“Did you see that conversation too?”
“Yeah.”
“…How?”
“What do you mean, how?”
Enoch looked at me, confused.
The always dignified Enoch Gray now looked as lost as a three-year-old child.
“It was just visible and audible to me…”
“So, you understood the entire conversation?”
“No. The only thing I recognized was the nickname you once asked me about.”
“That’s not a nickname…! Wait, you remember that?”
“I couldn’t forget it even if I wanted to.”
I had asked Enoch to call me ‘Inspector’ when we were children.
It was during our first hunting tournament, where we had entered as the youngest participants ever.
Back then, I saw traces of Yoon Doyoon in Enoch Gray’s face.
“……”
I stared intently at Enoch’s face.
His silver hair shimmered as if catching the light even in this darkness, and his deep blue eyes gleamed.
It seemed ridiculous now that I had once tried to find Yoon Doyoon in Enoch Gray—they were completely different people.
“Why did we see different things?”
“You didn’t see that woman?”
“No. I saw a man. He had black hair and black eyes—someone who looked nothing like a citizen of the Lutinas Empire.”
“…What is this space trying to show us?”
Following Enoch’s gaze, I turned my eyes forward.
Yoon Doyoon’s figure had vanished, leaving behind only an empty, dark space.
The illusion disappeared as if it had never existed.
Enoch and I exchanged tense glances.
Why was I suddenly seeing scenes from my past life?
And why was Enoch seeing me from Yoon Doyoon’s perspective instead of his own?
There were many mysteries to solve, but this situation wasn’t giving us time to ponder them.
“We need to get out of here.”
I drew my sword from my waist.
A creeping sense of crisis wrapped around my entire body.
Even if I didn’t understand this phenomenon, I knew my instincts well.
Whenever my sharpened senses prickled like this, it always meant we were facing serious danger.
“We broke into this space by destroying the ground. If we destroy it again, we might find a way out.”
“Hah. I hate to agree with such an absurd idea.”
If I were being reckless, Enoch should have stopped me. But realizing the severity of the situation, he, too, drew his sword.
“This time, we have no other choice.”
A blue aura flickered along Enoch’s blade. Its pure energy was strong enough for me to feel it against my cheek.
I curled one side of my lips and said,
“The ceiling is too high to reach. So we have to break the ground beneath us.”
“We might just fall even deeper.”
“This time, I’ll catch you.”
“I’m sorry, Cherrya, but do you think your small frame can fully support me?”
“Yes.”
She nodded lightly and infused her sword with energy.
Unlike Enoch’s sword aura, hers was not inferior in the slightest. Instead, the Emblem’s unique, blazing red aura flickered like flames.
“Ten steps ahead.”
“No, make it five.”
“Hmm, fine.”
Enoch and I agreed on the destruction point and simultaneously thrust our swords into the same spot.
At that exact moment, we condensed our aura and released it. As our sword auras clashed, sparks erupted.
The wind generated by the collision of our auras whipped through our hair, sending strands flying wildly.
Just a bit more. Just a little more.
My heart pounded like crazy, as if my entire bloodstream were flowing directly into my sword.
From my hands gripping the sword to my shoulders, my clothing was slashed and torn by the sword aura.
Enoch was no different.
Our exposed arms were lined with bulging blue veins, appearing almost grotesque.
We gathered as much aura as our bodies could handle—until we could bear no more—then detonated it.
It was reckless, but what better way to obliterate this entire space?
“…Cherrya, now!”
“Got it!”
At Enoch’s signal, we simultaneously unleashed the condensed aura.
BOOOOOM!!!
A deafening roar shook the ground beneath us, making it feel like everything was collapsing.
“Enoch!”
As promised, I grabbed him and pulled him into my arms.
“Wait, Cherrya! If you do this, you’ll get hurt—”
“I won’t!”
“Cherry!”
Our bodies plunged downward in an instant.
Through my spinning vision, I saw Enoch desperately trying to position himself beneath me.
I wrapped my arms around his waist.
I couldn’t let Emblem be indebted to Gray.
As I felt Enoch urgently gripping my waist and shoulders, I smiled.
***
At the center of the collapsing black void—
A figure with long black hair cascading down their back stood, watching as Cherrya and Enoch fell from the sky.
“Huh. What is this?”
Cold crimson eyes gleamed with interest.
“They have something really amusing in their heads.”
Although one of the few remaining intermediary spaces connecting to the Demon Realm on this continent was now lost forever, the excitement of discovering something even more intriguing far outweighed the regret.
Demons appear in the form humans need most.
To those who desire love, they become the ones who love them more than anyone else.
To those in need of companionship, they appear as eternal friends who will always stay by their side.
To those seeking loyalty, they take the form of unwavering subordinates devoted solely to them.
And this is possible for one reason alone—demons can read the deepest and most intense memories buried within humans.
“What was that memory just now? A memory from a world I don’t recognize? And… both of them have it.”
If only one of them had that intriguing memory, it might have been understandable.
But both carried memories from a world unknown even to him—a demon.
Moreover, the most intense scene buried deep within both of their distant memories was identical.
That meant the scene they had just witnessed was the moment those two yearned for most—the one they wished to return to more than anything.
“Judging by their confused expressions, they don’t seem to be aware of it. Should I… tell my dear contractor or not?”
A sweet smile curved the demon’s lips.
But it was fleeting. As he surveyed the collapsing space, he clicked his tongue and muttered,
“Swordmasters. Those filthy dogs of the Supreme God. Three of them in this era? Those two are too valuable to kill… What should I do?”
His feast was not yet ready.
It had been centuries since his last meal. Having put so much effort into this, he had no intention of turning back now.
“No choice, then. I’ll have to reveal half and hide the rest from my contractor.”
With a snap of his fingers, the demon effortlessly vanished from the crumbling space.
