The Guardian Knight of Affection-Starved Young Ladies

53 – Sinat (01)

054.

The thick fog.

It was the identity of the wavering seen before throwing themselves into the pit.

And to Kallen, the fog was not unfamiliar.

It was just curious.

There is no sense of a floor.

The strange fog, thick enough to cover the feet, gives the feeling of walking in the air.

The fog spread over Mount Hiatt, and the cave from which it emerged.

Although the reason for the abundance of monsters is still unknown, it seems somehow related.

Spirits and monsters are distinctly different beings, but the three spirits who betrayed the spirit world are concerning.

If this strange fog is the power of the traitors, it is not unreasonable to think that the monsters originated from them.

It has been a while since they entered the pit, the grave.

Thanks to the permission granted by their queen, who is called the monarch, Felicius and Tiasse were able to freely come and go from the tomb.

However, they should avoid staying inside the tomb for too long.

Since it was a space created for that purpose, they had to quickly retrieve Sinat and get out.

Moreover, Felicius’s last words.

It is true that after hearing those words, their hearts could not be calmed.

As they were thinking about it, Felicius’s gentle and serene voice could be heard.

Kallen quickly erased his thoughts.

“…We will face it soon.”

“Got it.”

Kallen’s voice was chillingly cold.

Whether human or spirit, when pushed to the extreme, they tend to lose their composure and become excited.

Especially in a situation they have never faced before, where their lives might be in danger.

Felicius and Tiasse, as monarchs, had always been taught to never lose their composure.

However, both successors knew how difficult that was.

The old stories they learned as part of their education.

The names of the traitors who adorned the first chapter of the brilliantly shining history of the spirits were not something to be easily overlooked.

Therefore, they could not calm the pounding of their hearts.

Felicius and Tiasse both thought it was natural.

Seeing Kallen, who had calmed his expression and was preparing for battle, they couldn’t help but feel scared.

As if he had forgotten emotions like tension and anxiety.

Calmly raising his momentum, while simultaneously steadying himself.

Kallen’s demeanor was a great comfort to the two girls who could hardly calm their nerves.

Even if it was baseless, it was fine.

Kallen’s calm appearance was that reassuring.

“It’s a wall.”

As they followed the enormous, dreadful energy.

The fog that had been thickly covering only the ground stood vertically.

It looked like a wall, as if it was not allowing any further approach.

“Come out.”

Kallen said, reaching out his hand towards the wall.

Upon touching it directly, it became certain.

This was definitely the strange mist I saw on Mount Hiart.

Back then, even magic didn’t work, so I chose to escape upwards to avoid the monsters.

If you look at it that way, it’s no different from the worst situation.

Unable to use magic, it’s an even worse situation than back then.

If I can’t break through this wall, I can’t go to save Sinat.

But I cannot forgive.

Kallen, drawing upon an unfamiliar sensation, gathered a ball of light at his fingertips.

After swallowing the ball of light that Tiaze had given him, magic surfaced in his mind as if he had known it all along.

It didn’t take long to realize that this was called spirit magic.

In terms of hierarchy,

Fourth rank.

Although it was likely a temporary phenomenon, Kallen was reaching for the fourth rank at that moment.

Kallen burst the large ball of light.

With a loud roar, the mist cleared, opening up as if to guide them.

And Felicius, who was watching from behind, gasped.

What Kallen had just used was something that only the heir of the Clymene family could use.

Of course, it couldn’t be said that Kallen was ordinary, but there are limits to everything.

For a human who didn’t even know if he had a contracted spirit, he had far exceeded those limits.

Even Sinat, who had been with him for years, was far from being able to use the spirit magic passed down in his own Ekelart family.

No matter how much he had fed him the ‘essence’ that was like the heart of a spirit, Kallen and Tiaze had not even known each other for a day.

Felicius swallowed his confusion and looked at Tiaze.

“Well, our compatibility is strangely good…”

Tia, blushing, turned her head shyly.

“Let’s go. Felicius, Tiaze.”

A glimpse of genius that could be called violent.

Just by peeking at that fragment.

Felicius found himself understanding the boy named Kallen even less.

*

“…Sinat.”

Following the open fog wall a little.

Finally, the three figures arrived in a space filled with fog on all sides.

The first thing that caught Kallen’s eyes was the sight of Sinat, head bowed, bound tightly to the wall with chains.

