Alongside her, Seiyad sensed the surge of her expanding energy wave. Power that had been compressed from within burst outward, erupting in a violent shockwave that exploded in all directions. An invisible force struck Seiyad sharply—it was an all-too-familiar instability. This was exactly what Seiyad had felt during his own rampage.
No way…!
Several of the vines coiled around the monster’s body suddenly broke away. Writhing and twitching in midair, the vines turned toward Bridehit’s pale face and lunged at him with ferocious speed.
“Bridehit, behind you!”
Perhaps sensing the killing intent aimed at his back, Bridehit reacted quickly, just in time. His eyes widened in alarm as he threw his upper body down. The vines, as if offended by his successful evasion, twisted back to try and bind him once more. Flustered, Bridehit turned to Vetria and shouted with a panicked expression.
“What the hell are you doing, Vetria? This isn’t the time to lose control!”
It was as if she had intentionally set him as her target—Vetria released all the vines that had been binding the monster and sent them shooting toward Bridehit. From beneath his feet, tree roots burst forth, wrapping around his ankles. Goddamn it! Cursing under his breath, Bridehit slashed at the vines in a hurry, just as Vetria came charging at him.
Could it be that the deaths of the two Dukes who had been fighting the high-grade Nir’a were actually caused by Vetria’s rampage?
It had seemed impossible that two Tithers would fall to just one high-grade Nir’a. But if Bridehit had been forced to face both of them alone, it made sense. Sure enough, now freed completely from Vetria’s binding vines, the monster was slowly rising to its feet.
A low growl rumbled from the creature, as if it had sensed internal conflict. The eerie groan, leaking from an unknown source, did not evoke terror—it sounded almost like delight.
“Duke!”
Seiyad made his decision.
“Hold Vetria’s attention just a little longer!”
He would take over here alone. That was the only way to minimize casualties and ensure the two Dukes survived. If he could subdue Vetria quickly and get her out of the forest, there might still be a chance to save her. Her power originated from the forest—if they could render her unconscious and confine her outside of it, they could suppress her rampage and possibly save her life.
Of course, the risk was enormous. Saving a rampaging Tither was far more dangerous than killing one. Letting her die here would be the safer path. Killing her was certainly an option…
But something was off about this sudden rampage. To uncover the cause, it was essential to keep Vetria alive. If her condition wasn’t as uncontrollable as Seiyad’s had been, there was hope.
Better to end up with a few holes in his body than to let her die.
Hearing Seiyad’s shout, Bridehit scowled deeply but obeyed nonetheless.
“Dammit, Selfini! I knew you had a temper, but you’re worse than the Archduke himself!”
Luring in the charging Vetria, Bridehit retreated step by step. Whether she understood his words or not, she had lost her rationality and followed after him. Meanwhile, the Nir’a, now completely freed from its restraints, stood tall, its form nearly restored.
The toll of the power she’d forced out over a short time was beginning to show. Steadying his breath, Seiyad tracked Vetria’s movements with his blood-tinged eyes. The moment she paused mid-air on a vine to summon her power again, he silently crept up behind her.
Moving in the shadows, Seiyad raised his sword just as she aimed once more at Bridehit.
With a sharp thrust, the blade plunged deep into Vetria’s left shoulder. The moment the ambush landed, she whipped her head around, eyes wide and gleaming with fury. At the same time, a pointed vine pierced through Seiyad’s forearm. Unfazed, he yanked out his sword and immediately stabbed her other shoulder.
“Aaaargh!”
Screaming in agony, the rampaging Vetria lashed out with vines in every direction. Following their master’s anguish, the vines rushed toward Seiyad, stabbing deep into his thigh with a sickening crack. Pain seared through his lower body, but Seiyad ignored it. With bloodied blade in hand, he brought the sword crashing down on the back of her head.
Thud!
A skull-cracking sound echoed as Vetria’s eyes rolled back. The strike had enough force to shatter a normal human’s skull, but it wasn’t enough against a Tither. She staggered, trying to remain upright, her arm twitching to retaliate—but with both shoulders impaled, she couldn’t move them. Trembling, she let out a wet cough and collapsed to the ground.
Bridehit, who had rushed over just in time, sliced away the vines wrapped around Seiyad with a gust of wind.
“Archduke! Are you alright?”
Seiyad paid no attention to the holes now riddling his own body. With piercing eyes, he turned to Bridehit and issued an order.
“Take the Duke and get out of this forest. Have her purified. Once you’re out of the forest, Vetria won’t be able to use her powers—it’ll be possible. I’ll handle the Nir’a myself.”
“But your condition—!”
“If we all stay, at least one of us dies.”
Bridehit didn’t back down easily.
“I’m uninjured. I should be the one to fight that thing. You take Vetria out.”
