There were far too many troubling implications to dismiss it as mere wordplay.
Rud had come this far as a Secret Police Officer to capture Shuran.
Didia, Letra, and Shairin, on the other hand, had risked their lives and followed him to Shuran’s mansion to rescue Darren, the nephew of the deceased Ritra.
Two of them had taken a different route along the way, but they were expected to rejoin the group soon.
Nearly an entire day had passed since Karte revealed the location of Shuran’s mansion.
They had devised their plan without taking any time to rest. They had even calculated precisely how long each person would take to reach their destination.
Their preparations were flawless.
Rud had been confident that he could easily overcome whatever scheme Shuran attempted.
As though determined to shatter that illusion in the most miserable way possible, Arsil screamed with a face twisted by madness.
“Even if you return us to lifeless corpses with your own hands, Shuran loses nothing. He can simply dig up another grave and replenish his forces. But what about you?”
“…”
“That woman Didia has already discovered that you are a Dark Mage. Yes, I have no idea what sort of friendship you formed while traveling together, but now that she knows you are one of us, do you honestly think she will leave you alone?! Not a chance!”
The pressure of Rud’s hand around Arsil’s head gradually increased.
CRACK!
The unpleasant sound of her skull fracturing reached his ears.
Arsil continued without concern.
“Those pretty little dreams do not exist anywhere in this world. Humans are sinful beasts who can never earn anyone’s trust!!”
Arsil’s final scream did not last long.
BANG!!
Filthy fragments scattered from Rud’s fingertips like debris caught in the wind.
The noise that had assaulted his ears fell silent as though its Lifespan had finally ended.
Arsil, who had been trapped in his grasp only moments ago, had vanished without a trace.
Rud had sent a Shockwave into her body and detonated her like a bomb.
A blade-like chill swept across his skin.
Her remains had already disappeared completely, yet why did it feel as though an enormous Icicle had lodged itself in his chest?
Rud pressed his lips together and said nothing.
He would meet Shuran soon.
He could not allow himself to be swayed by such manipulative words.
Struggling to steady his shaken mind, Rud began walking with heavy steps.
“Karte, I will thaw you out later.”
Didia’s thoughts descended into confusion.
She gripped her throbbing head with one hand and bit her lip.
Letra had clearly said that a Mage named Loeb was the one who defeated her older sister while she was under the effects of Balaid.
She had then asked them to find him, and Didia and Shairin had barely managed to locate him and keep him in one place.
Where had everything gone wrong?
As it turned out, Letra had never intended to bring Loeb to the Magic Association.
When he used magic without producing any detectable Mana response, she had realized that he was a Dark Mage and sent Didia and Shairin to capture him.
‘Then why did Letra never tell us the truth?’
There was still far too much she did not know.
The questions she needed to solve continued piling up one after another.
Didia considered them carefully, but when she failed to reach any answer, she pushed the doubts circling her mind into its furthest corner.
‘…For now, I need to focus on rescuing Darren.’
If they could recover his soul, Darren would be able to return to normal.
She would not think about whom she ought to trust.
Loeb had gone to Shuran’s location to rescue Darren. The results that emerged in the near future would reveal the truth behind everything.
Didia inhaled deeply and calmed herself.
Gaten, who had been running steadily forward, suddenly came to a halt.
“Gaten, what is wrong?”
GRRRRR…!
Gaten bared his sharp teeth viciously, apparently having seen something.
Sensing an ominous presence, Didia looked in the same direction.
A man with Gray skin stood approximately fifty meters ahead, blocking the road.
He appeared to be in his early forties. His beard had grown long and untidy, while his Blond Hair was swept back from his exposed forehead and arranged into severe angles, as though it were the last vestige of his pride.
He wore Armor that gleamed Silver.
A long Bastard Sword hung at his waist. Judging by his appearance, he resembled a Knight from ancient times.
“Is that…?”
His skin possessed the same Dark Gray hue as Karte’s and Arsil’s.
The man drew the Bastard Sword resting at his waist and slowly approached them.
Gaten instinctively sensed the threat and barked loudly enough for the sound to echo throughout the mountains.
“BARK!!”
Even then, the man did not stop.
Quickly assessing the situation, Didia urgently shouted at Gaten.
“Gaten, you cannot fight him! Run away!!!”
The moment she spoke, Gaten swiftly abandoned his defensive stance, turned around, and fled.
His expression twisted slightly, as though he found the retreat unacceptable, but this was the best choice Didia could make.
If the man was a corpse controlled by Shuran, like Karte and Arsil, then he undoubtedly possessed abilities comparable to theirs.
Furthermore, Knights of the past had undergone brutal training so that they could rival Mages even without casting magic.
She could not confront him alone.
However, they were deep in the mountains, with no other people anywhere nearby.
She had to endure somehow until they met Letra and Shairin.
Didia tightly clutched the collar of Darren, who sat soullessly beside her, and cautiously looked behind them.
THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD!!
The Knight was rapidly closing the distance at a speed even greater than Gaten’s.
Didia could not believe her eyes.
How could a mere human keep pace with an animal running on four legs?
At this rate, he would catch them almost immediately.
Sensing mortal danger, Didia shouted at the top of her lungs.
“Gaten, run faster!!”
The distance between them shrank to less than ten meters in an instant.
Cold sweat ran down Didia’s face.
Even Gaten frowned as though he could not believe the situation.
He was prepared to sacrifice his life for his master, but it was physically impossible for him to run any faster.
THUD!
Once the wolf entered his range, the Knight gripped the Bastard Sword firmly in both hands and kicked off the ground.
The force surpassed the limits of an ordinary human.
Didia suddenly remembered that although Knights of the past had been unable to cast magic, they had still been capable of manipulating Mana.
“No…!”
Only a few meters separated them.
The Knight could easily reach them merely by extending his sword.
Didia hurriedly turned around and prepared to hurl any spell she could muster.
At that moment, an enormous tree came flying from the side and struck the Knight with a heavy impact.
WHOOOOSH—THUD!!
The Knight’s body flew into the distance like a ball struck by a bat.
Didia stared in confusion toward the direction from which the tree had come.
Familiar faces were running toward her in a desperate hurry.
“Didia!!”
“Are you hurt anywhere?!”
Shairin and Letra shouted loudly.
Before Didia could greet them with a relieved smile, the Knight immediately rose as though nothing had happened, despite being struck by a one-ton tree, and lunged rapidly toward her.
“…?!”
Shairin was the first to notice.
There was no time to say anything.
Didia’s gaze was still fixed on them, and Letra possessed no magic capable of crossing such a vast distance in a single instant.
Without the slightest hesitation, Shairin surrounded her entire body with Blue Lightning and desperately closed the distance between herself and the Knight.
The Knight was not someone who would fail to react to such an attack.
If anything, he was pleased that Shairin had willingly flown directly before him.
CRACK—SLASH!!
A flash of lightning erupted beside Didia, so bright that she could not keep her eyes open.
She could not tell what had happened.
Even Letra stopped running and stared blankly, unable to comprehend the scene.
The Knight bounced heavily off the ground before dropping with a thud.
Shairin also fell from the air and collapsed helplessly onto the earth.
“Shairin…?”
Didia’s face rapidly turned deathly pale.
The lightning had prevented her from seeing clearly, but during the brief instant when her vision remained intact, she had seen the Knight’s sword carve deeply across Shairin’s abdomen.
No.
That could not be true.
She must have seen it incorrectly.
Unable to comprehend the violent pounding of her heart, Didia slowly lowered her head like a broken toy.
“Ah…”
A pained sound escaped her like an involuntary exclamation.
A brief series of memories flashed through Didia’s mind.
They were not scenes from her own childhood.
They were memories of the years of youth she had spent growing alongside Shairin.
Shairin lay collapsed in a pool of blood, her intestines spilled from her body.
A dark crimson puddle spread across the filthy ground.
She had already stopped breathing.
Her unfocused, open eyes stared vacantly in different directions.
Gaten’s face twisted with grief.
Shairin had always irritated him because she constantly argued with his master whenever the opportunity arose.
He had often thought he would teach her a lesson someday, but he had never imagined that she would leave them like this.
Tears gathered in his eyes.
Letra covered her mouth with both hands, which had fallen open in horror.
“N-No… God, please!”
No matter how desperately she prayed, the reality before her did not change.
The Knight slowly rose and flicked the blood from his Bastard Sword.
“I tore through her intestines. There is no chance she will survive.”
“Hope gives birth to despair, and sacrifice changes a life.”
Shuran spoke to himself as he gazed across a rippling Lake that reflected the Blue sky.
“Even if a person adorns himself in righteousness, a battle with nothing to gain ultimately drags no one but himself into the abyss. So what exactly are those bastards doing when they cling to worthless values and try to prevail?”
He sensed someone behind him.
The Lake reflected Shuran’s widening grin as clearly as a mirror.
“I enjoy crushing people like that until nothing remains but dust. No matter how long they live a life unsuited to their station, the truth will eventually be exposed, and they will return to where they originally belonged. Do you not agree?”
No answer came.
When only silence continued to pass, Shuran nodded as though amused.
“Was that too difficult for you to understand? Let me explain it more simply.”
A King belonged in a Royal Palace.
A Police Officer belonged in a Police Station.
A Mage belonged in the Magic Association.
Everyone had a stage upon which they were meant to stand.
If one person refused to follow that current and strayed elsewhere alone, would anyone in the world truly welcome them?
Dark Mages were no exception merely because they belonged to no organization.
Those who stepped outside the mold were eventually rejected.
Shuran understood that better than anyone.
He glanced at Rud, who stood behind him, and smiled.
“You will be abandoned, Rud Ren.”