Screams, the chilling smell of blood, and piercing resentment like a dagger.

Nothing was right.

Everything was a mess.

His heart ached as if it had been butchered.

Meanwhile, ugly clumps of emotion writhed in his stomach, tormenting him.

Hatred, anger, deprivation, affection, love.

‘Save me.’

He wanted to escape this terrible nightmare.

‘I want to live.’

Something seemed to be pressing down on his body with great force.

An enormous power that he dared not resist.

He had to run away.

Calix ran along the endless palace corridor.

‘I only did as I was told!’

‘Why did you kill me?’

‘Only you survived.’

The faces of the traitors he had killed began to chase him like ghosts.

His mind grew distant. He couldn’t face them.

‘Father, save me, Father, please save Mother.’

Calix stopped in front of the Emperor’s door and frantically pounded on the massive door.

“His Majesty will not save you.”

Calix jerked his head up at the familiar voice.             

The Second Prince and his half-brother, Telain Posman.

“Why look at me that way?”

Telain Posman touched his blackened abdomen and smiled brightly with his pitch-black eyes.

“Ah, you saw this? Yes. It’s your sword.”

He couldn’t breathe. Calix grabbed his neck and took a step back.

“Yes, it’s just as you thought. You killed me.”

His mouth stretched to the ends of his ears.

“Ash too, Gerald too, your friend too, and the Emperor as well.”

In an instant, the Second Prince’s face began to change.

Into the final appearances of everyone he knew.

“Calix Posman.”

Calix instinctively knew.

What was before his eyes was not reality.

But at the same time, it was reality. His inescapable fate.

His body froze stiff and countless scenes passed before his eyes.

The deaths of his brothers, Ruel’s death, and his father’s death.

Affection, love, and happiness he could never have.

Blood continuously stained his hands.

No matter how much he wiped, it wouldn’t come off.

“This is your fate. Also, your true self that lies dormant.”

In an instant, the pitch-black darkness expanded and completely swallowed Calix.

Then, a majestic voice that was not human’s heavily pressed down on Calix and said.

‘Morisias.’

A being that no mere human could defy.

The Absolute One, God.

“Under the vile light, your fate is nothing but destruction and despair.”

Rational thinking became impossible. He had never experienced such terror in his life.

“Do you want to change your fate?”

Calix crawled desperately on the floor.

He had to escape from the god’s domain.

“Choose me, traitor of Posnia.”

But the more he drew upon his magical power, the more it was devoured, only feeding the darkness.

At this rate, his consciousness would be completely swallowed.

He had to escape. He couldn’t be trapped in eternal darkness.

“Bring brilliant darkness to this world again…! Damn, cursed other world…!”

It was then. In the pale darkness, someone’s hand grabbed his.

And what he saw was…

“Your Highness!”

Rose Estanya.

The woman who would completely change his life.

***

Calix needed to calm down.

I gently patted his back while he held me.

‘Damn elves.’

I wasn’t from this world, so I couldn’t fully understand Calix’s feelings.

I didn’t know what gods meant to the people of this world.

“Your Highness, I think we should go back.”

“…No.”

Calix firmly said as he pulled away from me.

I frowned slightly and looked at him.

How could he say no when he was in this state?

“Morisias truly intends to resurrect. If we continue like this, the battle of the Absolute Ones might happen again.”

I just blinked blankly. Though I was clearly listening, nothing was sinking in.

What was this talk about Buddha and Jesus directly fighting with swords?

“Pardon?”

“If gods begin to intervene directly in the fight, an entire race could be completely annihilated like 400 years ago.”

Calix continued with an utterly serious face.

“If things get worse, everything could perish with all sorts of absolute beings intervening, like during the last Magic Era.”

“…Gods intervene directly?”

When I asked with a completely confused face, Calix answered with a determined expression.

“I don’t know what gods are to you, but Morisias appeared to me directly and showed me his purpose.”

Calix’s expression grew increasingly rigid.

“It’s just records, but in history, a god revealing itself in any form to a mere human happened exactly once.”

“Kamesis revealed himself to the first Emperor of Posnia. And as you know, the result was the destruction of Levelon.”

I gaped. So if Morisias resurrects, that war will happen again?

“Damn, I might die before becoming Emperor, let alone ascending to the throne.”

Calix laughed briefly with a vacant expression.

“Your Highness, don’t speak of such ill fortune.”

Destruction, war.

These were all matters far removed from me.

According to Calix, as the Crown Prince of this country, he had to prevent Morisias’s resurrection at all costs.

It was then.

Knock, knock, knock. Along with the sound of knocking on the closed door, a gentle male elf’s voice was heard.

“Saint, it’s Luminas.”

Calix’s expression crumpled instantly.

“I’ve come to apologize for the unfortunate incident earlier. May I come in?”

I tightly gripped Calix’s clothes and glanced up at him.

I was getting a bit scared because of what he had said.

I had no idea what these guys were plotting.

Human experiments, Morisias’s resurrection, war, destruction…

“Just pretend to go along with them for now.”

Calix whispered very quietly.

“Our priority is to figure out what they’re doing.”

Swallowing hard, I stepped away from him for a moment.

Then, trying to sound as calm as possible, I said.

“Come in.”

The door opened, and Luminas, dressed in splendid attire, took a step into the room.

He quickly glanced at Calix.

It seemed like he was checking his condition.

“Saint I committed an untimely rudeness. Please forgive me generously.”

After confirming that Calix was fine, he immediately knelt before me and looked up with a reverent face.

“Where’s the Elder?”

To my sharp question, Luminas answered in a monotone.

“The Elder is preparing to receive the Saintess.”

Luminas’s gaze turned to Calix again.

His face showed no emotion, but I could sense his displeasure toward Calix.

“…It must have been difficult for you to come here. We will prepare a separate room for you.”

At Luminas’s words, I glanced at Calix.

Before coming here, he had clearly said that I should never be separated from him. Above all, I didn’t know what they might do to him.

“Not necessary. You seem to be mistaken about something. I came here as His Highness’s servant.”

Luminas frowned, clearly troubled.

“…Yes.”

Yet he bowed his head to me in submission.

My skin crawled. I couldn’t get used to this Saintess nonsense, and I didn’t understand why the elves paid respect only to me while ignoring Calix, who was actual royalty.

“During your stay here, I will be in charge of the Saintess’s protection.”

At his words, the corner of Calix’s mouth twitched slightly.

“I will serve you to the best of my ability.”

And a brief silence lingered.

Calix was looking at Luminas as if he would kill him at any moment, while Luminas calmly faced Calix.

“Who… decides she’s a Saintess?”

Calix said with a slight smile. I opened my eyes wide.

Wait, didn’t he say we should cooperate? Why is he picking a fight?

“The Saintess is a soul directly chosen by Lord Morisias.”

When I looked at him with a bewildered face, Calix seemed to realize something was wrong.

He quietly closed his mouth and flashed his characteristically vicious smile.

“I’ll take care of Rose’s safety myself, so you don’t need to follow us around.”

“This is not your concern.”

“…Concern? Did you just say concern?”

Calix’s voice instantly lowered.

Chills ran down my spine.

I had no choice but to jump up and block Calix’s view.

Then I said to Luminas.

“This is annoying, and I’m impatient by nature, so it would be best to proceed as quickly as possible. Tell me. What is your plan?”