Gilar Marquis swallowed dryly.

‘Yes, I can’t run away.’

If he ran away here, he would have to bear everything related to the experiment himself.

‘Only one step left to the center of power.’

If Ereka deals with Erilot Astra, that person will handle the aftermath.

Erilot and the Daymond Jurisdiction are obstacles to that person; if they get taken care of, isn’t that a good thing?

The Marquis grabbed his daughter’s shoulder and said with a tense expression,

“You absolutely must not fail.”

“Of course.”

A current flowed with a crackle from Ereka’s hand, the Pazjut.

And then.

Kugugugu...

A strange rumble was felt.

“I pressured you by luck in the match. If I activate my blessing, you’re no match. Above all...”

Ereka continued, smoothing the ends of her hair with an arrogant look.

“I’m not an idiot, do you think I’d openly try to kill her?”

“If you did?”

“I have a way to handle it and to strip that damn girl of her ridiculous reputation.”

Ereka smirked.

I pulled the blanket up to my neck and closed my eyes.

‘Grandfather will come at dawn, so I should catch some sleep for a few hours before that.’

Once I report the Ereka Gilar-related matter, I’ll be busy without a moment to breathe.

There was a clicking sound nearby.

I slightly opened my eyes and saw Han Ji-hyuk placing a chair on the nightstand.

He was holding an oil lamp.

I blinked and looked at Han Ji-hyuk.

“What’s with the lamp?”

Not an electric light powered by mana stones?

In this world, magic tools are so well developed that vintage oil lamps like this were unfamiliar to me.

“The magic tools in the Divine Hall (the 2nd fortress where the direct 3rd generation are educated) are all out of order.”

“Out of order?”

“Yeah. They say it’s because of the red moon rising. The communication is down too, so the servant went to inform the Mage Tower.”

If it’s the day the red moon rises, that could happen.

The red moon weakens blessings.

Strictly speaking, it means the energy of blessings, the ‘mana,’ is weakened.

Most magic tools in this world operate with mana stones.

So it makes sense that on a red moon day, magic tools might stop working.

But it was strange.

‘I don’t recall such a day.’

In my first life, I always stayed up all night studying.

Even when I was exhausted, I collapsed at my desk.

Because I used the light all year round to study, I know.

‘There was never a day when the lights didn’t turn on.’

Even if the light broke and was replaced, I had never experienced all magic tools failing like this.

I abruptly threw off the blanket.

I was about to ring the soldier call bell but flinched.

‘The call bell is also a magic tool!’

With communication stones not working, the call bell can’t work either.

Han Ji-hyuk looked at me confused.

“What? Why? You said you were going to rest until your grandfather arrives─”

“Tell the head of the Divine Hall. Order people to evacuate immediately. The older cousins will be in the Divine Hall library. They must be warned quickly too.”

“What’s going on?”

“An attack! Someone cut off the mana flow in the Divine Hall!”

Han Ji-hyuk, shocked, dashed out like an arrow.

I hurriedly put on my cardigan over my pajamas and ran.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Knocking on each door, the cousins came out with annoyed faces.

“What?! Do you know what time it is?”

“Hmm, what’s going on...?”

“Why so noisy!”

Then.

Bang─!!!

A tremendous roar came from somewhere.

‘Damn. Already...’

The cousins were startled and looked out the window.

“What’s that sound?”

“Are you crazy? Who dares to make such a commotion at Astra’s Divine Hall...?”

The collateral relatives staying in the Divine Hall to find the missing ones rushed out.

“What the─”

“Stop talking and run! We have to get to the main fortress!”

The kids looked confused.

But only for a moment.

Cheng─!

A sharp sound broke a window, and something jumped into the corridor.

“M-Monster!”

Its skin was slick like an amphibian’s.

Its face looked like a Doberman with a long snout, filled with terrifying teeth.

Its tail looked just like a tadpole.

And its eyes were horrifyingly bright red.

The monster charged at the children.

“How dare you.”

Joffrey, who was closest to the monster, roared, “Kuaak!”

