A startled voice was heard from across the hall.
“Lord Salem? Is that you, Lord Salem?”
At the entrance on the opposite side of the large hall, two people stood just as they opened the door and stepped inside.
Startled by the voice calling his na, Salem snapped out of his daze.
“Sir Rider! Sir Arendt! It’s you, right?”
“Lord Salem, I’m glad you’re safe. Are you hurt anywhere…”
Rider tried to move towards the voice in front of him. But before he could take even a single step, a sowhat rough hand seized his arm.
“Just wait a minute.”
It was Arendt. Rider looked back in confusion at his cold voice.
“Huh, what?”
“…”
But instead of saying anything more, Arendt stared at Salem and the mysterious woman standing next to him with cold eyes.
“Who are you?”
Arendt’s cold voice echoed through the empty space. Salem flinched and quickly looked up at Iris.
Iris was smiling quietly, her gaze fixed on Arendt through eyes half-hidden beneath her lowered eyelids.
“What’s this sharp-tongued guy talking about now…?”
Arendt pushed Rider back and took his place, striding forward.
In the deep darkness, his golden eyes stood out and sparkled particularly brightly.
“You think you can just take soone else’s kid like it’s nothing?”
“Oh my. What a sharp tongue.”
Iris, who had been quietly listening, let out a brief exclamation of admiration.
“I had heard rumors about your bad manners, but I never expected to hear such words upon our first eting.”
“…What?”
Only then did Rider realize sothing was strange. He realized belatedly that the person next to Salem was not an elf warrior.
Arendt, standing tall in the center of the hall, ordered.
“Salem, co here now.”
“Yes…?”
As Salem asked in bewildernt, Arendt’s voice beca colder.
“I clearly told you to co here right now.”
Arendt was still glaring at Iris.
Unlike his usual calm deanor, a blatant murderous intent could be sensed in his gaze directed at the woman.
“Yes, yes! Right away…”
Salem, who suddenly ca to his senses, quickly stepped toward Arendt.
But, the next mont.
All the strength suddenly left Salem’s body.
“…!”
Arendt widened as he noticed the change. However, before he could do anything, Salem collapsed limply next to Iris.
Almost at the sa ti, a thud was heard from behind.
Arendt’s face hardened as he looked back.
Even Rider, who was waiting behind, had lost consciousness and collapsed.
Salem was still young, but he was an elf, and Rider was by no ans an easy opponent. Iris subdued the two of them in an instant without much effort.
“…Ha.”
Arendt sighed slowly and looked back at Iris.
Beneath the glow of the spirits swirling around her, a beautiful face appeared, adorned with a gentle smile.
“Nice to et you, Sir Arendt von Eckhart.”
When their eyes t, Iris smiled and slowly bowed her head in greeting.
“My na is Iris. I am the first follower of Lord Chernion.”
As she moved, her black hair cascaded downward before returning gracefully to its original place.
“Lord Salem will be immobilized for the ti being, so Sir Arendt will have to co this way.”
Arendt’s eyebrows furrowed slightly at her smiling voice.
A soft, gentle, and kind voice continued.
“Or perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad if I ca to you instead. What do you prefer, Sir Arendt? Whatever is most convenient for you…”
“Shut up and tell your purpose.”
Arendt cut her off mid-sentence.
“What are you trying to do now?”
“I was hoping to have a brief chat, but it seems that the ever-busy Sir Arendt rarely finds ti to spare. My apologies.”
But Iris didn’t show any sign of displeasure, and just smiled brightly as if she was watching a child’s antics.
“But I haven’t caused any harm to either of them yet. I swear this on Lord Chernion’s na.”
Arendt’s face crumpled at the strangely jarring word.
“Yet?”
“Yes. For now. They are just sleeping comfortably in darkness’ embrace. But what will happen after that…”
Iris, who had been silent for a mont, once again wore a beautiful smile on her face.
“That seems to depend on you, Sir Arendt. What are your thoughts?”
His golden eyes, fixed squarely on her, radiated an even colder chill.
“Didn’t I just ask you what your purpose is?”
“I have clearly answered your question, Sir Arendt. I ca here for another purpose, keeping it a secret from my subordinates, but thanks to the guidance of Lord Chernion, I was able to et Sir Arendt.”
But Iris remained unfazed and continued to answer in a soft tone.
“I just didn’t want to miss out on such a great opportunity. Is that enough of an explanation?”
“…”
Arendt didn’t respond for a while, just staring at her. Iris also didn’t avoid that gaze, but accepted it quietly.
After a while, Arendt clicked his tongue and began to speak.
“Well, okay. I was also curious about the leader of the pervert masked bastards.”
Arendt tilted his head to the side and blurted out, standing awkwardly.
“Co over here yourself. Don’t act so arrogant, telling others to co and go.”
“…That is true.”
Iris let out a small laugh.
“There was a reason why Lord Nikephoros said that. Okay. I’ll go over there.”
