“I shall now commence the banquet!”

Following a lengthy preamble.

Words that might have been nice to hear, but were too tedious to listen to in their entirety, passed, and the banquet began.

Even though it was my grandfather speaking and I tried to listen attentively, I couldn’t help but recall the times in high school when I never paid attention to the principal’s speeches.

‘More importantly, the banquet.’

No matter how I look at the agenda, it’s a bit ambiguous to call it a banquet…

‘Still, it is a banquet.’

Strictly speaking, it’s more like a party.

A very large-scale party.

“Yum.”

Ha-yeon, munching with her mouth full.

The food she’s eating now is made from a Dragon Hand, a B-rank chicken-like monster.

As monster cuisine, it’s expensive, but there’s plenty of it here.

‘Of course, I eat it whenever I have time.’

At my level, I can hunt them myself, or just buy them without any problem.

Delicious.

The feeling of being intimidated from just a moment ago is gone.

“Hum, hum.”

A hum naturally escaped her lips, and she smiled with her eyes.

And that alone was enough to inflict fatal damage on those around her.

Yum.

She seems to be mindlessly biting into the meat, but there’s no grease on her.

This is how a chicken master eats chicken (?)

I am the master.

And at that moment, someone approached Ha-yeon, who was lost in such trivial thoughts, and spoke to her.

“Greetings, Sword Demon.”

“….?”

Sparkling crimson eyes.

Long, flowing black hair and a refined appearance.

A beautiful dress and a figure to match.

It was the person I saw earlier.

Ayla Reynolds.

The eldest daughter of the Reynolds family.

She lifted the black dress on both sides and bowed, greeting Ha-yeon.

“Ah, Lady Ayla… The pleasure is all mine.”

Getting up from her seat and returning the greeting, Ayla smiled with her eyes.

Ha-yeon, watching her for a moment, asked.

“So, what brings you here?”

“It’s nothing much… I heard you fought alongside my father on the battlefield, so I wanted to meet you.”

Ayla has a high level of martial prowess and a strong desire for it.

And her respect for her father is overflowing.

As such, her martial prowess is the highest, excluding the World Master, and she fought alongside her father, and excluding that, she has a protagonist-level presence at this banquet, so she was bound to come eventually.

As if proving it, her eyes sparkled brightly.

But this time, it seems like she approached for a reason other than that.

No, there’s definitely that reason, but there’s a bigger reason than that.

In those sparkling eyes, something I saw in my grandfather was revealed without being hidden.

And Ha-yeon also knows that reason very well.

“Could we perhaps head to the terrace?”

A good place for secret conversations that can’t be interrupted once you’ve claimed the spot.

It’s been that way for a long time, so it’s the perfect place to have a conversation that’s awkward to have in this setting.

Isn’t there a romance to it?

For me, at least, it’s the epitome of romance.

“I don’t mind… Let’s go then.”

Ha-yeon, guessing that this story was related to Helio, got up without complaint, and the two headed to the terrace.

Opening the door to a place with luxurious glass windows and curtains, the scenery of the garden came into view.

Since it was quite late, the grass and huge trees were illuminated by the moonlight of early evening and artificial lights.

And a small lake and fountains.

Things I hadn’t had a chance to see properly came into view, but it was the same as not being able to see them now.

Squeak-

The terrace door closed, and Ayla leaned against the terrace railing and opened her mouth.

“You heard about Helio from my father, right?”

She cherishes her family.

Whether it’s her father, mother, or other siblings.

And that, of course, applies to Helio as well.

Now… it’s changed into a slightly ambiguous feeling, but she still loved him.

“We used to always be together… but recently, our family relationships have been distant.”

Come to think of it, it’s been about a year since Helio disappeared from broadcasting.

Perhaps, as she said, the family’s radiance that he unknowingly received had disappeared.

And wouldn’t his desire for martial prowess have grown even more?

Losing what he had would make him feel insignificant.

Even though his talents and expertise weren’t in that area.

Eventually, the Jet-black Mana he gradually accepted accelerated his mind in a bad direction, and that’s how this mess happened.

Watching the lake reflecting the moonlight, Ha-yeon continued to listen to Ayla’s words.

