“Damn—!”

“Three o’clock direction! Shoot!”

“We missed it!”

I gritted my teeth.

‘This is maddening.’

The monster capture was taking too long.

Had everything gone to plan, we would have already captured the beast and headed east.

I drew my pocket watch from my vest.

It was already five o’clock.

Night would fall soon.

And the creature we sought was the Mongma.

Similar to the nightmare-eating monsters often depicted in media.

Usually portrayed as demons, but in this world the Mongma were jet-black and even had wings.

Moreover, strictly speaking, they didn’t eat nightmares but...

“No! Fall back! Don’t enter the Mongma’s mist—!”

“It’s too late.”

The hooded knight at my side said.

Soldiers enveloped in the Mongma’s mist were staring at it with vacant expressions.

“Oh, Hailey... It’s me? Ah, yes, I’m doing well... Why are you—no, I’m grateful, but...”

“Hank? Is that you? My goodness, you’ve finally slimmed down! Oh, how wonderful. Your abs look like sculptures...”

“Why are you doing this? I’m a sworn virgin young man...! No, this is wrong...”

I pressed my palm to my forehead.

‘We’re doomed.’

Anyone caught in that mist sees the Mongma as their ideal or someone they love.

‘That’s how the Mongma lulls people into complacency, only to tear them apart and drink their blood!’

I glanced at the scattered soldiers behind me, sending them playful hearts.

They were already fallen victims.

“Damn it!”

I clamped a handkerchief over my nose and dove into the mist.

I grabbed one soldier by the scruff of his neck and yanked him hard.

“Sober up, Jamie!”

“Ah, my lady...”

‘Has he come to his senses?’

We’d been facing the Mongma for two hours already.

Even the Mongma must be tired, [N O V E L I G H T] so the mist’s effect might be weaker.

Just as a hopeful expression brightened my face, the soldier looked at the Mongma with a shy smile.

“This is awkward. I’m just a lowly soldier and you’re a noble lady... Ah, Erilot. Why are you an Astra?”

“...”

I threw him among the prone soldiers.

The hooded knight swiftly dragged the other dazed men from the mist.

“No infantry remain fit for duty. Shall I request reinforcements from the rear?”

“No— we must capture it without injuring a single part.”

The Mongma was not an impossible monster to subdue.

Its mist rendered ranged attacks useless.

‘Capturing it intact is almost as difficult as taking down a giant beast.’

I thought hard.

There must be a way to hold it without breaking or bruising anything.

As I pressed my palm to my forehead:

“There!”

It was Yuse-eun—or rather, Dalia’s voice.

Shhk, shshhk, shhk!

Arrows shot around the Mongma.

Light spread from the shafts embedded in the ground, forming a net that trapped the Mongma.

“Got it~!”

Dalia bounced with joy.

On either side of her were the Mashitabvas, and behind them Grimie’s soldiers.

“What is the meaning of this!”

I shouted, and Dalia flipped her chin arrogantly.

“First come, first served, remember?”

“Stop this foolishness and release the net.”

“No—why should I?”

“You idiot—!!”

With my shout, the bright yellow net crackled and turned blood-purple.

“Huh? What, what is this?”

“What do you think? Its magic has been corrupted!”

“Eh?”

“You thought I just wasn’t using magic because I couldn’t!”

“My lady!”

The hooded knight cried out to me.

‘Damn!’

I kicked off the ground and leapt back.

Dalia’s younger Mashitabva wrapped her in a princess carry and retreated.

Her older brother said, “They’re corrupting the mages.”

Dark veins sprouted on the bodies of those who’d woven the net.

“Larisa...”

“Kant, Kant, Kant—oh, my Kant...!”

The Mongma corrupts magic and bewitches people.

Those who cried out names of loved ones glared fiercely at Dalia and me.

“My Larisa...!”

“I won’t forgive you. Give me back my husband—!”

Dalia swallowed hard.

“Well, what should we do?”

But the Mashitabvas wore composed expressions, as if expecting this.

‘That figures.’

Dalia, ignorant of this world’s monsters, must have devised some strange plan—and they hadn’t objected because they knew more.

‘But why?’

Dalia bit her lower lip and said, “But—”

The younger Mashitabva kissed her on the forehead gently.

“You’re kind. But now that the magic’s corrupted, it can’t be undone.”

“Still, killing people is—”

“Your soldiers would gladly give their lives for you.”

Dalia blinked back tears and closed her eyes tightly.

“I understand. But I will never forget their devotion...”

“Very commendable.”

Then the older Mashitabva stepped forward.

He clenched the air, and the corrupted mages screamed.

The Mongma did too.

Kkigigig, kiyaaaa—!!

A bizarre scream, sounding sometimes like an adult woman, sometimes a boy, echoed through the forest.

