As she headed toward Ahwin’s room, Leticia frantically delved into her past, trying to find any small clue.
Thanks to that, she managed to recall a potentially helpful fact.
The night before unleashing Balenos in the past, Ahwin had installed a barrier against magical water on the capital’s walls.
It was to prevent the excited Balenos from attacking the walls. In other words, if Ahwin wasn’t unleashing Balenos, he should have been in his room.
“Ahwin, are you in there? Can we talk for a moment?”
However, no answer came.
“Ahwin?”
Thud, thud, thud!
“Ahwin, Ahwin!”
Her heart sank. Amidst the surging fear, Leticia knocked firmly on the closed door.
Simultaneously, her bracelet flickered briefly.
* * *
At the same time.
Bang! Thud-thud!
Startled by the earth-shaking noise, Ahwin gripped the handle of his sword, his long silver hair disarrayed by the desert wind.
Tensely eyeing the dark, black walls, Ahwin wore a puzzled expression.
None of those around him seemed disturbed like him.
‘What on earth is happening?’
A strange premonition sent chills down his spine. The priest, who had been burying the barrier stone deep in the desert, lifted his head quizzically.
“Lord Ahwin, what is the matter?”
“Did you not hear a loud noise just now?”
“Pardon? A noise?”
The priest looked at him as though he had no idea what Ahwin was talking about. Gazing at him anxiously, Ahwin shook his head.
“No, it’s nothing.”
The work resumed. Priests in white robes embedded barrier stones throughout the desert.
It was to establish a barrier against magical water, intended to prevent Balenos access to the capital.
Ahwin had ultimately decided to comply with Josephina’s orders.
He decided to release Balenos while escorting the delegation of the principality. Innocent people would die, but it was the only way to protect Noel.
He had resolved to atone for the crime committed against the delegation by fighting Balenos himself. Of course, Noel would never forgive him even then.
‘The end with Noel isn’t too far away.’
Ahwin, with a bitter smile, began checking the barrier stones buried by the priests.
But then.
Boom!
Again, he heard that sound. Ahwin, tense, looked around his surroundings.
As before, no one else seemed to notice the sound.
‘What on earth is it?’
Ahwin swallowed hard, staggering back a step. Unconsciously, he plugged one ear, exhaling a held breath.
‘Why is this happening all of a sudden?’
His face contorted. His heart throbbed violently, beating so powerfully it was almost painful.
‘Pull yourself together.’
He closed his eyes tightly, exhaling deep breaths several times.
“Lord Ahwin! The barrier stone installation is complete!”
“We’re done here too!”
“It’s finished!”
The throbbing noise and their words jumbled discordantly in his ears. He lifted his head with difficulty. And then, at that moment.
‘The sound has stopped.’
Ahwin, frozen for a moment, quickly snapped to his senses and briskly approached the center of the star-shaped barrier.
It was clear that something was happening to him now. But there were matters more pressing than his wellbeing at the moment.
He quickly drew his sword and knelt on one knee. The white robe fluttered largely as it settled on the sand.
Thud! The silver tip of the sword pierced the soft earth. The sword’s blade flickered red in the torchlight. Ahwin immediately infused power into the sword.
Moments later, a light, more intense than the torch, burst from the sword.
Whooosh.
As if signaled by the wind, the white light swiftly stretched toward the apex of the barrier stones.
“Oh Goddess.”
Simultaneously with his call, the divine power flowing through him began to respond. Feeling every cell in his body awaken, Ahwin closed his eyes.
“As your ordained third wing, I pray to you. With the wind power you granted me, let this guardian barrier be able to stop the massive evil…!”
Bang!
A lightning-like noise.
Startled, Ahwin, who had paused in his incantation, widened his eyes. The light from the sword, which was activating the barrier, abruptly disappeared.
Ahwin swiftly composed himself and attempted to channel power again. However, nothing happened. He could not feel any power.
As if the divine power that flowed through him had vanished instantly.
‘What in the world is this?’
Frozen in shock, the startled priests hurriedly rushed toward him.
“Lord Ahwin! Are you alright?”
He shuddered, his hair standing on end.
Gripping the now-dimmed sword, Ahwin gritted his teeth. With a pallid and drained face, he could only slightly move his eyes.
His red eyes, fixated on the black castle wall, undulated darkly. The sounds around him faintly disappeared as his heart pounded furiously, threatening to burst from his chest.
Above the sound of his heartbeat, someone’s desperate calling overlapped.
“Ahwin, please!”
* * *
Leticia had knocked on the door several times, but the firmly closed door showed no sign of opening.
Bang!
Leticia, who fiercely slammed her fist down, squeezed her eyes shut and uttered in a trembling voice.
“Ahwin, please…!”
Instead of the sound of knocking, heavy breathing echoed in the hallway. Her mind was in utter chaos.
Balenos.
