*Selena POV*

I received a message from my friend Alexander in the middle of the night. I thought it was to apologize for what he had said, but I was wrong.

[Selena, Ela has been kidnapped by the Devil Worshippers. I followed them to the Blackthorn Forest. I know it is shameless of me after what happened, but please help me.]

I donned my armor as fast as I could. I left only one order to the head maid, “Call the Cavalry of Light and tell them to enter the Blackthorn Forest as possible. There are signs of Devil Worshipers there. I will be heading out first. I’ll be taking Blackbolt..”

I took my steed and sally forth to save my friend and his daughter. The Blackthorn Forest was not too far away. It only took thirty minutes on the back of Draken Steed that I named Blackbolt.

The scaled equus beast roared and galloped and cut through the wind. Like the shadow of the night, Blackbolt was fast. Faster than the message to open the gates to be transferred from the Manor to the City Gates.

“The Countess is coming! Open the Gates!”

I could hear them shout as the Gate Guardians cranked the levers to the best of their abilities. Blackbolt was just about to slow down as it had always done. But I did not have the time to waste such a time consuming procedure.

“I need to apologize for public disturbance at such an hour after this. Blackbolt, I allow you to take the Sky Road.”

Hearing my words, she was confused. I had forbidden her to not do such a thing in the city. But now that I allowed her, it took a good second for her to come to a joyful realization.

NyiRaaaaaaaaa~

She roared as it was finally allowed to run free for so long.

“Countess slow down! The Gates haven’t been opened—Sh-she’s not slowing down! Everyone, quickly! Get out of the way!”

“Blackbolt, go! Hya!”

BOOM!

She took a step into the air and lightning sparks spread in all directions followed by a light rumble that could be felt in the body.

Every step caused a reverberating echo and as she galloped into the air, it had already become a deafening earthquake in the skies. 

Draken Steeds were said to be the manifestation of Thunderstorms as their appearance would result in thunder and lightning sundering the very heavens. A creature worthy of the designation of [Scourge] class. 

Thunder shook the City in a cloudless night as Blackbolt took flight, running up into the skies, roaring in delight and announcing her regality over those beneath her.

We passed three [Edge Settlements] before finally reaching the Blackthorn Forest. But entering the Blackthorn Forest and finding Alexander was a different matter altogether.

A flick of the wrist and the holographic display was summoned from the Sky Silver Ring. There were no new messages from Alexander.

[There is no more time. I have to go in. If anything happens… I’m sorry for what I’ve said.] 

The last of his messages was him telling me that he was going to risk it all to save his daughter.

Alexander was incapable of using mana or spirit. He was born with a weak body—as he would already feel tired from a light jog— he wouldn’t be able to run far even if he was to take Elaine.

‘I know he’s an avid collector of Scrolls, Gems, and Boons to compensate but, he won’t last long. To reach here so fast means he must’ve already burnt through his reserves of Rush or Wind Glide.’ 

Every second that passed made me lose a little bit of hope. Then a piercing cry reached great distances and a two-headed black wing beast shot up to the skies.

Scrieeeeeeee!

A Devil Hound had been summoned from the depths of hell. 

“Blackbolt! There!!”

BOOM! 

Blackbolt did not waste time. We went deeper in but along the way, chains appeared from below and captured Blackbolt. It dragged us both to the ground.

“Blackbolt!”

With chains of fire they pinned down Blackbolt. I summoned my sword and tried freeing her. 

From the shadows, a dozen arrows cut through the air. I summoned the Moonlight —my Zweihander— and with a swing, the wind became a wall that protected Blackbolt and I from their arrows.

“Stop the Heretic!”

From the shadows they appeared one by one. Hooded figures whose eyes were bloodshot. Behind them were even more people chanting to strengthen their allies fighting with swords.

“You have all made the wrong decision of fighting me under the cover of the night.” I knew Devil Worshipers had something wrong with their heads. But, to think they would challenge me under the guise of the night. Truly, they have lost their minds.

Spending seven minutes to dispose of 43 opponents proved their folly. I wasted a lot of time. Blackbolt also hurt one of her legs when we were dragged down. 

But I couldn’t go alone and Blackbolt told me to leave.

So I went on foot. Channeling my strengths to my legs. I ran and ran, until I saw a figure standing before the Devil Hound. Bravely facing off against a creature far beyond his capabilities.

“Elaine! RUN!” he screamed.

“DADDY!!!” but his daughter pleaded for him to go with her.

Under the moonlight, his determination was reflected. He told his daughter to go and save herself. But the daughter refused to leave her father’s side.

The Devil Hound’s claws swooped down like the executioner’s ax. It was swift and without mercy, and I swung my own weapon to claim its claws.

The wind pressure caused him to fall down. Limp without an ounce of strength in his body. With the last of his consciousness, he whispered, “A Valkyrie?”

