“I…I am Mikhail.”

Suspiciously enough, the Gargoyle introduced itself and gave a name. Dark Entities like Gargoyles weren’t supposed to have a unique identity, nevertheless, Mikhail wasn’t in any position to spout lies.

Even when ‘he’ had a ‘Master’, he had never felt so powerless against someone. As the Nameless Knight coldly looked down at him, his battered body shook from intense dread.

The ominous and bone-chilling Darkness, along with the monstrous strength, helped Mikhail guess the identity of this seemingly human young man, however, that only gave rise to more fear.

For such an infamous and unbelievably powerful individual to show up here so suddenly made no sense.

“I was absorbing the Primordial Light.” Confessed Mikhail while slowly reconstructing his body.

Fortunately for him, Leiu didn’t continue attacking him. As for the other two humans, they posed no danger whatsoever, at least not to Mikhail.

Leiu didn’t speak, he kept glaring at the fearful Gargoyle, clearly demanding a better answer.

“I-I’m different from other Gargoyles. I don’t know why, but I can absorb Light. I… I swear! Please spare me!”

Mikhail slowly sat up, then knelt in front of the Nameless Knight. Small particles of Primordial Light were healing his wounded body, though the process was excruciatingly slow due to his proximity to Leiu’s Darkness.

Leiu maintained a rather long silence, eyeing Mikhail with a frightening and soulless stare. Eventually, his hands moved.

He attacked Mikhail, first punching his chest and then kicking his head. The force of the attack was enough to completely obliterate the Gargoyle’s head, however, even that wasn’t enough to kill him.

Still, Leiu’s Darkness wrapped around the defenseless and non-resistant Mikhail, about to consume him altogether.

Leiu gave no explanation for his answer, nor did he need to.

Darkness and Light clashed while Leiu brutalised Mikhail with no signs of stopping until nothing was left.

“E….li…”

As Mikhail’s head was being healed, he tried to say something only to be punched again.

After two minutes, literally was left of Mikhail’s body. It was destroyed.

However, Leiu didn’t look satisfied or content as his eyes focused on the final intangible remnant of the Gargoyle. It was a blob of corrupted Darkness energy, fused with an immaterial aura.

This was the Evil Spirit, the source of ‘life’ within that Gargoyle. It bore a slight resemblance to a soul, but it was foul and disgusting. An amalgamation of all that was wrong.

Amidst that Evil Spirit, Leiu clearly sensed a not an insignificant amount of Primordial Light. Admittedly, it was uncontrollable and, for now, inconsequential, but it did prove that Mikhail was indeed successful in absorbing Primordial Light.

Such a feat was supposed to be impossible. Darkness and Light could co-exist, but they couldn’t be merged and used together.

Strange as this entire thing was, Leiu didn’t think much of it. He had seen far more unreasonable things.

He coldly snorted and extended his hand, grabbing the trembling Evil Spirit.

“Wait! Eliminator! Eliminator is coming!”

A squeaky and unpleasant noise, contrasting the deep and scary voice of the Gargoyle, came from Mikhail, the Evil Spirit. He didn’t attempt to resist or flee Leiu, but his desperation was palpable.

“What did you say?”

Feylord and Lucy, feeling an overwhelming pressure, groaned in pain and staggered backwards. Their faces turned pale and their bodies shook non-stop. Feylord covered his mouth as he felt nauseated and dizzy.

Leiu’s demeanor changed so drastically upon the mention of ‘Eliminator’. Darkness, seemingly synchronised with his emotional state, flared up in all directions.

“The Circle of Damnation is working with Eliminator! They want to offer the Creation God Sedos to Eliminator!”

Mikhail spilled the beans on the spot. He expected a reaction from Leiu, but this was too intense.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Never had he felt such dread and fear as the Nameless Knight’s hand caught hold of ‘him’ and squeezed tightly.

Wilsden

The Baron’s manor

“Except for Miss Isabella, everyone else is alright.”

At dawn, Julie gathered everyone in the main Living Room.

Aerin had a downcast expression, his head lowered and his hands clenched into fists. He was uncharacteristically silent and troubled.

“Charles is looking after her. She hasn't woken up. What the hell happened?”

Although Arthur was still sad about Evelyn’s passing, whatever happened after that took precedence. The Undead Jester was present, and from the look on Aerin’s face, the situation looked pretty serious.

Julie forced a smile and glanced at Aerin, but the minstrel offered no explanation, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.

“It was like the entire room was erased. Was it like… a black hole?”

