Valorant and Gustav ran through the corridors of the mansion, Gustav leading the way.
At last, they reached the room.
But the scene inside was devastating.
The door had been split cleanly in two. Deep impact marks scarred the wall near the window, as if something massive had slammed into it repeatedly. Furniture lay scattered across the floor.
There was no sign of the girls.
Only Aster remained—his body drenched in blood—
and Dan, pinned to the wall by Aster's sword.
***
Earlier.
After finishing off all the undead that had entered through the door, Aster paused for a brief moment to catch his breath. Exhaustion weighed heavily on him, his chest heaving as he struggled to breathe.
But the enemy had no intention of letting him rest.
Skeletons began climbing in through the window.
"Again?" he muttered, turning his head.
Raising his sword, Aster attacked the undead that had just dropped inside. The skeleton didn't look like a trained warrior—its rotting, ordinary clothing made that obvious.
Because of that, knocking them back wasn't difficult.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed from the corridor leading to the room.
Sensing danger, Aster raised his sword and positioned himself in front of the doorway.
'Come at me—no matter how many there are!' he challenged silently.
The next moment, his eyes widened in shock.
Dan stepped into the room.
His head hung low, his legs dragging heavily across the floor.
Something was clearly wrong.
Keeping his sword raised, Aster didn't let his guard down. Still, he tried to confirm it.
"Dan?!"
There was no response.
'Don't tell me… he too…'
Before the thought could finish, Dan slowly lifted his head.
The instant their eyes met, Dan let out a spine-chilling scream and rushed at Aster. His fists lashed out wildly, strike after strike.
'I can dodge these easily,' Aster thought—
But one of Dan's punches flew past him and smashed into the wall behind.
A deep crater formed where the blow landed.
Aster's eyes widened, his mouth falling open.
"That's not human strength," he muttered, staring at Dan.
Dan raised one hand and began gathering some kind of power within it. Soon after, bones scattered around the room began to tremble.
'This is bad.'
Aster charged forward with all his strength. As he closed the distance, bones flew toward him from every direction. He dodged as best he could, forcing his way closer.
There was a problem.
No matter how well he could move with his eyes covered, he couldn't sense dozens of bones flying at him simultaneously.
As Aster reached Dan, bones attacked him from all sides. While he swung his sword to deflect them, he failed to notice Dan's sudden strike.
Dan's fist slammed straight into Aster's chest, sending him crashing into the wall behind. His control over mana shattered instantly.
Aster collapsed to the floor, clutching his mouth as if trying to keep the blood from spilling out.
After coughing violently and expelling the blood in his lungs, his consciousness began to fade. His entire body trembled uncontrollably.
Only one thought remained in his mind.
'Protect… them…'
Aster grabbed the sword that had fallen beside him.
Despite his shaking body, he forced himself to stand, leaning heavily on the blade.
Because Dan was standing in front of the wardrobe.
"Look… this way," he rasped.
Barely upright, bent under his own weight and the sword's heaviness, Aster spoke to the cursed Dan.
"I… haven't… lost."
Dan tilted his head slightly, as if confused.
At that moment, the cloth covering Aster's eyes slipped down.
And in that instant, Aster decided to stop holding back the mana he had been suppressing for so long.
A vast, chaotic surge of mana filled the dark room.
Dan froze in place.
But it wasn't the sheer amount of mana that terrified it.
It was the gaze.
A predator's gaze—
burning red eyes fixed directly upon it.
Sensing the opening, Aster steadied himself. He gathered every ounce of strength and mana left in his body.
'Now.'
[Fiery Wrath: Flame Mana]
He surged forward, reinforcing his body as he raised his sword overhead and brought it down with all his might—aiming to cleave the curse in two.
But the curse evaded the strike, leaping toward the window.
Aster adjusted instantly.
Gripping his sword firmly, he targeted Dan's heart—already backed against the wall—and lunged with everything he had.
The curse realized too late that it had nowhere left to escape.
The blade pierced Dan's chest, bursting through his back and embedding itself into the wall like a grotesque display.
Blood sprayed outward, splashing across Aster and staining him crimson.
Silence followed.
No sound remained in the room, save for the young Elestar's ragged breathing.
'It's… over,' he thought, releasing a shallow breath.
Suddenly, a hand landed on his shoulder.
Knowing there was no one else in the room, Aster immediately realized whose hand it was.
He stumbled backward, trying to pull the sword free as Dan's body twitched beneath him.
But it didn't last long.
A few seconds of violent death throes ended—and with Dan's life, the curse left his body as well.
Aster stared at Dan's motionless body, too afraid to approach it.
'I'll… wait for Master,' he thought, collapsing slowly to the floor.
Moments later, hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor. Valorant and Gustav burst into the room.
Seeing Aster lying bloodied on the floor, Valorant rushed to his side.
"Are you seriously injured?" he asked, pressing a hand wreathed in green flame against Aster's chest.
Aster covered his eyes and squeezed them shut.
"My… stomach… hurts badly…"
His words were cut short by a coughing fit.
"That's enough. Don't speak."
Gustav, surveying the room in alarm, asked,
"Where are the girls?!"
Aster weakly raised one hand and pointed toward the wardrobe.
Gustav didn't rush over immediately. Instead, he hesitated, then turned to Valorant.
"Are his injuries severe?"
Valorant replied quietly,
"He needs to see a doctor. For now, I can only dull the pain. Internal injuries are another matter."
Gustav approached Dan's body and pulled the sword free from the wall.
Watching from the floor, Aster thought,
'What is he going to do with the body?'
With nothing left holding it, the corpse began to slump forward. Gustav caught it silently, dragged it to the window, and threw it outside.
Aster tried to speak—but Valorant shook his head slightly, signaling him not to.
The steward placed the sword on the floor, straightened his clothes, brushed the dust from his sleeves, and only then approached the wardrobe.
Clearing his throat once or twice, he asked,
"Are you alright?"
Anna and Suna stepped out.
"We're fine."
Anna showed no emotion as she took in the ruined room—but the moment she saw Aster lying on the floor, everything changed.
"Are you okay?!" she rushed to his side.
Valorant answered in his place.
"He did nothing reckless. He's just a bit exhausted."
'Nothing?! I was this close to dying!' Aster screamed inwardly.
Then he understood why his master said that.
'If Master says so… then so be it.'
Raising his head slightly, eyes still closed, Aster said,
"I'll get up in a moment."
Gustav gently placed a hand on Suna and Anna's shoulders and guided them out of the room.
"Please, young ladies."
Once the pain had subsided a little, Aster stood up and cautiously moved his arm.
'It doesn't hurt… It really doesn't!'
But when he bent down too quickly to pick up his sword, sharp pain stabbed through his abdomen. He crouched slowly, gritting his teeth as the pain surged.
"I only suppressed the symptoms. I didn't heal you."
"I understand," Aster replied, lifting the sword carefully.
Then he turned to his master.
"What do we do now?"
"We follow the plan."
Aster picked up the cloth that had fallen earlier and tied it back over his eyes.
"Will you explain everything to me?"
"Of course," Valorant replied immediately.
"Just not now."
At that moment, the smell of smoke drifted into the room—from the corridor.
Valorant sprang to his feet and rushed out.
Confused, Aster followed after him.
'What now?!'
When he reached the corridor, he froze.
The hallway was already engulfed in flames.
Not just the corridor—
The entire mansion was burning.