And then I finished off the fight. 

The Devil Hound was a strong enemy. In my state it would’ve been a long drawn out fight. After fighting against 40 or so enemies, I was tired. It had taken more out of me than it seemed. Luckily, one of its eyes had already been taken. Its mind was also consumed by anger and rage and with one of its claws missing, it took no more than ten minutes to hunt it down.

Not long after, the reinforcement arrived. They were tasked with cleaning up the area from the Devil Worshipers and I returned home with Elaine and Alexander.

That night, a total of 98 Devil Worshipers died.23 were captured.

Alexander and Elaine were rushed to the hospital. Where they received immediate treatment.

In Alexander’s case, he was bleeding all over. From all seven orifices, and he was convulsing like a fish taken out of water.

While Alexander was receiving treatment, I stayed by Elaine’s side—or rather, one of the nurse’s side who was comforting her as she cried and sobbed. 

When I tried comforting her, it didn’t work.

“Will Father be okay?” She asked me.

I answered truthfully, “I do not know. But there is a high chance he will enter into a coma and never wake up. But even if he does, there is also a high chance he won't be able to walk anymore.”

I was told that lying to a child was not a good thing. So I told her the truth. But what followed was Elaine crying louder than before. And then the nurse took over.

And she did a better job.

“Your father is going to be okay. Doctor Wolf is the City’s best Doctor and he will do everything in his power to help your dad.”

I hoped that was the case. But it would take a miracle for such wishful thinking—

“It’s a miracle!”

A miracle happened. 

Alexander would be able to survive with minimal damage. He would also be able to walk and function properly after spending a month in physical therapy. 

“See, Elaine? I told you Doctor Wolf is the best.” the nurse smugly announced.

It was a lucky guess. Hmph.

“Yeah, Daddy was strong enough to fight the two headed rat! This is nothing to him!” she bragged with snot hanging on her nose.

But, I noticed something from her words, “Elaine, did you say your father fought the Devil Hound?”

“Yes, he told me to stand behind a tree and fought it with a knife! He then stabbed it in the eye and the rat started crying out of pain!” She recounted what happened with a proud smile and then, I realized two things.

First, Elaine needed psychiatric help. I do not believe that was normal.

Second, it was Alexander who injured the Devil Hound.

‘But, Alexander can’t fight… but he did awaken his Aether Crystals. But even then, it’s impossible for a complete newbie to suddenly be able to fight.’

A new hunter would not be able to hunt a rabbit. Much less a newbie being able to injure a Devil Hound. But when I checked the Devil Hound’s carcass, one of the wolf’s eye was indeed stabbed by a knife.

‘He also spoke that weird language. Valkyrie, was it?’

That was when my suspicion began.

My suspicion was aroused when he spoke a foreign word.

Such a word  did not exist. Or at least I was not made aware of it. However, I chose to ignore the bizarre nature of his words. After all, Alexander must have learned it and never shared the information.

‘There’s also the stench of Hell on him when I met him. It’s gone now so I dismissed it as having been on him for encountering the Devil Worshipers. But, it might not be different.’

So, for the past three days I visited and observed Alexander. And slowly, I saw the increasing discrepancy of the past and current Alexander. 

The way he walked. The way he talked. His lacking use of formality. How he looked around like he was questioning everything. His question about what kind of meat was Yurkan.

I even confirmed if he received any head injuries. And Wolf said he didn’t.

“Maybe a bump, but that was it.” he added.

I even found him conscious. The reason why he fell was because of fatigue. It was impossible for memory loss.

So, three days later, I bought the most delicious and tastiest flavor of the Soda I often take. A soda that even the soft spoken Alexander did not have any good words to say.

“Haha, yeah, you’re right. My head must still not be right just yet—AH!”

When I saw him accept it, like he was confirming it was the right thing. Even saying he must’ve hit his head, I immediately took action and summoned the knife that I had prepared.

“I got you now, Devil.”

It is now time for questioni—

“Kyaaa!” I unknowingly let out a scream and jumped backwards of shock and fright when I felt something warm and slimy get in my hands. I looked down at my went hand and my anger started increasing, "You disgusting vile devil! How dare you stick so low as to lick your opponent's hand! But I have Poison and Psychic Resistance so even if this is a tactic, this will not affect me, you cannot influence me, Devil.”

But I just saw him shaking his head as he wiped the drool off his face before saying, “That’s normal saliva. It might smell bad because I missed the chance to brush my teeth this morning, but that’s it. You weren’t letting me speak, so I had to do something.”

“You will not deceive me.”

For a good second he looked me in the eye. Even raising one of his eyebrows, “Well, there’s a good way to find out, you know?”

I was hesitant. But I followed his suggestion.

*Sniff*

…Indeed, his saliva just smelled bad, “You disgust me even more now, Devil.”