Luise no longer feared the dark arts out of ignorance. No—she feared them because she understood their power all too well.

Even if it had been the result of brainwashing, the guilt was etched into her body and unconscious mind like an irrefutable truth. She had already slain countless people, already stood against hordes of beasts.

In the nightmares of her childhood—nightmares that would never fade no matter how desperately she tried—she had learned to subdue and kill her enemies with brutal precision.

Wielding that power came as naturally as moving her own hands and feet, and that was what made the dreams so terrifying. Because the power was becoming hers. Familiar. Natural.

So when her arm was torn apart, when a blade pierced her heart, when her abdomen was ripped open—again and again, at the end of every experiment, she learned.

If a heart is stabbed enough times, even the agony of a body breaking apart begins to feel trivial.

“Someone who’s never once truly had their heart pierced by a blade could never hope to defeat me.”

At last, a faint smile curved across Luise’s lips.

With it—thunk—a dagger shrouded in black power drove straight through Dietrich’s heart.

He collapsed to the ground at once, blood spilling from his mouth. His whole body writhed in convulsions, twisted in torment, his breath shattered by pain.

“Kh—agh… guh…!”

“…That’s why you should never have touched Eve.”

She recalled the first time she had felt that very torment.

When each second stretched into eternity, when her very self was annihilated—that had been true hell.

Luise slowly lifted her trembling hand from the dagger’s hilt.

It was the first time she had stabbed someone by her own will.

She had braced herself for it, and yet she could not still the tremor.

And Dietrich’s words were not wrong.

“See? In the end, you’re just like me.”

No matter what reason she gave herself, she had harmed a person with a power she should never have possessed.

The rain had stopped, and droplets fell from Luise’s soaked chin.

Then—

“You’ll never… khh!”

Convulsing in agony, Dietrich seized her hand. His bloodshot eyes looked up at her with murderous intent.

“You… are the… same, guh—!”

From his blood-filled lips came a voice almost identical to that of the wraiths.

And from the hand that gripped Luise’s, a jet-black light erupted.

She felt a searing pain as though her skin were burning, and she kicked him away, forcing him off her.

“Khahh!”

Dietrich’s body, wracked with agony, finally collapsed into the mud. At that very instant, the wraiths besieging Faradel Castle fell together as one.

In the air, now emptied of rain, came the strange echo of collapse—followed from afar by the triumphant cries of soldiers.

Clutching her wrist, seared with pain, Luise slowly lifted her head. Above, the sky had been pierced open, and through it shone the faintest light of dawn.

Her body felt unbearably heavy. With effort, she turned her blood-soaked form, and before her stretched a desolate land. The earth of Ideana was once again stained black with dark magic, littered with countless bones clawing upward from the ground.

And beyond that haunted field, the inner gates of Faradel creaked open, revealing a company advancing forth.

A breeze swept by, and a white flag billowed high. Upon that pure cloth, a golden star gleamed—entwined with a staff bound in white roses.

It was the banner of High Priestess Giselle Marlhein.

“Ah…”

Yes. She had said she would come here.

If it was Giselle, she could at least temporarily seal Dietrich’s power before he recovered.

Was that… fortunate?

Luise glanced down at her blood-covered hands.

Had she used up too much strength fighting Dietrich? Or had the tension simply snapped? Her thoughts faltered and scattered.

It had been too long since she had wielded such power. Her strength was draining away, her vision blurring.

The wound on her shoulder, caused by a beast’s bite, refused to heal, and the caked blood on her face was weighing down her eyelids.

The place on her wrist, where Dietrich had seized her last, still burned hot.

‘Eve…’

Her thoughts converged into a single point.

She had to save Eve.

But Giselle was coming.

Before God, Dietrich, Luise, and even Eve were nothing more than the same—devils.

“Eve…”

Luise forced herself to stagger forward towards him.

The moment she took a step, agonising pain shot through her body and down her limbs. Lowering her gaze, she saw that her ankle had twisted at some point.

During her struggle with Dietrich, she hadn’t realised quite how badly injured she was.

Dragging her unresponsive leg, she pressed on. Her vision darkened, threatening to swallow her whole, only to flicker dimly back again.

Then she saw him — belatedly — standing beside Eve.

“Luise…”

Even when her vision blurred, even when deep darkness closed in, even when mist veiled her eyes—his violet gaze remained clear.

Shed, his body consumed by the curse, held Eve in his arms, shielding her from the devastation of battle.

