Despair rang sharply in their ears, yet nothing was visible. Mist, thick between the towering trees, swallowed light and shadow alike, rendering everything around them hazy. Even as they tried to orient themselves, screams echoed again and again. The agony in those cries was so raw, it sent chills down the spine of anyone who heard them.
“I’ll go, Your Grace.”
Kirill volunteered to step forward, but Seiyad shook his head. After exchanging a glance with Stella, he turned to Ressas for his thoughts.
“Whatever the truth may be, if there’s talk of Nir’a appearing, Tither must be the one to enter the forest. Stella and I will go in. Your Highness should stay here with the knights. If we lose our way and become separated, at least a few need to remain behind to hold torches and mark the exit.”
“No, I’m going too. We don’t know how powerful the Nir’a we’ll face might be, so I’m absolutely necessary. Asella, stay here with Sir Kirill. I’ll go in with Duke Vetria’s knights to assess the situation, and if we need more help, I’ll return to bring others.”
Ressas’s tone brooked no argument. Seiyad hated the thought of exposing him to danger, but in the end, it seemed safer to have him close than apart. He relented.
Once the decision was made, Kirill and Asella lit the torches they always carried. Seeing this, Stella took a deep breath and led the way, while Seiyad motioned for Ressas to go ahead. Seiyad and the knights would bring up the rear.
Just before entering the forest, Ressas took Seiyad’s hand and whispered quietly,
“Eid, whatever happens, remember—it won’t be your fault.”
Ressas never spoke without purpose. Seiyad took the words to heart, hoping his response would ease whatever unease was plaguing him. He nodded softly.
“Understood.”
“And one more thing.”
Ressas’s expression hardened as he tightened his grip on Seiyad’s hand. His voice was urgent.
“Don’t ever let go of my hand.”
He looked like someone terrified of losing Seiyad. To reassure him, Seiyad interlocked their fingers and squeezed back firmly. Ressas stared at their joined hands, eyes clouded with worry, then as if shaking off hesitation, turned and slowly stepped into the forest.
At this moment, Seiyad didn’t care about the knights’ gazes. He clung tightly to Ressas’s hand and followed.
They walked, stepping over damp grass soaked in mist, and before long, they were swallowed by the fog. As soon as they crossed into the forest, the mist grew denser. It thickened until even those walking just ahead were obscured from view.
Despite it being midsummer, a chill wrapped around the nape of Seiyad’s neck. He heightened his senses to detect any presence, but the lack of visibility made the tension far worse. With fog thick enough to hide even shadows, his power would undoubtedly be more restricted than usual.
They moved in the general direction where the screams had been heard. Stella occasionally called out from the front to confirm that the others were still behind, and they continued like that for ten minutes or so. But then the fog grew so dense, it was suffocating. A creeping anxiety settled in—what if they couldn’t find their way back?
Then it happened.
The presence that had been right behind him just moments ago suddenly vanished.
Alarmed, Seiyad stopped. He turned back, frowning, and called out the names of the ones who had been introduced earlier.
“Zeke? Enif? Are you still following?”
No response.
Only the silent fog filled the empty space behind him, wrapping around his surroundings like a shroud. Their presence had disappeared as if evaporated into thin air.
Worried, Seiyad quickly turned forward again.
“Your Highness!”
He tugged the still-intertwined hand tightly as he called out, feeling the slight pull in return. A shape similar in size to Seiyad’s came into view and turned its head. But the hair that appeared faintly through the fog wasn’t black—it was golden.
A chill shot down his spine.
As Seiyad’s eyes widened in alarm, the figure turned back and whispered,
“Did you call me?”
The face was obscured by the fog, but the voice was unmistakably Aster’s.
A visceral revulsion surged through him, and Seiyad yanked his hand away. The hand he’d been holding vanished instantly, leaving the fog empty. Even the figure that had resembled Aster had disappeared as if it had never been there.
