The silent midnight drew near.
Monsters now roamed around more freely, looming over the night as they were meant to.
From the top of the mountain, one could see Martin, setting camp along with Elizabeth.
Their children were still in the forest, fighting.
If any of them should die, the soldiers hidden within the trees would raise the alert.
Since there had been none, it was safe to assume none of his children had been killed.
"A fight happened here."
Sylus stood at a spot; all around him were corpses of soldiers, brutally murdered on the ground.
He knew his father had arranged soldiers around to keep an eye on whatever took place in the forest.
To think he would run into them while they were lifeless.
"My lord, we shouldn’t stay here for very long. The monster that did this might still be around here. A battle should be the last thing you do right now."
Exhausting himself before he fights his brother wasn’t the smartest move.
Sylus took his time to examine the injuries on the corpses.
Some had their necks twisted, eyes rolled over, and foam pouring from their mouths.
Others were more brutal, heads bashed against the trees, and remains of their brains glued to the hard surface.
And guts slit open, their insides gushing out.
’A monster couldn’t have done this.’
These kills were way too calculated to have been done by monsters.
Still, it was only a small line away from being no different from how a beast would kill.
As such, Sylus needed to be sure.
He decided to use his divine blessing, Analysis.
[Information accessed.]
Cause of death: human.]
Sylus sighed as soon as he saw the screen.
And there was only one person he could think of who would do something .
Zani suddenly turned her gaze toward the rock beside her after she felt a strange presence.
The longer she stared at that spot, the more her instincts were flaring off.
"Lord Sylus, I think something is spying on us. From over there."
She pointed at the spot.
Sylus answered and shot his attention toward the same spot.
Just like Zani, he also felt something was hiding behind the rock.
No, he was sure something was there.
With a serious look on his face, he uttered,
"Why don’t you come out and stop hiding? There’s no point in doing that."
As though his words meant nothing, not a single response was heard back.
Sylus began to walk toward the bush, but the moment he was about to reach inside—
A loud sound erupted behind him.
Turning slowly around, he noticed Zani had positioned herself near him, her blade out, pushing something away.
Seeing who that person was instantly put a smile on Sylus’s face.
It turned out he had tried to attack Sylus from behind, and Zani stepped in.
In his hand was an axe, clashing against Zani’s blade.
With a final push, Terrance was sent flying back, his feet gliding against the ground.
After coming to a halt, he stood straight and locked eyes with Zani.
He was tall, almost a giant, with muscles three times bigger than the average man. He was bald as well, wearing a sleeveless top and brown trousers that barely showed the shape of his legs.
When compared to Terrance, Zani was no bigger than an ant.
Though she didn’t care about the size difference.
"For a man your size, that is such a cowardly move," Zani uttered. "If you want a battle, then do it the proper way."
This made Terrance grunt a bit.
"Zani Quilana, I have heard so much about you from the other soldiers. Your reputation is quite impressive, even going as far as beating the vice commander of the Astral Faction in battle."
Zani’s face quickly took on a look of discomfort.
She looked to the side and noticed Sylus giving her the side-eye.
She was certain she told the vice commander not to mention the battle to anyone; once this was all over, she made up her mind to return there and give him a second beating.
"To top it all off, you are the mystero of the Catalyst Prince. I find great honor in your accomplishment. Unfortunately, my prince doesn’t seem to like either of you two, so I’m here to make sure you never become a problem to him in the future."
"You killed these people, correct?"
"Prince Lucas would rather have no eyes spying on whatever takes place here."
Eliminating witnesses? Lucas really does intend to fight Sylus to the death.
pft! Zani would handle that; Sylus had other things to worry about.
"Alright then. You lovebirds have fun."
Sylus began to wander away.
Seizing his axe even tighter, Terrance was about to charge toward him when Zani suddenly stood in his line of sight.
"I will be your opponent," she declared.
One could see the touch of reticence written on Terrance’s face before he took a small step back, observing the young mystero.
"You... as you protect your master, I wish to protect mine. Killing the third prince here and now will save my master time and resources. In a battle, my master is not fit."
"And what makes you think I would allow that?"
"Because in a battle, you are also not fit. Would you choose to die for your master, knowing you were given the opportunity to save yourself?"
"I see. Then this is where you die. Sad."
Lifting his axe up, Terrance boosted forward with a huge amount of force, leaving a hole in the ground where he was.
Despite this, Zani didn’t back down.
As soon as Terrance approached her, ready to strike with his axe, she activated her ability.
With the purple glow in her eye came numerous dark, radiating energies shooting from the ground and following Terrance’s every movement.
This threw him off his course; he leaped from one place to another to avoid getting impaled by them.
All while he was doing this, Zani sped blithely to his front, not a hint of mercy in her eyes as she swung her blade near his neck.
Going directly for the kill.
For the first time since he showed himself, Terrance’s fear slipped out.
His battle cry echoed as he slapped his palms together, sending a sonic boom that sent both Zani flying.