Suddenly, Rita screamed and vanished. Edward, who had shouted, “Miss Rita!” and rushed after her, let out a similar shriek—“Ack!”—before disappearing as well.
“What the hell?”
Satin, who had been following behind, frantically glanced around. But neither Rita nor Edward reappeared. Cain, looking visibly unsettled, remained still and warned Satin cautiously.
“Don’t move. Just stay put.”
“Okay—ack!”
Satin had tried to follow Cain’s advice, but something abruptly yanked him by the foot. His mind raced to correct itself.
‘Wait, did I just slip?’
Regardless, his body was being sucked into somewhere. It all happened in the blink of an eye.
‘So the wyvern did seem like an amusement ride operator.’
Maybe this was what an unfamiliar flume ride felt like. There wasn’t any friction or heat against his skin, despite clearly sliding downward.
‘Feels like I’ve dropped at least a hundred meters…’
Just as fear began creeping in about how far he might fall, he hit the ground with a thud.
“Ugh… ow…”
Rubbing his sore butt, Satin spotted Rita and Edward. It seemed they had all landed in the same place.
“You two okay?”
“Mmmgh…”
For some reason, Rita responded with a strange groan instead of a clear answer. Had something happened before Satin arrived? He looked over at Edward—his face was noticeably flushed. Just what the hell had happened in the short time before he got there?
He didn’t have long to ponder it. Out of nowhere, a massive body landed on top of Satin, pinning him to the ground.
“Gah…!”
It was Cain. Since Satin hadn’t moved, Cain must’ve fallen directly on top of him. Fortunately, the impact hadn’t been too painful, but their tangled position was deeply awkward. Their legs were entwined in such a way that if Cain moved his knee even a little, it would spell disaster.
‘Forget that—I’m gonna get crushed to death first.’
As Satin wheezed under the weight, Cain, seemingly still dazed and unaware of the situation, stared blankly at him and blinked. Then realization hit—his eyes went wide in panic.
“Wh-What the…!”
His face turned crimson as his hand, blindly searching for support, ended up pressing right on Satin’s chest.
‘Oh God, my ribs!’
The pain was so sharp that Satin couldn’t even scream. He could only cry out internally as Cain scrambled to get off him in a fluster. Satin had never seen that expression on him before. Even through the pain, he found it kind of funny.
‘Looks like a cat whose paw got stuck on ice.’
There had been tons of cats in the neighborhood where he’d lived with his father. In summer, the cats would sprawl out along the tops of walls, lounging in the heat.
One day, a local had put out a huge block of ice by the road for them. Curious and overheated, the cats cautiously approached and touched it with their paws—only to get stuck. Their wide, startled eyes had been absolutely hilarious.
And right now, Cain’s face was the spitting image of those cats.
“You okay? I-I didn’t mean to—!”
Cain, who usually wore nothing but an indifferent scowl, was now panicking and stammering over his words. Satin simply waved a hand dismissively. Cain quickly backed off, still flustered.
Satin slowly rose to his feet, a bit unsteady. Just moments ago, the pain had felt like his ribs might actually be broken, but now that he was upright, it was bearable—numb, but manageable.
“With a body that size crushing you, a hairline fracture seems likely.”
Edward approached, concerned, and cast Holy Magic to heal him. Behind him, Rita muttered under her breath.
“Same happened to me.”
Edward cleared his throat loudly. Satin finally understood why those two had been acting so awkward when he arrived—they must’ve ended up in a compromising position too. Given they were a man and a woman, it must’ve been even more embarrassing.
After the rib-fixing was done, the group finally looked around. Edward was the first to speak up.
“Same atmosphere as before.”
A long hallway stretched ahead, its walls and floors the same color as before. Torches lined both sides. As Edward said, the atmosphere wasn’t much different from the last place.
“If we keep going, we’ll figure something out.”
Rita took the lead without hesitation, stepping forward boldly. She didn’t seem the least bit afraid that something might jump out.
The corridor came to an end sooner than expected, opening up into a wide hall. At the center of the hall, in place of the torches that had lined the path so far, sat a massive brazier. A violet flame danced within it—clearly not something of this world, even at a glance.
“Looks like this place serves a purpose,” Edward remarked.
As he said, the space was definitely built with a different intent than the corridor, though what that purpose was remained unclear. In any case, its eerie atmosphere seemed better suited for some suspicious ritual rather than a banquet.
“Let’s start by checking it out,” Rita said, turning to examine the hall. Edward followed right after her, and Satin, without thinking, moved to follow too—only to be grabbed by the arm by Cain.
“Don’t stick so close. You might fall again, like before.”
“Ah, right.”