Iris, who answered like that, really started to move and slowly approach Arendt.
Swish.
The regular sound of footsteps was followed by the sound of long robes dragging on the floor.
As she got closer, her unrealistic appearance beca more apparent.
The closer the distance beca, the more vividly her otherworldly appearance ca into view.
‘I can’t even hear her breathing.’
He strained his senses, but he felt nothing but the sound of footsteps.
He felt like he had encountered a ghost because he could not see any traces of hert or any unnecessary movents.
The spirits anxiously hovering around the fallen Salem seed even more alive and vibrant.
Iris stopped a few steps in front of Arendt.
Her silvery eyes that had been hidden beneath her eyelids until now were slowly revealed, filling Arendt’s eyes with them.
Arendt soon realized that she had completely lost sight in both of her eyes.
But for the saintess who served the god of darkness, such things did not seem to be a problem at all.
Iris, who had been quietly observing Arendt for a while, began to speak.
“You are a beautiful person, Sir Arendt.”
“I know. I’m so handso.”
Iris paused at the sudden answer.
Arendt, with his hands deep in his pockets, continued speaking absentmindedly.
“That’s true, seeing that you made your subordinates wear those perverted masks. Are they so ugly that they have to hide it with sothing like that?”
“…”
“I should at least see their faces before I kill those bastards. I haven’t had ti to do that until now.”
Arendt’s words were as poisonous as arsenic.
“Their nas were Vincent and Blake. Now I can’t even tell if they’re real nas or aliases. I’m not really interested in the nas of the guys who died.”
“…”
Despite Arendt’s sharp words, Iris remained silent for a while and just stared at Arendt.
However, she did not seem to be upset like other enemies had been. She just looked at Arendt quietly as if she was looking at a strange object.
After a few monts of eerie silence, Iris spoke again.
“That’s an interesting story. Are you serious about what you just said? Or…”
Iris spoke again.
When Arendt felt uncomfortable with the strange tone, she added briefly.
“Was even that just an act?”
Arendt paused.
“Retreat! Retreat!”
Ragnald, who was yelling at his subordinates, cut down one of the ghouls that was persistently following him.
He agreed with Zakar’s suggestion to retreat, but it wasn’t easy to retreat right away when they were on the front lines.
“Shit…”
The air was filled with the sll of blood and acrid smoke. The dawn was about to break, but the dark clouds and magical power covering the sky made it difficult to tell the ti.
“Lord Ragnald! Reinforcents have arrived from the Third Knights!”
At that mont, the warrior who was fighting right next to him shouted urgently. Ragnald imdiately raised his head and checked the situation.
Among the warriors fighting against the ghouls and the priests of the Evil Cult, knights in blue uniforms ca into view.
“We’ll take this opportunity to retreat! We’ll take care of the rear, so retreat!”
“Get back! We’ll take the rear!”
Following this, Shekhinah, who had been keeping an eye on the enemies not far away, also followed suit and shouted. Even in such a chaotic situation, Zakar quickly looked around.
It was to find one person.
Before long, he was able to find the person he was looking for.
From a distance, Laius was slaughtering his enemies with a grim expression.
‘The fact that Captain Laius is there ans…’
Zakar felt a sense of relief inside.
‘It turns out my judgnt was not wrong.’
In an ergency, Laius would rather send his comrades to safety first, but he himself was not the type of person to back down easily in the face of an enemy.
But he ca here himself to help the elves who were retreating and let Roger go.
That ant that Laius had also made the sa decision as Zakar.
“Swap with the Imperial Knights! Pull back the front lines!”
Zakar shouted, swinging his sword.
Thud!
The priest, whose throat was cut with a single stroke of his sword, fell without even being able to scream. However, the ghouls that surged in quickly filled the space.
The retreat went more smoothly thanks to the help of Laius and the Knights. However, the army led by Jiklin had no intention of letting them go easily.
“Hold on tight until the very end! Don’t let them slip away!”
Jiklin’s angry command was passed down to the priests and the ghouls. Then the enemies began to pursue them more fiercely.
Just as the fight was about to beco more intense, lightning struck from the cloudy sky.
Kwaaaaang!
In an instant, their vision went completely white, and then an incomparable explosion followed, shaking the black sky.
Zakar, who had reflexively covered his vision, quickly raised his head and checked the place where the lightning had hit directly.
Chijik, Chik.
Electricity was flowing through Lexion’s barrier that was surrounding the palace.
Nikephoros’ attack was completely absorbed by Lexion’s defensive barrier.
And after a while.
Crack.
A clear crack appeared on the barrier, which had beco noticeably more opaque than before.
“Oh no.”
Zakar let out a sigh. Ragnald and Shekhinah’s faces hardened when they disscovered the sa thing.
“…Hurry up!”
After a brief pause, Ragnald was the first to shout. The hands of those cutting down the enemies grew even busier.
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