The boy’s eyes widened as he stared at Adrian. It was only natural—he was startled by the sudden reappearance of a man who had vanished without a trace.
Adrian looked at the boy with an expression of complete nonchalance and asked a question.
“A girl?”
From earlier, something small had been bothering the dragon’s gaze. A tiny silhouette, tucked away inside a half-collapsed barracks far off in the distance. Perhaps startled by the chaos outside, it remained frozen, unmoving, nestled deep within.
That little figure was likely the child the boy had been searching for.
“…Huh?”
A dumbfounded response slipped through the boy’s parted lips.
Adrian’s golden eyes gleamed sharply. There really wasn’t much time left before the demonic beasts descended. He asked once again.
“The one you’re looking for right now—is she a girl?”
To the boy, it probably sounded more like a threat. Only then did he snap out of his daze and quickly nodded in reply.
“…Y-Yes! That’s right!”
The child standing next to him, clutching his arm, looked up at Adrian with a dazed expression. It had been only a brief moment, but already, to the child, this man looked more flawless than anyone they had ever seen.
An admiring gasp naturally slipped from the child’s lips.
Golden hair that matched the sharp angle of his jawline, and eyes that were likely brown—but for some reason, they shimmered strangely, almost appearing gold. He looked like someone who had stepped straight out of a regal portrait hanging on the palace walls. On top of that, the way he casually held a long sword with a gleaming white blade in one hand made him seem like the perfect image of a knight.
“All right. Then follow me.”
Adrian strode off with long, purposeful strides in the direction where he sensed the girl’s presence. The boys, who had been looking up at him in awe, scurried after him, their short legs struggling to keep up.
They felt like if they didn’t follow immediately, they’d lose him forever.
“She’s in there. Take her and go.”
The blond man pointed indifferently toward a crumbling barracks.
The boy had no idea why this man was suddenly helping them, but at the moment, there were more pressing concerns than asking questions.
He erased the doubt from his face as best he could, then lifted the tattered flap of the barracks Adrian had pointed to and stepped inside, calling the girl’s name.
To his shock, the girl he’d been desperately searching for really was inside. She had apparently been frightened by the howling of the monsters outside and was crouched on the floor beside the bed, crying.
The boy gently rubbed the trembling girl’s shoulder, soothing her. Then, he quickly helped her to her feet and led her outside.
“Thank you for your help.”
Unlike his initial behavior, when he’d mistaken Adrian for a thief, the boy now offered a polite bow.
“Thank you.”
The children on either side of him also bowed their heads in unison. Adrian waved his palm lazily at them, his face indifferent.
“Enough thanks. Just hurry up and get inside the shield.”
He hadn’t done this to receive gratitude anyway. In truth, it wasn’t even help—more like clearing away the things that were bothering his line of sight.
But the children seemed even more moved by Adrian’s offhand attitude. Even after he told them to go quickly, they kept hesitating mid-step, glancing back at him.
Finally, the boy couldn’t hold back his curiosity and asked,
“Why… aren’t you coming with us?”
A fair question. The blond man didn’t seem concerned at all about the approaching monsters. With barracks collapsing and armored knights rushing about, any normal person would have felt at least some fear.
“I’ll leave once I see that you’re all safely inside. Don’t worry about me.”
Even with Adrian’s answer, the boy didn’t seem convinced. He asked again,
“You don’t look like one of the kingdom’s knights… Could you tell us your name?”
“…”
The man shook his head firmly, his face cold. He could have easily shared his name—it wasn’t such a big deal. The boy, looking disappointed, nodded in resignation.
Adrian let out a small sigh, as though it couldn’t be helped, and finally spoke.
“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you. It’s that… right now, I don’t have a name I can give you.”
And that was the truth.
Because the name Adrian Heather was one he’d used only for his former game of pretense.
Yet the boy frowned, more confused than ever.
“What do you mean by that—”
It happened in the blink of an eye.
