To sum it up, Alon and his group managed to break through the overwhelming number of cultists and reach the allied side.

“We… we made it back alive?”

“R-Really?”

The soldiers murmured in disbelief, confirming that no cultists were pursuing them anymore.

The path they had run through like madmen.

What remained there were just thousands of footprints.

No cultists spewing madness in pursuit.

No monsters drooling and snarling.

There was nothing in sight.

A silence settled on the earth.

The soldiers, dazed as they stared at the path they had come from, unconsciously threw down their weapons—

“We’re alive—!”

“I-I can’t believe we made it out of that crazy place~!”

They hugged one another, celebrating their survival.

The joy of being alive.

The relief of escape.

Wrapped in hopeful emotions, they shouted so loudly it seemed to shake the entire forest.

“Huff, huff—”

Beside them, Penia panted with her tongue out like a dog.

Alon also let out a rough breath and leaned against a tree.

‘We made it out somehow.’

After catching his breath, Alon looked around at the soldiers.

There were many survivors.

However, naturally, their numbers had dropped significantly since their initial advance.

It was to be expected.

Even if Alon had slain dozens of enemies and a single apostle, striking fear and despair into the enemy while inspiring hope and courage in his allies—

The overwhelming difference in forces inevitably led to casualties.

“……”

A bitter feeling crept in, impossible to ignore.

Familiar faces came into Alon’s view as he surveyed the survivors.

Ryanga and Ar, embracing each other happily despite their ragged breathing.

Nangwon and his sister, both crying tears of relief.

And beside them, Rangban, who had thrust his sword into the ground, letting out a deep breath, his eyes gleaming with the relief of survival.

As Alon blankly stared at the scene—

“……Thank you.”

A soft voice reached him.

“?”

“…?”

When Alon turned his gaze, he saw a young girl bowing her head.

She looked familiar—

“……You were the one who had fallen earlier.”

“Yes, if it weren’t for you, Lord, I would have died.”

Alon quickly realized.

She was one of the girls whose life he had just saved.

“I’m glad.”

“Truly, thank you.”

The girl bowed even deeper.

He had only seen her briefly, collapsed and in danger while they were running.

Yet Alon remembered her clearly.

Because she was human.

Among the forces following Alon now, having a human was a rare thing.

“Thank you, Lord!”

“If it weren’t for you, I—”

And then, one by one, those whom Alon had saved began offering their thanks with reverence and awe.

Alon accepted their gratitude, then soon began moving again.

They had shaken off the cultists’ pursuit after breaking through the frontlines, but they had not yet joined the allied forces.

As Alon resumed leading the group forward, Rangban approached.

“You said something seems off?”

“Yes.”

Rangban’s brow was furrowed, unlike before.

“By this point, we should be seeing the allied frontlines, but it’s strange that nothing is in sight.”

“Is there a chance we took the wrong route?”

“No, this is the right place.”

“Could something have gone wrong on the allied side… is that it?”

Rangban paused for a moment, then said:

“It’s not impossible something happened, but I doubt it’s anything major. If we were dealing with the worst-case scenario we anticipated, the cultists would have definitely sent a pursuit party.”

“Then the problem is—”

“It’s just odd that the frontlines seem to have retreated this far, yet no pursuit came. That’s what feels strange.”

“……Didn’t the soldiers rescued from the last sacrificial temple say they were the most recently saved?”

“They said it was about three weeks ago, yes. And even they feel something is off.”

After a brief moment of thought—

“Still, we should keep moving for now. It’s not like we have another option.”

“Understood.”

Alon chose to continue forward.

Rangban nodded immediately.

The column pressed onward, determined to reach the allied frontlines without stopping.

####

About three days passed.

In that long-yet-short march, Alon discovered only one thing.

The allied frontlines, which should definitely exist, were nowhere to be found.

Of course, he hadn’t received any intel or seen anything definitive.

But circumstantially, it was strange.

Alon and the soldiers had broken through the cultists’ lines and had been walking eastward ever since.

Yet the frontlines never appeared.

Despite that, the Baarma cultists hadn’t sent a single pursuer since Alon’s escape, as if the allied frontlines were still firmly in place.

Naturally, the soldiers started to feel something was wrong.

“Didn’t they say it would take about a week to reach the alliance?”

“At our current pace, we should definitely arrive within that time.”

As dusk fell beneath the gray sky, Alon slowly nodded at Rangban’s report.

“Hopefully we’ll learn something once we arrive.”

“……I feel the same way.”

Rangban let out a barely audible sigh.

“Still, I’m sure we’ll find answers once we get to the alliance.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, I checked various spots as we passed through the east, and there are signs of retreat everywhere. I don’t know why the cultists aren’t advancing and are holding the front, but……”

He concluded with, “We’ll know once we arrive.”

Then, a young girl approached Alon.

“Lord, here.”

“Thank you.”

Nod-nod—

As if she had been waiting, the girl handed Alon a sweet potato.

A beastkin girl with large ears like Seolrang’s, she absentmindedly played with her fluffy tail while gazing intently at Alon.