‘What the hell…?’
Grinding his teeth at the grotesque illusion, Seiyad summoned his energy and cast his senses wide.
There was nothing nearby—but at the edges of his range, he sensed the dispersed traces of the others. Everyone had been separated, not a single pair left together.
He knew with certainty now—this was no natural phenomenon.
If he followed the direction where the screams had come from, he might uncover the source of this distortion. Seiyad relied entirely on his spiritual senses and pressed forward.
It felt like he was walking through endless hell.
Then—he heard it.
…crack, …crunnch, squelch…
A grotesque grinding, like bones being crushed. It grew louder. Seiyad stilled his breath and stepped forward with caution, suppressing all signs of his presence.
And there, crouched in the mist, he saw it.
A massive figure, huddled in a round shape.
From a distance, it looked vaguely humanoid—like a curled-up giant.
As he drew closer, the fog thinned slightly. And with it came the stench.
A blood-reek so foul, nausea surged up from his gut. This wasn’t the smell of two or three deaths.
It reeked of mass slaughter.
Proving that point, Seiyad’s boot stepped in something wet with a sickening squish.
The sound broke the quiet— and the crunching stopped.
Slowly, ever so slowly, the hunched figure began to turn its head.
And in the shifting mist, its form emerged—flickering between visibility and concealment.
Seiyad’s breath caught.
Even for someone like him, who had faced countless horrors, this thing was grotesque and revolting.
Its stretched-out neck bore a tangle of wild, matted hair. Beneath it, the torso was unnaturally round.
Its limbs were grotesquely long—thin, skeletal legs as long as a grown man.
Worse still, it didn’t have two arms.
It had many.
Like a spider, four arms sprouted from its back, each one clutching what looked like human limbs—arms and legs limp in its monstrous hands.
The sickening crunching sounds were from that thing feasting on human flesh. A bulging, fist-sized round eye blinked at Seiyad. Beneath its blunt nose, its grotesquely torn mouth chewed ceaselessly on something. Blood dripped steadily from its lips.
Hair—what looked like strands of hair—seemed caught in its teeth. Still staring at Seiyad, the creature raised one of its thin, skeletal fingers and slowly yanked the tangled hair from its mouth.
“…Heh.”
A hollow, gurgling chuckle rattled up its throat.
It vaguely resembled a human in form, but it was undeniably not one. Whatever its true identity, there was no question—it had to be killed.
Regripping his longsword, Seiyad first looked for a core. If it didn’t have one, it would be easier to slay. No matter how large or monstrous, there wasn’t a single thing he couldn’t bring down.
The creature, riddled with what appeared to be glaring weaknesses, leered at his blade with a crooked grin.
The surest way to kill it was to decapitate it. Seiyad prepared to dash forward and sever that unnaturally stretched neck in a single blow.
But just then, a voice echoed through the mist.
“You came to the right place.”
The fog itself must have had some peculiar effect—he hadn’t sensed anyone approaching until the voice rang out. It was a woman’s voice, familiar. Seiyad immediately raised his blade toward the sound.
Standing there, just as he had last seen her by the Lebe River, was Charlotte Saklani.
“Why are you here?”
It made no sense. A civilian appearing in a place like this without so much as a scratch? Unthinkable.
Seiyad stepped forward, wary. His sword remained raised. Whether this was a hallucination or not, if she was here, she was tied to the creature. But he leaned toward it being an illusion—regardless of how much Charlotte disliked him, the tone she’d just used wasn’t hers.
“My fiancée gave her body of her own free will, so no need to worry. Have you been well, my little star?”
Seiyad’s eyes widened. His sword trembled slightly.
Charlotte stepped toward him with even, unhurried steps. Her eyes were fully black, without sclera—just like how Tiaki had once described Aster.
“…Aster.”
He had no idea how Aster was speaking through someone else’s mouth, but Seiyad no longer saw any reason to use honorifics.