A demonic beast flew straight toward them. It was the same one that had been visible only as a silhouette in the distance. Apparently, more beasts had joined in, as several of them were now circling above the barracks from the sky. One among them shot toward their direction like a bolt of lightning. The gust stirred by its wings carried a palpable sense of threat.
Adrian didn’t take his eyes off the creature as he spoke firmly.
“Don’t look up. Just run straight ahead.”
If the children saw that thing with their own eyes, they’d probably freeze in terror.
It was a dark, shadowy form, as if shrouded in black mana. It looked like a giant black bird with two massive wings.
But the more you’re told not to look, the more you want to. Humans were like that. The boy and the children instinctively turned their gaze skyward mid-step. Sensing their eyes, the beast spread its jaws wide and let out a chilling screech—a sharp, metallic cry, like steel scraping against steel.
“Aaagh!”
The boy screamed as he wrapped his arms around his little sister. He squeezed his eyes shut and curled his body protectively around her. The children huddled in his embrace had gone rigid, as if they, too, sensed their impending fate.
Adrian’s eyes flared with brilliant light. It bothered him—standing there doing nothing while they trembled like that. He saw the beast’s open maw descending toward them. Click. The hilt of the sword in his hand shifted slightly. Having drawn upon a portion of the dragon’s mana, his golden eyes now burned with a fierce glow.
In a matter of steps, Adrian reached the children, who were still frozen in place.
“Move.”
The man, who until now had spoken so little, broke through the group with a sharp, commanding voice.
Shrring—
At some point, the sword of Fellen Deeps had appeared in his hand, glowing brightly. Even the motion of drawing it from its scabbard was too fast for the eye to follow.
BOOM!
A thunderous clash erupted as the beast’s jagged fangs collided with the blade.
The blinding flash of light that exploded in that moment forced the children to throw their arms over their faces to shield their eyes.
Vwoooom—
A violent surge followed—the clash between pure, crystalline sword energy and the beast’s dark mana sent a massive ripple through the air. It all started from the sword of Fellen Deeps that Adrian was holding. The stillness of the surrounding air was swept away, and with a sharp whoosh, everything seemed to move in reverse.
It was a mana backlash.
A scorching gust, born from that collision, washed over their bodies. Like a circular shockwave, the wind flared outward from the point of origin before calming.
Click.
Adrian clicked his tongue and swiftly withdrew his sword. The demonic beast, having come into contact with the blade enveloped in pure mana, had already begun to disintegrate, its form fading into nothing. It was like using fire magic to crush an ant—overkill in every sense.
With a casual flick, as if scattering away the leftover mana, he slid the blade back into its sheath.
“……”
He turned his face slightly, avoiding the awestruck stares of the children who were openly gawking at him. So much for trying to resolve the situation quietly.
All his effort to keep this low-key had gone completely up in smoke.
***
Ssshh—
The grass at their feet flattened all at once, pressed low by the abrupt turbulence of mana. But even more striking was the visceral jolt—every nerve in the body seemed to stand on edge.
Such a massive mana backlash—this was the first of its kind.
Only a handful of elites on the battlefield could even sense it. Naturally, Mikhail was among them. While surveying the camp and tracking the movements of the demonic beasts, he suddenly looked up, eyes flashing.
“…This…”
His brows furrowed slightly. As far as he knew, there was only one being capable of creating a mana reaction like this.
But… Adrian wouldn’t have stepped in. Then who the hell is it?
A human possessing such overwhelming mana? Mikhail wrestled with the thought.
Several people around him exchanged glances. You felt that too, right? Who the hell was that?—the question was clear in their eyes.
Among them was Catherine Esteban, a mage highly attuned to mana fluctuations. Judging by the expression on her face, she looked like she wouldn’t rest until she confirmed it for herself.
Mikhail said nothing. He simply pointed toward the direction where the backlash had occurred.
Catherine caught his meaning and nodded once before heading off in that direction. A few soldiers quickly fell in behind her.
