Chapter 1
Prologue
“Aaaargh—!”
“Kheuk!”
Screams erupted from every direction. The clash of weapons rang out loudly as bright red blood splattered everywhere, painting the floors with chunks of flesh from those who had been breathing just moments before.
The majestic, towering castle was rapidly drenched in blood by the swords of the knights who had infiltrated it.
A man in pristine white armor walked among the corpses, his sword dripping with blood, constantly scanning his surroundings in search of someone.
‘Where could he be?’
The red tassel atop his helmet—marking him as the leader of the invading knights—swayed like a dancer following his gaze.
‘I heard he was definitely here.’
The man in white armor was growing impatient. They had successfully ambushed the castle where that person was supposedly staying, but he hadn’t expected him to remain hidden despite all this chaos.
‘Surely he hasn’t fled?’
The moment the thought crossed his mind, he dismissed it.
That person wasn’t someone who would flee to save himself. He’d rather die fighting.
His determined strides came to an abrupt halt.
Just imagining him dying made his shoulders shudder and his lips tremble. That was something he absolutely did not want to see again.
“Your Grace, we’ve nearly subdued the inner areas.”
A young man in silver armor approached, reporting with a slight bow. The man removed the leather glove from his left hand and placed it on the young knight’s wounded right arm. As if by magic, the deep gash began to heal. Seeing this, the young man bowed deeply in gratitude.
Pulling his glove back on, the man issued a cold command.
“Light the signal fire and open each gate. Bring all survivors to the lobby.”
“Will you take them as prisoners?”
“No.”
The man’s golden eyes gleamed coldly from within his white helmet.
“If they can be dragged out, they’re not that person anyway. Behead those who were guarding the castle and display their corpses as a warning. Burn everything else.”
The young man immediately acknowledged the cruel order. He began relaying the command to the other knights, who started gathering not only the corpses but also the soldiers who had surrendered.
The man, desperately searching for someone while treading over corpses and through blood, suddenly looked up when he heard an ally’s voice from somewhere ahead.
“Your Grace! We found him!”
The man rushed toward the shout and saw one of his knights violently hurled out from a room at the far end of the corridor. Near the entrance stood two other knights who seemed hesitant to enter, apparently intimidated by whoever was inside.
“Move!”
Having reached the end of the corridor, the man shoved the knights aside and tried to enter the room. The moment he stepped inside, a sharp dagger flew toward him. He barely dodged it by tilting his head back, only to see a young man lunging at him with a knife aimed at his throat.
The man managed to catch the blade directly with his left hand, stopping it just before it reached his Adam’s apple. Even though he would have suffered a fatal wound if his reaction had been even slightly delayed, he remained calm and composed.
He even threw away the sword he was holding in his right hand and wrapped his arm around his attacker’s waist, pulling him into a tight embrace to prevent him from moving. The young man in black clothing, suddenly trapped in the man’s arms, twisted and struggled. Even so, he continued applying pressure to his dagger as if intending to cut through the man’s hand as well.
“Your Grace!”
The knights standing behind them, sensing the danger, cried out in alarm. They each raised their swords, aiming at the attacker.
The man shot them a chilling glare over his shoulder.
“Stand back.”
“But Your Grace…”
Though he appeared to be just a young man in his early twenties, the opponent was undeniably a key general of the enemy nation. While he was currently taking refuge in this castle due to his injuries, all the knights here knew well how terrifying he had been on the battlefield. They couldn’t forget how he had wielded his sword as if death held no fear for him, cutting down their allies without hesitation.
Even now, one wrong move could result in a fatal wound to the precious Grand Duke Verdit’s neck, so their anxiety was understandable.
But the man intensified his killing intent as if he might cut down his own allies.
“I said stand back.”
The knights, unable to do anything more, withdrew outside the door and lowered their swords.
Only then did the man release the young man in black and close the door, blocking the knights’ view. Meanwhile, the young man slowly retreated toward the window, drawing another dagger.
The man gazed sympathetically at the young man who, unlike usual, was already breathing heavily. Between his shirt and pants, bandages stained with blood were visible around his waist.