Charlotte let out a light, delighted laugh.
“It’s been so long since you last said my name. You used to follow me around, calling it so innocently when you were a child. Hearing it again brings back memories. It feels just like back then—when your world was filled with only me.”
Aster now spoke freely, as if there were no more need for pretense. He spun Charlotte’s body around once with a dainty twirl before striding right up to Seiyad.
Seiyad’s blade pressed against the smaller woman’s throat. One wrong move and he’d pierce her jugular. Alarmed, he quickly pulled his sword back.
“Ah, I knew something was off. You’ve been acting strange ever since last winter. You, who once killed without hesitation, now flinch like a coward. You even shielded that bastard—someone you should’ve torn apart. I never expected you to wield the power of the ancients against me, though…”
With a tone of understanding, Aster drew even closer, pressing Charlotte’s body toward Seiyad. He reached out and clasped Seiyad’s hand.
“So this is what you’ve sunk to, Aster? Hiding in someone else’s body like a coward? If you’re so powerful, face me with your own damn face.”
Regardless of whether Charlotte had joined this of her own will, killing her here wasn’t an option. This forest was under Stella’s command—her death here would make things much worse for Stella.
“Unfortunately, the original owner of this body is quite busy right now. Are you that desperate to see me, Eid? No need to beg—I’ll show myself soon enough. Soon, the world will hold only you and me. Just like it was in the beginning. In the vast night sky, there will be only you and I.”
Aster spoke as though he and Charlotte were two separate beings, though Seiyad felt nothing but unease. But judging by Aster’s words and Tiaki’s account, he had willingly joined hands with a Devil.
Seiyad didn’t want to know more about Aster. The more he learned, the more Aster would haunt him. And with that would come the loneliness and fury buried deep within him.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Stars, the night sky—none of that has anything to do with me. What the hell do you want?”
“I already told you, Eid. I want my little star.”
“I am not that thing!”
Furious at the nonsense, Seiyad shouted. Aster retreated, unbothered, and casually strolled over to the still-feasting monster.
Warily keeping his distance, Seiyad followed Charlotte’s possessed body.
There—beside the creature—were still-living people.
More than ten of them, dressed like common folk, not hunters. Probably local townspeople.
“Even if you’ve changed your name, even if your appearance is different, it doesn’t change the fact that you were once my little star. Your soul shines brightest in the darkness. You’d best come to me now. Sooner or later, it’s going to happen anyway.”
The moment Aster finished speaking, the people lying on the ground opened their eyes.
Vacant stares filled with emptiness.
They slowly rose to their feet.
Aster—through Charlotte—approached one of them. At some point, a sharp dagger had appeared in her pale hand. She passed it to the man standing before her.
A sickening dread surged through Seiyad. He dashed forward to subdue her—
But the creature, which until now had shown no interest in the others, suddenly moved.
It slammed itself between Charlotte and Seiyad, lashing out violently with its emaciated arm. Seiyad dodged the blow and retaliated, slicing its limb cleanly with his blade—
But in that moment, something horrifying unfolded beyond it.
Charlotte’s white face turned to him and smiled sweetly, as if inviting him to watch.
Their eyes locked.
And then—
The people standing in a line began to move.
One of the men, now holding the dagger, raised it with mechanical precision and drove it into his own throat.
He didn’t even flinch.
As if pain didn’t exist, he slashed deeply across his windpipe. Blood sprayed, and his body collapsed like a puppet with cut strings.
“Aster!”
Seiyad screamed in disbelief, the horror too real to deny.
Aster, through Charlotte’s mouth, giggled shrilly.
Their eyes met again, and Charlotte’s face beamed with bliss as she declared:
“If you won’t surrender your soul to me, then I’ll kill every last person until only you and I remain in this world. Either come to my side and embrace the solitude, or be choked by the loneliness I create—until I’m the only one left to gather your broken soul. Remember this, Eid. These people are dying because of you.”
