Eugene is rarely present in the castle.
People know nothing about his true identity or why he remains in Estar Castle.
Nevertheless, no one finds it strange, perhaps thanks to the dragon’s powerful magic.
In fact, except for Agnes, only a few people recognize his existence.
So when Eugene is in the castle, he tends to cling to Agnes and spend his time with her.
“Shouldn’t you return to your own quarters now?”
“Why?”
“Because it’s uncomfortable.”
“I’m not doing anything, just sitting here and looking at your face.”
“That’s what’s uncomfortable.”
Agnes didn’t bother hiding her disgruntled expression as she glared at Eugene.
However, Eugene didn’t seem to mind at all.
Instead, he dragged a chair over and settled right across from where Agnes was working.
“You seem to be in a rather foul mood.”
“I see you’ve noticed.”
“Well, in that case, look at my face.”
“What?”
“Look at my handsome face and try to cheer up a little.”
“……”
Sometimes, when conversing with this dragon, Agnes found herself at a loss for words.
“Does a dragon have a lot of time to waste?”
“What? I don’t know either. I’ve never seen other dragons before.”
“Hmm? Is there only one dragon in this world?”
“No, that’s not it. I’m the only dragon left here.”
“Then?”
“It’s been a long time since they all moved. I’m trapped here because of the seal.”
“Trapped?”
Agnes put down her pen and met Eugene’s gaze.
Normally, he would have gently brushed it off at this point, but Eugene didn’t stop explaining.
“Agnes, do you know how mana stones are formed?”
“They occur naturally, don’t they?”
“No. After a dragon dies, the dead body buried in the ground becomes a mana stone after a long time.”
Suddenly, Eugene’s face was right in front of hers.
“Humans have been mining them, using them to kill dragons. Isn’t that amusing?”
He suddenly burst into a fit of giggles, his golden eyes gleaming clinically.
“Humans killed dragons?”
Agnes was surprised. Was that even possible?
“A long time ago. Humans killed a dragon by holding hands with a God’s servant. They tore out the roaring dragon’s horns, pierced its heart, stripped its hide, and scraped off its bones…”
Eugene placed a brief kiss on Agnes’ dark hair.
“I was the last to be born from their bloodline, Agnes.”
Somehow, Agnes found herself overwhelmed by his aura and couldn’t push away his hand.
“I made the beasts out of my blood and flesh in hopes of the end of the world.”
“You created the beasts?”
She couldn’t close her mouth in astonishment. Eugene lifted Agnes’ chin like a person who saw something cute.
“But those arrogant creatures ended up throwing me into a pit.”
Despite his affectionate smile, the eyes that met hers were so cold and piercing that she involuntarily averted her gaze.
“Day after day, I endured, clinging to the hope that my salvation would one day come, trapped in endless agony and hatred.”
“………”
“You have no idea how fervently I longed to escape that hellish pit.”
“………”
“I prayed and promised that I would kill the servant of God who put me in the pit.”
Eugene was silent for a long time after that. Agnes blinked.
“Prayed?”
When she asked, Eugene licked his lips with his tongue.
Instead of answering, he raised his hand high.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment.”
“What do you-”
She was about to ask what that meant, but suddenly, a tremendous noise and vibration came from the outer wall.
Boom-
The castle shook as if there were an earthquake.
“Is it the beast?”
Agnes shot up from her seat in alarm.
“No, something even worse is coming.”
“Worse?”
“Agnes.”
Eugene’s expression suddenly turned serious. A sound of something slicing through the air could be heard in the distance.
“I’ll kill them all, understand?”
The dragon chuckled mischievously as he walked towards the window. Agnes followed him, feeling uneasy.
“What is that? What are you talking about?”
However, Eugene did not look back at Agnes.
Cling-
As he flicked his fingers, the closed glass window shattered with a loud noise.
“They’ve finally arrived, the vermin.”
He climbed up the window frame and jumped off at once.
No, he flew up.
Agnes watched him soar up into the sky.
Soon, a loud explosion followed, and she saw something with white wings darting across the sky.
She couldn’t identify what it was at all.
In fact, it was so fast that it was difficult to check with the naked eye.
“What on earth…”
Agnes looked out of the window with an anxious face.
A few knights, including Zoltan, opened the castle gate to assess the situation.