The state of Sinat’s body in the human world, not the spirit world, came to mind.

The black chains oppressing Sinat were shaped like the phenomenon named erosion.

Considering the time it took to get here, the erosion would have progressed just about that much.

“Gha, ha, ha.”

The reason for holding back the urge to run out immediately was the irritating laughter ringing in his ears.

Kallen quietly turned his eyes and faced a monster so huge it couldn’t be captured in one glance.

A mouth open as if unable to contain laughter and torn eyes.

It was undoubtedly the monster he had faced when he threw himself for Sinat that day.

“…Traitor.”

What was heard in the moment when only laughter echoed was Felicius’s trembling voice.

“What have you done while being confined! Forcibly taking a human body is against the rules…!”

“Ekelart.”

In an instant, a huge silence enveloped the three.

Should it be called silence?

There seemed to be no more appropriate word to describe the moment when the mind went blank to the point of aching.

“Even Clymene.”

The monster, the traitor, began to stir as if he could no longer hold back.

The eerily glowing eyes were fixed on Felicius and Kallen.

“The offspring of hypocrisy, so despicable, have set foot here.”

“Hypocrisy…?”

“You know nothing. What happened in that glorious era, how the history written to your taste is filled with lies.”

The traitor then let out his characteristic laughter fiercely and lifted his head.

For a long time.

When he lowered his head again, the corners of his mouth were turned downwards.

Anger.

The traitor was raging as if he could not contain his anger.

“I will sever the history of Ekelart with my own hands. Clymene is not my share, but if you bring her alive, I will take care of it.”

As soon as the words ended,

the distant darkness engulfed them once again.

A power too immense for mere successors, not even the rulers of the present era, to handle.

The era of genesis.

Gishar, now called a traitor, surely thought so.

The only regret was that the feeling of revenge had prevented him from inflicting maximum pain.

It was the moment he tried to clear the clouds spread by the aftermath and check if the descendants of Clymene were alive.

“Hey.”

The dark eyes gleaming through the mist

were shining directly at Gishar himself.

“Return Sinat.”

The chillingly cold gaze was from a time so long past that it was impossible to know how much time had passed.

“Tia, are you okay?”

“Uh-huh…”

Felicius, barely pulling himself together, first took care of Tiasse’s body.

He knew how dangerous it was.

No, he thought he knew.

When he asked his mother for permission to head to the tomb.

He had promised to run away if they encountered him.

Not only that, but he had heard about the traitor’s strength so often in cultural history classes that his ears hurt.

To get permission, he had said that a human friend was trapped in the tomb and that the traitor was in a separate place, so they could quickly bring him out.

If he had known this would happen, he would have brought his mother no matter what.

His legs were trembling, and his vision was blurry.

The shivers running through his body told him that the traitor’s power far exceeded his imagination.

Felicius supported Tiasse with trembling hands.

Bang-! Boom-!

At the same time, his gaze turned forward.

At best, he would be around the same age as himself.

Though he was taller and bigger than himself and Tiasse, he was woefully inadequate compared to the monster before him.

But why?

The boy was as reckless as a spirit diving towards the sun.

A spirit diving towards the sun is a metaphor for a fool who exhausts all their strength on a hopeless endeavor.

Kallen’s charge towards the traitor looked just like that.

Each exchange was enough to take a life.

Of course, only for Kallen.

The exchanges looked perilously close to being unfair.

Explosions occurred where the traitor glanced,

and where he thrust his hand, the space rippled as if torn apart.

Just thinking about the darkness that first engulfed them,

each of those strikes seemed enough to take the life of foolish Kallen.

Yet paradoxically,

Kallen had endured until now.

Despite the barrage of attacks that could have taken his life, he had not been hit once and was holding on.

Then, occasionally,

Kallen’s attacks, which seemed to use all his strength, would hit the mark.

Of course, that was not enough to close the gap.

A spirit diving towards the sun.

There was that much of a gap between the traitor and Kallen.

Felicius tried to force his trembling legs to stand,

but after the first attack, he could hardly control his body and collapsed back to the ground.

“Ugh…”

His pupils, shaking just as violently, looked beyond the traitor and Kallen.

They turned towards Sinat, who was flinching occasionally with his head bowed.

