The feeling of walking away from the sunken silence was strange. It felt as uncomfortable as walking barefoot over thorns, and for some reason, a heavy pressure weighed on his chest. Not knowing why he felt such an unpleasant sensation, Seiyad tightened his lips. The scene he had just witnessed left behind a senseless burden of guilt.
To be honest, Aster was in a relatively good mood today. Had he been in a worse mood than usual, Ressas might have heard even more humiliating and degrading words. This, at least, was the better version of Aster; later on, he would frequently put Ressas in genuine danger.
But no one could rebuke Aster for such behavior. The royal family remained royal because they possessed the power of a Guide, and that alone granted them the right to bear the name Solias. In the eyes of the world, Ressas was a Solias—yet a Solias who shouldn’t be. Even his own parents, the king and queen, turned away from him; who else would dare defend him?
Seiyad’s thoughts were no different. He had witnessed this countless times before, so there was no reason for it to feel unusual now—yet something sat uneasily in his chest. Even without voicing their contempt, everyone surely knew that the prince blamed himself more than anyone.
“Eid.”
At the sudden call of his nickname, Seiyad blinked. Aster’s blue eyes were staring straight at him. The two were surrounded by rows of temple columns, lined with torches in perfect order. The Ritual of Invocation was imminent.
“You’re acting strange today. You can’t seem to focus on me.”
Aster’s narrowed eyes scrutinized him as if trying to pierce through. Since a Guide and a Tither could read each other through wavelengths, Aster always picked up on Seiyad’s changes with keen precision.
“Speak.”
Aster’s voice wrapped around him with a tenderness that brought comfort just by listening. It was the kind of gentle presence that made one feel they could confess anything.
“…It seemed to me that you were paying too much mind to someone not even worth looking back at.”
The words didn’t need to be said aloud—reason should have stopped them. But impulse overtook logic. Even Seiyad himself hadn’t realized what he was doing.
“So that’s why you disobeyed my order and let him stay at the estate?”
Aster gave a small laugh and turned his head toward the altar. According to legend, it was where the devil’s corpse had once been laid. Now, in its place, was a substitute offering: a goat, already unconscious, laid on its side with its four legs bound.
“I simply found the rumors on the day of the ritual troublesome.”
Seiyad had thought Aster might ignore the matter since he hadn’t mentioned it earlier—but that had been a pointless hope. Someone as precise as Aster would never fail to notice something like that.
“You’re more talkative than usual. That’s not like you.”
As he spoke, Aster unsheathed his sword. The weapon, only permitted on the day of the ritual, was called Holy Death—a treasured heirloom passed down through generations of Solias kings. Even after centuries, its white blade remained free of rust, a testament to its rarity.
“But since it was an action taken by my star, I won’t question you further.”
Aster turned his body. Seiyad stepped back behind him and stood in front of the waiting Tithers. The wavering torchlight cast a crimson hue that stretched across Aster’s head, forming a long shadow behind him.
“To the stars who protect this land, I earnestly pray—please shine upon the helpless from the darkness that swallows all. As a symbol of promise and devotion, I offer this darkness in sacrifice.”
The translucent white blade rose high, then fell in a straight arc. In one clean motion, the sharp edge pierced the goat’s chest and split its heart. Blood pooled across the stone altar, spilling over the edge and dripping onto the ground below. Though the stench wasn’t human, the sight of the vivid red immediately brought to Seiyad’s mind the hundreds of corpses that had once blanketed the snowfield. His fingertips trembled slightly.
“From this moment, the Ritual of Invocation shall commence. For the safety and glory of Solias—my knights, step forward and vanquish the ancient evil.”
With the authority of the king entrusted to him, Aster gave the proclamation.
***
Darkness cloaked in heavy silence—occasional tense breaths broke through the hush. After passing the temple marking the boundary between forest and territory, they entered the fringe of the Forest of Night. This vast expanse covered the entire northern region, and at its farthest point—the center—was said to lie the core that created Nir’a. But no one had ever reached the end of the forest, and its true nature remained unknown. No matter how powerful one was, a Tither could not wield infinite strength unless supported by the power of a Guide.
At the front of the group, knights with little experience in rituals maintained alert stances, their tension palpable. Behind them were the archers from House Brosius, and in the rearmost line were knights tasked with guarding the royal family. Seiyad and the other two dukes stood at the center, scanning in all directions.
Ordinarily, space would be left at the back for the territory’s residents to watch the ceremony, but today, Seiyad had ordered everyone to remain inside the estate. His abrupt decision had stirred confusion throughout the city. They were probably blaming his infamy while preparing a meaningless festival for his return.
‘Will it truly appear?’
He had prepared in advance, based on experiences he believed to be from his past. But the presence he felt from afar was pitifully weak. It wasn’t just Seiyad who sensed it—Duke Bridehit muttered quietly.