Normally, it would seem unlikely for the same trap to appear twice in a row. But this was the Demon King’s Castle. There was no guarantee the Demon King thought like a normal person.
Satin adjusted his pace to leave some distance between himself and Rita and Edward. Cain, on the other hand, stuck very close to Satin.
“Wouldn’t it be better for you to fall instead?” Satin murmured.
Cain furrowed his brow, seeming to consider it for a moment before nodding and moving behind Satin. Understanding Cain’s intention, Satin gave a dry chuckle.
“I didn’t mean you should fall first, I just—”
“Don’t stray from me.”
“…Got it.”
Cain was so firm that Satin didn’t have it in him to argue.
As they walked along the wall, Rita stopped at a bend and leaned in to examine a specific spot.
“There’s something here. Looks like writing.”
“Really?” Edward came up beside her. The moment their eyes met, both of them coughed awkwardly at the same time.
“…It does look like writing.”
“Right? But I can’t quite make out what it says.”
“We’ll need more light.”
“Should I use magic?”
They probably thought they were talking normally, but from an outsider’s perspective, it looked extremely strange. Both of them were hunched over like awkward flamingoes, careful not to brush against each other.
Watching them, Satin felt an odd sensation creeping in.
‘Wait… are they into each other right now?’
It wasn’t impossible. They were both in their early twenties—young, healthy, and had been seeing each other every day for several days now. A man and a woman spending that much time together might not necessarily become a couple, but they were bound to become aware of each other. And after that unintentional, suggestive physical contact earlier, the air between them was bound to get a little charged.
Even so, Satin felt thrown off.
‘You two aren’t supposed to have a thing going on. I mean—it’s not like you can’t, but still…’
The storyline of the Dark Age had long since gone off the rails. While they were still hitting the major events, the details had become a mess. Satin had already sensed that Cain and Rita wouldn’t end up in a protagonist-heroine dynamic.
Still, he hadn’t expected to witness the “canon couple” crumble before his eyes like this. It wasn’t a big deal, but for some reason, it unsettled him.
“What’s wrong?” Cain asked, tilting his head. He’d noticed Satin standing still rather than checking out the writing Rita had found.
Satin hesitated for a moment before asking, “When you look at Rita… what do you think?”
“She’s loud?”
His immediate answer carried zero emotion. When Satin stared at him, somewhat disappointed, Cain tilted his head again.
“Why?”
“Have you ever… wanted to get close to her?”
“…Why?”
Cain asked the question back, now staring intently at Satin. The startled-cat look from earlier was gone, replaced by a cold, sharp gaze. The message was clear: Give the wrong answer, and you’re dead.
“No, I just—let’s go take a look,” Satin muttered, failing to come up with an excuse and quickly turning around.
Rita was already shining a magical light onto the wall. What had seemed like a completely black surface now revealed a tiny inscription, etched faintly into the stone.
“What do you think it means?” Edward asked, having already read it. He tilted his head, then stepped aside so Satin and Cain could also see.
It was a short sentence. Satin immediately recalled what the wyvern gatekeeper had said. The gatekeeper had called those who came back out “ones who failed to pass the trial.”
Which meant… if you passed the trial, you could reach the end of the Demon King’s Castle?
“Strange. Saying it’s ‘not over’—isn’t that something you’d only say during the trial?”
Edward looked at Satin as he asked the question. Startled, Satin just nodded.
Edward was right. The trial is not over. It was a phrase typically used when a crisis seemed to have passed—when people let down their guard at the very end.
“Maybe there’s more clues somewhere,” Rita muttered, turning her body toward the center of the hall. The flaming arrow she’d been using to illuminate the inscription drifted slowly across the space.
Then, the moment it reached the center of the hall, the flames in the brazier surged upward.
“W-What the hell?!”
Rita yelped, startled, just as the flaming arrow vanished. But the hall grew even brighter. The blaze from the brazier flared so intensely that the ceiling, previously hidden in darkness, was suddenly visible.
Edward hastily drew his sword.
“Miss Rita, your weapon!”
“R-Right!”
Rita, momentarily frozen in shock, snapped back to her senses and quickly drew her sword. Even for a magician, wielding a weapon was far better than standing there unarmed.
Satin, meanwhile, was yanked backward before he could react. Cain had pulled him behind and began chanting something immediately, even though it wasn’t yet clear if they were in danger.
A flash of mana flared white, and crimson flames erupted beside Cain.
“Don’t wander off.”
Cain’s eyes were fierce. Satin had been about to ask if this was really necessary so soon—but seeing Cain’s expression, he just shut his mouth and nodded.
‘Right. I’ve got a sword too, don’t I.’
