Meanwhile, in another corner of the silent Aethelgard residence..

Inside her dimly lit chamber, Olivia, who had been fast asleep, suddenly jolted awake.

She snapped out of her slumber the moment she felt her wrist vibrating violently. Opening her eyes slowly in a half-dazed state, she sat up, rubbing her eyes and scratching her slightly itchy head.

She glanced toward the window. The world outside had already turned pitch black. Olivia’s eyes widened in disbelief; she had not expected to sleep for so long.

However, the time of night was the least of her concerns right now, because something far more terrifying was unfolding right inside her room.

Olivia looked down at her trembling wrist. There, a string of magic she recognized all too well was glowing intensely, completely overpowering the light of the other threads wrapped around her hand.

The thread vibrated frantically, as if it were throwing a violent tantrum.

Olivia knitted her brows tightly, her mind flooded with overwhelming questions.

Why is this thread vibrating so violently...?

At that exact moment, a memory from her childhood flashed vividly across her mind. This was only the second time in her life that the mysterious thread had reacted this dangerously.

The first time had happened years ago, when she was just a small child trapped in a basement.

That horrifying memory remained fresh the way she had been forced to hide in fear behind a storage room door, only able to watch from afar as the body of a young boy tore apart from a demon blood possession.

Olivia’s thoughts became completely chaotic, consumed by sheer terror.

Without a second thought, she leaped out of bed in a panic, grabbed her long robe with trembling hands, and lit a lantern.

She bolted out of her room, moving swiftly through the dead of night.

Her heart hammered wildly against her ribs. She was deeply anxious. In her heart, there was only the name of that one boy from her past the very figure she had vowed to protect for the longest time.

She refused to lose him. Even if their sudden reunion felt awkward, she was determined.

She hurried through the corridors, her frantic steps leading her toward the grand chamber Javien.

The moment Olivia arrived in front of the massive doors, her knees nearly buckled at the sight.

A thick, suffocating black smoke was visibly seeping through the cracks of the heavy doors, signaling that the situation inside had become critical.

Driven by an overwhelming wave of panic and worry, Olivia threw her weight against the doors and pushed with all her might.

BAM!

Instantly, a wave of darkness that felt intensely cold yet burning hot surged straight at her face. Yet, Olivia’s eyes scanned the darkness wildly, searching frantically for Javien...

Olivia froze in the middle of the spacious room. The surroundings suddenly fell dead silent, to the point where the frantic beating of her own heart echoed clearly within the enclosed space.

Heavy, ragged gasps...

Suddenly, Olivia’s ears caught the sound of deep, strained, and choked breathing coming from the darkest corner of the room, hidden right behind a massive wardrobe.

Her heart leaped into her throat.

Without hesitation, she spun around and slowly lifted the lantern in her hand, casting its faint, dim light toward that pitch-black corner.

Zap...

The moment the lantern light cut through the shadows, Olivia’s eyes widened in absolute horror. In the corner of the wall, Javien was on his knees, collapsing heavily onto the floor.

Both of his hands were clawing desperately at the stone tiles, so hard that his fingernails were bleeding, while his head hung low as he endured a crushing agony far beyond human limits.

"J-Javien...?"

Olivia’s voice trembled uncontrollably. The tears she had been holding back finally broke, spilling down her cheeks at the sight of the man she cared for so deeply.

Slowly, Javien lifted his head.

A cold shiver ran straight down Olivia’s spine. Javien had completely lost control.

His eyes no longer looked human; instead, his glowing purple irises blazed intensely in the dark, radiating a wild, feral, and foreign gaze.

Thick black veins bulged in terrifying patterns around his neck, spreading up to his pale jawline. A suffocating aura of black smoke exploded from his body like dark waves.

Javien stared directly at Olivia. The demonic entity within his vessel clawed viciously to pounce forward, yet deep inside his psyche, the last remaining shred of his sanity was fighting a life-or-death battle to suppress the savage influence, desperate to protect the girl before him.

"Get... out..."

Javien groaned in agonizing pain. His voice had transformed entirely it sounded deep, gravelly, and layered with a terrifying, echoing resonance, no longer the voice of the Knight Olivia knew.

He gripped his own head tightly, struggling with everything he had to stop his body from moving on its own.

"Olivia... run... I can’t... control it..."

Seeing Javien breaking apart and fighting all alone in the dark, the deep concern in Olivia’s heart completely overrode her fear.

Step by step, she advanced toward the dangerous dark aura, having absolutely no intention of running away from the side of the boy she had once watched in helpless terror.

Before Olivia could make another move, Javien’s kneeling figure suddenly stood upright in the darkness.

