The Black Spine’s claws slashed downward.

Boka yanked Cynthia and Dorin aside just in time. The beast’s strike hit empty air, shattering the stone slabs beneath.

Screams erupted from the crowd as people scattered in panic.

“Run!”

Boka shoved the frozen group toward a nearby alley. He snatched Dorin from Cynthia’s arms and sprinted. Aisha had already vanished inside—where had that burst of speed come from? Had she been faking her fear all along?!

“B-Boka-nii…”

He turned back. Helen had fallen behind, sprawled on the ground.

The Black Spine crept toward her like a lizard, wings folded unnaturally, its movements swift and grotesque.

Boka dropped Dorin into Cynthia’s arms.

“Stay close to your mother.”

Before the words faded, he charged toward Helen. The dragon’s gaping maw roared—a shrill, bone-chilling sound—as if ready to devour her whole.

“Don’t freeze!”

Boka grabbed Helen’s rigid arm and dragged her backward. But she was catatonic, mute and limp. The slick ground betrayed him too; after a few desperate pulls, he face-planted, blood filling his mouth.

Cynthia nearly fainted beside Dorin’s wailing sobs. From the alley, Aisha cursed fiercely.

“Don’t be scared, Helen. Don’t worry.”

Though the Black Spine closed in, Boka planted himself between it and Helen. His legs trembled uncontrollably—but he couldn’t show fear. *Not now.*

*Still… Helen, you’ve really gotten me into it this time!* he thought bitterly.

“Stand down.” A woman’s voice.

A figure suddenly blocked Boka’s view. His vision sharpened: a girl with deep blue hair. Lola.

Unflinching, she locked eyes with the dragon.

“Return to where you belong,” she commanded.

The Black Spine shrieked skyward, its scaled body writhing in agony. Lola’s words carried weight—forcing submission.

Boka didn’t understand why. Like the wolf incident before, this must be a Dragonfolk ability.

He hauled Helen up.

“Move! Now!” he urged. “Or we’re dead.”

He half-dragged, half-carried Helen into the alley. Cynthia’s tear-streaked face relaxed only when they reached safety. The alley was barely two people wide—too narrow for creatures the size of two full-grown horses.

Lola still stood outside, facing the beast.

Her eyes flickered with faint blue light, Boka noticed dimly. The Black Spine howled mournfully, torn between resistance and surrender to some unseen force.

*Thwack!* An arrow sank into the dragon’s back muscle.

The patrol finally arrived.

Seeing the scene, they assumed the dragon was attacking Lola. It let out a piercing shriek and lunged at them. Distant screams rose again—two more Black Spines descended from the sky, crashing into the panicked crowd. The Birth Festival had packed the streets; escape was impossible.

“What *are* those things? Dragons?!” Boka gasped, still shaken.

No one had seen a true dragon soaring the skies in two hundred years. They were declared extinct. The last one vanished beyond the horizon centuries ago—just a bard’s tale now.

Dragons were majestic as mountains, holy as dawn’s light. Not these vile, black abominations.

“Black Spines,” Andrew answered.

“You’re still here?” Boka shot back. “Fast runner, huh?”

“Don’t be like that, Mr. Boka…”

Lola slipped into the alley then.

“A dragon subspecies,” she explained.

“Close relatives?”

“Mm.” She frowned. “They shouldn’t be here. Albion… They nest only in the northernmost canyons.”

The patrol was losing badly. Spears and arrows barely scratched the Black Spine’s hide, enraging it further. Its muscular neck snapped a soldier up, tearing him apart before flinging the remains onto the blood-slicked snow.

These soldiers had just returned from the northern front. Their discipline held even now—they kept charging, hunting for a weak spot in its belly.

Death cries echoed closer. People were being slaughtered everywhere.

But Boka had no urge to step out. Surviving in this alley was luck enough. He wasn’t a knight. He had no strength to spare. He’d learned that lesson painfully—from Lupin’s mess to Aria’s. Aisha had even warned him: *Don’t get involved with people like that.*

Back in the Aber Mountains, his life belonged only to himself. But since meeting Aisha… then Cynthia and Dorin… his survival meant responsibility.