Luise froze where she stood.

He looked at her with eyes wide, steeped in the shock of it all.

And in that moment, a truth she had not yet grasped struck her belatedly, sinking into her very skin.

All of her sins had been laid bare.

It felt as if her defiled body had been stripped n*ked and put on display. She could scarcely breathe.

Shed’s body was etched with the black curse.

And that very same power flowed through her blood.

“Shed…”

What explanation could she give?

What excuse could she possibly offer?

Her mind was a blank, not a single word rising to her lips.

Black veins, like a spider’s web, bulged across his face.

Once, she had wanted nothing more than to save him—to free him, at the very least, from that wretched curse.

That was why she had left him, why she had driven away the man she loved with all her strength.

And yet, in the end, the two of them now stood here, before the sins of Ideana.

One still cloaked in the crime of heresy. The other dying as its sacrifice.

Before the mockery of fate—cruel as inevitability—Luise was powerless.

The crushing weight pressed down on her until her heart felt as though it would shatter. Her head throbbed as if it would split apart. Even the act of breathing was agony.

“I only, I only ever……wanted to protect you.”

Luise looked at him, consumed by the curse.

Even as he was dying, there was nothing she could do.

It was crumbling away—the one sanctuary that had never been stained by her nightmares.

And with it came the memories, surging like a tidal wave, a pounding migraine stabbing through her skull.

Her body swayed and collapsed to the ground.

“Luise…!”

Shed reached out to her as she fell. His blackened hand touched her cheek.

“Eve…”

In her fading consciousness, Luise stretched her hand toward the child.

She had to hide Eve.

She had to keep him from Giselle.

Her bloodied fingertips closed around Eve’s small hand.

But the trembling at her fingertips soon gave way, her hand slipping limply into the mud.

“Luise…!”

He dragged her failing body into his arms.

Her body burned like fire. And then—splash, the sound of footsteps striking a rain-filled puddle reached them.

Shed lifted his head.

The sky had already turned pale with the coming of dawn and thin rays of sunlight were spilling through.

Under that light, the face of a woman with sky-blue hair came into view.

“…Giselle.”

At the same instant his heart sank, he pulled Luise tightly into his arms.

“If you want to live, hand her over.”

Those beautiful eyes, framed by long lashes, gazed calmly down at Shed’s battered body.

No, it was impossible.

He longed to explain everything to Giselle, but the words wouldn’t come. He knew that the moment he opened his mouth, the pain he was barely containing would spill out, raw and uncontrollable.

All he could do was hold Luise closer and look up at her.

Giselle let out a soft, knowing laugh at his defiance.

“With death already on your heels, is that how you dare look at the priest who might yet save you?”

Even at first glance, it was obvious that he was under the influence of a curse. Remarkably, he had the strength to remain conscious. The pain he was experiencing must have been unbearable.

He should have been crawling and begging for his life.

Yet that foolish man seemed unaware of who held the advantage here.

“Luise… I won’t hand her over…”

The words slipped through clenched teeth, his voice ragged.

Yet Giselle’s face remained composed, cold and unshaken. What fear could she have of a dying man’s threat?

She lifted her hand with elegant poise.

At once, the knights who had been assisting in subduing Dietrich rushed toward her.

In Shed’s violet eyes, the reflections of his loyal retainers appeared.

“My lord!”

It was Carlisle and Hedrick.

They were left speechless by what they saw. Despite having served him for years, they had never seen their lord in such a pitiful state.

Then Giselle looked at Carlisle and Hedrick.

“Lord Lester’s condition is critical. Escort him to the estate immediately.”

She gave the order without hesitation. If words would not work, then force must.

Carlisle and Hedrick did not hesitate; they moved towards Shed at once.

“Stand back! That is an order…!”

Shed rasped hoarsely at the two men restraining him.

But for the first time, Carlisle and Hedrick defied their master’s command.

“Forgive us, my lord. We will accept our punishment.”

For them, nothing mattered more than saving their lord’s life.

Still clutching Luise, Shed struggled fiercely against them.

But in a body devoured by the curse, he could not possibly withstand the strength of the knights he himself acknowledged.

“No…!”

From his arms, Luise was torn away.

Shed reached out through the agony tearing his body apart.

“My lord, if you move like this, your condition will only—!”

“Luise…!”

Through waves of torment, his vision blurred.

Cough—blood pooled inside his mouth and spilled out in thick drops.

And with it, the world went dark.