Ti passed swiftly, and history etched itself once more, step by step.
A lone girl stood in the midst of it all—one who had lost all her light overnight.
The bright smile that once illuminated her face had vanished entirely.
All that remained was a hollow expression, her features worn down by tears that had long since dried.
"You told you would co back."
"You said I was the most important thing in your life."
But she never returned.
Instead, she left this world—by her own will.
Leaning against the tree that had held her sister's lifeless body, she sat there, unmoving—
In a field where the stench of death clung to the air, thick and suffocating.
A place no child should ever be forced to endure.
All that remained were children.
Children too young to comprehend what had happened—
So still believing it was just a nightmare.
A terrifying one, yes—
But real nonetheless.
And in this nightmare, lurking demons found their perfect prey—
The ones who had lost their light entirely.
But humans…
Humans can be far worse than demons.
All it took were a few carefully chosen words—
Spoken at the right place, at the right ti.
"Do you want revenge on the one who did this to your beloved sister?"
"The monster responsible for all of this… was none other than your own father—Lord Drogo Moonlight."
One by one, Baylor Moonlight sowed his venomous seeds in the minds of the children who remained.
Among them was a fragile girl, burdened with a weight no child should ever bear.
Those who survived that place—
From the very mont they did, their fates were sealed.
Baylor Moonlight understood this better than anyone.
After all, he was the one who had crafted this very environnt.
He was the architect of those icy barriers—
The one who isolated Lord Drogo Moonlight's estate from the outside world.
It had never been Drogo.
It was always him.
Without Baylor, things would never have spiraled this far.
But what was done ...
Was done.
And now, here they were.
Baylor had set the stage.
All that remained was the final act of this wretched play.
And so, with precise calculation ...
He drew that small, fragile girl into his web.
A girl who knew nothing of the world ...
A girl who had lost everything ...
Seris.
He handed her an object.
And then, she went.
She walked straight toward the one she saw as the source of all her nightmares.
The beast who had long since lost his mind.
Seris entered the room—
The room where Drogo awaited.
By then, he was unrecognizable.
His face—mutilated beyond belief.
His body—twisted into a grotesque monstrosity, a mass of rotting flesh with distorted eyes staring in all directions.
Yet even as Seris approached, step by step—
Drogo did not move.
He only watched.
Sowhere deep within that monster ..
So faint, dying ember of reason ..
Kept him from striking down his youngest daughter on sight.
And then ..
Seris reached out.
Her small hand clutched a strange, golden cube.
The mont she touched him with it ..
A blinding light erupted.
A searing radiance that swallowed everything in sight.
Like divine flas purging all sin ..
Drogo burned within that holy inferno.
Thick, black smoke rose from his body, twisting violently as if purging the world's very evils.
He was completely immobilized.
Frozen in place.
And in that mont ..
He stood no chance.
A colossal spear of ice tore through his chest—
Ripping open a gaping hole that no mortal could ever hope to survive.
Yet even then, Drogo made no sound.
He rely closed his eyes ..
As if in relief.
He had endured his own personal hell ..
And now, it was over.
Baylor Moonlight had slain Drogo ..
But not before making him suffer every last tornt imaginable.
And in the end—
He painted himself as the hero who had ended the nightmare.
—
Ada watched the scene unfold.
Her expression was void of emotion.
"This… is too much to take in."
Just witnessing it was enough to break the mind of any sane person ..
Let alone living through such horrors firsthand.
Beside her, Rem shook her head.
Her face twisted with nothing but disgust toward that man.
Drogo had once looked up to Abraham ..
The one who had stood above him.
Only one man.
Yet he failed to realize ..
That he, too, had once been looked up to.
Especially by soone who had lived in his shadow since childhood.
Soone who had been dood from birth to remain in the dark ..
No matter what he did.
Soone who had never been able to shatter the ice of his older brother.
The most fragile doll of them all ..
Had never been Drogo.
It had always been Baylor.
A man consud by his pursuit of power—
Power that remained just beyond his grasp.
A desperate soul like that would cling to the first lifeline thrown his way.
And he did.
Drogo's death sent shockwaves through the empire.
Even Emperor Maekar Valerion himself ca ...
Unwilling to believe the claims of treason.
But the truth of what had occurred within those walls...
Was buried.
The world was told that Drogo had massacred his own sons and most of his daughters after losing control of the power that had consud him.
A tale difficult to swallow—
Yet the church's revelation of the demonic aura lingering in Drogo's corpse cented the claim, leaving no room for doubt.
The only survivors were children, most of whom had been shattered beyond repair, their minds fractured to the point where truth and delusion blurred into one.
And those who retained even a sliver of clarity—
Were silenced.
By Baylor's hand.
Only the main family knew the truth of what had transpired behind those sealed doors.
So whispers of reality slipped through the cracks—
They beca nothing more than rumors.
Tales told by strangers.
And so—
One of the empire's greatest pillars fell.
And in its place, a new lord rose—
One who seized his throne through the most vile and ruthless ans imaginable.
—
"Are you sure you want to show all this?"
"I'm an outsider to your family."
Rem rely shook her head.
"Given what you're planning, Lord Starlight… you're about to bring real change to this house. A change that must happen—if you truly intend to preserve the legacy left behind by Lady Semiramis."
"That's why I won't stop you."
"Though… if you intend to destroy that legacy—"
"I will not stand idly by."
—
Ada let out a weary sigh.
She glanced down at her hands—
Both marked with symbols of blood.
A weight far heavier than she could bear.
"To think that the one man who always claid to be neutral—"
"Was the very cause of all this."
"Appearances have always been the greatest lie of all."
"Yeah…"
"Baylor Moonlight betrayed himself. His people. His own family."
