Although it was the onset of the cold season, the forest was quieter than it had been a few days ago. It was daytime, when the Nir’a rarely appeared, and also thanks to Seiyad having preemptively killed several of the Nir’a lurking near the boundary. It was all to eliminate as many dangers as possible in preparation for today.
They tied red cords to tree branches as they moved forward, marking a path for the return journey. The chirping of birds echoed between the tall trees. The ash-gray robins that inhabited only Axid in the north seemed unusually busy during the daylight. The occasional calm breeze and the vivid scent of the forest rising from the frozen snow imparted a strange sense of tranquility. Gazing at the dense, elongated shadows of trees sprawling across the ground, Seiyad wondered whether this place could someday become just an ordinary forest.
“Have you ever seen the core of the boundary, Duke?”
Bridehit, who had been uncharacteristically silent for over an hour, finally spoke. Seiyad, deliberately walking behind him and Vetria, almost nodded—but then paused.
At that point in time, he had never entered the center of the forest. It wasn’t until four years later, when the children of Bridehit and Vetria, consumed by grief over their deaths, volunteered to form a formal investigation unit, that the domains began actively attempting to dismantle their respective forests. Many died in the process. There were also knights whose apathy toward the sacrifices was left unaddressed by Seiyad.
“No.”
“Of course not. The former Duke…”
Bridehit trailed off, realizing it was a sensitive subject. Then, Vetria, who had remained silent until then, picked up where he left off.
“The former Duke never saw the core either. There’s no way his child would have. None of our generation ever joined the late king’s investigation team.”
Surprisingly, Duchess Vetria had once been a close friend of his mother. She had done nothing for his mother when she was executed, didn’t believe in her innocence either—yet, she had once been that kind of presence. Perhaps out of guilt for her inaction, Vetria used to visit the north with Stella, who had been Seiyad’s close friend, but after an incident a year later, she severed all ties.
In the past, Seiyad simply hated all the Tithers.
Even though rampancy could afflict any of them, the way they had so zealously cast his mother aside felt like hypocrisy. He despised the South for demanding they be recognized as equals while never shouldering the same burden as the North. He resented Bridehit for aiding Shildras in the South and found Vetria, who didn’t even show basic loyalty, utterly hypocritical.
The reasons to hate them were endless. But hatred and contempt ate away at him just as much. So instead, Seiyad chose to feel nothing toward them. It was his way of maintaining inner peace.
But now, thinking back on it, Seiyad realized that he had never truly confronted them or fought back. He hadn’t made any real effort to persuade them. He had simply judged them by their actions, never once trying to understand the intentions behind them.
On the surface, it may have seemed like the safest choice. But it left a knot buried deep inside his heart. Every single second of his life, that knot pressed down on his chest. And to avoid acknowledging the way it kept growing, Seiyad again tried to feel nothing at all.
“I didn’t expect the two of you to bring up my mother.”
His lips moved on their own. It felt like the knot he had tried so hard to suppress was now writhing inside him.
“I assumed she’d long been erased from your memories, seeing as just being associated with her was treated like a crime.”
In the past, Seiyad had never shown any resentment or anger in front of them. Even those emotions had felt like a luxury he couldn’t afford.
His tone sounded cold, but it carried a sharp edge—and unexpectedly, Vetria was the one who reacted first.
“Don’t project misplaced anger onto those who did what they had to do, Duke. As a Tither, you should know how to separate public duty from personal feelings. Don’t tell me you still haven’t learned that?”
Usually cynical and aloof, Vetria actually raised her voice for once. Bridehit, though his face showed a flicker of guilt, nodded in agreement.
“You know full well, Duke, there’s no way to stop a rampant Tither other than death. What happened with the former Duke was unavoidable.”
Seiyad sneered. His mother, locked in a prison cell, had been perfectly rational. She hadn’t harmed anyone. While Bridehit’s statement may have held true in the case of Seiyad’s own rampancy and death, it certainly didn’t apply to his mother.
“You both heard what the former Duke said while she was imprisoned.”
At the mocking tone in his voice, Vetria ground her teeth and shot back.
“Serena’s words were nothing more than unprovable delusions. Would you, as Duke, really believe the solitary claims of one woman over the testimony of everyone else?”
Seiyad stared into Vetria’s piercing brown eyes. Her reaction was far more vehement than Bridehit’s—and it was something he hadn’t anticipated.
It was infuriating. Annoying. And yet… it tugged at something in his heart. Her intense reaction somehow felt like a mark of profound guilt.
“This isn’t the time to argue!”
Bridehit suddenly shouted in urgency. Pointing forward with the ceremonial sword in his hand, everyone turned to look in unison—and saw, in the distance, a massive tree. Embedded in its center was something that looked like a large, round, crimson gem. It was the World Tree.
“The core of the boundary lies closer to the edge than I expected. From here on out, be extremely cautious. The tree’s core can’t simply be destroyed. The moment we touch it, the Nir’a protecting it will all awaken at once.”
“But isn’t it currently daytime?”
One of the knights raised a question.