‘Could it be...’

By now Dalia had descended and stood with her hands clasped in prayer, sobbing as though in great sorrow.

I dashed to her and yanked her wrist roughly.

“You insane—!”

From the start, Dalia and the Mashitabvas had known the net would corrupt magic.

They wove it knowingly.

Planning to use the moment the mages and Mongma shared magic—like a conduit.

‘If we attack the mages, only they die, while the Mongma remains unharmed.’

“Stop the attack at once! You’d kill people just to capture a single Mongma?!”

At that moment:

BANG!

A ball of condensed magic grazed my cheek and shattered a tree.

I turned to see the younger Mashitabva, who’d thrown the ball, standing there.

Simultaneously, warm blood trickled down my cheek.

“...”

“I did warn you. Don’t you dare raise your voice to my lady.”

Dalia clung to the younger Mashitabva’s arm.

“Stop it. After all, she’s still my cousin...”

Seeing that core as Yuse-eun, I realized her true nature.

She’d always been that kind of girl.

Outwardly worrying for me, pleading with my stepfather or grandmother, but inside elated.

Believing that her anger was proof of love for her.

I had always been a pawn in such ‘proofs of affection.’

I glared at Dalia and the Mashitabvas and shouted:

“House Astra’s vanguard!”

Shhk, shhshk.

Armored soldiers bearing Duke Daimond’s crest began to appear.

“All troops, prepare to engage.”

The Mashitabvas flinched.

Their halt stopped the older Mashitabva’s attack on the mages.

Dalia, panicked, cried out:

“You intend to attack me?”

“...”

“How can you do this? I treated you as family—no, you even ceased protecting me!”

“Soldiers of Grimie’s Jurisdiction have attacked the enemy succession guard!”

“...!”

“If you do not withdraw, we will fight.”

The younger Mashitabva curled his lips.

“To kill us, you’d at least need Duke Daimond Astra himself.”

“Worry not. Our troops won’t break under an aegis that even shatters at a child soldier’s word.”

“You’d do well not to overestimate yourselves.”

“What was your complaint before? ‘Your lady is incompetent’? Or was it ‘Dalia Astra is inferior to Erilot Astra’?”

“How dare you—!”

He strode up to Dalia.

And then...

Smack!

Dalia’s head snapped to the side.

She clutched her cheek in disbelief.

“You... you—”

“Erilot Astra—!”

The younger Mashitabva roared, his amethyst eyes blazing with fury.

I replied in a flat voice:

“I’m not afraid of any aegis that breaks from a single slap to your master’s face.”

Dalia trembled with humiliation.

Tears streaming, she glared at me as if she would tear me apart, muttering:

“How could you... dare... me?”

“Gather your guards and return at once.”

“Planning to kill my cousin because of some mage? If my grandfather hears, he won’t spare you—!”

“That Mongma is—”

“What about it?”

“That Mongma was merely someone’s birthday gift. You’d kill people over that?”

“Since when did you care so much for life? Don’t pretend to be virtuous!”

“I have no desire to be virtuous!”

“Then why—”

“Do you think a Mongma born of murder holds any meaning for My Lady?”

“...”

“All of this is being broadcast! The people will condemn House Astra’s cruelty, and the Mongma will lose all meaning!”

“...”

“How do you expect any of us to ascend the Dark-Free Altar after such a competition?!”

“...”

Dalia flinched and looked at me.

‘Even if Dalia didn’t realize, Grimie surely did.’

The moment someone dies, the contest is tainted.

None of us who shed blood can stand on that altar.

‘I don’t care if Dalia fails—I only care that I don’t ascend it!’

Those mages died to stop me.

“Dalia, please come to your senses.”

“...”

“Aren’t you ashamed to live so thoughtlessly?”

“You... you...!”

She glared through tears.

“Move aside.”

“Why do you hate me so much?”

“I told you before. I’m not hating you—I’m stopping your foolishness—”

“You despise me!”

“Please step aside. We need to capture the Mongma.”

“Explain yourself! Don’t keep dismissing me like this!”

As Dalia tugged my arm:

“My lady!”

The soldiers cried out.

Dalia and I looked sideways.

The Mongma’s face was suddenly right in front of us.

“Oh, oh?”

Dalia panicked as the creature wheezed, trapping us in a wall of mist.

I quickly pressed my hand over my nose.

‘We’ve inhaled the mist!’

I had to stay focused.

The Mongma loved the blood of young women.

I would spray blood to one side.

While it was distracted, Dalia and I would escape.

I drew the dirk at my waist.

Just as I was about to sever my palm:

Someone seized my hand.

[Why would you hurt yourself so?]

“...”

[Why are you—]

“...”

[I’m worried about you.]