Feeling a wordless pressure like, eat it now, Alon naturally bit into the sweet potato, recalling her name.

‘Was it Ria?’

She had been among those he rescued three days ago, along with the human girl, as he tore through the frontlines.

As if to repay the favor, the girl continued to bring Alon a sweet potato at every meal.

She only brought one each time.

However, the number of sweet potatoes Alon ended up eating per meal was nearly four.

No, it actually exceeded four.

Despite the current food shortage, Alon had been eating quite abundantly lately.

There were two reasons for this, and one of them was—

“Ah! You beat me to it!”

“It was my turn!”

“How outrageous~!”

“…….”

—because the children were all rushing to bring sweet potatoes to him.

Ryanga and Nangwon clenched their fists in frustration.

The girl Alon had saved earlier and Ar let out quiet sighs.

Watching all of this, Alon once again accepted all the food the children had brought today.

……Honestly, it would have been fine if it ended there.

…“This is food I brought from over there—”

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not! Lord must stay healthy!”

“Please don’t make us seem like ungrateful fools~!”

The problem was, he had to eat other foods too.

“Then I’ll gratefully enjoy it.”

“No……!”

The soldiers backed away, bowing repeatedly as they left.

In the wake of their retreat, aside from the four sweet potatoes, a mountain of fruits had piled up.

The reason he couldn’t help but overeat instead of simply eating well.

“……No matter when I see it, it’s really a lot, Marquis.”

“Seriously, Godfather…….”

Penia and Rine, sitting next to him, shook their heads in exasperation.

Alon also let out a quiet sigh.

The soldiers’ worship had begun ever since he broke through the frontlines three days ago.

It wasn’t exactly unpleasant for him, but it was definitely burdensome.

Even now, for example—

Though the soldiers who brought the food seemed to have stepped back and disappeared—

In truth, they were hiding at a distance, secretly watching to see when Alon would eat what they had offered.

Because of that—

‘I really hope we arrive soon……’

Alon continued to stuff sweet potatoes and fruit into his mouth.

……The sweet potatoes were still delicious, though.

####

And then, about a day later—

Alon arrived at ‘Dalma’, the place just before the allied stronghold, and also where Ryanga had asked to be taken when they first met.

Dalma looked almost exactly as Alon had imagined.

The village was in ruins.

The houses had likely burned down, now reduced to charred ashes and blackened wood.

The fields were covered in gray dust.

Here and there were smears of blood, broken farming tools, and crumbled walls scattered across the area.

It was nearly identical to the image Alon had envisioned of a village ravaged by an attack.

However, there was one thing that had defied his expectations.

The corpses gathered in the village square.

Even Alon’s usually emotionless face twisted into a grimace.

That’s how horrific the sight was.

Even Alon, who had seen countless corpses, nearly gagged.

“Urk—”

“Goddamn—”

He heard the soldiers’ voices murmuring near his ears.

And then—

“…Eh?”

Ryanga’s voice, once so spirited, rang out.

It was fragile—like a glass orb that could shatter at any moment.

####

Yutia Bludia.

She was blankly staring up at the night sky.

The Milky Way was beautiful.

So beautiful that anyone would agree, if asked.

Yet there was no emotion in Yutia’s expression as she gazed at it.

Her lips were pressed into a flat line.

The only emotion visible on her face was indifference.

Still, Yutia continued to look at the Milky Way.

As if trying to etch its image into her crimson eyes.

At that moment—

Tap—

A very small sound was heard.

A soft, barely audible tap.

Without changing her posture, Yutia turned toward the source of the sound.

There stood Seolrang.

Seolrang’s face was pointed downward, hidden from view.

But Yutia didn’t need to see her face to understand her emotions.

Because what Seolrang was feeling now was something Yutia knew very well herself.

Still, Yutia spoke calmly.

“Seolrang, I’m sure I told you not to leave your post unless necessary.”

A monotone voice.

A voice Seolrang feared.

Yet despite that clear warning—

“You heard it, didn’t you?”

Seolrang asked back, without a trace of fear.

Rather—

“…Huh? Tell me, Yutia. You heard the report, right? Then why did you order us to stay put?”

She dripped with simmering fury.

“Why are you so calm? You heard the report, didn’t you? Master… is dead…… Master died, you know? We have to get revenge. On those things called Agu… right?”

Even as Seolrang’s voice overflowed with killing intent—

“Seolrang, calm down.”

Yutia only spoke with serenity.

After a moment of silence, Seolrang finally said—

“……Master is pitiful.”

She blurted it out.

“…What?”

“Master cared about you, Yutia… always. Whether present or absent.”

“……”

“But you didn’t.”

Before they knew it, Seolrang had lifted her head.

Her eyes, swollen from crying so much, were filled with betrayal and hostility.

“That’s why Master is pitiful.”

The words were spat out like venom.

In the heavy silence—

The previously expressionless Yutia—

“Hah.”

—suddenly let out a chuckle.

A small, bitter laugh.

And then—

“……It seems some discipline is in order, Seolrang.”

Yutia raised her index finger.

With a face full of fury, unlike anything she had ever shown before.