Lloyd looked down and let out a deep sigh.
“I told you to be careful.”
The hallway was now deeply sunken into darkness.
Within the pitch-black void, two pairs of eyes glimmered.
The blurry ones belonged to the village chief.
The eyes glowing blue even in the darkness were undoubtedly those of Princess Yulia.
– “Hey! Lloyd! I was counting on you!”
The village chief’s shout sounded muffled, as if it were blocked by an invisible barrier.
… This is why physical strength alone isn’t enough.
If only they used their brains a little more.
Lloyd had plenty to say, but he held back in the presence of the Princess, who was looking up at him just the same.
“Just wait.”
With that, he immediately threw himself into the black pit.
– “Lloyd!”
– “What are you doing!!!?”
The two shouted in shock, but Lloyd paid them no mind.
– Thud.
Long before he reached the bottom of the deep pit, Lloyd hovered in midair.
It’s not like he knew how to levitate, so that wasn’t it.
“Just as I thought, a barrier.”
Tap, tap.
The barrier beneath his feet was quite solid.
This meant that one of the two people Lloyd had just decapitated was an exceptional barrier mage.
They must have used magic to create this pit itself. Lloyd stomped his foot.
– Kwaang!
There was a loud noise, but the barrier didn’t budge.
– “I tried it, but it was meaningless!”
Considering the barrier didn’t yield even to the chief’s physical strength, it must be strong.
Lloyd rested his chin on his hand and let out a contemplative hum.
“Hmm.”
It didn’t seem like the barrier would budge even if he used magic.
A barrier is ultimately the same as a protective shield.
A shield absorbs, reflects, or weakens a certain amount of magic and physical force. If you enlarge that shield, it becomes a barrier.
‘If I can break the shield, I can break the barrier too.’
Peeling away one or two layers of shield wasn’t difficult for Lloyd.
The problem was situations like this.
‘There must be at least dozens of layers here.’
The barrier that had taken root in this place was a protective shield that the barrier mage had painstakingly layered over the course of several months, resulting in significant durability.
– “You won’t be able to break through! You should fight One instead!”
The village chief shouted, but Lloyd easily ignored him.
‘To safely take down One, I need both of them.’
When dealing with assassins, it’s always best to overwhelm them with superior power. A small mistake could lead to immediate death. Assassins wouldn’t hesitate to take you down with them if necessary.
The question was how to dismantle the barrier.
‘Brute force won’t work.’
To be honest, it wasn’t impossible to break it by force, but that would cause problems when facing Il-sal later. He needed to conserve as much energy as possible.
Muttering to himself, Lloyd scanned the surroundings.
– “It’s no use! Even if you break the surroundings, the barrier will still be intact!”
The village chief insisted, his muscular logic clear, but Lloyd ignored him again.
‘That’s not the way.’
There must be something symbolic.
For example…
Yes.
“I found it.”
These iron nails.
Smirk.
A smirk appeared on Lloyd’s lips.
– “What are you going to do!?”
The village chief shouted reflexively.
Lloyd picked up a nearby mace.
Then, he struck the nail with the mace.
Kwaaaaang!
Dust rose from the floor, now dented in the shape of the mace.
One layer of the shield peeled away.
“Whew.”
Lloyd wiped the sweat from his forehead with his forearm.
Using his mana to scan the area, he found about twenty nails embedded in the surroundings.
“Looks like I’ll have to put in some effort.”
◆
“I knew I could count on you, Lloyd.”
“As expected, thank you, Lloyd.”
The village chief and Yulia, who had jumped out of the pit in one leap, bowed their heads to Lloyd.
Lloyd casually waved his hand to acknowledge the greeting.
“Let’s move quickly. With all this noise, One must have heard us by now.”
Or…
Perhaps, she had been observing them from the moment they set foot in this place.
That raised only one question in his mind.
‘Why is she just sitting in the room, waiting?’
It felt unsettling.
Was it a trap, like the hallway earlier?
Or did she have some other plan in mind?
One thing was certain: everything would become clear once they met her.
“Lloyd.”
He turned his head toward the voice.
Yulia had picked up a box from the floor. Seeing her Arcane Eyes glowing, Lloyd knew she had determined it wasn’t a trap.
Click.
As she opened it, the smell of medicine wafted out.
“I’ve seen a box like this in the palace before. It seems they really are distributing drugs.”
It was a box so securely sealed that even Lloyd’s senses hadn’t detected it.
‘If they can seal it this well, it’s no wonder it’s being distributed within the royal family.’
How much of this stuff must there be if it’s just lying around on the floor?
“We should be careful. This isn’t ordinary.”
Yulia warned, and Lloyd nodded in agreement.
In front of them loomed a massive door.
Beyond it, One would be waiting.
“… How do we get in? The security must be tight.”
The village chief stroked his chin.
Yulia chimed in.
“From what we’ve gathered, she seems to be much more cautious than she appears.”
“We’ll need to proceed very carefully.”
As they whispered in front of the door, Lloyd calmly walked past them.
