Under the Crimson Moon, two people played the game of cat and mouse. A man and a woman.

"Brian, it is only a matter of time until your artifact will lose its power. Just give up and allow me to catch you."

Woman in beautiful shining armor spoke in a tranquil voice.

"I'm honored to be chased by such an attractive woman, Linne. Don't ruin the little fun I still can have in this shitty world."

Cloaked man only teased her, with some bitterness mixed with playfulness.

Both of them flew in the air at a ridiculous speed of two hundred kilometers per hour, all the while skillfully dodging the countless trees.

The distance between them was only about three hundred meters, so even a second of distraction could decide the result of their little game.

"You were very different when we first met each other, Brian. If I knew what kind of person you'll become..."

The calmness of her voice was mixed with sadness.

"Then what?"

The man asked without slowing down at all.

"Then, instead of saving you from slavery, I would kill you with my own hands."

Suddenly her tone changed completely, and, at the same time, her speed increased. Just in a second, she caught up to him and used the Light Art to restrain Brian's movements.

"Well, well. Do you want to kill me now?"

The man asked without betraying any emotions.

"No. For everything you did, death is way too lenient punishment. I will lock you in prison and make sure that you are properly tortured, broken both in mind and body."

Her cold voice was void of any emotions. It was hard to guess how true her threats actually were.

"Oh, thank goodness. And here I was afraid that my life is in danger. Instead, you offer me some temporary vacation? Could it be that you want me to fall in love with you? I'm not so easy, you know."

The handsome young face under the cloak looked directly at the silver-haired woman. For this man, this world isn't real. For this man, nothing truly matters. He has the only sole objective, and he will sacrifice anything else to achieve it, including this woman who saved his life more than once.

"Even if I felt even a sliver of goodwill towards you, it disappeared a long time ago, Brian. Now I truly understand that you, the Summoned ones, are not like us."

The chains made of silver light entirely restricted the man's movements, but he didn't seem to be bothered by it.

"Oh, right? I can say the same. Any goodwill I did have for you people disappeared when I learned that slavery is a completely acceptable thing for you."

The woman furrowed her brows.

"What do you understand? Slaves are necessary for our society to flourish. Without it, we will lose to other nations who use slaves for labor and magic experimentations. Do you think I like it? No. But what I, alone, can do? It is a necessary evil. In comparison, what you did today is pure evil."

Hearing this, the man burst out in laughter, as if hearing a funny joke.

"Linne, you are truly ignorant. It seems your subordinates don't tell you all of their plans, aren't they? Sure, to create my Blood Slime Avatar, sacrifices are needed. Preferably those with pure and simple minds and of different races and ages. But why do you think I chose this village even if I knew about the risk of being caught by you?"

He then continued without waiting for her reply.

"The reason is simple - this village would be destroyed in any case, even if I did nothing. The settlement with humans, "beastards", and "long-earers" just a few kilometers away from the Dark River City? The mayor wouldn't tolerate it for long, right? The extermination was already scheduled to be done three days later. Shouldn't you thank me for doing your people's work?"

The woman was shocked, just for a moment. But it was enough for Brian to activate his cloak and escape the restriction spell. For a second, he became the immaterial darkness. But instead of running away, he attacked his captor with the green ball of mana.

Taken by surprise, Linne didn't have time to dodge, so she attacked the ball with her spear instead. She falsely thought that it was the same type of attack she already has seen him using many times before, but it wasn't the case. The green ball exploded in the blinding light and made her lose her senses for a few seconds. It was enough for Brian to increase the distance between them to a few hundred meters. But as someone with a higher level of power, Linne still was confident in her ability to caught him. It was just a matter of time.

The scene repeated itself as they played the cat-and-mouse game again.

"Why are you running away, Brian? Didn't you said that you aren't afraid of the prison?"

Linne was more and more impatient; the strange sense of urgency filled her for no reason.

"I'm sure it would be an interesting experience, but I have other things to do, you know? Now what you ruined my plan of getting supreme body for myself, I need to try something else."

His leisure tone still was unable to cover exhaustion hidden in his voice. If it weren't for his powerful artifact, he wouldn't be able to compete with her in speed.

"Be honest, Brian. You are already at your limit, right? The Cloak of True Shadows isn't something the person of your level can utilize fully. If you continue, both your body and mind would be damaged."

Linne said it while getting ready to repeat her outburst of power from before. The cooldown time was almost over.

"Thank you very much for caring about my health. I appreciate it a lot. Fortunately, I don't need to endure for too long. We are almost here, hehe."

After hearing his words, she, at last, sensed it—the powerful source of mana. Realizing the implications of its existence, she tried to activate Valkyrie Rush forcefully before the cooldown time ended. It put a strain on her body, but if she just wasted a little bit more of her time - he would be gone!

"Don't you dare to run away again, Brian!"

She charged at him twice as fast as before. The last time it worked, but now it was too late.

The dim magic circle, hidden under the grass, activated. And cloaked man disappeared in it, leaving the parting words to his female companion.

"It was nice to see you again, Linne! The next time we meet each other, I will be stronger than you, believe it or not. Don't be afraid; for the sake of our past friendship, I wouldn't harm you. We'll just play around a little bit, heh. Nothing erotic though, I keep my chastity for my future wife."

She, at last, was unable to keep her true emotions and screamed.

"Brian!"

And then she dropped on her knees and burst into tears. Now, when no one is around, she is just a weak girl, not majestic Valkyrie admired by masses.

"Just why you became like this?"

She asked herself, again and again, unable to find the answer.