A blur shot from the otherside of the woods.

The creature howled as a halberd impaled it through its torso. From the direction of the manor, one of the royal guards raced toward them.

“Put her down,” he commanded.

The Corrupted dropped Lilith’s body and roared. Its arms whipped toward the guard. He slid under the attack and grabbed onto the end of the halberd. With his whole body, he threw the monster to the ground. He dodged another attack and freed the weapon from it.

The fight seemed to favor the guard. He didn’t look like he had a single scratch on him. He had to have fought at least one Corrupted to get here.

They could win. They could survive.

In the middle of the battle, Kieran crawled to Lilith. A violent shudder assaulted him. Her leg was utterly mangled. It bent at a strange angle and looked like it had no bones in it to speak of. It hung on only by the skin. She was so still it felt like he was staring at a corpse.

His numb hands felt around her neck for a heartbeat. They rested there for what felt like an eternity. The young, cheerful girl he played with was almost unrecognizable.

And then, he felt it.

He let out a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding. She fell unconscious because of the pain. She wasn’t dead. He didn’t kill her.

The royal guard was thrown to the ground, right in front of him. An entire side of his breastplate was dented. The simplistic, yet, brilliant wings of the crest were crippled.

“Your Highness! I’m glad you are safe.”

The Corrupted charged and he quickly rose to face it. Parts of its body were bubbling. It used its shoulder to take the guard’s strike while it dug its claws into his side. The breastplate absorbed the brunt of the attack but blood leaked from behind the armor.

“Stay close to me, Your Highness,” he said, through gritted teeth.

Their exchange of blows got more intense. Kieran dragged Lilith further away from the fighting. If possible he’d have run with her on his back but he was tired, near exhaustion from the fear. The Corrupted was beast-like in its attacks. It constantly threw itself at him, using nothing but what seemed like pure power.

The guard had the upper hand, or so it was at first. While he skillfully managed to land blow after blow and dodge the monster’s grasp, he couldn’t do meaningful damage. The halberd was heavy and carried a deadly power just from that alone but it was draining his strength.

The Corrupted was using whatever head it had.

The young guard stabbed the monster in the chest. It was the most solid blow in the past few seconds. The Corrupted’s mouth seemed to twist into a sadistic smile. It grabbed ahold of the shaft and broke it in half with one hit. Bubbles appeared around its wound and the heavy steel end hit the ground. The guardsman stared at the monster, bewildered.

With his palm placed at the butt of the shaft, he impaled the Corrupted through where its heart would be. It didn’t even so much as flinch. He jumped back as two whiplike arms pounded the ground.

“How could it have eaten so much already?”

Kieran recalled how it wasn’t like the others that rushed for fresh prey. This one was more like a scavenger that, unlike the other Corrupted that sometimes left entire lower halves, stripped the corpses of whatever meat and fat was left. Why was it different? Was it because it had already eaten far more than the others, or were there inherent differences among them?

Although, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could describe it like that. Aside from when it was feeding at the manor and when it ate the maid, its skin no longer squirmed around. It only bubbled to close its wounds.

The guard unfastened his chestplate and shoulder guard. His whole body moved with each breath and his undershirt was wet with sweat. In a game of endurance, the otherworldly being that consumed thing after thing would win.

“Are you going to fight it barehanded without your armor?” Kieran asked. Even if it was weighing him down, taking off that armor meant that the next attack would most likely kill him if it landed.

He couldn’t answer. He weaved in and out of the monster’s attacks. The momentum had shifted. Each time the Corrupted charged at him, he’d roll out of the way or quickly sidestep it. He offered no offensive of his own. At some point, Kieran realized he was buying time. The other guard was alive, and he was sent to find him, the prince.

In the middle of their struggle, the guard glanced at Lilith and him. Perhaps it noticed. The Corrupted’s arm shot at him like a lash. Kieran curled up, protecting his head. The guard jumped in front of the attack and was thrown against a tree, meters away.

“III DOnT WaanT tO DiEE…!!”

Kieran choked at its words. The voice conveying those words was a distorted imitation of the maid’s. They were the last things she uttered before she died. Its eyes told him that those words were meant for him. Words meant to mock him. Words that would soon come from his mouth.