And then…
– Knock, knock.
As if there was nothing to worry about, he knocked on the door.
The two of them looked at Lloyd in disbelief, and he merely shrugged.
“They already know we’re here anyway.”
At the same time as he answered.
— Creeak.
The door opened.
◆
The room beyond was twice as tall as the others, with dreary gray walls.
The furniture, so luxurious it was almost sinister, was all in a foreboding shade of black.
The room had an air of both a torture chamber and a high-end study, with a faint scent of blood lingering in the air.
It almost felt like stepping into the room of the Grey Duchess.
Lloyd’s eyes were drawn to where the room’s owner would be seated.
“Welcome.”
A pleasing, low-pitched female voice greeted him.
Despite the resonant power and authority in her tone, Lloyd focused on the figure before him.
Jet-black hair contrasted starkly with pale white skin.
Her eyes, red like blood, stood out sharply.
Her long arms were exposed by her revealing top, highlighting her seductive figure.
Her crossed legs, partly visible thanks to her short, practical shorts, left little to the imagination.
Lloyd scrutinized her from head to toe.
‘Strong.’
Her relaxed posture and the way her muscles subtly flexed spoke of her strength.
“Are you One?”
“That’s right. And you must be Lloyd. Hehe.”
One pointed to a chair with effortless ease.
“Have a seat.”
“Oh, my legs are a bit stiff. I’ll remain standing.”
Lloyd responded nonchalantly, crossing his legs.
One’s lips curved into a faint smile.
“You’re as bold as I’ve heard.”
“Who told you about me?”
“It’s probably best if we don’t reveal such things, wouldn’t you agree? It seems you know a bit about me too.”
“I heard about you from Claire.”
“… It might be wise to protect one’s clients a bit better.”
“Considering you were planning to kill anyway, does it really matter?”
Lloyd shrugged his shoulders, and One’s smile twisted slightly more.
“You’re quite amusing.”
“So are you.”
“Indeed. So, what brings you here?”
One asked casually, but Lloyd gulped inwardly.
‘Something feels off.’
Though their conversation seemed normal, something deeper was at play.
With each word One spoke, Lloyd felt subtle waves of power.
They were sharp, like they were trying to pierce his eardrums, but Lloyd was analyzing and countering them as they came.
Yulia’s eyes also glowed blue, indicating she had activated her Arcane Eyes.
It was clear that One was using a form of sound-based attack, likely a sonic technique.
One’s calm demeanor suggested that this composure was merely a facade, hiding the sharp weapon of her sonic assault.
But something was still missing.
‘There’s more to this.’
Even Yulia had noticed and was countering the attack, yet there was an elusive element at play.
– Clink.
One stirred the spoon in the teacup on the table before her.
“!”
Lloyd’s eyes widened in shock as, suddenly, the world went dark.
– Flash!
An overwhelming darkness descended, enveloping everything in its path.
“W-what… is this…?”
“L-Lloyd… you have to stay… awake…”
Yulia’s voice echoed from afar, growing fainter as if she were being dragged into the depths.
It felt like sinking into the abyss.
Lloyd was being pulled deeper and deeper into the darkness.
The scene before him receded, shrinking until it became a tiny white dot floating in the void.
No, it wasn’t the scene that was shrinking—he was sinking.
As the surrounding darkness closed in, Lloyd finally felt solid ground beneath his feet and stood up.
“…What is this?”
Even as he tried to understand what was happening, he couldn’t grasp the nature of the situation.
He hadn’t felt any significant flow of magic.
It didn’t seem like he had been affected by a drug or an aroma either.
His senses, always sharp and vigilant, hadn’t picked up anything unusual.
“…Hmm.”
The one thing he knew for certain was that he had been caught in some kind of trap.
Lloyd cautiously surveyed his surroundings.
There was nothing but complete darkness—no light, no shapes, no points of reference.
Even when he reached out with his hand, he couldn’t feel anything.
Running blindly would be too risky.
“The best option is to extend my senses.”
He decided, preparing to close his eyes and focus.
— Clap, clap, clap.
Suddenly, the sound of applause echoed through the darkness.
Lloyd’s brow furrowed in irritation.
His eyes snapped open, searching the void around him.
There was nothing visible.
— Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.
The applause grew louder and more intense.
What was happening?
What was the source of this sound?
His calm began to crack.
Lloyd instinctively reached into his pocket, searching for something familiar.
But his pocket was empty.
Had he dropped it when he fell?
He didn’t remember feeling anything slip away.
“…What is…”
His muttered words were swallowed by the darkness.
— Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.
— Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.
— Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.
— Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.
The applause multiplied, echoing around him relentlessly.
“… Enough.”
He muttered, biting his lip to ground himself.
But the sudden flood of light made him squint in pain.
And then, in an instant, the scene changed.
The familiar scent.
The familiar noise.
And the unforgettable feeling of being on his knees, looking around in desperation.
— Now, the execution of the demon Lee Han shall commence!
Without warning, Lee Han found himself back in the moment of his execution.