Balenos was going to attack the Principality delegation.
Of course, there was a possibility that it was merely a false alarm. In the past, when Ahwin had unsealed Balenos, it wasn’t the Principality delegation but the Magic Empire’s envoy that he was escorting.
‘But many futures have already changed since the regression.’
Enoch was resurrected, Josephina appeared in the temple even when it was not a festival, and as a result, Noel swore allegiance to her.
Dietrian’s attitude at the tea party was different from the past, which must have been related to her regression.
Ahwin and Noel being assigned to escort the Principality delegation was also something that did not happen in her previous life.
‘Stay calm. I know the future. Even if Balenos’s seal is broken, I can find a way to solve it.’
Balenos, referred to as the demon of the desert. Although Balenos was a mid-level monster, it demonstrated a power in the desert comparable to a high-level monster.
“Fighting Balenos in the Dry Sand Desert is akin to a suicide mission. If you want to live, pray for the desert to turn into a swamp.”
It was one of the aphorisms passed down among monster hunters.
Balenos, despite its massive size that could match the height of a city wall, moved incredibly fast on the sand.
Not only agility but its ability to evade was also one of Balenos’s main characteristics.
Balenos, when faced with a disadvantage during battle, would instantaneously bury itself into the sand, concealing its whereabouts.
The problem was what happened after.
Balenos, having an incredibly keen sense in the desert, could pinpoint the enemy’s location even while submerged in the sand.
It detected even the faintest sound of footsteps on the sand and swiftly dragged its opponent into the sandy abyss with its pincers.
Even if one were lucky enough to withstand that, the cutting power of its pincers was so potent that, typically, nine out of ten times, the bitten part would be severed.
Unless one was a swordsman who could utilize sword energy, an ordinary human could never confront Balenos.
It took the power of a goddess, the blessing of a dragon, or high-level magic from the Mage Empire to fend off Balenos.
‘Even more, Ahwin will probably aid Balenos with the power of his wings.’
The Principality delegation would ultimately have to face both Balenos and the power of the goddess.
What would transpire next was not hard to predict.
Numerous people would die or be injured.
Within that chaos, Dietrian would charge at Balenos in an attempt to save even just one more person.
And the outcome of that was certain.
Leticia squeezed her eyes shut.
‘That must not happen.’
She whirled around. Staring at the staircase enveloped in darkness, she thought.
‘If Ahwin is not in the room, I will wait until he appears.’
Confronting Ahwin. That was the only thing she could do right now.
‘Will Ahwin really listen to me?’
In truth, she was not certain. Noel always said that Ahwin would recognize her, but the two were clearly different.
After becoming a wing, Noel had never once felt reverence towards Josephina.
In contrast, Ahwin had been loyal to Josephina for a very long time. It was utterly unimaginable that Ahwin would suddenly change his mind and show loyalty to her.
What Leticia was somewhat hopeful about was the attitude Ahwin had always shown towards her.
‘Ahwin has often helped me, after all.’
Josephina would, at every opportunity, order her wings to torment Leticia.
Among them, there were those who were unbelieveably brutal even towards a powerless girl.
Due to them, she had skirted death numerous times.
‘Unlike them, despite mother’s orders to abuse me, Ahwin has never acted beyond surveillance.’
He had even helped her, avoiding Josephina’s eyes, on occasion.
Several years ago, there was an incident where Ahwin was assigned to watch over Leticia, who was severely injured due to Josephina. Observing Leticia, who could hardly move, he sighed and then went outside to bring something back.
“As you know, I cannot use my holy power for you. It would leave traces. Instead, I will give you a potion. You must apply the potion yourself. If I apply it, it will leave traces on the wound. The effect will be less potent, but you must treat yourself. The energy of the potion might linger, so please do not leave the western palace for at least half a day. If the Holy Maiden discovers this, you will be in even greater trouble.”
It wasn’t perfect kindness, but Leticia, surrounded by nothing but enemies, was thankful even for that.
A small bottle of potion and the back of Ahwin, who blocked the entrance to the western palace so she wouldn’t catch the Holy Maiden’s eye, provided comfort to her for quite a long time.
Maybe such an Ahwin might listen to her words.
Leticia lingered in front of the room, thinking of what to say to persuade Ahwin. And then, as dawn softly broke outside the window,
Thud. A soft footstep was heard.
With tense anticipation, Leticia listened to the gradually approaching footsteps.
A long shadow flickered in the torchlight, slowly descending the staircase. When she saw the black shoes, white priestly robe, and familiar silver hair, Leticia couldn’t hold back and called out to him.
“Ahwin.”
Ahwin halted in his steps.
Leticia felt her heart might burst from tension.
Every second, every second felt infinitely long.
After a moment, Ahwin began to descend the stairs again. Seeing his face, Leticia swallowed hard. His expression, upon recognizing her, was frighteningly stern.
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