The Black Knight carried the chill of darkness, like a moonless well. Light bit into it like dawn on frost, so Yumigawa Senki led with light magic, mixing other arts as needed.

Most of the time, Senki fought with the sword first and magic as a trailing wind. The Black Knight’s spearwork was solid, a storm of iron worth her practice.

Unease pricked at her, like thorns under silk. Why did Dark Demon’s people get swallowed by black fog? What was that “seal” they mentioned? Did this branch hide a secret?

And why did the Black Knight reek of the demon kind, like brimstone in a storm? Dark Demon draws members from everywhere, every race. Demons aren’t rare. They’re born raiders, restless waves, if not for the Mizumi Clan holding them down.

This aura was too rich for a low or mid-tier demon. It felt like a volcano’s heart. Did a high-ranking demon join Dark Demon, aiming to topple the Mizumi Clan?

Questions flooded her mind like monsoon rain. She knew she had too little intel, and that it was her own overconfidence talking.

Well. I’ll dig through Dark Demon and this branch once the hunt is over.

She flicked aside the Black Knight’s thrust with a single cut, and a plan began to crystallize, like ice over a lake.

This Black Knight moved like a puppet with torn memories, swatting at whatever stood before it, a moth lost in smoke.

Boredom pooled in her chest like stale water. Beyond its polished spearwork, the Knight had no tricks. With mysteries piling up, she lost the mood to keep sparring.

It wore an Overdeity Level on its surface, like gold leaf over wood. It couldn’t threaten Yumigawa Senki at all.

Come to think of it, they screamed about revenge as a price before the fog ate them. They turned into black shades, then this Black Knight. It mentioned offerings too. Is this something summoned from the Demon Realm?

Wait. A spark flared in her mind. She froze the Black Knight with a time-stop spell, then sifted through the chain of questions, like beads through fingers.

Sealing. Swallowed by black fog. Shade to Knight, like night thickening into armor.

She traced the links again and again, like a calligrapher chasing strokes. The answer set in: this Dark Demon branch tried to seal something. They failed. It turned and devoured them.

By that light, the Black Knight was a shard that slipped the seal, a broken spirit in armor, since the seal wasn’t fully breached.

As for the “offerings” it kept muttering, they’re fuel to keep that fragment alive—life swallowed like lamps oiling a flame.

A chill tapped her spine like winter rain. What’s sealed down there?

If a mere escaped shard shows Overdeity Level on its face, what kind of monster waits behind a broken seal? Urgency tightened in her chest like a drum. She had to find that seal.

Resolve clicked shut like a clasp. Before the time-stop ebbed, she braided the laws of light and thunder into the Sacred Life Sword.

Light-Thunder Sword: Sacred Radiance.

Light and lightning entwined like twin dragons, searing the air. As Yumigawa Senki swept past, countless razor cuts slammed home. The heavy black armor cracked and burst at once.

It writhed in pain like iron in a forge and rasped a ragged scream. Then black fog swarmed from nowhere, flocking to it like crows, knitting a new shell of armor. The time-stop ended, and it broke free.

She didn’t let it breathe. She gathered light once more and drove in—yet…

Clang!

The Black Knight felt stronger, like a storm sprouting a second fang. Its right-hand lance caught the Sacred Life Sword. Its left hand whipped out another spear and stabbed at Yumigawa Senki.

Wind Sword: Reverse Spiral.

She snapped Fengyin from its sheath in a gust. A fierce whirlwind shredded the Knight’s footing. She recalled the Sacred Life Sword and swung both blades.

Wind-Thunder Sword: Sky Dance.

Wind’s grace and thunder’s ferocity braided into perfection in her hands. Before the Knight could react, a hundred slashes etched its armor. It turned to ash in a blink, and its body began to crumble.

...No… how could I… be beaten… by mere offerings…

The Black Knight’s shape thinned like smoke, leaving only those scarlet eyes. It kept muttering, bitter as gall. The ground shook harder, like a dragon turning in its sleep. Ancient halls collapsed by halves, and deep rifts tore the earth. Black fog boiled up from those chasms.

She watched the dying Knight revive as black fog poured in, like a tide refilling a drowned lung. This would never end. She had to find the source, likely tied to the sealed thing.

But the Black Knight wouldn’t let her go, a hound on a scent. If she left, who would handle this already berserk monster?

She slipped past its strikes like wind through reeds and hunted for a path to break away and chase the fog’s spring.

Breaking armor and flesh is pointless. It only feeds its revival. First, I’ll pin it down.

Decision firm, she sent a Wind Slash that drove it back a few paces. She poured mana and strength like rivers into the most tangled laws of space and time.

Space-Time: Eternity.

A sealed space unfolded, silent as snow. Inside hung a clock with frozen hands. Trapped within, the Black Knight couldn’t twitch a finger.

She exhaled a long breath, like steam in winter. That one’s a drain. It should hold him for a while.

She awakened the Sacred Life Sword’s restoration. Her state snapped back to its peak, like dawn washing night away.

Qianji Sister, what happened on your side? Why did a quake hit all of a sudden?!

Right then, Yumigawa Nozomi and Elyar finished their fights and rushed back to Yumigawa Senki.

What a thick demon reek, like pitch in fire. Yumigawa Senki, is your foe a demon?

Elven Kind are born to loathe demons. Elyar’s fine brows pinched, like petals in frost.

I’m not sure either.

She shook her head and pointed at the time-frozen Black Knight. Keep an eye on him. I’m going after the source of the black fog. Something nasty is sealed beneath the ground.

...