“Sinat…”

Even though they couldn’t communicate, their hearts were in sync.

Sinat’s hand reaching out to him was that warm.

The stories she told about Kallen had become interesting enough for him to listen to.

He was glad that the first human he made a contract with was Sinat.

Originally, lords and heirs could not make contracts with humans.

Because they have to govern the Spirit Realm, and the spirit magic they use is too much for humans to endure.

However, for some reason, Sinat made a contract with him.

Although it was only basic spirit magic, he could learn it.

Felicius thought it was because of the world that Kalen had, which was similar to his own family.

In fact, it wasn’t a completely wrong thought.

Because of that, he felt somewhat lonely.

Because of that, he couldn’t turn away from Sinat.

The positions of the Spirit Realm and the Human Realm.

If he were to become a lord someday, he should naturally act in accordance with the position of the Spirit Realm.

But he couldn’t.

Bang-!

Hic.

The fear that eats away at the heart makes a mess of the mind.

Felicius turned his head towards the loud noise.

He realized that the silhouette of a boy was flying towards him.

“Ka, Kalen…”

He failed.

His hasty judgment.

The judgment that he didn’t want to let go of Sinat drove Kalen and Tia to death.

Tia, who trusted him enough to persuade the lord of Clymene and lend her spirit to a human at his request.

As a result, Kalen is now lying injured like this.

Such emotions mixed with fear, and Felicius trembled.

When he glanced over there, he saw a monster writhing with black smoke coming out of its eyes.

In the midst of that, Kalen inflicted such a wound.

A spirit jumping towards the sun.

That might be a word directed at himself, not Kalen.

“Cough!”

“T, Tia.”

Since Kalen, who swallowed Tia’s spirit, was injured, it was natural that Tia was also strained.

Seeing the blood spreading at the corner of Tia’s mouth, Felicius froze.

Felicius, whose trembling body froze as if it were a lie.

Only one method came to mind.

From noble mtl dot com

Felicius rummaged through her bosom and pulled out a scroll.

Just in case.

A teleportation scroll connected to the family, given by her mother for emergencies.

It could only be used by two people at the same time.

Her mother’s words to use it with Tiaze in dangerous situations.

Without even wiping the moisture from her eyes, Felicius handed it to Tiaze.

“Feli…!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Tia…”

Tiaze, who couldn’t even wipe the blood, shouted, realizing Felicius’s intention.

But there was no time.

Before the one who lost an eye regained his senses, Kalen and Tiaze had to escape with this scroll.

Felicius kept apologizing as she tightly held Tiaze’s hand, which was holding the scroll.

To give up the only means of escape.

She couldn’t leave Felicius behind, but she couldn’t watch innocent Kalen die either.

She had to use it.

She shouldn’t use it.

Tiaze, who was forced to make that selfish choice, was no different from Felicius.

The two girls cried endlessly, looking at each other.

Tiaze’s hand, holding the scroll tightly, bled as her nails dug into her flesh.

For a long time.

The traitor, who had regained his senses, was seen approaching them.

“Tia! Hurry!”

“…”

A moment that felt like an eternity.

Tiaze, looking at her hand that wouldn’t open no matter what.

Felicius urgently calling Tiaze.

Fate approached them.

Tak-

Something touched the arms of the two girls,

at that moment.

“…Don’t.”

“Kallen!”

“Ka, Kallen!”

The boy grabbed the arms of the two girls and forcibly pulled them up.

Felicius and Tiasse barely managed to resist being dragged along.

They stopped trembling and looked at the boy.

The boy was gasping for breath as if it was difficult for him.

But for some reason, a smile spread across his lips.

With a sound of realization, Tiasse handed over the scroll.

It meant that since Kallen had come to his senses, at least Kallen should escape.

However, Kallen took the scroll and quietly placed it beside him.

“Kallen, at least you…!”

“There’s no need.”

Felicius and Tiasse felt it.

That there was no fear in Kallen.

For a human who had almost lost his life fighting such a monster,

his voice was incredibly calm.

“What…?”

“Huh…?”

Felicius and Tiasse asked blankly.

Kallen clenched and unclenched his right hand,

then lifted his head towards the traitor who had approached so closely.

“I figured out how to use it.”

At the moment when fate approached,

in the space surrounded by mist,

the fate of a new dark world began to overlay.