The overwhelming darkness that shrouded the castle village was not born of a specific intent. It was simply the result of a being far too powerful, rising from far too deep. This was simply the resulting shockwave, and it was devastating in scale.

The one responsible for staining the town in shadow let out a deafening roar. It was a towering demon, grotesque in form. The creature possessed the body of a quadrupedal beast fused with the humanoid upper torso of a fiend.

Its entire frame was covered in dark scales, and it was as large as a two-story building. Between jagged teeth and eyes brimming with malice, flickered a constant, dusky blue flame.

Karnak and Varos sprinted toward the disturbance. Their expressions hardened at the sight of the monster.

"Is that... Ka-Tulkan?" Karnak muttered.

"The master of Zahak, isn’t it?" Varos said.

Zahak was only one of many fringe hells, but even so, any demon powerful enough to be a ruler of its domain was no ordinary great demon. This demon was on an entirely different level compared to Maz-Nun, the demon Bishop Straph had summoned back in Trist City.

Even Karnak, back in his youth, wouldn't have summoned a demon of this caliber lightly. And yet, here it was, manifesting right before them.

"That thing could go toe-to-toe with an average silver knight. There was a necromancer strong enough in the Black God's Cult to summon that?" Karnak muttered.

Leven and Serati’s expressions darkened. It was clear proof that the Black God's Cult was growing far too powerful. Still, none of this posed any real threat to Karnak’s current group. Varos could defeat an enemy of silver-tier strength on his own.

The true problem lay elsewhere. It was likely that the demon’s sudden appearance was due to Lapicel and Milia. No matter how capable Lapicel was, she wasn’t strong enough to fight a demon of that magnitude by herself.

Serati could only hope that they were safe. Please be safe, Lapicel!

Just as Serati gritted her teeth and pushed forward with even greater speed, the towering demon was suddenly thrown into the the air and, as though struck by something massive, plummeted straight back down!

A tremendous explosion shook the earth, and Serati let out a dumbfounded murmur. "What?"

***

The gray-haired girl jumped forward. A streak of divine light crashed down like a meteor onto the demon’s head, and another blast exploded across the alley.

The demon groaned, writhing in pain as it scrambled to retaliate. It summoned a spear from hell and slashed wildly, and drew up waves of demonic energy to unleash a burst of abyssal flame. The sheer heat curling around the spear could incinerate anything in its path, and it was headed straight for Lapicel. It was the kind of power even a silver knight couldn’t ignore.

"Hmph!" Lapicel, however, was ignoring it.

She slipped through the demon’s assault with surgical precision in her armour of shimmering purple aura. In a flash, she closed the distance again and thrust her sword forward.

The arc of her aura burst out like a cannon shell, slamming into the demon’s torso. The impact sent the beast tumbling backward, and another roar of pain echoed across the alley.

Damn it! Ka-Tulkan, the demon lord of Zahak, burned with rage.

He gritted his teeth. What is this human!?

An aura user’s level was reflected in the color of their aura. In other words, one could gauge approximately how strong they were just by looking.

And hers was unmistakably purple, which meant she was at the purple-tier. She was at a level Ka-Tulkan could handle without much trouble. So why did her strikes hit so damn hard? But the demon had no time to ponder.

Lapicel was already upon him. "Yah! Hah! Take this!"

Strike after strike rained down on the demon, and with each, the demon released another furious roar. But it was difficult to say whether he was roaring in pain... or just screaming incoherently.

***

The scene was absurd. A massive demon was being beaten to a pulp by a small girl.

Serati, watching from a distance, murmured blankly. "That thing’s supposed to be silver-tier?"

She wasn’t really expecting an answer. In truth, she could feel the immense power radiating from the demon. The dense demonic energy surging from its form was unmistakable.

And yet...

How is Lapicel making it look so easy?

Her aura was clearly weaker. No matter how you looked at it, this was like trying to crack a boulder with an egg. But for some reason, every time the egg collided with the stone, the stone cracked, and fragments flew. And the boulder screamed in agony.

Varos clicked his tongue. "Wow, even I couldn’t pull that off."

The reason was simple, as Varos explained. "She’s elevating her aura at the moment of impact."

She closed in with a purple-tier aura, but in the instant she struck with her sword, she elevated her aura into silver-tier. The window was so brief that most couldn’t even register it happening. It was the perfected version of the aura elevation technique Varos had been using.

And even more surprising was her swordplay. None of it resembled the Tascal swordsmanship Serati had taught her. Instead, what she displayed was a swordsmanship of stunning precision. It was graceful, elegant, and honed to the extreme.

"That’s the swordsmanship of Martial King Beltia," Varos commented.

Serati and Leven’s expressions changed.

"Does that mean that’s the adult Lapicel?" Serati said.

"It’s the Martial King of Cyphras?" Leven chimed in.

Could it be that Lapicel’s mind had fractured again? Thankfully, it didn’t seem that severe.

"She just looks to be in a trance," Varos answered them.

On closer inspection, there was no focus in Lapicel’s eyes. She was clearly unconscious, which was why she was unconsciously practicing the techniques she once wielded as the Martial King of Cyphras.

"But she can’t stay like that for long." Karnak urged the group forward. "Let’s get in there!"

***

Ka-Tulkan was already being overwhelmed by a single, unconscious Lapicel. With the rest of Karnak’s group joining in, the outcome was all too obvious. It took less than a minute before the hulking demon, the size of a house, was flattened against the ground and trembling like a leaf.

"There’s no point sending a demon back to hell. It’d just hold a grudge, right?" Karnak pointed at the groaning demon of Zahak. "So let’s just kill it here."