Its hand clamped down on his leg so he wouldn’t escape. An immense pressure came from that one arm alone, like a hundred bricks locking him in place. With its free hand, the monster grabbed Lilith. Closer and closer, it leaned over her, saliva dripping from its mouth. He met the creature’s eyes for the third, and last time. He would be the next meal on the list.

Even so, knowing that all that waited for him was death, knowing that struggle here was meaningless, he tried to pry himself free. His hands dug into the dirt. He pushed with his other leg. His teeth were about to shatter. He squirmed and writhed just like the black masses killing everyone. And then, he felt something soft.

It was Lilith’s dress. The dress of a girl who saved his life. A child, barely the age of twelve who would have been safe otherwise, gathered her courage to grab the Corrupted’s attention. She saved him from death once already and he watched as she was about to be eaten. Would he do the same again if it meant he’d live for even a moment longer?

Absolutely pathetic.

“Jarl und vass!”

It was more powerful than he remembered.

A bolt of shadows slammed into the Corrupted’s opened mouth. It squealed like a pig as it reared back, loosening its grip on them. Kieran grabbed Lilith and ran.

“Jarl und vass!”

As it gained ground, he sent another spell flying at it. It was a direct hit, slowing the monster. He knew, however, that there was no hope if he only ran. Regardless of the difference in their physical capabilities, he already exhausted himself earlier and he was dragging Lilith along too. There was no escape.

He let go of her and darted in the opposite direction.

Shit. I don’t know if this is good or bad.

The Corrupted chased after him like he planned. He managed to dodge an attack by speeding up at the last moment. He dived to avoid another but he reached his goal. It was a suicide plan. Rather than bravery or courage, this was a desperate act made out of hopelessness.

He grabbed the half of the shaft with the halberd head and faced the Corrupted. It wasn’t barreling toward him on all fours like it had before, instead, it ran in a way reminiscent of apes. If it ate more people, what would its final form be like?

He didn’t want to find out and he was certain he wouldn’t.

Its hand shot forward like a grappling hook. He couldn’t dodge. He didn’t have the strength. He leaned into it, and it tore the skin and muscles around his shoulder to shreds. He raised the point to its chest where the bubbling was restarting. A wound from before had opened. Surely it wouldn’t die from just another stab.

As the words reached his lips, he felt it. The air around him was shifting. Heat flooded his arm and energy was directed into his palm.

“Jarl und va-"

He swore under his breath. He believed he could do it, that he could cast it thrice. Maybe he could. But the toll was too heavy and he was unprepared for the level of nausea. The world spun as the Corrupted’s maw opened.

“Forgive me, Your Highness, for allowing you to be in this state and for my insolence.”

The Corrupted was thrown out of his field of view. The guard saved him. Two twisted horns grew from his forehead. He had long, sharp claws coated in black blood and his reptilian-like tail swung from side to side. And, for the first time in his life, he saw a single ivory wing growing from the left side of his back. The wing was featherless, webless, completely empty. It was a wing in shape only.

It was a wing of bones.

Among all the surprises in this world, the single winged guard burned most vivid. There were clearly wings in the old portraits and paintings scattered throughout the palace, wings that were at the focal point of those grand works, yet he never saw them in person. Even the king, his father, didn’t have wings in his picture.

The Corrupted howled as it pushed the tree on top of it aside. The guard bared his claws. Unlike before, the monster didn’t charge. Instead, they watched and studied each other. Kieran couldn’t turn away. Despite the terror of this particular Corrupted, its odd tendencies and enormous strength, his eyes kept falling on the guard. A strange aura surrounded him.

In the battle of patience, the Corrupted gave up first. It grabbed the tree, arching its arm back, and threw it. With his gifts unleashed, he ripped the projectile in two. One half landed far away, but the other flew at Lilith.

Maybe it was because he’d already experienced the nauseated feeling before, or maybe in that split second, he had no time to think and worry. There was no plan. The words flowed like water, like a river.

“Jarl und vass!”

