“Aina?”

“Right now!”

As soon as Aina pushed Cassis’s shoulder away, a monster rose from the shadows.

‘The Darkness!’

A wide-open mouth rushed to eat Aina.

When Aina was about to fight back with her divine power, a thin and shiny net like a gift struck the monster.

The monster trapped in the net made a strange sound and twisted its body.

‘Is this a holy object?’

Is it from the Great Temple? Aina turned to where the net had flown.

There was an unexpected person there.

“Fabian…?”

“Aina?”

Surprised for a while, Aina was happy to meet Fabian even though it is still awkward between them.

After all, it was a reunion after 5 years.

“Why are you here…. No, Aina. Get off first. It’s dangerous here.”

Harris, who appeared while tapping at the surprised Fabian on the shoulder, was formal towards Aina and Cassis.

“Greeting to the Crown Prince and the Saintess.”

Harris, who greeted them, trampled on the wriggling monster.

“No way, did you guys know that the Darkness would appear?”

“Yes, we were expecting it.”

However, the opponent is wrong.

He predicted that the Darkness was going to aim for Ria, not Aina, but he missed it.

‘I’m glad we captured it. At the very least, I almost lost my job.’

As if to protect Aina, Cassis, who embraced her shoulder, looked down at the monster and asked.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen the real thing. Does the Darkness look like this?”

“I cannot be sure as it hasn’t been out yet. However, I think there is a high possibility that it is in the form of a human.”

The Darkness is an evil curse sealed a thousand years ago.

At that time, it is said that Darkness was in the form of a human. So, it must have been hiding somewhere in the form of a human again this time.

“Commander, this guy makes us struggle too much.”

Looking at them sweating a lot, his subordinate was struggling.

As Harris poured out his divine power, the monster twisted its body as if in agony.

But no matter how hard it tried, it couldn’t escape.

Because this net was a holy object that was brought by visiting each temple in order to catch the Darkness.

After successfully capturing the alter ego, Harris exclaimed.

“We’re going back.”

“Yes!”

After confirming that the Shadow had been locked in the cage clad with divine power, Harris turned and bowed his head to Aina.

“I hope that the Saintess will return to the Great Temple as soon as possible.”

“….”

But after a long time, there was no reply.

“Saintess?”

“Yes, pardon?”

“Are you all right?”

Aina, who was awakened by Harris’s call, nodded her head belatedly.

“Yes, I was surprised for a moment.”

While answering Harris, Aina’s gaze remained on the captured shadow.

“Is that, so that monster is an alter ego of the Darkness?”

“That’s right.”

Aina, who looked at the shadow with serious eyes, raised her head.

“Can I go to the Great Temple now?”

“We are always welcome, but….”

Harris nodded, but couldn’t hide his surprise.

She didn’t come even though we called her, so what is the reason for this all of a sudden?

“Aina?”

Cassis, startled by Aina walking towards Harris and Fabian, hurriedly grabbed her hand.

“Now that I have finished my work in the palace, it is right to return to the Great Temple.”

Aina looked back at Cassis and smiled softly.

But an eerie voice was constantly playing in her head.

[It’s pitiful, so pitiful. You didn’t even know you were being used.]

Looking at Aina’s confused face, the Darkness revealed its teeth and giggled.

***

Tap tap.

The sound of foot stomping was heard in the alleyway.

After a second he stomped his foot, the sticky masses crawled to the ground and disappeared into his shadow.

“Hmm, the biggest one has been caught.”

No matter how many times he called, the Darkness clicked his tongue at the alter ego that didn’t return.

“I shouldn’t have to untie it.”

But the Saintess should have been removed from here. It will be annoying to leave her alone.

‘Since it has infiltrated the Saintess’s mind, there’s no choice but to put expectations on it.’

As he left the alley with all his strength, a carriage with the design of the Sinaize family passed in front of him.

It was a fleeting moment, but he saw clearly.

The friendly appearance of Ria and Dillian.

Under the fierce eyes that had sunk in an instant, his lips twitched.

“Shall I kill him?”

The darkness glared murderously at the empty street. The eyes gleamed like amethyst.

With those murderous eyes, the attendant shrugged and avoid to look into the dark eyes.

“… You have to go now.”

“Right. This is not the time.”

Not far away are the dogs of the Great Temple.

‘Not yet, I can’t show myself up.’

Capturing his emotions, he got into the carriage that stopped in front of him.

“Let’s go pick up the stupid contractor.”

As if in response, the carriage door closed with a thud sound.