"W-Wait! I—!"

As always, Karnak wasn’t one for conversation. Before the demon could even finish its sentence, its entire body erupted into dark crimson flames, and it was reduced to ashes on the spot. It was truly a pitiful end for a great demon, especially one summoned through sacrificial blood by the Cult of the Black God. Yet Karnak didn’t look the least bit pleased.

"It only ended so easily because we were the ones dealing with it. That thing wasn’t weak by any means," he said with a frown.

The Black God's Cult was continuing to evolve and displaying stronger and stronger necromancy. Meanwhile, Lapicel stood frozen in place.

Serati gently tapped her cheek. "Lapicel! Lapicel!"

A flicker of light returned to the girl’s dazed eyes. "Ah... Sis..."

She looked around, startled when she saw the still-burning remains of Ka-Tulkan.

"Ah! That’s..." She vaguely remembered the demon’s arrival. But the rest was a blur. Puzzled, she turned to Karnak. "So you defeated it, Lord Karnak?"

"Oh, uh, sure. I did," Karnak casually answered her.

In truth, Lapicel had defeated the demon single-handedly, but it would only confuse her more if he explained.

Leven glanced around and asked, "Where’s Milia?"

Lapicel’s expression hardened instantly. Right. Sister Milia!

Her memories resurfaced, along with the events just before she blacked out. The demon had attacked Lapicel. Milia had used all her strength to cast a divine blessing on her. Then, in that opening, cultists had ambushed Milia and taken her down.

"It’s bad! They’ve kidnapped Sister Milia!" Lapicel shouted in panic.

Karnak’s reaction was rather lukewarm. "They kidnapped Milia?"

To be honest, he didn’t quite get it.

Why Milia? Is she even worth taking hostage?

Not that Milia was insignificant. On the contrary, priests made excellent sacrificial offerings for rituals. And inquisitors were even more coveted by demons. But that still didn’t add up.

They summoned Zahak’s ruler just to kidnap Milia? That’s a terrible return on investment.

Maybe the real target was Lapicel. Perhaps they had snatched Milia as a consolation prize after failing.

Karnak nodded. That does sound like something a necromancer would do.

In any case, it was undeniable that Milia had been captured by the cult. Karnak spoke while tracking the lingering traces of dark energy. "I’ll track their trail."

He had been too distracted with dinner earlier to notice, but once he attuned himself to the darkness, he could analyze and trace it with precision. "If they left this strong a residue, tracking them won’t be hard."

"Oh, sure, bragging after the fact now..." Varos interjected.

"Shut it," Karnak snapped.

"Yes, sir!"

Karnak followed the trail of shadows while bickering with Varos as usual. After a moment, he pointed toward the west side of the village. "This way."

***

To the west of the caste village stood a small log cabin tucked deep within the forest, nestled along the Galant Mountain. At first glance, it looked like the humble abode of a hunter, but in truth, it was a hideout used by the Cult of the Black God.

Behind the cabin was a sizeable cave, and a group of men cloaked in black robes moved inside. Among them was a burly man carrying a girl tied up over his shoulder. It was Milia, and her divine power was suppressed by a cursed necklace looped round her neck. As they headed deeper into the cave, the cultists spoke in hushed, uneasy voices. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"How could someone that small have that much power?"

"I couldn’t believe my eyes. A purple-tier aura user..."

"Who is that girl, really?"

Harbert sighed in response to their questions. "How would I know?"

"So many terrifying things happening in this world..."

"All we weak ones can do is struggle to survive."

As they lamented their misfortune, the girl on his shoulder glared daggers at them. What the hell? Why are these cultists pretending like they’re the victims?

Watching them nearly made her chest explode with frustration. Of course, she couldn’t say that out loud, since her mouth had been gagged.

"Mmmpf! Mmmpf!"

One of the cultists slapped her across the cheek. "Silence!"

It was a bit unfair, honestly. She hadn’t even made that much noise. But what followed was even more absurd.

The cultist who slapped her suddenly welled up with tears. "Do you even know how many brothers and sisters had to sacrifice their lives because of you, you wench?!"

What was even more ridiculous was that others nearby chimed in to console him.

"Don’t grieve."

"They rest peacefully in Tesranach’s embrace."

"But Bart... ugh..."

It was all just too much. Milia was absolutely stunned watching them grieve and comfort each other.

What is this? Did we kill them? Did we?

In truth, neither Lapicel nor Milia had killed anyone. The thugs had only been knocked unconscious, and the cultists—sure, their limbs were sliced off, but their lives were spared. They were the ones who slit their own throats, finished off their fallen comrades, and summoned that demon with their blood.

These lunatics!

Meanwhile, the cultists continued their march deeper into the cave. Eventually, they arrived at a wide chamber. Magic lanterns lined the stone walls, lighting up the interior brightly. Milia’s face turned pale.

That... that’s...

It was an altar. Crimson markings of blood stained the walls and floor. Bones and corpses formed grotesque decorations around a central stone sarcophagus.

A cultist lowered Milia onto the stone. "We must hurry. He’ll find this place before long."

They were referring to the hound of the goddesses, Karnak Zestrad. That man possessed a frighteningly uncanny ability to track down cultists, and since they had used necromancy so brazenly, they couldn’t hope to hide anymore.

"At least we secured the target." Harbert turned to look at Milia. "This girl might be the trump card to pierce Karnak’s heart!"

Milia’s eyes widened. Me? Why me?

Harbert’s voice dropped into something darker, more ominous. "Because he has one fatal weakness."