I froze slightly.
"Lily?"
I turned around.
The sight in front of me caught me completely off guard.
Lily was wearing a black coat loosely draped over a soft pink nightgown that did absolutely nothing to hide her figure. In one hand, she carried a bottle of alcohol while her cheeks were slightly flushed from drinking.
"You never told me about this," Lily said drunkenly while pointing the bottle toward me. "Otherwise, I would’ve helped you get together with Rose."
"Lily, you’re misunderstanding things," I said helplessly while trying to calm her down. "We’re just friends."
"Friends?" she repeated while raising the bottle high into the air. "Then why are you always with her instead of me? I invited you too..."
Smash!
She suddenly slammed the bottle onto the ground, shattering it into countless sharp pieces.
I immediately rushed forward to stop her from accidentally hurting herself on the broken glass.
But the moment I got close, Lily suddenly pulled me into a tight embrace.
"Do you know how worried I was?" she whispered shakily. "Everyone came back... but you didn’t..."
Her voice trembled as tears slowly began falling from her eyes.
"I-I thought you died..."
Then she started weakly hitting my chest with her fists.
"I hate you... I hate you so much..."
"I’m sorry," I said softly while returning the hug. "Things became complicated, and I got caught up in everything afterward. By the time I tried finding you the next morning, your inn was already closed too."
"But Lily, do you know?"
She tilted her head, brown hair framing her face.
"Know what?" she whispered.
I leaned in.
"If you come to me dressed like this, how can I possibly control myself?"
Her breath hitched. A flush crept up her neck.
"I... I just wanted to look nice for you," she murmured, lowering her gaze.
"You look more than nice. You look like a temptation I can’t ignore."
"You really think so?"
I snapped my arm around her waist, jerking her body hard against mine. Lily let out a sharp gasp.
"Wait—!"
But as we were about to continue, my Sixth sense start sending me deep warning.