His movements were terrifyingly swift, completely defying human speed. In a split second, Javien lunged forward, locking his coarse hand tightly around Olivia’s neck and slamming her body back until she was pinned hard against the freezing stone wall.

Khhh... ukh...!

Olivia gasped violently. Before she could even attempt to pry his iron grip off her throat, she suddenly felt something far more sinister happening.

The dark aura emanating from Javien’s hand began to silently drain her life energy.

With each passing second, Olivia’s body grew weaker and more limp, her breath catching critically in her throat.

Her small hands clawed feebly at Javien’s arm, but her strength was rapidly evaporating, pulled away by the demon’s crushing power

Yet, beneath that terrifying stranglehold, a struggling Olivia could still sense something strange Javien’s hand around her neck was actually trembling violently, as though he were fighting with his entire soul to restrain his demonic strength from snapping her neck.

Trapped against the freezing wall, Olivia was rapidly running out of oxygen.

Her small, trembling hands fumbled through the darkness in a final, desperate surge of energy. Her fingers accidentally scraped against the sharp edge of an iron ornament attached to the stone wall, slicing her skin.

The cut drew a line of fresh, deep crimson blood.

Through the suffocating darkness, creatures Olivia had never seen before suddenly popped out from thin air, as if pulled into existence by an unseen force.

Each of their faces bore expressions of extreme anxiety and confusion.

The creatures of the black smoke flew back and forth inside the room in absolute chaos.

"Guys!! He’s going to consume Olivia’s soul soon!!" one of the entities wearing a long scarf shrieked in terror, seeing that Javien had utterly lost his mind.

"Haish... Didn’t I tell you before... she is the only one who can! Only this girl can soothe Lord Javien’s demon blood!" a blonde-haired creature cried out, panicking at their predicament.

They desperately wanted to intervene, but the crushing pressure in the room was simply too overwhelming for them to approach.

Olivia was completely stunned beneath the crushing grip on her throat. Her mind spun into absolute chaos and confusion amidst the panic.

What on earth are these creatures?! Why did they suddenly appear here... and what do they mean by saying only I can help Javien?!

Olivia screamed internally. Her vision began to blur into darkness as her oxygen supply was completely depleted by Javien’s demonic aura.

Refusing to give up in this life-or-death moment, Olivia mustered the very last of her strength. She had absolutely no idea what to do in this insane situation. But seeing her own wrist vibrating so violently, she acted out of pure, desperate instinct.

With her hand trembling weakly, Olivia tightly gripped her magic thread, which was now stained with her fresh blood.

The moment the string on her wrist brushed against her bleeding fingertips, a deep crimson liquid coated it. Ignoring the stinging pain of the cut, she forced her hand forward, wrapping her fingers around the mysterious thread on Javien’s wrist.

Olivia did it out of sheer desperation, seeking any kind of certainty in her helplessness. She had no idea if this foolish gamble would even work she just wanted Javien to be safe. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

But just as both of them were on the verge of losing consciousness...

ZAPPP!!!

At that exact moment, the droplet of blood from Olivia’s finger touched Javien’s mysterious thread perfectly.

The second the red liquid fused with their soul threads, a blinding explosion of holy light erupted from their wrists.

The magical impact was immense; the oppressive darkness and suffocating smoke that filled the entire chamber instantly vanished into thin air, as if swept away by a sacred wind.

The silence of the night reclaimed the room. Instantly, Javien’s eyes, which had been blazing with a ferocious, deep purple hue, slowly faded back into a soft, gentle violet.

Javien blinked in the dim, faint light of the night. His remaining sanity rushed back into his mind. His entire, massive frame felt incredibly weak and exhausted, as if his entire demonic energy had been violently drained away in a single second.

The moment his vision cleared, Javien’s heart seemingly stopped beating.

He froze in absolute horror, staring at Olivia, who was standing weakly, leaning against the stone wall right in front of him.

Tears of bitterness and terror streamed heavily down her pale cheeks, while his own large, powerful hand... was still resting against her white neck.

A neck that was already beginning to show faint, red bruises from his chokehold.

Javien was struck entirely speechless, his tongue completely tied in a state of trauma and crushing guilt. He hesitantly started to pull his hand back, terrified that he would harm her again.

However, before Javien could distance himself, Olivia looked directly into his faded purple eyes.

There was no hatred in her gaze, nor any fear. The only thing reflecting in her eyes was a profound sense of relief because her beloved boy was finally safe.

Instantly, through her fragile, shallow breaths, Olivia gathered every ounce of strength she had left.

She lifted both of her arms and, with fierce determination, pulled his massive frame down into her embrace clasping her arms tightly around her personal Knight’s neck in the deep cover of the night, as if refusing to ever let him break apart alone in the darkness again.