“After finding out that Helio had become a Cardinal… I tried to bring him back.”

She really tried.

She canceled all gate raids except for the mandatory ones.

She spent all day holed up in the library or looking for artifacts.

Cardinal of the New King Church.

They’re infected with corrupted mana.

So I believed that there must be some power that could purify them.

But there was one problem.

“But… I couldn’t even meet Helio in the first place.”

You have to meet him to do anything.

But that’s impossible.

All of this was in vain.

“So, what I want to say is just one thing.”

A slightly sad look in her eyes.

Yet, a look of determination and resolve.

“Please grant my father’s request.”

With a somewhat pathetic expression.

Ayla said that.

“Haa….”

Ha-yeon sighed and sat down on a chair.

The atmosphere of the banquet was ripe, and although it wasn’t outwardly expressed, the scene was quite lively.

But Ha-yeon’s mood wasn’t very good because of her earlier thoughts.

‘But what can I do? It’s a request.’

In a way, he’s my grandfather, who could be called my savior.

How could I refuse his request?

‘And if Helio really is a Cardinal.’

We’ll have to fight someday.

A fight with our lives on the line.

When that time comes, there will probably be moments when I have to kill him, even without this request.

My heart feels heavy.

“Shall I go back now?”

There’s nothing to do alone.

There was no reason to stay here any longer, so Ha-yeon got up from her seat and headed out of the banquet hall.

Thinking of taking a look around the garden, she headed to the garden.

“It’s really well decorated…”

A beautiful place.

But I felt something strange.

There’s no one around.

The people who were there when I was talking on the terrace had completely disappeared.

No, let’s say that’s possible.

“This mana….”

But this mana is definitely strange.

It’s not the mana I usually use.

The mana in my body rebelled and pushed the other mana away.

‘Why is there such mana here?’

If it’s this mansion’s security system, it should have detected it already.

The moment I thought that.

It happened.

Whoosh!

A dark form surged up from under my feet.

The collection of dark mana, like the jaws of a hungry beast, rushed towards her.

“Kuh!”

I couldn’t avoid it.

And it’s hard to get out.

Feeling myself sinking lower and lower, my body instantly tensed up.

“Wave.”

A mana barrier.

I created a barrier of pure mana around me to resist the dark mana.

Beeeeeep—!!!

The alarm finally sounded.

‘If I hold out a little longer, support will come.’

If I hold out a little longer, the Hunters around here will come.

Besides, isn’t my grandfather here too?

-Don’t you think we’d do something like this without knowing that?

A young man’s voice full of laughter.

The moment I felt chills down my spine.

A red force was added to the Jet-black power that was struggling to devour her.

‘It’s… stronger than before…’

The feeling of being squeezed tighter became stronger.

And I used the Sacred Haze without saving any mana to strengthen my mana.

-Why don’t you stop resisting? The flow of this space is quite different from the outside world, so if you can hold out for an hour in that state, go ahead and try.

My head went blank at those words.

An hour?

‘It’s not impossible, but….’

Is this the right thing to do?

An hour is cutting it close.

Besides, it’s not like I’ll be rescued as soon as I get here.

If that happens, I’ll be warped to an unknown space with no mana in my body.

Wouldn’t it be better to go safely with a lot of mana left?

“…..”

If I stall, I’ll be isolated.

I have to make a quick decision.

‘The amount of mana left.’

I checked my body.

Mana was draining away in real time, but the amount of mana was still quite stable.

Besides, thanks to the newly acquired skill, I can summon the Dragon Slayer’s Millennium Armor right away.

In this situation.

Her decision was made quickly.

‘Release.’

I withdrew the mana that was protecting my body.

The brilliantly shining Sacred Haze concealed its light, and the intangible blue light that filled the surroundings disappeared.

And with it, of course, the Jet-black Mana that enveloped her.

I sank into the darkness much faster than before.

‘Take a deep breath.’

I exhaled and took a deep breath, and my body sank into the darkness.

And the last thing I heard in my ear was one thing.

-We sincerely welcome you to the great holy war. You’re the first to set foot here with that unclean body, so consider it an honor?

With that as the last thing.

My vision was reversed.