Turabak hurtled through the night with a piercing whistle.

Yuri twisted in midair. The fell spear skimmed past her and buried itself in the ground. The earth heaved as though about to collapse, scattering fragments of rock and soil in every direction. The ground around the embedded spear had turned pitch-black.

Yuri landed and looked up at the gate tower. Beneath the moonlight, a hideous being was smiling. Red eyes gleamed in the darkness, and two snow-white horns absorbed the moonlight, glowing softly.

Tension crossed her face. She murmured, “... White Horn.”

White Horn's appearance had already been recorded in the Demon Codex. The codex was, in essence, a field guide to Demons. Knights of the kingdom and the Church memorized it in its entirety, so Yuri could be certain that the Demon before her was White Horn.

She broke into a cold sweat. She had encountered an Apostle of the End. Protocol demanded that she leave immediately and request reinforcements from the Church.

But that was impossible. Yuri could not abandon Gawain.

Dismay engulfed her. She had no idea what she should do. Should she risk her life fighting him alone? He was an Apostle, but still only a subadult Demon. She might stand a chance.

Countless doubts crowded her mind. While she agonized, White Horn spread his enormous wings. The moonlight vanished in an instant. The night sky sank beneath an even deeper darkness. In that polar night, only his red eyes flickered.

A chilling voice drifted out.

“What troubles you so? Here is your chance to slay an Apostle. Come at me with all your strength.”

White Horn slowly took flight, descending from the gate tower toward the ground.

Yuri bit her lip. No matter how she considered it, she could not afford to fight under these circumstances. First, she had to ensure Gawain's safety.

She turned her back on White Horn. Just as she was about to run into the lord's castle, an unfamiliar voice reached her.

“Hold it right there, young lady. Settle things with Lord Maphel’tan before you come back.”

A middle-aged man sat by the castle gate. He took out a short pipe, put it between his lips, and watched Yuri.

Yuri stifled a groan.

“... The Sword Fiend, Hakain.”

With a languid expression, Hakain gave a small exclamation of surprise.

“Oh, you recognize me?”

Hakain was a Class One criminal. The Church had even ruled him beyond redemption, making him a target for execution of the highest priority. As a knight, Yuri could hardly fail to recognize him. Her duty demanded that she arrest or kill him at once.

That would not be easy. Hakain was far too powerful. It would take someone on the level of a Holy Radiance to subdue him.

Yuri spoke with a troubled expression.

“Hakain, was murdering His Eminence the Cardinal not enough? Have you now sunk so low as to become an Apostle's lackey?”

Several years ago, Hakain had brutally murdered a cardinal of the Holy Kingdom. The incident had branded him a Class One apostate. The Church was still hunting him.

Hakain blew out a plume of smoke.

“When it comes to sacrilege, isn't that Third Prince you serve a step ahead of me? The wretch killed his own mother.”

Yuri's face twisted.

“... Watch your tongue. His Highness was caught in a conspiracy.”

Hakain smiled lazily.

“Everyone has their reasons. I'm no different.”

“You dare put yourself on the same level as His Highness? How insolent.”

Hakain shook his head.

“So young, and already so rigid. This is why I can't stand talking to knights.”

Yuri drew the sword at her waist: a slender rapier, its long, thin, straight blade designed for thrusting.

“Then stop talking and get out of my way.”

“If the Apostle agrees, I'll gladly step aside.”

Hakain looked at Maphel’tan, who had already reached the ground. Maphel’tan spoke.

“I will not repeat myself. If you wish to protect the prince, you must kill me first.”

Yuri turned her gaze toward him. Tense as she was, she forced a smile.

“Me, protect His Highness? You fools. He is the Great Saint's favored child. He needs no protection whatsoever. Soon, you vile creatures will stand before him for judgment.”

Maphel’tan's mouth stretched into a broad grin.

“Mortal, does something not strike you as odd? Gawain should have come running out by now.”

He was making no effort to conceal his demonic energy. The presence of a high-ranking Demon reverberated through heaven and earth. Yet Gawain gave no response. Inside, the castle remained deathly silent.

Yuri had been wondering about that herself. She clenched both fists tightly.

“... What have you done to His Highness?”

Maphel’tan shrugged.

“Use your own strength to find out.”

After a moment's hesitation, Yuri steeled herself. Her aura core spun furiously, and translucent aura coiled around her entire body.

Maphel’tan's red eyes curved into crescents. He was thoroughly pleased.

'So she can project her aura.'

Someone of Yuri's caliber would make a decent opponent for testing his strength.

Maphel’tan pulled his spear from the ground. At that same moment, Yuri kicked off, shooting forward like an arrow. The distance between them vanished in an instant.

“White Horn!”

Her aura-clad rapier went straight for his eye. Maphel’tan did not so much as twitch.

Yuri was puzzled. Why wasn't he reacting? At this rate, the blade would pass through his eye and pierce his brain. It was too late to dodge. Victory was hers for the taking.

She remained vigilant to the very end and thrust with all her strength. The slender rapier pierced his red eye.

Instead of black blood, pitch-black mist scattered into the air. Maphel’tan abruptly vanished.

