"Victor, wake up."

"If you keep sleeping, you'll miss dinner."

A sour and rancid smell stirred Merka from his drowsy state.

He blinked and twitched his eyebrows, experiencing a sharp pain in the back of his head.

Being on the ground for a long time, Merka's body had gradually become numb from the cold spring breeze.

Merka, realizing he was in enemy territory, suddenly snapped awake and surveyed his surroundings.

"Din...dinner?"

The back mountain was divided into two parts: the foot of the mountain, where giant trees grew, and the middle and top of the mountain, covered in bare rocks.

Clearly, the former was richer in prey and concealed danger.

The sky was already slightly dim, and Merka, leaning against a tree, saw himself sitting with a group of silent, black-clad people around a pile of luminescent stones, which brought a sinister atmosphere in their faint opacity.

Twinkling golden lights passed through the sparsely leaves overhead. Merka looked up and suddenly understood that they were fireworks celebrating the smoke feast in the city.

The people around seemed somewhat moved by this cheerful atmosphere, showing whispers of curses and jealousy.

Merka knew that this reaction confirmed his guess.

Diana hired the cursed child to disturb Turing in the forest.

The cursed child had no identification, no registration, and often wandered in and out of the mountains due to desperation.

Even if such people were caught, there was no risk, because these people, who couldn't even prove their own identity, couldn't serve as witnesses.

"Eat quickly, Victor. The General wants to see you after you finish." The person speaking had a hunched figure, a covered face, and handed Merka a hard bread that could be used as a weapon.

The murky acidity on the bread nearly dragged Merka's consciousness back to the orphanage eight years ago.

Victor? Is the person I'm pretending to be named Victor?

Merka smiled bitterly, tore off a piece of bread, and put it in his mouth, chewing symbolically.

"Sorry, I'm not hungry..."

"I don't know. Since you're not hungry, you should go quickly."

The black-clad person with a covered face pointed to a young man standing on a large rock nearby.

Although the figure looked like a young man, Merka couldn't actually see his face clearly. His appearance surpassed that of his other black-robed subordinates.

Although they were all dressed in black robes, for some reason, when Merka saw the solid and masculine figure, he could tell that he was the leader here.

Bathed in the faint light of the fireworks falling between the jungle, he seemed lost in thought. The silent and forceful aura under his flowing cloak resembled a shallowly submerged dragon entwined in the wind.

Saying nothing, he slightly turned his face towards Merka's direction. Merka felt that this person was summoning him.

This person is dangerous! Proceed with caution!

In Merka's mind, the alarm of crisis blared incessantly.

Merka took a deep breath, put down the bread, stood up, and mustered up the courage to walk to the man's side.

"General..." Merka spoke, intending to take the initiative.

"How are you not dead?"

The man didn't speak, but someone beside him, walking out from the dark corner like a phantom blending into the background, interrupted Merka.

Strangely enough, not only were they physically identical, but their clothing styles were also the same, as if they were carved from the same mold.

"Lord Galleher described Altria as more demonic and sinister than the devil."

"As cold as a thin moon, as ruthless as a jackal."

"How did they let you live?"

"But these aren't the key points..." the general continued, cutting in. Their voices were even the same - warm, sensual, magnetic, and undistinguishable in gender.

"The key is how Turing, who cannot use magic, managed to overwhelm you."

"This is important."

"Otherwise, we won't be able to carry out our plan to eliminate Turing."

"You should..."

"See how they defeated you on the other side."

What?! Eliminate Turing?!

Just by you guys...?

This sentence shook Merka deeply.

Merka didn't look down on these cursed children like himself.

On the contrary, it was because he understood too well.

Using relics to utilize the magic of the deceased sounded beautiful.

But due to the narrow living environment of cursed children, many of them might not possess as much power as ordinary mages.

Did Diana give them powerful relics?

How could this be... aren't they afraid of letting the tiger return to the mountain?

Cursed children have always held irreconcilable resentment towards the rulers of families like Acadia.

Is Diana so at ease, not worrying that these cursed children will take the relics and run away?

The two oppressive figures, like twins, exuding an aura of pressure, looked silently at Merka, who was caught in a brainstorm, and spoke again.

"On this matter, I have two ideas."

"First, there is no way out in the cave."

"She spared your life to send us a signal."

"Even without using magic, she is still powerful."

Indeed, your strength is quite considerable among our team. If Turing had the power to knock you out in an instant, we could have just sent a small team to charge into the depths of the cave, but it would have been futile."

"But there's a loophole. If that's the case, why did she still run away? Why did she charge into the cave?"

"As a local in Erisburg, she shouldn't have taken this risk even if she didn't know if there was an exit in the cave, let alone hide from us."

"So, I lean more towards my second idea."

"Second, there is an exit in the cave."

The man paused for a moment, and with a haunting tone, slowly spoke.

"And Turing has also enlisted an outsider in the back mountains."

Merka's heart seemed to skip a beat, eyes widened in disbelief as they looked at the person in front of them.

"To prevent the weak Turing, who cannot use magic, from being caught."

"This foreign aid stayed behind to cover the rear."

"As for why I didn't kill you..."

"It must be because this foreign aid is also a cursed child, and he couldn't bear to kill you, who is also a cursed child."

"After all, as long as Turing is not foolish, he will never let go of a convenient thug like the cursed child."

"Of course... the ultimate decision will still be based on your answer."

"Tell me, what did you see in the cave?"

A gust of cold night wind blew by, and the cloaked figure took a step forward, revealing behind him a huge sword that looked ferocious like a living beast in the moonlight.

The scabbard was engraved with words that would almost make people faint.

"Valiant General."