“Seems the Grand Duke was worrying over nothing.”
As if to prove him wrong, Duchess Vetria let out a faint scoff. Trees around them swayed softly in response to her mood, rustling saaa, saaa. Eastern Tithers had long been associated with the earth, and this generation’s Tither—Vetria—had an especially strong bond with the forest.
Even after walking deep enough to be fully within the forest’s boundary, all remained quiet. Just as the tense young knights began to unconsciously let out breaths of relief, a startled scream rang out.
“T-The shadow!”
All eyes turned toward the sound. There, blending almost perfectly with the darkness yet discernible upon close inspection, was a mass as large as a wolf. Its eyes—two narrow slits—glowed a bright, bloody red in the pitch-black.
“Even for a lower-class one, this is as low as it gets. Its eyes are far too easy to spot.”
Duke Bridehit remarked flatly. As he said, the lower the Nir’a’s grade, the easier it was to locate its heart. Usually, the crimson glow that functioned like eyes indicated the core of a Nir’a, and the higher the grade, the more unpredictably that core was hidden.
“Everyone, stay calm! Bring the torches closer—vanguard unit, aim for the red eyes!”
Duchess Vetria shouted. Despite being startled by the unfamiliar monster they were seeing for the first time, the knights quickly assembled into formation as they had been trained. Once the torchlight closed in, the Nir’a’s full form became clearer. A black mass shaped like a wolf crouched low to the ground in a threatening stance.
“You’ll face these things in your own domains as well. It’s best to think of it as protecting your families.”
Just as Aster leisurely commented while observing from behind, the knights launched into their assault. When the archers in the rear loosed their arrows, the Nir’a that had crouched low suddenly swelled and charged forward. One had appeared at first—but now several more burst out from behind it in rapid succession.
“Go for the head! Crush its head!”
The Nir’a leapt much higher than a normal wolf and was even faster. The knights were briefly thrown off by the difference, but, as skilled warriors, they swiftly split into smaller units and surrounded the creatures. With a harsh, KANG!—the cry of a beast rang out, followed by the first kill.
“They’re adapting faster than I expected. Seems I won’t need to intervene.”
As Duchess Vetria noted, when particularly inexperienced recruits joined the fight, there were instances where they’d fall victim to a Nir’a. The Nir’a didn’t merely injure their prey—it broke the victim’s spirit and consumed it. The aftereffects were far worse than simple wounds.
“All clear!”
“Our scouts report no more sightings at the moment!”
Soon after, the six Nir’a dissipated into thin air. Once their heart-cores were destroyed, Nir’a would vanish like shadows scattered by light. As the darkness around them grew visibly thinner, everyone let out relieved sighs and even laughed. Aster, who had been watching calmly, addressed the dozens of knights returning to him.
“Thanks to your efforts, we will once again pass safely through the year. Well done.”
“Thank you, Your Highness!”
“Let us return. This year’s ritual ended even faster than last.”
Depending on the number and size of the Nir’a, the ceremony could sometimes drag on for more than two hours—but this time, as Aster said, it ended quickly. Since the Ritual of Invocation was for supplication rather than eradication, they never lingered long at the forest’s edge. Following tradition, they would now return, hold a festival, distribute food across the territory for three days to prepare for winter, and invite the people of the domain to the castle square.
‘…Was everything I saw just an illusion? What if all of my memories were nothing more than the product of a delusion?’
The tranquil air, as if everything had been resolved, left Seiyad feeling disoriented. Though it had been five years ago, he could still recall it vividly—the moment when the ritual seemed to be concluding after defeating small Nir’a, and then, silently, a massive Nir’a descended upon them.
Shaped like a spider and larger than three carriages combined, it had a massive body but moved with terrifying speed. Like a soundless death sentence, the Nir’a’s ambush killed a knight instantly. The screams, the disarray of their formation, the confusion of knights fleeing while others protected the princes—it had turned into utter chaos. The nightmare of that day was still so vivid… and if it had all just been a lie? A delusion?
“Nir’a’s not so scary after all. Maybe we don’t even need the Tither for this.”
Then suddenly, Seiyad heard a voice that struck him with a chilling familiarity. He whipped his head around—one of the young knights was laughing softly, just loud enough for his comrades to hear, boasting of their supposed heroism.
In that instant, overwhelmed by a powerful sense of déjà vu, Seiyad shouted,
“Behind you!”
His voice echoed through the air—just as a massive spider leg came crashing down and crushed the young knight’s head without mercy.
SPLAT!
“Uaaagh!”
The young knight didn’t even have the chance to scream. He was crushed in an instant. One of his companions screamed in his place, collapsing and rolling backward in panic. And with him, a colossal shadow emerged behind the knights—so vast that it swallowed the glow of the torches.
