"Are you seriously going to kill her?" Nico asked, seated next to Raiden, who leaned on the table with his elbows, gripping a hard piece of bread in his hands as thick porridge and water waited in front of him.

Two months had passed since he'd arrived at the Smiling Sanctum, and his previously short black hair had grown long, now tied back in a ponytail as his golden eyes stared down at the table.

"I don't know, but I'd be glad if she died in the war," Raiden shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Her blood wouldn't be on my hands if that happens."

Nico glanced at him, his piercing blue eyes squinting in curiosity. "Don't you think they will need you? You are the bookkeeper, after all."

Raiden was quiet for several moments, letting Nico's words sink in. He still lacked complete control over his thoughts, finding them difficult to grasp and work through. But two days ago, he'd heard rumors that the Kingdom of Persia, his kingdom, was at war.

The kingdom's enemy was unclear, but rumors suggested they were fighting an organization known as the Transmitters, under Aeris's leadership.

His memories arrived in pieces, but he could still sense his resentment toward Aeris. Though his mind couldn't grasp the important memories clearly, their relationship wasn't something that could be erased so easily. The sting of her betrayal endured.

One thing was crystal clear to him, however: the Transmitters. He recalled them vividly. Together with Noelle, his fellow guardian, they had slaughtered the group's leader recently.

"I don't know what exactly is going on," he muttered and began stuffing his mouth with the bread. "… But I'm having a good time with you guys."

He paused in motion and turned to Nico with a big grin. "Why should I waste my time on something I can barely remember?" He ruffled Nico's grime hair as they both wore a smile.

"Hey, Hero…" A man's call echoed from the entrance, his cadaverous figure draped in oversized gray clothes that hung like funeral shrouds.

He gestured wildly, his pronounced bones the sole anchors preventing his wasted body from folding in on itself.

They turned in unison to face the stranger, confusion evident in both their expressions.

"Can you help us carry some luggage?" The man asked.

With a curt nod, Raiden grabbed his bread and crammed it between his teeth, then hastily swallowed it down with quick swigs of water.

"Forget about them, Nico." Raiden muttered as he rose to his feet, hurrying to the man, alongside Nico.

"We need to worry why corrupt bearers haven't shown up in more than a month."

With a nod of agreement, Nico joined Raiden in responding to the man's request.

After Raiden's single-handed elimination of five berserk corrupt crest bearers, three additional ones had surfaced.

He killed two personally, but left the third for Nico, recognizing the boy's need for real combat to develop his abilities.

It should have been a moment of pride: Nico, powerless as he was, had managed to kill a corrupt crest bearer, albeit one ranked as low as number 9 gray crest. Instead, their celebration felt muted, weighed down by the mysteries surrounding them.

Fighting the berserkers brought no joy to either of them, but their sudden scarcity created an unsettling void, like a missing element that transformed what should have been peace into dread. Humans were strange creatures indeed.

From this dread emerged whispered theories about the Dark Raven, that mythical dark version of Raiden who allegedly devoured berserkers.

The rumors bred even greater horror as people claimed Black Raven was absorbing their corrupt essence to fuel his ultimate destruction of the entire kingdom. Some insisted they were witnessing the devourer himself made flesh.

Though Raiden lacked the mental clarity to dissect the rumors and reach any conclusions, he couldn't ignore his need to discover what lay behind this change.

These were his people now, his family. His former self felt like a ghost from another lifetime until his recovery was complete.

"Do you think I can be strong enough to kill more berserkers when they show up?" Nico asked as he led Raiden indoors, each of them brushing away the accumulated dust from their garments.

Yet as Raiden opened his mouth to reply, his natural danger detection suddenly activated, ice flooding his veins while his pulse raced wildly. Whatever triggered it was far away, likely near the coastline that lay two or three days' walk distant. Discover more novels at novelfire(.)net

A brief glance told Nico that Raiden was troubled, prompting him to hide his expression behind a neutral mask.

"What's going on, Hero?"

No words came from Raiden as his eyes shifted restlessly toward the source of his unease. Perhaps it wasn't that he chose silence, but that language itself had abandoned him at that moment.

"Do you see a berserker coming?" Nico asked, his initial confusion melting into anxiety as he absorbed the unprecedented fear written across Raiden's face.

Though Raiden couldn't identify the approaching presence, his terror mounted with each step it drew nearer—and that fear was twisting his features into a sinister, involuntary smile.

The overwhelming presence carried an aura that felt disturbingly familiar, as if he'd faced this entity before. If it was indeed a berserker, it had to be a black crest bearer and likely a number one.

Then, after a moment, his chest constricted as he sensed the threat gaining speed, moving faster than his own pace.

Pure instinct kicked in as he shouted warnings for everyone to seek cover. Nico's body was shaking violently, his knees giving out and colliding together as terror overwhelmed him.

Raiden was equally consumed by terror, but the sinister smile stretching across his features masked the fear underneath.

Beneath that disturbing expression, his very soul felt ready to flee his body. The bystanders were just as frightened—they'd never witnessed Raiden behave so strangely.

"You need to hide too, Nico," Raiden swallowed hard, his already racing heart pounding even faster as sweat slicked his palms, which he nervously rubbed against his clothing.

The presence he'd estimated to be hundreds of miles distant had closed to within 5 miles in mere moments. The threat was moving at an impossible speed.

"No, Hero," Nico said with confidence, forcing a brave expression through his fear. "We can do this together."

Raiden glanced at him for a moment. He knew once Nico's mind was set on something, there was little he could do to change it, but still, he was certain the threat would be too much for him.

"It is here…" Raiden said and assumed his stance and Nico also did the same.