“This is the Forest of Night. The trees block out the sky, and anything near the core seems to draw strength from it and awaken, regardless of the hour.”
In that case…
“If it’s near the core, then Nir’a can roam freely even during the day?”
That meant the possibility that his mother had been telling the truth had just gone up—if only by a little. At his remark, Vetria’s eyebrows furrowed. Bridehit hesitated briefly, then shook his head.
“The core only exists within the forest. If what you’re referring to is the former Duke’s final testament…”
Bridehit couldn’t finish his sentence. Perhaps he had sensed the sudden, chilling presence—he whirled around. As they all felt it, dark masses began to stir and rise in the previously silent depths of the forest. The sight resembled black mist blooming from the ground.
“Looks like they’ve detected intruders. I knew it wouldn’t be easy.”
As Bridehit said, the Nir’a that guarded the boundary’s core were overwhelming in number. Compared to the ones that crawled out beyond the forest to attack humans, these were on another level. The knights, too, were frozen in place.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Vetria leapt forward, eyes locked on the fast-approaching masses. Vines shot up from the ground, stretching forward like arrows in response to her will.
“Do not stray from this spot! Focus on the incoming ones—we’ll hold the front line!”
Before the last word left her lips, Bridehit summoned a sharp gale. Harnessing his ability to manipulate air, he formed invisible blades that pierced through the charging Nir’a.
While the knights finished off the remaining low-grade Nir’a that had been weakened by the first assault from the Tithers, Seiyad carefully surveyed the surroundings. So far, it wasn’t much different from what he remembered five years ago. The core had appeared a little sooner than expected, but aside from the lesser Nir’a patrolling the area, everything was as he recalled.
Then when—and where—had the high-grade Nir’a appeared?
Raising all his senses to the limit, Seiyad kept a wary eye on his surroundings while the battle progressed relatively smoothly. The knights, well-versed in killing the lesser Nir’a, destroyed their cores with minimal effort, and the dukes dispatched their foes without much difficulty. At this pace, they would soon eliminate the smaller ones and reach the inner core.
Then, the fractured rays of sunlight piercing the forest canopy abruptly vanished.
The sun that had hung above them disappeared in an instant, and a colossal shadow swept over the forest. The knights instinctively looked up at the sudden darkness. The sky was dim—not because night had fallen, but because something enormous was blotting out the sun.
“Bridehit!”
Seiyad shouted.
From near the inner core, shrouded in a vast shadow, a towering darkness began to emerge, as tall as the forest trees themselves. It was shaped like a giant. Its long, thick arms dangled down to its legs, and its head resembled that of a bear. Each of its steps thudded with a ground-shaking boom.
“Pull the knights back, Duke!”
Bridehit shouted, voice grave. Seiyad wasted no time.
“Retreat to the entrance—immediately! From here on, this is Tither territory! Withdraw now!”
Though the knights were visibly pale at the sight of the monstrous creature, they hesitated, clearly reluctant to abandon their comrades.
“But…”
The monster sensed their hesitation. As expected of a creature finely attuned to human emotion, it didn’t miss even the briefest moment of doubt. It struck at the weakest section of the group without delay.
Despite its massive frame, the creature moved with frightening speed, swinging a club it held in one hand—its target, the knights standing beside Seiyad.
The instant the club’s shadow fell over them, Seiyad unleashed his power. Just as it was about to strike, he seized control of the shadow and restrained it. The greater the size or weight of what he controlled, the exponentially more strength he had to expend. The sudden overload made his insides twist violently.
“Go! NOW!”
He growled through gritted teeth, and the seasoned knights overcame their fear and retreated in haste. Seconds later, the shadowy grip was released, and the club slammed into the ground.
CRASH!
A deafening impact shattered the trees. As Seiyad blocked the attacks to cover the knights’ retreat, Bridehit and Vetria were hacking away at the massive creature, trying to locate its core.
Bridehit’s wind severed the creature’s arm holding the club. Shhhk! With a slicing gust, the arm collapsed. As vines continuously sprouted to restrain the monster, Vetria kept it in place. Once the knights had safely fallen back, Seiyad joined the fight.
“Can’t see the core from the front! Check its back, Duke!”
The monster’s severed arm was already regrowing. Nir’a could endlessly regenerate unless their cores were destroyed—and the higher their rank, the faster that regeneration.
Seiyad aided Bridehit, conjuring spears from the shadows to tear apart the creature’s limbs. It staggered, trying to endure the assault, but was eventually overwhelmed by their speed and collapsed with a thud. Seizing the moment, Seiyad summoned hundreds of spears from the shadow beneath the fallen monster.
As the weapons plunged in with a crunching sound, scattering the dark Nir’a body, Seiyad glimpsed its core—faintly visible, hidden at the base of its foot. With the monster now toppled, this was the only chance to strike.
“Vetria, the foot! Its foot!”
He shouted to Vetria, who was near the creature’s lower body. Just as she lifted her head in response, Seiyad suddenly felt something off. Vetria’s eyes—her eyes were wrong. There was no iris, no pupil—just whites, as if her eyes had turned inside out. A foreboding, unnatural whiteness glared back at him.
