The House Noctear mansion was quieter than usual.
No—to be precise, it was too quiet.
The footsteps and idle conversations that usually filled the halls were gone. Only the soft click of Yuka’s boots echoed through the estate.
The front door stood halfway open. A cold wind whistled through the gap, dusting the floor with snow.
A man in a black robe lay sprawled across the entryway, blood pooling from a gash in his throat. Yuka didn't spare him more than a cursory glance as she passed.
From the depths of the mansion, the sound of approaching footsteps signaled Tarinuka’s arrival.
"Is it over?" he asked.
"Yes," Yuka replied curtly.
Beyond the corridor, more corpses clad in the same dark robes lay scattered about. There were more than ten of them. Despite the body count, there were almost no signs of a struggle within the house. Only the finality of death remained.
Tarinuka let out a weary sigh. "The entire capital is in an uproar. The whole city has become a battlefield."
Yuka looked out the window. Pillars of smoke were rising into the distant sky.
"Yuka..."
A soft voice called out. She turned to find Fia standing there, her face uncharacteristically pale.
"What is it?" Yuka asked.
Fia clutched her chest, her breathing shallow. "So much magical power..."
"So much?"
"The whole city is being... stained. It’s dirty." She shook her head slightly. "But the Academy is the worst of all. It’s wrong."
Yuka’s eyes narrowed. "Can you sense what’s happening?"
Fia fell silent for a moment, then spoke with a trembling voice. "Master... Master is going to die. Probably."
The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly. Yuka took only a few seconds to process the weight of those words.
"Lord Tarinuka."
"I understand," Tarinuka said, reaching for the spear leaning against the wall. "I will protect the mansion and Madam."
Yuka nodded and knelt in front of Fia. "Can you lead me to the Academy?"
Fia gave a small, solemn nod.
Yuka stood up. Outside, the snow was falling with increasing intensity. The corpses of the Apostles of Ash lay abandoned in the front garden, but Yuka didn't look back. She walked straight toward the gates.
The moment she crossed the threshold, Yuka’s silhouette vanished into the flurries. By the next heartbeat, she was already far in the distance.
Fia whispered under her breath, "...Master."
A lone shadow raced through the snow-covered capital, driven by a single purpose.
Her destination was the Academy.
Hi, I'm Luka, currently experiencing a full-blown life-or-death crisis.
The group of occult-obsessed freaks in front of me were busy discussing their next move. The man in the gray robe—the one who had just thrashed Cedric—carried his unconscious victim to the center of the plaza.
Cedric wasn't dead, but he looked like he’d been through a meat grinder.
"This one should suffice for the noble blood," the leader remarked.
"Wait," another interrupted. "We were told that a higher-ranking noble would be preferable."
"True. And with this many captives, there’s bound to be someone of higher standing than this boy."
Well, that’s terrifying.
I was so scared that my internal monologue was starting to spiral into weird places. From what they were saying, they were looking for someone higher than a Count—likely a Marquess or a Duke.
"Is there a noble of higher rank among you?"
It was the question I knew was coming. Naturally, none of us—valuing our lives as we did—offered an answer.
"Fine. We’ll probably sacrifice them all eventually anyway."
"N-No! Wait! That child over there..."
My eyes met the gaze of a low-ranking grunt. Please let this be a lie.
"Isn't he the one from the Ducal House on the list?"
Breaking news: apparently, I'm a celebrity among terrorists.
"I see. Then you’ll do."
He beckoned me over. Like hell I’m just going to walk to my death! I refuse to go out like this!
"May I ask what you’re planning to do?" I asked, trying to buy time. I had no idea if it would actually accomplish anything, but I had to try.
"You have no need to know."
"I’d like to know at least that much—"
"Shut up!"
A sudden shock rocked my head. I’d been struck. It hurt like a total bitch.
"You... just shut up and do what they say for our sake!"
The person who had hit me was a noblewoman I didn't recognize, stepping out from the crowd of captives.
When the reality of it sank in, my heart actually hurt more than my face. Just like that, the betrayal snapped something inside me. A sense of self-sacrificial resignation took hold.
"I get it," I said, turning to the gray-robed leader. "Just let her go for now, alright?"
"How unsightly humans are," he muttered.
I wanted to argue, but I couldn't really blame him. I just wanted the petty satisfaction of knowing I’d helped someone at the end.
With my hands still bound, I walked to the center of the plaza. I was shoved onto a massive magic circle carved into the cobblestones where the snow had been cleared. The gray lines were beginning to pulse with a faint, eerie light.
"Right here."
A kick to the back sent me to my knees. Seriously, everything these guys do is painful. I hope every last one of them stubs their pinky toe on a corner tonight.
"Write," the leader commanded.
Another man in a black robe stepped forward and produced a knife. In a flash, he sliced my arm open.
"Ugh...!"
The pain was searing. Blood splattered across the snow and onto the stones. The man gestured to the ground with his chin.
"Write with your blood."
"Write what?"
"The script is already engraved there."
I squinted. In the center of the circle, faint lines were etched into the rock. They’d been hidden by the snow before, but now I could see a series of strange frames meant for characters.
Characters? No...
"What is this?"
The shapes were like nothing I’d ever seen. They didn't look like standard magical script; they were distorted, jagged, and wrong.
"Hurry up."
Another kick to the back. God, stop doing that.
I’d lost the will to resist. I grit my teeth and pressed my bleeding hand against the cold stone, tracing the lines.
One stroke. Two strokes. Three.
As I filled the grooves with blood, the magic circle let out a low, heavy pulse.
A chill ran down my spine. For a fleeting second, I felt it. Something was waking up.
The others didn't seem to notice; they just watched me with morbid curiosity.
"Continue."
I let more blood flow and kept tracing, completely ignorant of what I was actually doing.
"It is being born," the leader whispered. "The flame..."
The circle flared with a blinding light, and in the next heartbeat, everything in my world was consumed by gray flames.