The half of the tree splintered into a hundred tiny pieces. Larger parts fell harmlessly to the side. Even fresh in the morning, accompanied by the assistance of a spell circle, it was a different level of power than he’d been able to discharge before. How did he do it?

Long shadows stretched across his palm. The sun dipped below the horizon. It was twilight. Years ago, Alexandra had told him, those who possessed shadow essence were strongest in the time before night and day, during that brief moment of twilight.

He dropped on all fours as the world spun. His vision faded. He glanced at the battle between the guard and Corrupted. It was over. The Corrupted’s skin began to writhe again as its life dimmed, impaled by the bone wing.

Soft light streamed through the windows. He sat up, encouraged by the chirping birds. Under the kind, warm, morning sun, the world through the single glass pane looked wholly serene.

Was it just a nightmare?

Next to the bed, a young woman with long bluish hair and a single ivory horn on her forehead slept in a chair. She had her hands clasped in her lap while she rested her head on her shoulder. Faint traces of bags showed under her eyes and a streak of saliva ran down the side of her mouth.

Did she stay up all night? It’s something I can see her doing.

Some mischievous part of him wanted to play some kind of prank on her to wake her up. The other part wanted to let her sleep while also wanting to give her a hug. He was glad she survived. She might have been absent during the attack from the Corrupted, but she was still worried about him.

Wait…

The thought occurred to him that she was worrying only because it was her job. It bothered him a little bit but she could worry over both. He couldn’t force her to care about him more than her job. Especially when he was overly demanding of her sometimes, though he tried to make life easy for her because she was the nicer of his two babysitters.

He threw the sheets to the side. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he collapsed. His arms and legs were assailed with the unbearable vibration of numbness. Feeling in his hands and feet were completely gone. No matter how he moved them, there was no feedback. Imaginary weights piled on him until he could barely hold himself up.

The door opened. Lucas, an elderly man, and the shorter royal guard rushed to his side.

“Your Highness, are you alright?”

Lucas’ shout jolted Teal awake.

“Y-Young Master!”

Kieran cried out more than once during the process, due to the sensations in his arms and legs, but eventually, they lifted him back onto the bed.

The shorter guard turned to Teal, “How could you let His Highness fall on the ground and not even assist him?”

“I-I’m sorry. I was asleep.”

“I will report this to The Blood Demon when she returns. We should have had a rotating schedule of who watched over the young prince.”

Teal’s gaze fell to the ground while she fiddled with her thumbs. Kieran was about to intervene until the elderly man bowed.

“Greetings, Your Highness. I am Kual. A medicine man from Ninoa. I am now going to check on your condition. If you would pardon me,” Kual said. He placed two fingers on Kieran’s forehead and he felt a warm sensation envelop him. The pincushion-like feeling in his arms and legs faded just a bit.

“What’s going on? Why am I numb all over?”

“It is a side effect of overexertion of your Essence. May I ask which spells you currently know?”

“Only the bolt spell,” he replied.

The old man nodded, “Good. If you had used a more demanding spell in the state your body was in then things would have been much worse. Still, it is quite rare to see such a young boy reach Essence Exhaustion. Normally it would have been very difficult.”

“Could it be because of the situation?” asked Teal.

“Yes, that would make a lot of sense. Essence strengthens the greater the danger. To go beyond your limits and cast bolt twice is impressive,” Kual remarked.

“Actually, I used it three times.”

“Hoh.”

Lucas and the guard stared at him in disbelief. Teal’s gloomy atmosphere shifted. He could tell what she wanted to say from the look she gave him.

‘Congratulations’

Thanks, Teal.

He had the feeling Alexandra wouldn’t budge on his limit being two, but at least he proved he could do it. A few seconds later, a servant came in with a bowl. The elderly healer mixed some kind of herb into the soup and fed him a few spoonfuls, despite his embarrassment.

“You should be able to move freely again in a day. I do urge Your Highness to avoid any strenuous activity even after, however.”

At least now I have an excuse to bum out for a bit.

The servant took away the empty bowl and bowed as she closed the door. That reminded him, there was someone missing.

“How’s Lilith doing?”

He was met with silence.

Lucas spoke, “She still hasn’t woken up yet.”