The forest trembled. Loud booms cracked through the trees as beasts scattered in panic. Birds fled, wings flapping frantically. The air reeked of smoke and holy ash.
Azel and Anna ran.
Branches whipped past their faces. Holy flames rained from the sky like meteors, shattering the earth beneath them. The ground itself twisted, sacred glyphs erupting to trap them. Arrows coated in divine light hissed through the air.
"We need to leave this place and never return. Let's take the mountain route."
Azel shouted, his breath ragged.
Anna nodded beside him, face pale with panic. She wanted to save the prisoners they had seen—those bound elves, humans, and beastkin—but none of that mattered now. Not if they died here.
The two sprinted, weaving through trees, dodging death at every step.
Then came the pain.
A sharp sear tore through Azel's leg. A holy-imbued arrow had caught him below the knee. He stumbled and collapsed, blood darkening the sand.
"Azel!"
Anna skidded to a halt. They could still hear their pursuers—not far now. She looked back at the arrow lodged in his flesh, divine light still flickering on the shaft.
"Run. Don't stop. If they catch you—"
"Shut up."
Anna bent down, voice trembling.
"I'm... I'm not leaving you."
He tried to push her away, but she already had him on her back, lifting with surprising strength.
"I'll protect you."
Azel's body tensed. He hated this—being carried like this, powerless.
'Tch… Forbanna, why the hell isn't this healing?'
"The holy magic is too strong."
Forbanna replied inside his mind.
"It's delaying me. I need more time."
They didn't have time.
Anna ran with everything she had, eyes scanning for an escape. But the forest was sealed. Magic churned around them, earth and sky working against her. A priest had already cast an entrapment spell—the ground clung to her feet, turning to hardened mud that locked her in place.
"No—no, no, no! Move, dammit!"
She clenched her teeth, gathering her mana.
"Void Magic: Scatter."
A violent wave of void magic erupted outward, obliterating the earth in a ten-meter radius. Dirt, rock, and wood dissolved into ash. The trap released her—but so did her presence scream louder.
More holy knights poured in from every direction.
"They're surrounding us."
Azel cursed.
"How the hell did they find us so fast?"
Then he saw him.
The man who had given the command.
A towering figure in a white cloak stepped through the flames, calm and composed as if the chaos around him didn't exist. His skin was like onyx, and the golden cross over his chest gleamed under the light of divine magic.
"I am Hakugo. Third Cardinal. Archbishop of the Church of Saint Heron."
He said, voice smooth like honey and just as venomous.
Hakugo scanned the two. His eyes rested on Anna a bit too long.
"Ah… such a fine lamb. And the little husband. The gods must truly bless me today."
Azel snarled, attempting to stand. Pain lanced through his leg.
Hakugo drew a sword. Not just any sword. Azel recognized it instantly. A divine relic. The same type used to purge the Cursewrights. Holy light radiated from its blade, searing his skin just by proximity.
"Kill the man. Take the woman. I will break her spirit myself."
Anna's eyes flared.
"I'd rather die than be touched by filth like you."
She raised her hand.
A wave of invisible force pulsed forward. The advancing crusaders stopped—frozen mid-step—before their bodies began to rot. Skin peeled. Flesh melted. Screams of agony echoed through the trees as her ancient void magic took hold.
"EAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
"What is happening?"
Azel stared. Even now, she shielded him. Arrows fell. She swatted them from the air with precise, calculated barriers.
Hakugo watched, fascinated.
"You wield something... curious. That's not divine. Not cursed. Something else."
He vanished.
Then—the cold kiss of a blade at her throat.
He stood behind her, arm wrapped around her waist. Too fast. Even with her enhanced senses, she hadn't sensed him move.
"You're brave. But foolish. You're mine now."
Anna struggled, fury burning in her eyes.
"Touch me, and I'll tear your spine from your body."
"Soon enough. I'll learn every inch of your secrets."
Then came the scream.
Azel.
The divine sword had plunged into his chest. The pain was instant, pure agony. His cursed blood reacted violently. It was like poison.
He remembered this feeling. That snowy night. The first time he died. The executioner's blade. The cold. The helplessness.
Anna screamed.
"No! STOP!"
She threw herself forward, only to be held back by divine shackles. She watched as Hakugo casually slashed Azel again. And again.
Blood soaked the ground. Deep gashes carved through his torso. His stomach was torn open, flesh flayed like paper.
"Azel! Don't you dare die! I'll do anything—just stop—stop hurting him!"
Hakugo ignored her.
Another thrust.
Then silence.
Azel's head rolled to the side, eyes dim. Blood spilled from his mouth.
Anna froze.
He wasn't breathing.
He was gone.
"No…"
She broke.
Mana surged uncontrollably around her. Her void aura erupted.
"I'll take all of you with me!"
"Disintegration!"
The sky warped. Space cracked like glass. The spell would annihilate everything—herself included. One final act of defiance.
But before she could release it—
Darkness.
Her body went limp.
Hakugo had struck her at the base of the neck, rendering her unconscious in an instant. Her spell fizzled, uncontrolled magic dispersing.
He caught her, gently.
"So beautiful when broken."
Behind him, Azel's corpse lay still.
Lifeless.
His blood soaking the dirt of a cursed world.