Under a crimson sky, the ground blazed with fire.
Shattered knightly armor, broken blades, and blood from mangled corpses… all had become fuel for the raging inferno.
At the center of the flames, a blood-stained girl raised her hand to grip the edge of the longsword piercing through her chest.
There was no pain on her face. Instead, she wore an expression of liberation.
“To the one who slays me — allow me to pay my respects as the Nightmare Witch and bestow upon you an eternal curse.”
As she spoke, the patterns of a forbidden curse radiated from her body, traveling up the length of the longsword and instantly spreading onto the arm of the young man holding it.
Forbidden and immense power flooded his entire body in an instant, like a beast rushing into him, threatening to burst out from within and tear his flesh to shreds.
***
The carriage rolled over a stone, and amidst the jolting, Lyr opened his eyes inside the vehicle.
‘That again.’
Ever since that incident, Lyr often had this same dream. It was like a nightmare that had startled him awake several times.
He had originally lived in the frontier with his parents, but they had recently noticed that something was wrong with his condition. Thus, they had sent him back to the Royal Capital for a while to recuperate.
Not many people knew about Lyr’s return. In fact, he was traveling entirely by himself.
“Hey, young man, you’re awake,” the carriage driver said, glancing back. “We’ll be at the Royal Capital in just a little bit.”
“That fast? How long was I asleep?” Lyr pinched the bridge of his nose.
This carriage didn’t belong to his family. He had simply found a driver heading the same way in the frontier and hitched a ride.
“Of course it was fast. You’ve got good eyes, kid. Out of all the carriages, you chose mine. I’m famous for my speed.”
As the driver spoke, he grinned, not forgetting to pat the coin purse in his coat.
Even though he was coming from the frontier, the clothes Lyr wore made it clear he wasn’t some commoner, much less a refugee fleeing to the kingdom. Instead, he looked like a nobleman traveling incognito.
If it hadn’t been for the large sum of money the boy offered, the driver might not have actually agreed to take him this far.
Lyr stood up and lifted the curtain at the back of the carriage to look behind them.
Before he could appreciate the quiet night, a massive beastly roar suddenly echoed through the forest, startling the birds into flight.
The horses that had been pulling the carriage at a rapid pace were spooked. They reared back, refusing to move forward.
“Whoa, whoa! Stop!” The driver struggled to control the horses, trying to calm them down.
His forceful pulling of the reins only caused the horses to struggle more violently.
In the midst of the stalemate, the roar echoed again. The horses lost all control, panicking as they tried to bolt in a different direction, as if desperate to escape something terrifying.
The carriage shook violently, forcing Lyr to grip the edge of the seat. “Didn’t you say your carriage was fast? What’s going on?”
“It is fast! It’s just so fast that I’m losing control!”
The horses ran blindly. In their panic, the wheels struck a large boulder by the side of the road. The carriage overturned, and Lyr was thrown out from inside.
Lyr adjusted his posture in mid-air, barely managing to land on his feet.
On the other hand, the driver didn’t fare so well; he ended up hanging from a tree.
Before Lyr could assess the situation, a giant, lizard-like magic beast covered in spikes lunged out of the forest. Its scales shimmered with an eerie light under the moon. As its tongue flicked in and out, corrosive liquid dripped onto the ground.
Its roar was no less than that of an ordinary beast — boisterous, yet carrying a hint of shrillness.
‘Isn’t the security near the Royal Capital supposed to be good? How could a magic beast like this appear?’
When he had left the last time, he had served in the Knights, and he had never heard of such magic beasts appearing here.
Amidst his surprise, Lyr threw off his cloak and pressed his hand against his sidearm. Purple lightning instantly began to coil around the hilt.
But before he could act, a figure quickly followed the beast out of the woods on the opposite side.
A young girl leaped out. Her eyes were a deep, dark blue, like pools of magic.
The fair skin of her neck was exposed, and beads of sweat shimmered faintly on her skin under the moonlight.
However, her expression was cold and stern, her gaze locked firmly onto the giant lizard.
As she descended from above, Lyr caught a glimpse of the lace trim beneath her skirt, causing his eyes to blink several times.
The girl thrust her longsword downward, piercing straight into the lizard’s head.
Pain-stricken, the giant lizard writhed violently, trying to shake her off its back.
“Stay still!”
Through the longsword, a wave of flames spread from the girl’s palm, pouring directly into the lizard’s body.
Fire flared up, engulfing both the girl and the giant lizard.
‘What a suicidal way to fight.’ Lyr frowned.
When dealing with this kind of magic beast, he certainly didn’t recommend such a reckless, life-for-life approach.
Amidst the intense flames, the giant lizard’s roars continued. But a second later, the girl’s body was thrown back, slamming heavily against a tree trunk.
The scales on the giant lizard creaked in the fire, having suffered no substantial damage at all.
With the longsword still stuck in its head, the giant lizard stepped out of the flames and charged straight toward the girl.
Lyr shook his head helplessly and finally drew his longsword.
Dense purple lightning intertwined and gathered. With a single instantaneous slash, the lightning crashed forward, severing the giant lizard’s head in one blow.
Lyr was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but the hand holding the sword couldn’t stop trembling.
The mana within his body had instantly fallen into a state of depletion after that single strike.
Even Lyr’s expression turned deathly pale, and his body staggered uncontrollably.
Lyr sheathed his sword and let out a long breath before walking forward to check on the girl’s condition.
Affected by the fire magic she had just unleashed, the girl’s clothes had also suffered some damage.
Before Lyr could look closely to see if she was injured, his gaze was drawn to the Gem Necklace around her neck.
With just one glance, he noticed mysterious runic lights shimmering inside the blue gemstone.
Having regained her senses, the girl looked up and immediately saw a person staring directly at her.
The intense fire from earlier had burned away more than half of the clothing on her chest. Her undergarments were nearly exposed, and one could vaguely see a chest that still had plenty of room for growth.
Forcing herself to stand up, the girl covered her chest with one hand and glared back at Lyr with extreme displeasure.
“Are you all right?”
What greeted Lyr wasn’t any expression of gratitude. Instead, the girl swung her other hand in an arc, attempting to slap him across the face.
Subconsciously, Lyr quickly took a step back, dodging the retaliatory snap of this little cat.
“Are you crazy? I helped you!”
Lyr couldn’t understand why she would repay kindness with such enmity, and he had no idea where her anger was coming from.
“Help? Do I look like I needed your help?” the girl retorted. “Don’t get ahead of yourself!”
She continued to clutch her tattered clothing with one hand, her face filled with an aversion toward Lyr that far exceeded the hatred she had shown toward the giant lizard.