Chapter 54

Under Caldeon’s threats, Enria had no choice but to agree. But even after giving him the answer he wanted, she still couldn’t leave the office for a long time—Caldeon drowned her in relentless kisses.

Thankfully, he didn’t go further than that, but he tormented her until her lips were swollen, so she couldn’t even go down to the dining hall for dinner and had to eat in the bedroom instead.

“Would you like an ice pack?”

The moment Chavel saw Enria’s lips, her eyes widened in shock, and a worried expression settled across her face.

Enria shook her head. “I’m fine.”

“What about Hayden?”

“He fell asleep on the spirit’s back. It seems Master Hayden isn’t afraid of tigers at all.”

Even if it was called a tiger, compared to an ordinary one it was far larger, its fangs and molars terrifying.

With looks like that, just making eye contact was enough to make her knees go weak—yet Hayden wasn’t scared; he loved it too much. That was the problem.

‘He never wants to let go of that white tiger. Honestly…’

Because Chavel was responsible for watching over Hayden, she had no choice but to stay in the room even if she was terrified of Windel. Every time Windel moved, her body would flinch on its own, which only made Windel frown.

— If you’re afraid of me, then just leave, human.

Remembering those words, Chavel hesitated before speaking.

“Um, Lady Enria.”

“Hm?”

“That wind spirit… how long is he staying here?”

“Probably for a while. Why?”

The moment Enria said “for a while,” Chavel’s face went pale. “…For a while…?” she whispered.

Knowing full well how afraid Chavel was of Windel, Enria offered reassurance.

“Wind spirits don’t threaten humans. You don’t need to worry.”

“Yes, I know, but…”

Chavel trailed off.

She understood it logically—but fear born from what she saw didn’t disappear easily. No matter how many times she reminded herself not to be scared, the moment their eyes met, fear surged back up.

Sensing her discomfort, Enria smiled gently.

“If it’s too hard, should I let someone else take care of Hayden for now?”

Chavel immediately shook her head. Absolutely not.

“I can’t leave Master Hayden to someone else.”

It seemed she didn’t want Enria to worry about it any further—Chavel promised she wouldn’t be afraid and slipped out quickly.

Enria watched her retreating figure with a small smile.

Having someone like Chavel—someone she could truly trust Hayden with—was a blessing.

Other attendants and spirits could care for him well enough, but only Chavel grasped Hayden’s mood instantly and gave him exactly what he needed.

She was the only one who firmly told him what he could and couldn’t do—and Hayden actually listened to her.

So Enria felt safer leaving Hayden with Chavel than with anyone else.

‘And the dark mage…’

Once she was alone, Enria turned toward the window, her smile fading.

‘His goal must be the same.’

From the timing of his appearance, to how he brought Panz to his side, to the selective killing of spirits—his actions differed from the original story, yes.

But his motive? Unchanged.

He wanted to kill Hayden, who might be the owner of the Oracle, and he wanted to kill her.

To rule the world with dark magic.

To make the Empire—and eventually the entire world—believe dark magic was the supreme, absolute power.

He would do anything to achieve it.

‘Which means I can’t sit and wait.’

The dark mage surely wanted to eliminate Caldeon’s black mana—which was immune to dark magic—and the Tower’s magic-nullifying, miracle-granting ability that could revive the dead under specific conditions.

That alone explained why he targeted her and Hayden.

But since both he and Groen kept failing, they resorted to strengthening Panz, a spirit, to solve the problem instead.

The plot flow had changed, but just like in the original—failure after failure would push them toward one conclusion: resurrecting the Evil God.

‘I have to end the dark mage and Panz before that happens.’

Just thinking of the storyline after the Evil God’s revival made her stomach twist.

Because Caldeon almost died fighting that god.

‘I won’t let that happen.’

If the world was ever threatened by the Evil God like in the original, she would do whatever it took to stop Caldeon from stepping into danger.

Caldeon told her, no matter what, that her safety came first.

But she couldn’t just watch him risk his life.

Thankfully, unlike the original Enria, she now had strength—more than enough strength.

If she prepared well, she believed she could stop the tragedy—no death for him, and no desperate self-sacrifice for herself.

‘Fine. From now on, prepare.’

She pictured the scene of Caldeon nearly dying and began planning how to prevent that outcome from ever happening.

The story might not unfold exactly the same, but if she prepared for the worst, her body would move before she hesitated.

Caldeon and Hayden’s safety came first—above everything else.

***

Caldeon’s spirits, Rahar’s spirits, and the other spirits from the spirit village joined forces and began attacking Groen and the Tower’s mages, who had been hunting low-rank spirits.

Groen’s forces were startled by the sudden appearance of mid- and high-rank spirits but quickly counterattacked.

Magic from the Tower and elemental power from the spirits tangled violently, destroying buildings and forests around them.

Caught in the sudden chaos of kill-or-be-killed combat, the Tower mages began questioning the very reason for this battle—but it was too late to back out now.

They had already slain countless spirits.

Groen, drunk on confidence from killing so many lower spirits, didn’t even consider defeat. With a large number of mages, he pushed back against the spirits fiercely.

But as more mid- and high-rank spirits joined the fight, their side began taking heavy losses.

The spirits had hesitated to kill at first, but once the mages slaughtered spirits without remorse, the spirits changed their goal: kill the mages in return.

As many mages died, the Tower’s morale broke.

Cracks formed among Groen’s followers, complaints rising—too many casualties, no clear purpose.

To calm them, Groen turned to Pahomel.

Already anticipating this, Pahomel told him to bring the cube filled with spirits’ souls.

His plan was simple: feed them to Panz.

If Panz proved stronger than the spirits attacking the mages, the mages would fall silent—their pride depended entirely on power.

Pahomel summoned Panz with the cube.

After consuming human souls, Panz was already wrapped in forbidden power, the dragon form far larger and more imposing than before.

[What is it, human?]

“You remember the promise I made—to give you more power.”

[I remember.]

“It’s not enough yet, but this is a start.”

Pahomel held out the cube.

Panz’s burning red eyes fixed on the contents—spirits’ souls. His eyes widened.

[This…!]

“There’s no need to be so excited. It’s simply the power you desire.”

[No need—? Do you understand what you’re handing me? These are my kin’s souls!]

“You’ve already taken human souls. Are you hesitating now?”

[That is entirely different! If I consume the souls of my own kind and gain power, I can never remain a spirit. You want me to become evil?]

Each time Panz roared, flames spiraled violently around him.

Even with the overwhelming visual threat, Pahomel didn’t flinch.

“You don’t seem to understand yourself.”

[…What?]

“You are already evil. The moment you consumed souls meant to be protected by the gods—you crossed that line.”

Panz’s eyes widened in horror.

He hadn’t realized it.

Pahomel drove the wedge in deeper.

“You cannot return. So your only choice is this—devour these souls, become stronger, and help me.”