Landing on the ground, Yuri swiftly scanned her surroundings. White Horn had disappeared without a trace. She could not even sense his presence.

“An illusion...?”

Some Demons wielded powers of that sort. Yuri took a bottle of holy water from inside her clothes and immediately drained it. That would keep her immune to most hallucinatory effects.

She released her aura. A translucent veil spread in every direction. Still, she could not detect White Horn's presence. She was bewildered.

Hakain spoke.

“You should refrain from using Night Immersion for this fight. It would make the battle far too one-sided.”

Night Immersion was a power that erased one's presence completely. At first glance, it resembled invisibility, but it was overwhelmingly superior. The moment Maphel’tan hid within it, not even a first-rate knight's senses could detect him. Night Immersion was nothing less than becoming one with the darkness.

Yuri kept whipping her head around, her expression tense. As she searched in vain, a chilling voice rang out.

“It would indeed be far too easy.”

The voice came from directly behind her. She had no time to react.

CRACK!

A stinging pain shot across her back. The aura protecting her body shattered. She was thrown into the air, then slammed into the ground.

She had been ambushed. The attack had come out of nowhere, from behind. Without her aura, she would surely have died.

Yuri sprang to her feet and took a stance. Cold sweat trickled down her forehead.

“... How in the world?”

Maphel’tan chuckled.

“The night and I are one.”

He vanished again. Yuri swallowed hard. She struggled desperately to find him, but it was futile.

CRACK!

Agony surged through her ribs. The fell spear had appeared out of nowhere and thrust into her side. Her aura broke again. She was driven backward, gouging a long furrow through the ground.

Dismay overwhelmed her. She had no way to counter these surprise attacks. At this rate, he would wear her down until she died.

Yuri bit her lip.

“You... coward.”

Maphel’tan shrugged.

“A compliment to a Demon. But I will hide no longer. I shall fight fair and square, as you knights prefer.”

In short, he would go easy on her. Yuri trembled.

“... You mean to toy with me?”

“Well, you could put it that way.”

Aura immediately coiled around her entire body. With a shout, she charged. She flashed past Maphel’tan at a staggering speed, like a streak of light. Only afterward did the sound of her passage reach him.

A small cut had opened across his belly. Black blood spurted out. His shell-like skin had been broken.

Yuri flicked the blood from her blade.

“I'll make you regret this.”

She launched herself forward again. Black blood sprayed each time she streaked past him. Cuts accumulated across his body one by one.

She kept accelerating. Her afterimages looked like duplicates of herself.

Maphel’tan was genuinely impressed.

'She strikes at my vital points with speed and precision.'

He was somehow managing to fend off her attacks, but anything more was beyond him. He could not catch Yuri. All he could make out were the afterimages she left behind.

A first-rate knight's strength was considerable.

And exactly within the range he had anticipated.

Maphel’tan gripped the middle of his spear shaft with both hands and began to spin it. The fell spear Turabak whirled with a deafening roar. The spear-spinning technique he had learned from Hakain generated an immense blast of wind.

Yuri's afterimages were swallowed by the wind one after another. Maphel’tan looked like a pitch-black whirlwind, with black mist swirling around him. She could no longer approach.

He curled his lips into a smile.

“Are you done with your little tricks?”

Yuri put some distance between them. Dismay showed on her face.

Maphel’tan chuckled and spun the fell spear even faster. The air churned. Pitch-black hellfire coiled around Turabak.

Hakain tapped the ash from his pipe.

“Now, go.”

At that very moment, Maphel’tan hurled the fell spear. Driven by centrifugal force, Turabak tore through the darkness. Space briefly rippled. Anyone struck by that spear would die instantly.

Yuri pushed her senses to their limit. The veil of aura she had spread around her calculated the thrown spear's trajectory.

The fell spear Turabak was closing in. Just before it touched her skin, Yuri threw herself sideways.

WHOOOSH!

The fell spear shot past her and vanished into the distance. Pitch-black flames followed in its wake.

Yuri sighed in relief. At that moment, an ominous voice reached her.

“You must stay alert until the end.”

She looked up. It was already too late. Maphel’tan was right in front of her.

“Damn it!”

Before she could react, a pitch-black demonic hand clamped around her face. He slowly lifted her off the ground. Through the gaps between his fingers, their eyes met.

Maphel’tan smiled.

“It is over, mortal.”

One squeeze of his hand would burst her skull. Yuri surely knew that too, yet for some reason she looked calm. No—she was even wearing a strange smile.

She slowly opened her mouth.

“... An Apostle, you said? You're still young.”

Maphel’tan chuckled.

“Do you have a trump card left?”

“You noticed too late.”

At the same moment, Yuri pressed her palms together. Maphel’tan's body began to shine a brilliant white. Every cut she had inflicted moments earlier was glowing.

His face contorted.

“Don't tell me...”

He never finished. A tremendous explosion drowned out his voice. The light spilling from his wounds detonated in a chain reaction. Black blood sprayed in all directions.

The pressure of his grip slackened. Yuri dropped to the ground.