The pattern engraved on the carriage is a pair of lions facing each other.

It was the royal emblem.

***

I moved to the clock tower with Dillian.

As if we were supposed to meet here, May and Schumann were waiting for me.

“Ria! Are you okay?”

May and Schumann’s faces were covered in sweat, as if they were surprised that I suddenly disappeared.

“Yeah, nothing happened.”

Actually, there was a very big thing, but I didn’t want to cause any fuss, so I just ended by shrugging my shoulders.

“Let’s see, turn around!”

“Turn this way too.”

May and Schumann, who thoroughly inspected my body, wiped their chests, and then started fighting again.

“It’s because of you! So why do you follow after us!”

“Who’s supposed to say that? If you just killed your temper, this wouldn’t have happened.”

The two of them fighting with their teeth exposed, I sighed and slapped them hard on the back.

“Stop it! The two of you should not fight in the first place!”

Dillian nodded and smirked.

“That’s right. At times, a certain someone bragged that she could protect miss Ria, and then she lost her.”

“Ugh!”

“I was the one who found miss Ria in the end, so please tell me something about this incident. Miss May.”

“Urgh!”

From start to finish, nothing was wrong. At Dillian’s sharp words, May grabbed her chest and let out a moan.

“… Nothing. I have nothing to say.”

Reluctantly admitting defeat, Schumann was startled and shook May’s shoulder.

“What, why are you giving up already? The mad dog of the magic tower must not lose like this. Where’s the mad dog who doesn’t let go once it bites!”

“I have no words to win, what should I do….”

Schumann glared at Dillian at May’s unexpectedly dead spirit.

“Apologize right now. Our kids are crying because of you.”

“You idiot, I’m not crying.”

“I will protect my dog.”

Schumann, who put the logic that the only one who can bother his younger sister is her older brother, blocked May’s front.

“The duke hurt my innocent and tender little sister, how are you going to make up for it?”

“Didn’t you say she’s a mad dog?”

“Schumann, what you just said is full of contradictions.”

When Nathan also joined, Schumann snorted.

“What’s wrong with that? There’s also a mad dog with a soft heart. It was just hurt by people and put a thorn around!”

“What do you mean?”

“Just bullshit.”

I held Nathan in my arms and covered his ears as he tilted his head.

Embarrassed, May also turned her head and looked away from Schumann.

“The conclusion is that miss May is a wounded mad dog.”

“That’s right.”

“What do you mean that’s right!”

May, who could not hear it anymore, hit Schumann in the back of the head.

I grabbed Dillian’s arm and pulled him out thinking it was the time.

“Let’s go, we don’t need to deal with them”

“I would love to do that.”

“Let’s buy another cotton candy before we go. This time, I want to eat the blue one.”

We walked towards the cotton candy stand.

Bang, boom, bang!

There was a loud noise of something exploding behind, but no one paid any attention.

***

Lexter, who barely escaped to the mansion, let out a moan of pain.

“Ugh, cough.”

Why is it so painful when it only hits slightly?

Lexter rolled onto the floor, grabbing his bloody arm.

In the blurry vision, a shiny shoe nose could be seen.

“I told you. Don’t get hit by Ria’s attack.”

“Ugh, how can I dodge those arrows!”

The Darkness nodded at Lexter’s bright red rage.

“You’re right. Ria’s arrows are sharp as ever.”

Lexter, who was so angry, slowly lost his words.

To Lexter, who shared the power of the Darkness and instilled a curse in his body, Ria’s divine power was nothing more than poison.

As evidence of that, he gradually lost strength in his body.

“You won’t be able to move properly for a while.”

The Darkness that clicked his tongue called the Shadows in the shallow breath.

The lumpy shadows that rose from the floor forced Lexter to rise. Do not care whether or not Lexter groans in pain.

“You better hide until your body recovers. The alter ego I raised the hardest was also caught by the Great Temple.”

“… Nothing good happened. Cough!”

Lexter, who spit out the flowing blood, asked helplessly with a messed up face.

“You said divine power is nothing, why does that woman’s attack work?”

“Because Ria is special.”

The purple eyes that recalled Ria fluttered open.

“Ria is a child loved by the damn god.”

Obelus, who loved all things equally, cherished and loved Ria.

It’s enough to break down the rule he made and give him a chance.

“Thanks to him I have a chance. You got a chance too.”

Stupid Obelus. If it was for Ria, you shouldn’t have given the test.

‘You will lose Ria completely by that mistake. Obelus.’

The Darkness, who laughed while revealing his teeth, soon disappeared with Lexter.