‘Where did Miss Madilith go?’ Hofir looked around the hall franticly after gaining some distance from the knight.

There was no sign of Madilith anywhere.

He could keep track of her even while helping the others fight the knight so her scent vanishing was obvious.

Why did her scent vanish anyway? It’s like she was teleported away or moved so fast that Hofir’s senses couldn’t pick her up.

She couldn’t be hiding in the hall even if there was plenty of coverage to hide behind. Hofir would’ve still sensed her.

“Oi, lunkhead!” Bradwyn slapped Hofir on the side of the head after running up to him, “Focus on protecting me! I’m trying to cast a buff with a long incantation!”

“…” Hofir didn’t respond. He continued looking around the hall for any sign of Madilith.

Arthur and the others were still fighting the knight. The knight wasn’t sparring anyone, even going after Sabrina who wasn’t even fighting with them but instead healing the party.

Toldur had to protect both Anais and Sabrina from getting attacked by the knight, leaving the archers vulnerable. Luckily the archers were quite nimble and kept their distance while choosing when they fire their arrows—proof that they’ve fought monsters this powerful before.

Since their normal arrows weren’t working—since the knight’s armor was too hard to penetrate—they had to resort to stopping the knight’s movements using freezing arrows that makes the floor both slippering and freezes the knight’s feet to the floor even if just for a few seconds.

“Miss Madilith is missing…”

“So what? She probably ran off to hide somewhere since she’s such a coward—too scared to face anything without her precious Evelyn by her side. This hall is huge so she could be hiding behind one of the pillars or under the white sheets.” Bradwyn said with a shrug.

Hofir knows that but since it was coming from this guy Hofir wanted to punch him instead of agreeing with him. The other thing is that he would’ve smelled her if she was still here.

Arthur appeared in front of Hofir, “Hofir, I need your support! This guy is crazy strong! If I use my full power now then I won’t have enough in reserve to fight the Blight King!”

“Arthur… Miss Madilith is missing…” Hofir responded.

“Huh? Does that mean you can’t sense her?”

“Her scent is gone.”

Arthur closed his eyes for a second before opening them, “An energy signature is missing,” He looked around the hall, specifically at everyone fighting the knight, “It looks like everyone besides Madilith is here.”

He then frowned, “I’d go look for her but I can’t let you guys fight this guy alone—”

“I’ll go.” Hofir spoke up, “I swear I’ll bring her back.”

Arthur’s eyes slowly widened before he smirked, “I know. Be careful, alright?”

Arthur then vanished. The next moment an explosion resounded and the knight was sent flying into the ceiling by a beam of golden energy.

Hofir looked at the door on the other end of the hall. He began walking towards it.

“H-Hey, where do you think you’re going!?” Bradwyn grabbed Hofir’s arm, “No one will be here to protect me if I try to use my spells. May I remind you, I’m still in the middle of finishing an incantation for a buff!”

‘If you were as competent as Miss Sabrina then you wouldn’t be taking this long to finish the incantation.’

Hofir wanted to say that but didn’t have the confidence to voice his thoughts.

Instead he opted with the following:

“…Then come with me. Miss Madilith might be injured. She can handle other magicians quite well but she has no way to stop those creatures besides casting a barrier to protect herself. The monsters will surround her in an instant. If she does cast a barrier then she won’t hold out for long.”

Bradwyn frowned as he looked back between the fight going on behind him and then back at Hofir.

“Y-Yeah, you’re right. We need to make sure Madilith gets back safe, hahahah.”

“…..”

Hofir ignored Bradwyn and looked towards Arthur.

Arthur mouthed the words, “Good luck” when their eyes met. Hofir silently nodded before walking over to the door.

Coward, cursed Hofir inwardly as he glanced back at Bradwyn who was following him. But this is a good outcome regardless, even if he didn’t intend for it to happen like this.

“We’re going to that door over there.” Hofir pointed to the other end of the hall.

“Are you crazy!? That knight will catch up to us in no time if we try and run for it!”

As Bradwyn mentioned before, the hall is huge. It was almost 100 meters long and half the length in width. Be that as it may, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the knight would subdue them with a lightning spear or some other attack.

He could hold his own against a party that can take down an S-class monster; if he wanted to kill Hofir and Bradwyn right now then he would do so in an instant.

Alas, he was too absorbed in teaching Flora and Arthur what it means to be a noble and virtuous knight.