“It’s alright.”
The man spoke gently as he removed his heavy helmet. His voice was quite different from the cold, intimidating tone he used with his subordinates.
“You know I can’t hurt you.”
“…”
The man let his helmet fall to the floor, just as he had abandoned his sword, and took a step forward.
The young man, wary, retreated as much as the man advanced. Just a few more steps back and he would reach the bed, which would hinder his movement.
The young man planned to attack and kill the man before jumping out the window to escape. Despite being on the third floor with serious injuries—which meant he wouldn’t survive unscathed even with proper landing techniques—it was better than being captured here.
While he was calculating this, the man suddenly lunged at him. Even so, the young man’s reaction wasn’t slow, as he had kept his body tense and ready to move at any moment.
After deflecting the young man’s first dagger, the man swung his left hand. His palm was covered in blood from catching the blade earlier. The young man, momentarily blinded by the blood splashing into his eyes, found his wrists seized before he could react and was pinned down onto the bed.
“Ugh!”
Though it was a bed, the impact was unexpected. It caused the wound in his abdomen to throb painfully.
“I’m sorry. Does it hurt badly?”
The young man opened his eyes, which he had squeezed shut, at the concerned voice. The blood the man had splattered made his black eyes see everything with a slightly reddish tint.
The man, looking more pained than the young man himself, leaned down. Their faces came close enough for their breaths to mingle.
“Levi.”
Having called the young man’s name, the man gazed down at him affectionately, as if examining every detail of his face. Levi flinched and tried to turn away, but couldn’t escape as the man had him completely pinned down.
The man, who had been looking down at Levi, turned his gaze to Levi’s right arm. Unlike before, it was a bare black hand without gloves. Around his wrist was a white ring densely inscribed with ancient language, positioned like a handcuff, and the red symbol engraved on his palm was dulled, without any glow.
Normally, living beings would collapse and die just from being touched by those fingertips, but now, due to the restraints placed by the emperor of the enemy country, that power was sealed.
The man ground his teeth as he glared at the restraint on Levi’s wrist. He wanted nothing more than to drive a sword into the face of the enemy emperor who had restricted Levi’s nourishment and was using it as he pleased.
“Get off.”
The man smirked as he looked at Levi, who was glaring fiercely at him. He never imagined there would come a day when Levi would look at him like this.
After forcing Levi’s arms above his head and easily restraining his slender wrists with his right hand, the man took out a round pill that he had kept inside the belt of his armor with his left hand. The pill mixed with the copious red blood on his palm, taking on a dark red color.
“I’ll get off if you call my name.”
Levi’s eyes grew even fiercer. The man, still smiling, put the pill in his mouth. The drug itself would normally have no effect on him, but if he ingested it along with his own blood—which negated Levi’s abilities—he could temporarily render him powerless like an ordinary human.
With the pill in his mouth, the man pressed his lips against Levi’s. He forced open Levi’s lips with the tip of his tongue and transferred the blood-coated pill. As Levi tried to push it away with his tongue, the man entwined their tongues, creating space and using his tongue to push the pill down Levi’s throat.
“Mmph, ugh…!”
Levi’s struggles became increasingly sluggish after swallowing the pill. The man, who had been passionately exploring Levi’s mouth even after knowing the pill had been swallowed, whispered gently.
“Call my name, please.”
He urged, gently biting Levi’s trembling lips and licking them so as not to hurt him. Amid the ragged breaths, a faint voice emerged.
“I…on…”
The man, finally hearing his name called by Levi, showed him a bright smile and kissed his drooping eyelids. Levi, whose body was rapidly growing heavy and falling into an irresistible drowsiness, couldn’t move a finger despite Ion keeping his promise to get off him.
“Sleep well, Levi.”
As his consciousness grew hazy, Levi felt his body floating as he slowly closed his eyes.
***
After some time had passed.
When Levi opened his eyes again, he was in Grand Duke Verdit’s mansion in the enemy nation, the Delos Empire.
Clank—
The shackles around his ankles and the long iron chains were an extra.