"Even now, I can't fully grasp what I've seen and heard. But what I don't understand is—"
She hesitated.
The image of her brother resurfaced in her mind.
The brother whose fate she had foreseen—
A fate that predicted his death.
"What does Frey have to do with any of this?"
Rem remained silent for a mont.
And then—
The scene shifted.
Revealing sothing entirely different.
"Frey Starlight…"
"You could say he was just another unlucky soul—"
"One who found himself caught in this filth and chaos."
Rem revealed a series of visions to Ada—glimpses of pivotal monts where another's fate had been sealed completely.
All of it unfolded within a library, now isolated from the outside world by a massive, impenetrable gate.
And standing before that gate was a lone figure.
With sleek blue hair, pale skin, and an aura of sheer dread…
It was Baylor Moonlight.
…
…
…
- Frey Starlight's Pov -
"Huff… Huff…"
I gasped for air, my body sprawled across the ground.
I wouldn't be lying if I said I had completely wrecked myself just now. It felt like forcing a tiny faucet to pour out an entire ocean in an instant.
"Are you okay?"
Carn's voice reached . She sat beside , still struggling to process what had just happened.
With a weak smile, I forced my lips to move.
"Who was it again… that you called half a man?"
She blinked in surprise before a muffled chuckle escaped her lips.
"Damn… what's your secret? Are you even human?"
Groaning, I pushed myself off the ground with great effort.
"I think I am."
It took a mont to steady my breathing before I spoke again.
"As for my secret, I should be asking you a question first. Will you swear your allegiance to ?"
Carn fell silent.
Lowering her gaze, she stared at both hands, recalling the mont that barrier—the one that had held her back for so long—finally began to crack.
If she repeated the process with , breaking through from S to SS- would only be a matter of ti.
The young man before her was the son of Lord Abraham Starlight, the very person who had shaped her into who she was today.
The sa man she had loved… in her own way.
The answer was obvious.
She nodded.
A wide grin spread across my face.
"So, you're accepting the offer of the half a man standing before you?"
Ignoring my sarcastic remark, Carn spoke with unwavering resolve.
"From this day forward, I swear my allegiance as your knight. If your life is at risk, I will lay down my own. Your secrets will die with . When you live, I shall live. When you die… I shall die."
"Wait—scratch that last part ...No need to jinx us"
Carn smirked, her tone playful.
"This level of commitnt is necessary to build trust. Or… would you prefer if I offered my body instead?"
Carn… her body—
A violent shiver ran down my spine as I frantically waved my hands.
"I'll have to decline that tempting offer… especially since you're stronger than . Maybe I'll consider it once I surpass you."
"Oh? Surpass ? With an A-rank talent?"
She scoffed, only to fall silent.
The mory of that terrifying aura flashed through her mind, and for a brief mont, her thoughts ca to a halt.
An A-rank talent ant my stats should have been permanently capped at that level. Yet I had far exceeded it.
I shook my head slowly.
"You've sworn your loyalty as my knight. As your new lord, I swear in turn to treat you properly and never force you into anything against your will."
I paused before continuing.
"Now, here's what you need to know."
I raised a single finger.
"First, my talent isn't A-rank."
Carn's eyes widened, but she didn't interrupt.
"You don't need to know my true limit or why everyone else is unaware of it."
"Second, the aura you felt… and how I survived inside Nightmare Lands for a whole year…"
Here—
I had to weave truth and lies together into sothing believable.
I couldn't reveal everything to her, but I managed to share so scattered truths.
First, the source of my power—I attributed it to the Shadow Sect. I gave her a brief explanation without diving into details like the statues and other hidden aspects.
However, I did tell her about the Ten Thousand Steps of Shadow technique. To reinforce my claim, I revealed my sword—Balerion, the Black Dread.
Her eyes widened as realization struck. She finally understood how I had been able to wound her that day.
"It looks like…"
Carn muttered absentmindedly.
"Looks like what?"
"Your sword… It resembles Abraham's."
It was well known that Abraham once wielded Dark Sister, the blade ant for the Sword God Avalon during the Empire early days.
Both Balerion and Dark Sister were black swords, so I understood the comparison.
"Sort of…"
I brushed it off, unwilling to discuss the secrets of the Seven Legendary Swords any further.
"Now, let's focus on what you need to do, Carn."
The first thing I addressed was the curse placed on and the fact that I was being targeted.
Surprisingly, she didn't seem shocked. Instead, she looked as if she already knew.
"Do you… already know about this?"
Carn nodded, confirming my suspicions.
"How?"
She hesitated before answering.
"I learned about it from Ada."
Ada…
"Since you've brought her up, that leads to the next matter. I want you to continue supporting her—that's one thing."
I stepped closer, my tone serious.
"But on the other hand, I need you to tell … What exactly is my sister planning?"
Ada knew too much. I had no doubt she was preparing for sothing.
I needed to grasp the situation now to strategize my next move effectively.
But I didn't get the answer I wanted.
"Sorry, Frey," Carn said firmly. "Your sister placed a strong restriction on . No matter how loyal I am to you now, I physically can't speak about what she's planning. That's how serious she is about this."
I brought a hand to my chin, deep in thought.
Ada had done sothing drastic enough to force Carn into silence?
This was becoming more troubleso by the second.
Sensing my frustration, Carn quickly reassured .
"Frey, your sister is completely on your side. She would never do anything to harm you—be certain of that. The best thing you can do right now is ask her directly."
I nodded.
"I suppose you're right."
I needed to talk to my sister.
But the real question was—
"Where is Ada?"
At that mont, neither Carn, despite her strength, nor I realized that soone had slipped through her barriers. A hidden figure lurked in the shadows, silently watching everything unfold.
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