He tried to activate his blessing Sugu (transforms the lower jaw into a beast form).

But.

“What, what is this?”

‘The red moon is up, so blessings can’t activate properly.’

Panicked, Joffrey held his head and screamed.

“Mom─!”

“Calling your mother won’t solve this!”

That last shout was from Joffrey’s older sister, Loreina.

Loreina threw a candlestick from the cabinet at the monster and grabbed Joffrey’s neck, pulling him sharply.

Meanwhile, Milan, Adam, Elman, and other older boys swung candlesticks and decorative swords.

But they were no match.

“Si-Sis.”

Joffrey called out with tears, but Loreina couldn’t answer.

She muttered with a pale face,

“There’s more than one...”

Monsters with the same form were climbing the stairs.

Liantin, wearing floral pajamas, shouted,

“Shilui... It’s the ancient monster !”

is a monster that absorbs the opponent’s mana. The more it absorbs, the stronger it gets.

‘This place is full of kids with strong mana!’

Even though mana is weakened by the red moon, the direct descendants of Astra have high-quality mana.

That means they are the best targets for .

“One, two, three... at least ten of them.”

Ancient monsters have tremendous power.

Children who cannot activate blessings cannot defeat them.

Milan, wearing a long silk robe, said through clenched teeth,

“Crazy, after now ... Is Astra ancient or what? Why are rare ancient monsters everywhere?”

I hesitated and muttered while backing away,

“Is there time to talk like that?”

“No way.”

“Then run─!”

Aaaah!!

The kids screamed and ran in panic.

At the fork ahead, Balzac, Joshua, and Rishimund ran up.

“Eril!”

“Erilot.”

“What’s going on?”

I shouted hurriedly while running.

“It’s a pack of ancient monsters !”

While I explained, tearing screams came from behind.

“Kyah─!”

It was Armand’s nanny.

Armand was the youngest ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) cousin.

The nanny, carrying the child, had fallen behind.

She seemed to have dropped Armand, who was some distance away from her.

The at the very front quickly closed the gap.

And...

‘Did it pass by Armand’s nanny?’

The monster was closer to the nanny.

But it bypassed her and charged at Armand.

“Hooaang...!”

Armand, terrified, flattened himself.

“Master!”

Armand’s pale nanny screamed.

“Ombre, catch Armand!!”

Ombre, who came out from my shadow, moved like an arrow.

No matter how beast-like the ancient monster is, it can’t outrun a shadow monster in darkness.

Before could bite Armand’s neck, Ombre enveloped the child first.

‘What to do... I can’t hold for long.’

Shadow monsters have weak physical attack power but inflict mental damage.

Just touching them makes you recall terrible memories or images.

At this deep night, Ombre is strongest.

The young Armand’s mind wouldn’t last. He might lose consciousness in less than ten minutes.

‘But they’re surrounded by and I can’t get him out.’

Just then, Balzac roughly pulled a decorative sword hanging on the wall.

And charged at the pack.

Balzac leapt powerfully and plunged the sword into the neck of a in one stroke.

Then Ombre threw Armand, whom he was surrounding, to Milan nearby.

“Ugh!”

Milan caught Armand and stepped back.

I called Ombre back.

“Ombre, get away quickly!”

Armand was pale, but luckily there was a faint sign of awareness in his eyes.

He hadn’t lost consciousness.

‘More than that... this is strange.’

Are ancient monsters this weak?

Because of the red moon, blessings can’t be used properly.

That means Balzac’s sword didn’t even contain aura.

But the ancient monster stabbed by Balzac’s sword was limp.

‘Of course, generally speaking, they are incredibly strong, but ancient monsters have a different kind of power.’

That is by far the weakest among ancient monsters compared to the destructive power of .

Joshua glanced at me.

“That thing, somehow...”

I nodded.

“Yes. It’s artificial.”

“The last page of my late father’s book was cut off but it mentioned ‘ancient monster restoration.’”

So that was created through the book left by Uncle Lysian!