“—Such mediocre swings! How dare you wield a weapon meant only for those with the will to become one with their swords!?” He relentlessly pursued and attacked Flora and Arthur. Instead of just fighting on the floor, he was moving around a lot(jumping and levitating), which made it hard for the archers to hit him with their arrows.

“Let’s use this chance to go there,” Hofir picked Bradwyn up and threw him over his shoulder.

“O-Oi, what are you—” Bradwyn was about to say something before Hofir bolted towards the other end of the hall with incredible speed.

“Ack!” Bradwyn groaned when Hofir crashed with his legs planted firmly into the wall, “Warn me next time, you bastard!”

Bradwyn hit him in the back of the head with his staff.

A vein popped up on Hofir’s temple but he didn’t say anything to Bradwyn.

He helped Bradwyn get on the floor. The two of them looked back.

The knight was still fighting Flora and Arthur, not focusing on Hofir and Bradwyn at all.

“Let’s go.” Hofir turned the doorknob to the door, “Hm, locked.”

He pulled back his fist, “Umph!” and broke the door in pieces.

“Y-You go first.” Bradwyn stood behind Hofir.

Coward, cursed Hofir under his breath.

Contrary to what Hofir was expecting—a dark room with sinister air surrounding it—the room beyond the door boasted a majestic grandeur that he had only ever seen in castles.

A nave, its size even besting the hall they just left.

Two long isles of benches were on either side of the nave, with tinted glass windows shining all sorts of colors from above onto the marbled floor. The walls of this nave had an eerie resemblance to mirrors. Crystal chandeliers hanged from the ceiling, which chinked with each movement as it swayed.

The clean marbled floor reflected all that light that shone from above, onto the walls which resulted in the light bouncing around the room, creating a beautiful rainbow when they shined through the chandeliers.

Hofir could feel a powerful pressure coming from the other end of the nave, specifically from the platform where a throne stood.

A full set of armor was sitting on that throne, its helmet sitting on its left thigh plate.

Looking down its legs…

A girl was laying there on the floor; her glasses laying next to her, broken. Countless treasures and artifacts surrounded her and the throne.

Hofir quickly bolted towards the throne.

It suddenly felt as if time slowed down. Every hair on Hofir’s body screamed at that moment.

A creature walked out from behind that throne, revealing its ghastly appearance.

It had empty eye sockets but Hofir could feel it looking at him.

Three human-like wraiths were growing out of its back, giving it a hunched posture.

Two of them—the woman-like figures suddenly moved, embracing the body of the creature and covering the hole in its stomach.

The priest-like man was holding onto a book of some sort.

The monster’s body was covered in runes at that moment, releasing a blood red mist from its body which made it even more menacing.

“W-What the fuck is that!?” Bradwyn shrieked, “I-I’m getting out of here! Fuck that little bitch!” he turned tail and ran towards the door.

A magic circle appeared on the ground, and a portal opened within it.

A figure came out of that portal.

Bradwyn shrieked again and ran towards Hofir this time.

Ignoring him, the legless creature lowered itself to the ground with its forehead on the ground:

“Please forgive my failure to eliminate them, My King! I called for every one of your creations to come to the cathedral but all of them have been wiped out by some mysterious individual! I am not quite sure if the individual is with these vermin! Please forgive this humble Lungcan for his failures!”

It was hard to tell who this blob of flesh was talking to. Maybe it was talking to that creature dragging a spear around? Or was it talking to the knight(if there’s even a body in there)? Hofir wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a knight walking around with no head. All that’s missing now is a horse for the headless knight.

In any case, Hofir had to prepare to take Madilith and flee. He wasn’t confident in fighting that creature that was slowly walking up to him.

It wasn’t even exuding any killing intent but his instincts were telling him to avoid the fight. His instincts had never let him down.

Hofir was about to make his move but stopped when the blob behind him spoke again.

“Ah—you are here for that sweet little angel resting her head on the boot of my king? Do not endanger your lives by grasping a flame barehanded. You will only burn yourself.”

“…What?” Hofir glared at the blob.

“Rotten apples—is that the saying humans use to describe a troublesome situation? It is quite ironic to compare one with the outer appearance and mannerisms of a sweet girl to that of a rotten apple—a troublesome individual. Alas, my words are true; you will only be planting seeds in the wrong soil, effectively ensuring death to all the seeds before they can even sprout. Who is the soil and who is the seed, I wonder?” the blob floated around the nave keeping its distance from Hofir. Hofir’s eyes followed its every movement.

