The blinding white sun? Wood’s eyes clouded with confusion. How could the sun hanging high in the heavens plummet to earth?

“Fall back!” The DarkMage, cloaked head-to-toe in black robes, blasted a hole through the wall the moment he glimpsed the white sun outside the window. His body vanished from Haina’s room in an instant.

“Damn it! It’s Light—”

BOOM!

The falling white sun crashed into Haina’s room. Wood didn’t even have time to react before he was reduced to ashes. Ouland had moved the second he heard his fellow Dark Mage’s warning—but he was still half a beat too slow. He watched helplessly as his legs vaporized under the searing heat.

“Shilai, save me! I don’t want to die…” Ouland reached toward the other room, toward the Dark Mage—but that was all. The next moment, the white sun swallowed him whole.

Shilai, who’d escaped to the adjacent room, stared as his two companions dissolved into nothingness before his eyes. Fear flickered in his pale golden irises beneath the hood. “Light Magic… Divine Judgment! Damn it, this spell was lost to history! How could it appear in a backwater like Newdali City?”

Only those whose hearts held pure light, untainted by a single shadow, could wield Divine Judgment. More crucially—it was extinct. Even the Light Cathedral of Leo Kingdom held no record of it!

Who was capable of such power?

As Shilai’s thoughts raced, a silver-haired youth emerged slowly from the white sun, majestic white wings folded behind him. Beside him stood a stunning girl in a purple slit dress.

*A youth?* Shilai’s mind reeled. *The one who cast [Divine Judgment]… is just a silver-haired boy? How old could he be? Sixteen? Seventeen?*

“Dark Mage?”

Alan retracted his wings, gently lifting Haina from the bed and passing her to Bacas Medi. His gaze locked onto Shilai in the next room.

“Indeed. I am a Dark Mage,” Shilai replied, his pale golden eyes gleaming unnaturally as he studied Alan. “That spell you used just now—was it Light Magic? Divine Judgment?”

“You recognized it,” Alan stepped forward, shielding Medi and the unconscious Haina behind him. Dark Mages had no scruples. He couldn’t afford to let his guard down. “Yet you still linger here. Do you wish for another taste?”

Shilai’s brow furrowed slightly. “You’re from the Light Cathedral?”

“Since you’ve guessed my affiliation,” Alan’s right hand ignited with a swirling star chart of Light Magic, raw power coalescing around his fingers, “why not surrender? Or would you prefer to join your companions?”

“Dark Storm!”

Daylight vanished in an instant, replaced by utter darkness. Wails of tormented spirits filled Haina’s room.

“Purification of Light!”

A single beam of light pierced the darkness. In less than a breath, the shadows dissolved. The ghostly screams ceased.

“He’s gone. No trace of Dark Mage energy remains in this area,” Medi said, supporting Haina behind Alan.

Alan didn’t reply. He slowly stepped back to Medi’s side, magic still humming around him. “Stay alert, Medi. I need to check on Haina.”

Medi glanced at Haina and nodded. She burned to ask about Alan’s relationship with this girl—but now was not the time. “Understood, Alan.”

Alan took Haina from Medi’s arms. He cast a diagnostic spell, scanning her body. Moments later, he exhaled in relief. Her magic core was intact; no wounds marred her skin. Had she been harmed… Alan didn’t dare imagine what he might have become.

“How is she, Alan? Is the girl alright?” Medi asked.

“She’s fine. Just knocked out by the Dark Mage.” Alan’s voice softened. “Thank you. If not for you, Haina might have…”

“Is she your fiancée?” Medi’s gaze sharpened, fixed on Alan.

Alan: “…”

How to answer? Haina wasn’t technically his fiancée—but she’d raised him since childhood as her future husband. Could he even say that aloud?

“No,” he finally admitted after a long pause. “But… she’s raised me since I was a child, treating me as her future husband.”

“???”

Three question marks seemed to float above Bacas Medi’s head. *Did I hear that right? Should I ask again? Will he think I’m slow… and dote on that Little Wolf Girl even more?*

“Medi,” Alan cut in, noticing the conflicted look on her flawless face, “are you certain no other Dark Mages linger nearby?”

“None. You must have scared him off.” A wry smile touched Medi’s lips. “I never imagined you commanded [Divine Judgment], Alan. Had you used it when we first met yesterday… I might have vanished like those two, erased from this world in an instant.”

*He showed me mercy,* she realized suddenly. *He didn’t unleash that spell on me yesterday. Had he done so… I’d be dead.*

“That’s because I didn’t see you kill anyone last night,” Alan stated flatly, meeting her eyes. “Had you taken a life, you might not be standing here today. Be grateful for your own kindness. It saved you.”

*He’s lying,* Medi thought, her full lips pressing into a displeased pout. *I’d rather hear he spared me because of my beauty… not some vague ‘kindness’.*

Alan remained oblivious to her thoughts. A soft whimper drew his attention—Haina was stirring. Her eyes fluttered open, dazed at first. Then memory crashed back. “I was attacked!”

Instantly, wariness flared in her gaze—but it melted the moment she recognized Alan. “Alan?”

Dressed in a simple white shirt and black shorts, Alan grinned. “You still know my name. Guess those Dark Mages didn’t knock the sense out of you.”

Haina ignored his teasing. Fury ignited in her eyes. “WHERE ARE THE BASTARDS WHO ATTACKED ME?! I’LL BEAT THEM TO A PULP! Have they lost their minds?! AND MY WALLS!!! WHO BLEW A HOLE THIS BIG IN MY HOUSE?! MY WINDOW—WHERE’S MY WINDOW?!”

Her rage boiled over as she took in the ruined room—walls shattered, debris everywhere. They’d turned her home into a battlefield!

Right now? She wanted to draw blood.