“You... you idiot.”

[Good evening, young lady. Vincent Edrope here.]

It was Vincent.

The man I loved so much in my first life.

His face alone made my heart ache.

“Let go. I won’t fall for that again, you idiot!”

I recalled how he’d pushed me away and run toward Dalia before.

I’d sworn then not to love again.

That kind of love.

“It was a mistake to make you seem like him.”

I grabbed Vincent by the throat.

“I’ve caught you, you idiot—”

Tsuzuzuzut.

His body flickered like noise, then from his toes up transformed into another person.

[Yes. If not you, then no one.]

“Y—”

[But don’t be afraid.]

“...”

[I exist to protect you.]

The man gripping my shoulders shouted.

As though not knowing what else to do, as though in pain.

[Who made you like this?]

‘Alexis...’

It was him.

All my strength drained, and my grip loosened.

‘Ah...’

I finally understood those bewitched by the Mongma.

It confused reality and dreams.

And one thinks:

‘What if it’s real?’

What if the person I attacked really were Alexis?

That fool would gladly take a blade for me.

If someone like that disappeared from my life...

If I lost Alexis...

The face of ‘Alexis’ pressed closer to me.

He paused at my collarbone, mouth agape in a cross shape, sharp teeth bared at my throat.

“Don’t be afraid.”

“I exist to protect you.”

I recoiled and shoved him away.

Now I saw not Alexis, but an imposter.

‘Alexis would never attack me!’

Through the confusion, I never forgot that.

As if doused in cold water, my mind cleared.

I leapt onto the Mongma’s back and wrapped my arms around its neck.

Only then did I hear the soldiers’ voices beyond the mist.

“My lady!”

“There you are! You’re safe!”

“You’re not corrupted!”

“Yes!”

They hadn’t attacked, fearing their aegis would break if the Mongma’s magic spread to them.

Likely for the same reason, Dalia’s forces hadn’t attacked.

I looked at Dalia.

“Unless you want to be trampled—”

“W-What have you done to the Prince!”

“...”

“He’s no longer your betrothed! He’s the Prince!”

“You... you do manage to astonish in countless ways.”

I kicked through the mist, sending Dalia out.

“Ah!”

I saw the silhouettes of the Mashitabvas rushing to her as the Mongma struggled wildly.

“Aaaah!”

This scream, unlike before, was an adult man’s voice.

It was Alexis.

“That fool doesn’t scream like that when stabbed! His endurance is world-class!”

I held the Mongma firmly between my legs and pulled a syringe from my coat.

“Sleep now!”

Cainrod’s special tranquilizer rendered the Mongma unconscious in an instant.

The mist cleared, and everyone came into view.

The soldiers stared at the beast, tense.

Then all eyes shifted to me, standing triumphantly before the felled Mongma.

“We’ve captured the Mongma! Move east!”

Waaahhh—!

Our troops roared in triumph.

The palace.

Soldiers from the Western Army watched the Mystic Arena with Alexis.

A Western-Army veteran who’d just relieved guard duty rubbed his palms.

“I was so curious about the match—thanks to my relief, I get to watch during duty—”

“Quiet! This is the crucial moment!”

Liam of the Western Army barked, swallowing hard.

Erilot and Dalia were engulfed in the Mongma’s mist.

They watched, sweat in their palms.

The White Knight, Kazin, stared at Alexis with a hard expression.

“Should we send reinforcements?”

“...”

“Your Highness.”

Alexis watched the arena, expression stern.

Then:

“Ah, she’s free of the illusion!”

“She’s mounted the Mongma!”

Erilot and the Mongma faced off.

Meanwhile, a silhouette—surely Dalia—stamped her foot in frustration.

[W-What have you done to the Prince! He’s no longer your betrothed! He’s the Prince!]

Silence fell.

Kuga, former Supreme General of the Western Army, forced a laugh.

“The new Lady Astra seems fond of the Prince.”

Others snickered.

“What a public confession. The gossipmongers must be delighted.”

“Liam.”

Kazin gave him a look, but Liam just guffawed.

Other veterans grinned at Alexis.

Alexis frowned.

‘As long as Erilot clings to the Mongma, it’ll be hard to support her from outside the mist.’

He rose.

“I’ll head to the Black Forest. Wait for my signal—”

Then:

[That fool doesn’t scream like that when stabbed! His endurance is world-class!]

It was Erilot’s voice.

Alexis froze, staring blankly at the arena.

He knew whom she meant.

“That fool, indeed.”

“No harm done.”

“Harm? My goodness, his endurance is world-class... he really worries me.”

“...”

Kazin asked Alexis, still dazed.

“Is something amiss?”

“...Nothing at all.”

He simply wanted to rush in and embrace her.