Everyone saw the devastated basement. With the anomaly at its center, the surroundings were, quite literally, gone. It wasn’t the consequences of a magical spell or an explosion.

There was also the fact that everyone in the manor felt the disturbance and were affected, especially Isabella, who had yet to wake up.

“Isabella seems to be in a comatose state. Aerin, could you explain?”

“Mort struck at the anomaly.”

Arthur frowned and kept looking at Aerin, however, the latter didn’t elaborate further.

“For now, I’ll make sure the servants don’t come to work… at least this is resolved. I can’t put their lives in danger. I’ll also instruct the knights to stay away.”

Julie let out a sigh and left. The only servant left by her side was the elderly butler.

“Hey! Aren’t you going to explain? I felt like I was going to die.”

Unlike Arthur, who remained polite and silent, Chris was the opposite.

“There has been… a mistake. I’m sorry about what happened. Let me examine your friend.”

Aerin beckoned them then headed to Isabella’s room.

His so-called ‘examination’ barely lasted a minute, after which he apologetically bowed his head.

“I should’ve been more careful. I’m deeply sorry about this.”

“Enough with the apologies. What’s wrong with her?”-Chris

“Something is suppressing her soul and consciousness. It wasn’t the anomaly’s doing.”-Aerin

“Isn’t she Immortal? Why can’t she ‘heal’ through it.”

“That’s the issue. It wasn’t done to hurt her but to protect her.First, it would be wise to stay away from this place.”

“How do we wake her up?” Asked Arthur, but from the look on Aerin’s face, it was clear that he didn’t know.

“I’m sorry, but…”

“I-I might know a way.” Said Charles holding the thick book he took from the Devil Doctor.

“You do?”-Arthur

“I… I’m not entirely sure it will work, but it’s worth a try.”

“Then do it! What are you waiting for?”-Chris

“Wait.” Arthur turned to Aerin and added, “Could you leave us for a bit? We need to talk.”

“Of course.”

Feeling guilty, Aerin quickly excused himself.

“A team meeting.” Solemnly declared Arthur as he sat down and crossed his arms.

“What team? Evelyn is dead and Isabella is comatose.”

“We’re still a team. Let’s discuss things calmly and plan our next steps. Sit down, both of you.”

Chris grunted but still sat down, whereas Charles, looking anxious, meekly nodded his head.

“Alright. Charles, how can we wake her up?”

Instead of giving a verbal response, the young apothecary opened the book and showed Arthur and Chris a specific page.

“This… here. It’s a potent plant called Epastes Grod. It’s very rare, but it has been used to awaken comatose patients in the past. The success rate isn’t high, however.”

“Betting on a plant seems better than sitting on our asses and waiting for her to wake up. Arthur?”

Chris was on board, but Arthur didn’t comment. He suspected that Isabella was like this due to that mysterious orb ‘X’ had asked her to swallow.

If it had to do with her inexplicable connection with Lucy and Arthur, then he would’ve experienced the same thing as her.

Furthermore, if the orb was the cause then a mere planet, albeit rare, wouldn’t solve this. Arthur wasn’t completely disregarding Charles’ suggestion, nor did he think it was a bad idea, but considering that ‘X’ was likely a god-like entity, the orb Isabella had swallowed was most definitely too strong to simply be affected by Espastes Grod.

“First. I think we should leave this place. Whether it is the Anomaly or the Arman City that rose from under Hollow Creek, it puts Wilsden, and by extension, us, in danger.”

“But we just got here!”

“This is too dangerous of a place to stay at, Chris. I don’t want to get embroiled in this anomaly mess. This isn’t why we came here, nor is it our problem to solve.”

“What about Evelyn? We still don’t know what happened to her.”

“She’s dead and the Undead Jester left. We could wait for him, but it puts us at a risk. For now, we should focus on the living. Isabella.”

Chris let out a sigh but he didn’t disagree again.

“So, what do you both think? What should we do? I am listening.”

…

The team meeting lasted for half an hour, after which the three of them dispersed. Charles went back to the library whereas Chris headed to the Living Room to talk to Aerin and inquire about the Undead Jester.

As for Arthur, he was stopped by an unexpected person. Elyna, his former maid, appeared before him and bowed her head.

“It’s been a while, Master. Could we talk for a moment?”

Of course, Arthur had noticed her ever since his arrival, but he didn’t directly talk to her. He recognized her as one of Leonis’ maids, but beyond that, he saw no reason to engage with her.

She seemed a bit different, and the fact she was with Feylord was strange, nevertheless, it was none of Arthur’s business.

“Sure, but I’m no longer your Master.”