“Agnes!”
Turning around, she saw Laslo panting as he rushed in.
“There you are; I found you.”
“Did you see what’s going on?”
“Yes, Zoltan and the knights just went out.”
“Is it the beasts?”
Laslo shook his head.
“I don’t know yet. At least, it’s not any of the beasts I’m familiar with.”
“Eugene….”
“Hmm? What did you say?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Agnes shook her head. She, too, had little information to go on.
“Come here. I’ll take you to a safe place where the knights are.”
“Okay.”
Laslo reached out his hand. Agnes unhesitatingly took it.
Boom!
The hallway shook.
Instinctively, Laslo wrapped his arm around Agnes’ shoulder.
“This is no ordinary event.”
He briefly surveyed their surroundings as he spoke.
The trembling from the floor had just barely subsided.
“Let’s go.”
Agnes tugged on the sleeve of his robe.
The couple hurried their steps.
As they entered the grand hall, the knights were already fully armed, waiting for them.
“What’s the situation?”
Laslo asked the nearest knight.
“We can’t identify the entity.”
“What about the damage?”
“The walls are shaking from impacts with unknown entities, but so far, it’s still okay.”
“Is that so?”
Until then, Agnes hadn’t felt overly anxious.
She trusted the strength of the castle walls that the magicians had boasted about.
“First, ring the bell to have the villagers take shelter inside the buildings.”
“Understood.”
Laslo talked to the knights with a cautious face.
Soon, a deep, heavy bell toll reverberated throughout the castle.
Fortunately, the situation seemed to be improving over time.
Zoltan, who had gone on the reconnaissance, returned with the knights who had accompanied him.
“It’s disappeared from our sight now.”
“All of them?”
“I saw it with my own eyes, brother.”
But Laslo didn’t fully relax his guard.
He didn’t lift the alert order and continued to observe the situation.
However, nothing happened until nightfall.
“Isn’t it safe now?”
Zoltan, who had been standing by in full armor, cautiously approached Laslo and asked.
The dim sunset glow was filtering in through the windows.
Laslo nodded.
“Yes, lift the alert order.”
“Understood.”
The knight assigned to the bell tower went up to do so. Agnes finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Shall we go have a meal?”
Laslo asked. Agnes nodded easily.
“Let’s do that.”
The knights gathered in one place also received the order to disperse and gradually left the hall.
The dining room was quite far from the hall, requiring a long walk.
“It’s a relief that it wasn’t a major incident.”
“Indeed.”
“It seems the magic on the castle walls was the reason. If it weren’t for that, it would already be broken somewhere.”
“I’m glad we didn’t use mana stones in vain.”
The couple arrived at the dining room doors, chatting along the way.
“We should give a reward to the magicians.”
Boom! Boom!
There have been a series of loud noises that are incomparable to before.
Earlier, they could only feel the floor trembling, but now their entire bodies couldn’t be controlled.
“Oh no!”
Laslo’s expression immediately darkened.
“I’ll have to call the knights again.”
Agnes’ complexion also hardened.
The moment the words left his mouth, the surrounding windows exploded with a bang.
Laslo enveloped Agnes in his arms, shielding her.
“Ugh, what on earth…”
Sharp pieces of glass were scattered all over the place.
Agnes gasped in his arms.
Laslo looked around and lifted her up without notice.
“D, duke?”
“There’s a lot of sharp things on the floor. I’ll take you back to the hall; just bear with it for a moment.”
Agnes nodded. Laslo hurried back the way they had come.
Her lips were tightly pressed together.
Her heart raced with an uneasy feeling.
As if he noticed, Laslo held Agnes’ body tightly.
kwaang~
This time, the explosion came from right beside them. The ground was shaking so much that Laslo had to pause his steps.
”Argh!”
At the end of the hallway, a human scream rang and spread.
It was then.
A whooshing sound came as something was rapidly approaching them.
It was just a white speck at first, but in the blink of an eye, it had come right in front of them.
That’s when Agnes finally recognized what it was.
From head to toe, it was pure white—the god’s servant that Eugene had scornfully dismissed as lowly.
It was Berache.
As soon as Berache saw Agnes, it conjured a sword in midair and grasped it.
Laslo reacted like lightning.
He quickly set Agnes down on the floor and drew the sword at his waist.
“What are you?”
