"Hhh... hhh! Aahh..."

Tie stood beneath the streetlamp, breathing heavily as she released the breath she had been holding.

Her head was spinning, the kindergarten backpack barely hanging from one shoulder, and rainwater kept splashing into her eyes.

"King of the Dead! Where did you disappear to! You want to kill me and destroy my smeltery! Do you think the Furnace of Origin is a joke?!"

Behind her, Berugon’s furious shouting rang out again and again.

Startled, Tie hid behind a nearby recycling container.

Through the narrow gap between the bins, she saw Berugon.

He stood in the middle of the empty intersection, looking around wildly like a madman.

Goosebumps ran across her arms.

"Where are you, King of the Dead! Come out!"

At that moment another voice sounded faintly within Berugon’s voice.

Tie had seen something like that before.

More precisely, in a children’s television show.

'When the villain starts controlling the main character, the voice changes just like that!'

Tie stood up.

Then, carefully and quietly, she slipped into the nearest alley.

But as she jumped over a puddle on the asphalt, she stepped on a manhole cover.

"There!"

At the clanging sound, Berugon, standing far away, sharply turned his head toward Tie.

"Eeee!"

The moment their eyes met, Tie jumped in place and ran again.

Berugon chased after her.

And behind Berugon, the red haze followed.

"Stop! I will kill you!"

"Chief grandpa is chasing meeee...!"

Crying out, Tie tried to understand how everything had turned out like this.

This chase, more frightening than a typhoon, more frightening than a rainy night street, and more frightening than the crackling radio, had begun exactly twenty minutes ago.

From the moment Tie saw Krazar’s core in Berugon’s pocket.

"My weapons I will give to no one. Not to holy knights, not to mercenaries, not even to the emperor himself..."

Twenty minutes earlier.

Tie had covered her mouth when she saw something faintly glimmering inside Berugon’s clothes.

'Krazar’s {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} core!'

The very thing that had pulled both her and Berugon into the subspace.

'How did that happen?'

Her heart pounded, but Tie slapped her cheek sharply to pull herself together.

Her thoughts were simple, but logical.

'This is the space of fear created by Krazar!'

She did not know how to escape from here.

But at least Krazar’s core was right in front of her.

And Tie was still a mercenary with experience who had already subdued three Magic Stones.

'If I examine it, maybe I will learn something.'

The weakness of magical beasts was their core.

Before her eyes the core of Krazar glimmered faintly again.

'If I destroy it... maybe we can get out...?'

Tie looked at Berugon, who was still sitting there muttering to himself.

Then she slowly raised her hand.

'If I carefully... very carefully take it...'

But almost immediately she had to lower her hand.

"I will kill them all. I will drive them all away... Weapons are sacred. Filthy are people. Corrupted are people..."

Berugon’s eyes, as he muttered those incomprehensible words, looked far too ominous.

He resembled a bomb about to explode.

'It looks like he might bite Tie.'

Once, the black dog that Taeho from her kindergarten group kept had been just like that.

It would sit quietly, and then suddenly lunge at passersby.

But Tie had been careful and never let it bite her even once.

Tie stood still, thinking.

The core continued glowing softly beneath Berugon’s clothes.

'How can I take it?'

She silently watched the outline of the Magic Stone.

"Hm?"

Suddenly her gaze caught something else.

'...A thread?'

Now she noticed that something was extending out of Berugon’s inner pocket.

It looked like shiny craft wire.

Its thickness was uneven.

Following that thread with her eyes, Tie’s mouth fell open.

"It is connected to the haze?"

The core was connected to the red mist on the other side of the street that had been watching Tie.

Tie’s face immediately became serious.

"...Krazar." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Now it was no longer just a guess.

The instinct of a mercenary told her.

"So it really is you."

That red haze connected to the core was Krazar.

And right now it was controlling Berugon.

"King of the Dead..."

At that moment a strange voice came out of Berugon’s mouth.

And layered over it was another.

"King of the Dead."

Berugon suddenly lifted his head.

His eyes were still empty.

Tie clutched her kindergarten backpack against her chest.

"Do not come closer!"

But of course Berugon did not listen.

"King of the Dead, you..."

He stepped forward and said with a pale face,

"You I will kill."

The threat was too emotionless, and a chill ran across her skin.

And at that same moment—

[You will taste good.]

A quiet whisper sounded in the air.

Tie, frozen in terror, suddenly spun around the next second.

And ran with all her strength.

Because the moment the whisper touched her ears, Berugon and the red mist, as if they had been waiting for it, rushed after her.

Meanwhile, inside a greenhouse filled with soft sunlight.

"Continue. I am listening."

A calm voice spoke. The man who said it sat on a mahogany bench.

From the communicator in his hand came an immediate respectful reply.

[The situation is serious, so we are considering first announcing a muster of the three largest mercenary squads.]

"I see."

A bare foot touched the luxuriously intertwined lilies, roses, and violet irises.

Then the foot stilled again.

"Well, if Krazar’s core has reacted, the situation is indeed serious. However."

The owner of the voice slowly rose from the bench.

When he approached the marble fountain, the blue cloak swayed softly.

"Will those three squad leaders obey the association’s order?"

Long slender fingers tapped thoughtfully against the edge of the fountain.

A reply came immediately from the communicator.

["Silvar’s Cry" will most likely send people right away. We recently gave them a commission, so they earned well. The second, "Grim Reaper," is not a particularly rebellious squad. I think they will comply.]

"And Trevaga?"

The blue cloak turned, and the man walked back toward the mahogany bench.

"Will they move as well? To rescue those trapped in Krazar’s subspace, the Eye of Tesetan Veronio is extremely important. If he does not come, resolving the situation will be difficult."

[Yes. Although that unpleasant fellow might stubbornly refuse...]

A sigh came through the communicator.

[Still, it is worth trying to pressure him. After all, the weaponsmith Berugon is trapped.]

"Indeed. And we should not forget the unfortunate leader of Agavert, who has only just begun to gain recognition."

[So then we announce the muster?]

The footsteps that had been slowly pacing along the gallery finally stopped.

He answered only after a moment.

"Very well."

[Publicly?]

After a brief pause, the calm reply followed.

"Yes. It has been quiet for too long. I suppose it is time for the association to step onto the stage again."