Gritting his teeth, Shed forced his numbed arms to move, desperately fending off Dietrich’s relentless onslaught. Shockwaves split the ground and tore through the heavens, shaking the earth itself. Each time he managed to make his cursed limbs obey him, it felt as though his muscles were being ripped apart and his bones were splintering from within.

But surrender was not an option.

Darkness poured down with the rain, and against it, blue light flared, splitting the night sky as though struck by a thousand bolts of lightning all at once.

The clash of their forces unleashed a storm so violent that skeletons were swept away and the forest groaned beneath its weight. At times, the air currents twisted into whirlwinds and tempests before scattering again in the storm’s fury.

Yet, little by little, the balance of light began to waver.

Dietrich’s lips curled into a smile as he gazed at the spreading curse devouring Shed’s body.

“I told you, didn’t I? Your ending is already written.”

Black veins bulged grotesquely across Shed’s neck, as though barbed steel thorns were tightening around his throat. Pain drove into him, cruel and unyielding. In that instant of torment, his aura-wreathed blade wavered for a heartbeat.

“Kh—!”

The black blade grazed his neck, and blood welled hot from the cut, spilling across his lips as searing agony wracked him. A cough tore through his chest, crimson scattering into the rain.

The blue light faltered, scattering, and the tip of his sword dipped into the mire. His rain-soaked body trembled beneath the crushing weight of the curse. Black roots spread faster now, crawling from his neck across his cheek, winding down into his chest.

He spat the blood gathering in his mouth, smearing it away with his darkened hand. Scarlet streaked the puddles at his feet. And then, slowly, he raised his head and fixed his gaze upon Dietrich once more.

“Still trying to endure?”

Dietrich laughed at the sight of a mortal destined to decay and rot beneath the soil. The curse had permeated his very being; his breaths were now shallow and ragged. No matter how hard he fought, there were limits that even willpower could not overcome. To Dietrich, Shed’s futile struggle against fate was almost pitiable, seeming so fleeting and fragile as to be boring.

With leisurely calm, he stooped to pick up a discarded blade lying in the mud.

“It ends here.”

Amusement drained from his voice. To toy with one fated for death had its limits.

He cloaked the weapon in black sorcery.

Bleeding and unsteady on his feet, he fixed his gaze on the man aiming a cursed blade at him, forcing himself to stand up straight once more.

The aura flickered faintly, no brighter than the dying glow of a firefly. Blood dripped steadily from between his clenched teeth.

Dietrich steadied himself and swung his blade towards Shed. He had lived his life as a priest and scholar, never training to wield a sword properly. Yet his blade clashed evenly with Shed’s steel.

He mocked the cursed man’s pitiful resistance.

“Pathetic.”

Blood vessels burst in Shed’s darkening eyes as he glared at his foe.

‘D*mn it… my sight…’

His senses dulled, the curse gnawed relentlessly at his organs, devouring them one by one.

Clang!

At last, even Dietrich’s clumsy strike sent Shed’s sword flying. His stiffening body faltered, losing balance.

“Khak—!”

Blood gushed from his lips. His knees gave way beneath him, causing him to fall into the mud.

Dietrich laughed as he looked down at Shed, kneeling in the mud. Even in defeat, his bloodshot eyes looked back at Dietrich, sharp and cold, as though waiting for the slightest opportunity to slit his throat.

“I’ll grant you this much—I respect your persistence.”

Dietrich swept back his rain-soaked hair, the droplets sliding from his silver locks. Lupus had lasted long enough to leave him feeling weary. Any other man would have perished under such a curse. Even Dietrich had to admit that this tenacious breed was extraordinary.

“Your death won’t be wasted.”

“Your corpse would be ideal for research purposes. At the very least, you would become a revenant.”

Dietrich stepped closer, raising his blackened blade above his gasping nephew. Shed tried to get up, forcing strength into his legs, but his knees only crashed back down into the puddled ground. He had no strength left.

Dietrich lifted the cursed blade to strike.

At that moment—

“Stop.”

The power coiling about the blade twisted violently, whirling like a storm. Dark energy surged upward, latching onto his wrist.

“What—what is this…?”

Dietrich’s head snapped up, eyes widening, just as a wave of darkness swept over him like a collapsing curtain.

Crack—

The blade decayed in an instant, crumbling to ash like withered leaves.

‘This is…!’

Black magic.

But the power was not Dietrich’s own.

When he looked up, he saw a pair of eyes glowing with a deadly, icy light in the darkness, black as the new moon. In that instant, Dietrich was struck by a terror akin to the touch of a reaper’s scythe on his throat. He hastily raised his guard.

Boom—!

The impact was so immense that not even the rain could penetrate it. Dietrich’s body scraped across the mud as he was driven backwards.

“Kh…!”

“…Dietrich Lester.”

A low voice emerged through the dispersing haze of black mist.

Dietrich looked up to see a woman walking toward him through the rain.