“Duke.”
With ice in his tone, Seiyad fixed his gaze on the middle-aged Duke.
“Have you forgotten? Our powers are different at the core. I’m the only Tither who can defeat a Nir’a and still make it out of this forest alive.”
At the cold words, Bridehit bit down hard on his lip. He stared at Seiyad with a twisted expression for several seconds, and when the Nir’a began to shift its massive body, he finally nodded. Quick situational judgment was the most vital trait a Tither needed, and the experienced Duke knew that well.
“As soon as I stabilize Vetria, I’ll return with His Highness to find you.”
Seiyad didn’t respond. Bringing a Guide this deep into the forest was tantamount to leading them to their death. Aside from Ressas, no Guide had ever entered this far—not even Aster had been an exception.
The moment Bridehit hoisted Vetria onto his back, the Nir’a’s shadow once again loomed over them. Its massive claw—long as a greatsword—sliced through the air. Bridehit stepped back, locking eyes with Seiyad one last time before clenching his teeth and sprinting away.
Seiyad used his shadow to snare the Nir’a’s ankle as it turned to pursue. The towering creature, its weight trembling the earth, peered down at Seiyad with its featureless, pitch-black face. It was a grotesque sight—but Seiyad had seen it far too often to be moved by it. Instead of reacting, he gazed up at the sky behind the monster.
The sun was setting.
He hoped the sun would hold out—just long enough for the Duke to make it out of the forest.
With that thought, Seiyad approached the monster. He stabbed the bloodstained longsword—still slick with Vetria’s blood—into the earth and stared down the Nir’a with his crimson eyes.
When fighting alone, it was often easier without a sword.
***
By the time the battle ended, it was deep into the night—even the moon had vanished from the sky. Seiyad dragged his bloodied body through the forest. At some point, snow had begun to fall.
Due to their rarity, high-grade Nir’a took a considerable amount of time to defeat. Usually, two Tithers had to pair up to minimize aftereffects, and even that was far from routine. Having taken it down alone, Seiyad’s condition was unsurprisingly terrible.
Haa…
A slow sigh escaped his lips, turning into pale mist in the cold air. A decent amount of snow had piled on his shoulders. With frozen fingers wrapped tightly around his sword, Seiyad relied on instinct to navigate his way out of the forest. But eventually, his limits caught up with him.
Perhaps because of the earlier daytime chaos, a surprising number of Nir’a had appeared after dark. He’d already killed dozens on the way. The extent of his injuries was bad enough, but if he pushed any further, the barely-contained energy inside him would erupt.
To minimize the risk of another rampage, Seiyad made a decision—to use as little power as possible. That meant temporarily refraining from using his shadow abilities. He needed to give his body time to settle.
He moved cautiously toward the area where he sensed the fewest Nir’a. Concealing his presence and avoiding confrontation, Seiyad stumbled upon something he’d never seen before—a small, decrepit cabin. Worn down by time, it looked to be at least several decades old.
The walls were built from round stones, with only the door and frame made of wood—perhaps the reason it had endured. Still, it was odd to find such a thing in his own territory’s forest and only now be learning of it. Suspicious and wary, Seiyad nonetheless acknowledged he had no other choice but to enter. Strangely, there were no Nir’a in the immediate vicinity.
Inside, there was a wooden cot and a frayed, dusty blanket. After confirming there were no immediate threats, Seiyad slumped near the fireplace, exhausted. The moment he let his guard down, his eyes closed. Chills wracked his body, and small tremors overtook his limbs.
…So cold.
Every time he ended a battle, Seiyad felt a chill that seemed to freeze him to the soul. Though born and raised in the North—so used to the cold he could scoff at it—the pain that followed the use of his power always took the form of unbearable cold. It was absurd. A weakness that should never be seen. So he never once showed it.
The headache Aster had once driven away had returned to torment him. His whole body ached as if torn apart, and an insatiable cold surged from within. But more painful than those aftereffects was the silence that surrounded him. That moment of vulnerability reminded him of the day he was sentenced to die.
No one had been there for him.
At the edge of death, Seiyad had died alone, cursed and abandoned, without a single soul to mourn him. No one came for him—not the younger sister he had loved and cherished, not the comrades who once respected him, not even the loyal retainers of his castle… all gone. Because Seiyad had cast them away himself.
It was as if a bottomless hole had been carved into his chest—an emptiness that dragged him into terrifying despair. The inescapable solitude crushed him alongside the cold. Submerged in that deep abyss, he felt himself endlessly falling.
Gripped by a sensation of endless descent, Seiyad instinctively reached out. He didn’t even know what he wanted to grab—his hand clawed at the air in desperation.
The moment his fingers began to fall, realizing they grasped nothing—
“Seiyad.”
Someone called his name.