“What the hell is that flying testical sack yapping about? And why aren’t you killing it!? Make yourself useful for fuck’s sake!” Bradwyn screeched in Hofir’s ear.

“What are you….? That thing, the knights, the hordes of monsters…” Hofir asked the blob.

He wanted to confirm whether what the insectiman said was true.

The monster suddenly came to a stop when it heard Hofir say that.

It dropped its spear and looked at its hands.

Its hands shook.

Its mouth agape but no sound leaked out.

The monster touched it face. An expression of what seem to be anguish appeared on its empty eye-socket face.

“—We are the creations of His Majesty, the King of Curses. You stand in the room where it all began. Where we—His creations came to be,” the blob ignored the screaming monster and continued talking when it approached the knight armor, “I was once the lungs of my King, giving him fresh air and dispelling toxic carbon dioxide from his body. Cursama was in here before the Great Curse was cast on this world.”

The blob picked up the helmet.

‘Cursama? I don’t think I’ve heard that name before.’

“She truly does embody the foul nature and terrors that plagued the the King of Curses. Feeding off the lifeforce of individuals through their dreams, granting them a life they want until their dreams end. She spreads her powers amongst the people around that individual, playing with their destinies. My lord was very sadistic and cruel but such barbaric nature is uncouth for the creation of a mighty King.”

“…This Cursama… Does it get stronger the more people it feeds off of?” Hofir asked carefully.

“The question should not be how powerful it can become. The question should be: who’s next?” it laughed eerily.

“…..”

“When that question is answered, then you must choose: trust or death.” The blob picked up a coin and looked at both sides of it, “It all comes down to how much the person means to you. Is their dream more important than their comrades? Well, you will never know since you will die today.”

“I’ve heard enough. I’m taking Madilith.” Hofir was about to transform but recalled Madilith’s words.

-“Please don’t transform again…”

He clenched his fists in silence. With a determined expression and forgetting his decision to flee, he walked towards the monster, ready to fight it head-on if it stands in his way.

….I’ll save you from whatever dream you’ve been imprisoned in.

….I’ll find a way to remove this mark even if I don’t know what it is or what it does.

…How does it affect another person’s destiny?

It doesn’t matter.

I’ll save you, Madilith…

My beloved…

But first….

Hofir came to a stop.

“W-What are you looking at me for!? Attack the damn monster!” Bradwyn noticed that Hofir was looking at him.

His claws retracted.

His fangs grew longer and bigger.

His head turned into that of a tiger.

“O-Oi, what are you—” Bradwyn tried to back away but all he could do was stare frozen in fear as Hofir’s claws aimed right for his throat.

There wasn’t even a screamed nor a yell for help.

Bradwyn’s body collapsed after his head was sent flying. It landed behind one of the benches.

Hofir’s mouth grew even larger before he picked Bradwyn’s headless corpse up and shoved it down his enlarged throat. The sound of bones crushing reverberated in the nave.

The monster quietly watched as Hofir consumed his own comrade.

This taste of skin… This texture of meat… This taste of blood…

It was something he hadn’t tasted in years. Hofir gleefully consumed the remaining limb of his former comrade before his wild eyes turned to the monster.

Somehow the Beast Lord Stripe’s silhouette overlapped the dead king.

Hofir’s golden eyes turned a bloody red. He got on all fours. His fangs dug into the floor like a hot knife through butter.

Screw [Beastification]. He’ll unleash all his power even if he goes berserk.

Maybe it was the taste of human flesh that made him incapable of rational thought at that moment. The only thing he should be doing at this moment was saving Madilith.

But it won’t hurt just to let his power run wild, right?

Hofir appeared in front of the dead king in an instinct. However, the next moment he was send flying to the side.

“Uack!?” he crashed into the wall.

“—Stay down, beast. It’s my duty to eradicate evil.”

He heard a woman’s voice.

What the… How strong was this woman that she could subdue him in just one hit?

‘Madilith…’ his mind felt groggy.

Hofir could see a woman wearing a purple dress and a knight helmet confront the beast. It wasn’t even a few seconds later that the dead king was sent flying through the ceiling and the blob monster was crushed with overwhelming power.

The female knight jumped through the ceiling, following the dead king to finish the job.

Hofir collapsed on the floor. It felt like every bone in his body was broken.

He crawled towards Madilith.

The dead king’s armor began disappearing into dust.

Hofir took hold of Madilith.

While holding her in his arms, he pleaded.

“Please wake up…”