"Hm? Who the hell do you think you are, talking to me like that? Are you craz—" Ravian raised an eyebrow, his irritation plain.

Before he could finish, Malrik and Darius moved almost in unison—one clamping a hand over his mouth, the other grabbing his shoulder to haul him back.

"No, no, no—hahaha!" Malrik laughed awkwardly, pressing his palm firmly over Ravian’s mouth.

"He’s joking, Lysandra. He’s new here, so don’t be too hard on him."

"Yes, yes, it’s fine, Lysandra," Darius added quickly, pulling Ravian behind him and trying to bury his words under a stream of meaningless chatter.

"There’s no need to be hard on the new member."

But Lysandra wasn’t convinced.

"Move aside," she said.

Two words. Nothing more.

"B-But... are you going to—" Darius stiffened.

A muffled voice cut him off.

"It’s fine, Brother Darius. Let her. I want to know what that hag—" Ravian had just managed to pry Malrik’s hand from his mouth, but the instant Malrik realized what he was about to say, he clapped it back over again.

"It’s fine, Darius. Let her." Evelyne nodded toward him.

"I don’t think Lysandra will do anything violent. Besides, Malrik is still standing right behind you."

Darius hesitated for a moment. Then, reassured by Evelyne’s words, he finally stepped back.

Malrik removed his hand from Ravian’s mouth too, once he saw that Ravian had calmed down enough to listen—though he stayed close behind him.

Lysandra stepped forward and looked into Ravian’s eyes again.

"Why are you so confident when you know perfectly well that I’m stronger than you?" Her voice was calm, but there was pressure behind it.

"Do you think there isn’t a single lunatic in this whole camp who’d dare kill the Company Commander’s disciple? If so, then let me tell you—you’re wrong."

She watched him carefully, waiting for his reaction.

Then Ravian looked at her with open disgust.

Everyone froze the instant they saw his expression.

No fear. No hesitation. Only pure, unrestrained disgust.

"Do you think I’d act superior just because I have a few connections?" His voice carried a proud disdain, as though the very idea were beneath him.

"I’m not that kind of trash."

The moment he’d heard her words, Ravian had recoiled on instinct. The reaction wasn’t deliberate; it came from something buried deep within him, something even he didn’t fully understand.

No one could believe what they were seeing.

"Then what is it?" Lysandra asked, her eyes locked on his.

"Your power? Do you really think your Awakened rank is enough to stop someone like me—a Walker—from killing you with ease?"

Ravian didn’t back down.

"No." The answer came simply.

"I know you’re stronger than me. You’re far more experienced, too. You could kill me easily—there’s no doubt about that." He spoke as if the truth didn’t trouble him in the slightest.

"Then why?" Lysandra asked, her tone rising slightly.

Ravian’s crimson eyes held steady.

"Because I felt like it."

Silence fell over the yard again.

"Your tone annoyed me," he went on coldly.

"And I don’t care what you decide to do because of what I said. Even if you choose to attack me for it." His voice sharpened.

"And I’m the one telling you to look at me with a little more respect, you bit—"

Malrik covered his mouth again.

"Hahaha—alright, alright!" He quickly grabbed Ravian by the shoulders and began backing away from Lysandra.

"Ravian’s a little tired after traveling such a long way, so I’ll take him to rest in my tent until we can set up his own. Good night, everyone."

Without giving Ravian another chance to speak, Malrik dragged him off before things could get any worse.

He’d already noticed the drastic shift in Lysandra’s gaze. If Ravian kept talking to the granddaughter of the Grand Duke like that, he might actually die—even if Karius was his teacher.

Malrik led Ravian toward his tent, and every member of the squad watched them go.

"My... goodness..." Evelyne stared at Ravian’s straight back as he walked beside Malrik.

In that moment, everyone silently agreed with her. Even Darius’s jaw was practically hanging open.

"That boy... is insane," Elias said.

A crooked smile crossed his face as he spoke, but it vanished the moment he noticed the strange look in Lysandra’s eyes. It was the first time he’d ever seen her look at someone like that. Even now, her gaze hadn’t left Ravian’s back.

"Um, Lysandra..." Claria spoke carefully, trying to draw her attention away from Ravian.

"He’s new. He probably doesn’t know you well yet. I’m sure his attitude will change once he sees your skill and learns who you really are." She hesitated briefly.

"But we all need to get along here. You haven’t forgotten why you’re here, have you?"

Even she had to admit that what Ravian had just done took real courage.

"Yes, Lysandra," Evelyne added, though her eyes still drifted toward Ravian’s back.

"He’ll come around in time. For now, we should rest. We’ve had word that a beast wave is coming tomorrow, and we need to recover properly if we want to fight well."

Only then did Lysandra finally blink.

Little by little, her usual calm, cold expression returned—though her eyes stayed fixed in the direction Ravian had gone.

"You’re right." She nodded.

"We should rest for tomorrow’s battle."

With that, she turned toward the three tents reserved for the women. Evelyne and Claria followed soon after, heading to their tent to talk for a while before sleeping.

The remaining seventeen men stayed in the yard. Some were still standing there with their mouths open, unable to process what they’d just witnessed.

But what shocked them even more than Ravian’s insane nerve was Lysandra’s reaction. She’d been far calmer than anyone expected.

Only a few days ago, a soldier had mistaken her silence for permission to flirt with her. By sunset, his name had already been struck from the roster.

That was why everyone had been terrified the same thing would happen to Ravian. Yet, strangely, Lysandra hadn’t done anything outrageous this time.

And none of them knew why.

"That was pure madness," Darius said.

"Yeah." Kael’s tone was calm, but his eyes carried a rare trace of admiration.

"We need to educate our brother Ravian properly. I like that boy, and I don’t want him leaving us anytime soon."

"Agreed." Elias folded his arms.

"I don’t know anyone else who could say something like that to someone he knows is stronger than him, accept that reality without denying it, and still refuse to let it control him."

He remembered the disgust on Ravian’s face when Lysandra had suggested he might be hiding behind his teacher’s name.

"It seems Sir Karius really did make the right choice." Darius grinned, his eyes alight with battle hunger.

"Someone like him would be great to fight beside."

"Alright, that’s enough for today," Kael said.

"We should rest, just like they said. Tomorrow’s beast wave won’t wait for us." His gaze shifted to the tent where Ravian had disappeared.

"And we’ll need to be extra careful tomorrow. Until Ravian gets used to the battlefield, we’ll have to protect him."

The others nodded.

One by one, the group headed for their tents beside Malrik’s.

Night settled over the camp.

And somewhere beyond the Wall of Light, deep in the darkness where civilization ended, the first signs of the coming beast wave had already begun to stir.