“Luise…!”

The one who had been holding Eve was now standing in his path.

Her face bore an expression he had never seen before—white as carved ice, cold enough to crush the heart beneath its weight.

‘I… am I feeling fear toward this woman…?’

Dietrich shook his head.

“No. I am perfect now.”

He reminded himself that he was immortal. What reason did he have to fear death when it held no power over him? Besides, he knew far more about black magic than she ever would. He had studied every line of scripture and every ancient incantation. He was the one who had created Luise.

“You can’t stand against me, Luise. You don’t even comprehend the true extent of this power.”

His confidence returned as he curled his lips into a twisted smile. Immediately, blackness consumed his body. The dark magic clung to him like armour, and his fingertips glinted with savage sharpness like a beast’s claws.

“I am your creator, Luise! Before your maker, you should bow in reverence!”

He surged forward, unleashing a frenzied storm of power as he charged at her.

But Luise did not so much as blink, her eyes fixed firmly on Dietrich’s advance.

Thunderous detonations cracked through the air as the two of them collided. The ground caved in at the points of impact, forming vast, blackened craters.

Across the ruins, Dietrich sneered when he saw her standing firm. Her body was cloaked in black, too.

“So—you hide it all this time, and now you wield black magic? Hm? You pretended to be so lofty, yet in the end, you need this power just the same.”

In response to his taunt, Luise pressed her lips together tightly. He was right. Ultimately, she could only rely on her accursed strength.

The truth was repulsive. Admitting that the very power she had spent her life denying was the only one left to her was nauseating. The path she had walked seemed meaningless; her ironclad convictions had shattered in an instant.

Luise Ideana had undeniably become a demon.

Her blackened hand clenched into a fist. Despite having taken on the very thing she had spent her life trying to avoid, she did not regret it.

Now, she had someone to protect, no matter the cost.

Seeing the unshakable resolve in Luise’s eyes, Dietrich sneered.

“See? In the end, you’re no different from me.”

Unlike him, she acted as though she had retained a sense of nobility and righteousness. However, the moment she turned to black magic, she crossed the line. She was now in the same position as Dietrich — beyond the realm of good.

Was killing to prevent further killing innocent? No, it was still murder.

“So stop pretending you’re above me. Admit it.”

At his taunt, Luise bit down hard on her lip. Blood welled and spread across the corner of her mouth, then sealed over again.

“…Yes, you’re right. I disgust myself so much I could die. But if this wretched power can achieve even one thing. So let’s go to hell together.”

She chose to embrace the devil she had become.

Their powers clashed once more, shattering the air into cold shards. Yet Dietrich deflected her attack with ease.

He knew her powers well. He knew her attacks. The black magic he had studied countless times was now at his fingertips.

Besides—

“You don’t even know the ritual formulas of black magic, do you?”

Dietrich began to chant in an ancient language, baring his teeth. Behind him, massive bones erupted from the ground, rising like whales breaking the surface of the sea. The carcasses of demonic beasts emerged from the mire.

The half-decayed, rotting monsters lifted their heads and wailed in grotesque voices that could be heard by those guarding the distant fortress.

“You know far too little of this power, Luise.”

On his signal, the huge beasts charged towards her all at once.

Dietrich did not let down his guard either. To completely subdue the undead Luise, he unleashed a barrage of attacks on her with his summoned wraiths.

The blows rained down without pause, burying her in a storm of strikes until she was no longer visible.

Even with an immortal body, it was impossible to emerge unscathed from such destruction.

‘If her heart is pierced, she can’t move for minutes… sometimes hours.’

This time, it wouldn’t just be her heart that would be crushed, but her entire body too. It would take much longer to recover from such devastation than before.

‘That should buy me time to layer her with brainwashing spells and binding charms again. At least she’ll be quiet for now…’

Dietrich was calculating the numbers in his head when the demonic beasts that had smothered Luise suddenly let out a piercing shriek.

From the center of their writhing mass, a jet-black pillar of power surged skyward.

The beasts burst apart like shattered glass, torn to pieces and hurled in all directions. Even the heavy storm clouds overhead ripped open, leaving a gaping wound in the sky.

And then—

“Kh—!”

Kwaang!

Bursting through the wreckage of the shattered beast, Luise grabbed Dietrich by the throat and threw him against a huge boulder. The rock cracked under the impact, but she did not let go.

“Do you think I don’t understand this power?”

Her cold, sharp voice brushed against his ear.

Dietrich gasped for breath, his eyes fixed on the woman before him. Her body was drenched in blood, yet she seemed utterly unaffected by pain — calm, chilling and unyielding.

“It’s you who doesn’t understand this power, Dietrich.”

The Ideana dagger that Shed had given her gleamed at her fingertips.

There was not the faintest trace of hesitation in her gaze.

“Have you forgotten how many I’ve killed with this power?”

Hearing this, Dietrich’s eyes widened and his pupils shrank in sudden terror.