The soldiers retreated. Only their captain remained, sword raised against the Black Spine. Exhaustion bled into his stance. Death was inevitable.

The Black Spines slaughtered indiscriminately. The other two tore through crowds, snatching people into the air, gnawing briefly, then dropping the mangled bodies. Again and again.

The patrol was gone. Only the bleeding captain stood.

But the alley was safe. As long as they stayed hidden.

“L-Lola,” Boka pleaded. “Can’t you do something? Like with the wolves?”

She shook her head.

“This magic is strong. The caster is near. I can’t interfere much.”

*Magic?* This carnage was *controlled*? Who could orchestrate such slaughter? Who could watch monsters feast on humans, staining the snow crimson, and feel nothing?!

“Boka! Where are you going?!”

Aisha’s hand clamped his wrist. He’d almost stepped out. Outside, the captain’s upper body was gone—ripped away by the Black Spine now soaring toward new prey.

*He’s dead. Fine. Just… don’t look. Don’t think.*

Human history was built on bloodshed. Wars. Death. Easy to ignore when unseen. *Yes. Just don’t see it.*

*Thud.*

Something landed at Boka’s feet.

Mangled.

Blood splattered his face. Crimson spread across the snow.

*What is…?*

Cynthia and Helen turned corpse-pale. Aisha stood unnaturally still, eerily calm.

Boka squinted through the snowy gloom. He leaned closer—

Then retched violently.

A child’s corpse.

Half-devoured.

Above, the Black Spine circled.

*It did this.*

*That bastard!!*

Rage drowned all reason. Boka roared, bursting from the alley. He snatched a fallen spear, hefted it with every ounce of strength, and hurled it skyward.

The spear struck the Black Spine—but bounced off its armored scales.

The beast shrieked, diving straight for Boka.

“Boka-nii!”

“BOKA!”

Cynthia and Helen’s cries chased him. But his fury burned too hot to quench.

He grabbed another spear, braced himself. As the dragon lunged, he sidestepped and jammed the spear into its flank.

Only halfway in.

*Snap!* The shaft shattered.

A wing slammed Boka aside. He rolled, gasping. Tried to stand—collapsed twice. Agony flared in his ribs. *Broken. Definitely broken.*

The Black Spine crept closer, its grotesque form looming over him.

Jagged teeth filled its crimson maw. The stench of blood and rot choked him.

“Will you act now?”

Aisha’s pupils glowed blue.

“Lizards belong on nooses.”

“Wait,” she murmured. “Look.”

Unexpectedly, someone stepped between Boka and death. Helen.

“Don’t… eat Boka-nii. Eat me instead…”

Her voice was soft, trembling through tears.

“Helen, get out of here! NOW!”

“I won’t…”

Her pants darkened. A yellow stain spread down her legs.

“Hey… no more pretending,” Boka choked, struggling up.

“You show me such interesting things,” Aisha sneered. Ancient words already shaped on her lips. Snow swirled around the Black Spine, sharp as blades.

Then—

Black blood erupted violently.

A towering knight landed beside the beast. In one motion, he cleaved its head clean off.

The massive corpse crashed down, oozing filth.

*Lupin…*

“You’re safe now,” the young Holy Templar said.

*Why save me?*

Distant screams had ceased. Albion’s knights must have arrived. Boka’s guess proved right moments later.

Ian and other knights, soaked in black gore, rushed over.

“Alastor. Finished?”

“Mm.” Lupin nodded.

Cynthia was already checking Boka’s wounds.

“Boka! Are you hurt?!”

His ribs screamed, but he forced a smile. “I’m fine.” His gaze drifted to Helen—the terrified girl who’d wet herself… yet stood for him.

“Take them away!”

Huh?

Knights seized Lola and Andrew.

“I arrest you for endangering the kingdom!” Lupin declared. “By Albion’s law!”