Then it’s obvious who is leading this attack.

‘Ereka Gilar...!!’

I grit my teeth.

Balzac was fighting desperately against the charging .

When he barely shook off one, another bit his waist.

I became pale and shouted,

“Balzac!”

Then at that moment,

“Are you okay?!”

“What, what are those things...!”

Han Ji-hyuk arrived leading the Divine Hall soldiers.

The soldiers threw swords and arrows at the .

The children’s faces brightened.

Even the collateral relatives who had been crying and searching for parents looked relieved.

Liantin swallowed dryly and asked,

“Can we win?”

Probably not.

Balzac is renowned for his physical attacks. Even most adults cannot beat him with a sword.

But even Balzac was beaten to a mess in just minutes.

‘There’s no way the soldiers can handle them...’

Sure enough, about a hundred soldiers soon started collapsing.

attacked only those charging soldiers.

They only targeted kids with mana.

“While the soldiers buy time, we have to run!”

Liantin shouted.

The kids started running again.

Their destination was the hallway leading to the 1st fortress.

It was the place with the strongest security system in this castle where grandfather’s office was.

While running, doubt kept creeping in.

‘Is it really okay to go there?’

They must have heard this commotion but no one came.

The kids’ faces turned pale as they reached the hallway.

“Wh-what is this?”

“W-what do we do...!”

‘As expected.’

The hallway walls had collapsed, leaving no passage.

I asked Han Ji-hyuk,

“What about the 1st floor Divine Hall door? Can we go through there?”

“Monsters aren’t only here...”

“What?”

“Why do you think I could only bring this few guards? The 1st floor is full of monsters...!”

There are even more than this?

Grrrrr!

A fierce growl sounded from behind.

They must have already dealt with the soldiers and were rushing toward us.

Liantin and Dionera ran up to me and said,

“W-what do we do now?”

“What should we do?”

“...”

I closed my eyes tightly.

My heart pounded fiercely, and a warning ringing echoed in my head.

‘Calm down.’

I must not be swallowed by fear.

Think.

Think and think again.

‘I have survived worse chaos than this.’

I fought those scary 3rd generation heirs even when I had no blessings.

And I ultimately won and entered the ranking.

So many things happened, but I got up no matter how beaten.

I opened my eyes wide and took a hair tie out of my cardigan pocket.

I tied my hair tightly and said,

“Everyone, get inside the room!”

“Huh...?”

“If the entrance is narrow, only one can come in at a time. We’ll fight them one by one.”

The cousins were horrified.

“W-we’re supposed to fight by ourselves?! That’s impossible!”

“We can’t use blessings right now!”

I stared at them with determined eyes.

“Then will you just wait to be eaten like this?!”

“W-well...”

“The main fortress must have noticed the commotion too. Reinforcements will come soon. Until then, grit your teeth and hold on.”

It would take about 20 to 30 minutes for the news to reach the barracks and for the soldiers to arrive.

About 30 minutes for them to defeat and reach here.

So the total time is just under one hour.

“If we hold on for one hour, we’ll be able to walk into the dining hall smiling tomorrow.”

“What are you suddenly talking about...!”

A cousin frowned in disbelief.

I smiled faintly.

“We’ll talk later like it was ridiculous. ‘Ah, yesterday was really scary.’”

“...”

“Joffrey will probably say, ‘What’s scary about that? I wasn’t scared at all!’”

Joffrey, who had been trembling, flinched and raised his head.

“Milan oppa will retort, ‘Sure, sure.’”

“...”

Milan, who was tense, widened his eyes.

“If Joffrey freaks out, Loreina will sigh, ‘That idiot.’”

Loreina, sweating cold sweat, tightly grabbed her skirt.

“Dionera will want dessert, and Liantin will scold her for dessert first thing in the morning.”

“...”

“...”

Fear somewhat lifted from the cousins’ faces.

I smiled at them with wide eyes.

“After this one hour passes, we’ll live just like any other day.”

And tomorrow, Ereka, you’re dead.

‘For real.’

I will never let you go.