"Do you know how many companies were completely wiped out by Krazar thirty five years ago? Two. A full two."

"......."

"That means two hundred Holy Knights were devoured by Krazar."

Bale’s gaze sharpened.

Olek sighed and continued with a heavy expression.

"Even though it was a very long time ago, there is one thing I remember perfectly clearly. The white bones that poured out of the red mist."

A scene surfaced in Olek’s memory.

The outskirts of Popullos thirty five years ago, when the district was far smaller than it is now.

"Everyone calm down! House Luminel has brought the entire Holy Knight Order to besiege the magic stone!"

On that day the people of the Popullos region were filled with excitement.

At last the knights had arrived, the ones who were supposed to drive out the magical creature that had seized their lands.

"Once the magic stone is besieged the famine will end. We will be able to hunt in the forest again. The smelters and mines will start working again...."

But the people’s hope did not last long.

After countless magical beasts pouring out of the magic stone were slaughtered, the most dangerous and powerful opponent appeared.

"...That bastard literally had no form."

The absolute enemy that emerged from the magic stone.

Krazar’s body, in one word, resembled mist.

A red mist, faintly glowing like water spreading across the ground in the depths of a forest.

"Only when the knights who fearlessly charged forward began disappearing one after another did everyone realize. They had been dragged into Krazar’s subspace."

The magical creature Krazar had no sharp teeth and no claws.

Yet it began killing people faster and more precisely than any other magical beast.

"When Krazar’s subspace opens, it is impossible to interfere from the outside. To escape, someone inside must tear apart the veil of space."

"The veil of space...?"

"The invisible boundary surrounding the subspace."

But tearing that veil of space was far from easy.

Those who were dragged into Krazar’s subspace inevitably faced their greatest fear.

In fact, while Krazar digested roughly two hundred people, only one person managed to overcome the madness and escape.

"Young Master Luminel."

The young Holy Knight who had been twenty years old at the time.

Valentis Luminel.

"Does it sound believable that when two full companies were destroyed, only one person survived? Back then it was truly...."

Olek’s body trembled slightly as he recalled the past.

"The mist spread endlessly. It moved so fast that it seemed it would swallow not only Popullos but the entire surrounding region."

If Valentis Luminel had not torn the veil of space and escaped after five days, Krazar might still be alive even now.

"So what now? Are you saying our squad leader was dragged into that subspace?!"

At Bale’s irritated question Olek nodded anxiously.

"Why do you think the church order and blacksmiths like us buy up the cores of magical beasts?"

He nervously fiddled with the whetstone hanging at his belt and continued quickly.

"Even after the beast disappears, the magic it used during its life remains inside the core. Problems begin when too much of that residual magic remains."

Basto frowned.

"Krazar was an extraordinarily powerful creature. That is why an enormous amount of magic remained inside its core."

"So?"

"Just now that core cracked for some reason, and the magic inside began leaking out! And magic that loses control outside the core tries to return to its original form out of habit!"

"Its original form?"

"Krazar! You saw that cursed mist yourself, the one that drags people into subspace!"

Basto’s lips parted slightly.

He clearly remembered the red stone that had cracked in Tie’s hands, and the smoke flowing out of it.

"Then what should we do?"

Basto’s eyes widened and his face went pale.

"You said that once Krazar’s subspace opens it is almost impossible to destroy it from the outside."

"That is correct. As far as I know the only way is to tear the veil of space from inside...."

"And if that fails?"

Bale interrupted him.

"If our squad leader cannot escape? What happens if she cannot tear that veil apart?"

Olek fell silent.

A moment later he quietly muttered,

"...Then she will slowly dissolve in there."

In his mind the horrifying scene he had seen as a child surfaced again.

The black red mist at the edge of the forest spewing out a pile of two hundred skeletons.

"Dammit!"

After Bale’s curse the Weapon Pavilion fell into dead silence.

"Ouch."

Meanwhile Astie opened her eyes somewhere in a dark place.

And immediately frowned from pain in her backside.

"It hurts...."

Not only her backside hurt.

For some reason her waist and her back were aching too.

Tie first got up and looked around in alarm.

"Where am I...?"

At that moment—

Drip.

A cold drop of water fell onto her cheek.

She lifted her head.

Black storm clouds completely covered the sky.

Gugugun—

Right after that a terrifying roll of thunder sounded and the rain grew heavier.

Baaam!

At that moment a loud horn blared right beside her ear.

Tie stepped back.

An old gray car sped past right in front of her nose.

Tie wiped the dirty water running down her cheek in confusion.

Looking around, she muttered in disbelief,

"Jongno...?"

A rainy night street.

The place where Tie was standing now was unmistakably Korea.

Splash, splash.

Every step she took made muddy water splash along the street.

Tie tried to ignore the sound and quietly muttered to herself.

"Chocolate... pizza... fried chicken...."

But no matter how many delicious foods she listed, the fear did not go away.

From the very beginning a truly dreadful scene had been unfolding before her eyes.

Rusty iron gates lying beside the road.

Buildings where the gray concrete had been exposed.

Broken windows and flooded streets.

And the occasional cars driving along the road even though there was no one in the driver’s seat.

"Sweet tomatoes... Vienna sausages... meat... dumplings...."

The voice she was desperately trying to maintain gradually began to tremble.

"Uncle...."

Tie wiped the tears beginning to flow from her eyes and called out to Basto.

"Bale oppa! ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ Grandpa Nordix!"

But as before there was no answer.

Only the heavy rain could be heard.

Tie sniffed and looked down at the muddy water that reached her calves.

Then she slowly turned around.

Behind her the street she had come from stretched endlessly into the distance.

Zzzzzz—

At that moment a crackling sound came from behind her.

Tie flinched.

In the distance something flashed with a red light on an empty stall.

"What is that...?"

Looking closely, she saw it.

It was a radio left on the stall.

Frightened, Tie took a step back.

[xx-h... stat... weath... influ...]

The radio flickered red several times and began broadcasting a weather forecast through crackling static.

[—At present due to the influence of a typhoon, heavy rain warnings have been issued across most of the country. Strong gusts of wind and rainfall are expected... central regions may see up to one hundred millimeters of precipitation per hour...]

Tie’s face darkened.

"A typhoon...?"

Rain.

Thunder.

Lightning.

And now a typhoon.

An empty night street and a crackling radio.

Tie’s body trembled and she swallowed involuntarily.

Because all of this was exactly what Tie feared the most.