Peros was limping through the forest.

He glanced at the walls of Aegean city and stopped for a moment as he sat down, hiding behind a large rock.

“Phew.”

He looked at his left leg. It was as good as gone; he couldn’t even sense it anymore.

A single second of being caught up in that light caused all this.

‘Jamie Welton…!’

That person appeared and swept the battlefield in an instant. He was unstoppable and felt beyond anything else Peros had ever experienced.

Tens of thousands of soldiers vanished like dust; even Draxar turned black like coal.

If it wasn’t for Peros’ ability, he, too, would have been in the same situation.

Peros’ ability was ‘Spirit’.

Simply put, he could change the nature of the body into a spirit. Although he lost one leg, he made it out alive, thanks to this.

And the spirit body was almost immune to detection magic.

An ability for assassination.

With that ability, he killed Katarina and Draxar in the dungeon. Because it was evident that two Master classes would be turned into undead, and he’d have to face them on the battlefield.

‘Dark magician… I never thought he would be one.’

Having experienced the power firsthand, he was sure it was 9th class.

And seeing that he could deal with black magic in that state, his powers must be stronger than the glimpse Peros had had to deal with.

He couldn’t understand how a kid could reach the Supreme state at 13.

“If only I can make this fact known, victory would be within grasp. Even this defeat can be made up for.”

The war right now was caused by the Northern Alliance. This is because they showed evidence that Zenith colluded with demons.

Eastern nations, too, became aware of it. Still, many nations had Zenith as their religion, and they waited before deciding on a course of action due to the pressure of the Drakeon Empire.

But that wasn’t the only reason.

If they win, they get to take over the fertile lands of <Olvia>

The Zenith church declared that it would distribute the lands in orders of war contributions, so it was worth the risk.

However, if they lost, the East would also criticize them.

But not anymore.

If Jamie Welton’s identity is revealed to the public, the Seldam Kingdom will get cornered.

If Seldam, the center of the Northern Alliance, is shaken, then victory was all but guaranteed for Zenith.

‘Time to go again.’

Maintaining the ‘Spirit’ form for a long time was more challenging than he had expected, so he didn’t manage to get far from Aegean.

Still, there was little chance of being chased, so it didn’t matter.

‘Jamie Welton will not find me.’

Even the pinnacle of detection magic cannot find him.

No one could find him as long as he was in this spirit form.

So he would run away. Suddenly, darkness took over everything in front of Peros, making the swordsman cross his arms.

The darkness passed over him like smoke, but something thick enveloped him.

His eyes fluttered wide.

“H-How?”

His ability granted him almost the perfect immunity from any detection, so finding him had to be impossible. Moreover, since he left no traces or footprints, it was beyond safe.

Finding him without any smell or shadows had to be impossible.

He couldn’t understand.

“W-where are you!”

He obviously moved without leaving traces, so how did he find it?

“Come out! Don’t hide, and come out!

He was afraid.

He felt terrified.

“I am Terrisia’s Sword Master Peros! Evil Dark Magician! I will judge you in the name of God.”

He was afraid of saying anything. What about the mental training he did in the past?

“I said come!”

Peros thought he was going to go crazy and swung his sword randomly.

The blade was coated with aura, and he kept cutting trees and rocks down like papers, but he couldn’t feel the sensation of cutting into flesh.

Peros used aura to light the place. He was the only one standing in the thick mist of darkness.

“A-afraid? Are you scared to come out?”

The voice was no longer heard.

The strange silence further stimulated Peros’ fear. He didn’t know how long he was doing that.

Even though the morning was bright, the sense of time felt messed up in this mist of darkness. And it felt like the mists were touching him at times.

Even though he knew that it couldn’t happen, it felt like Jamie Welton would pop out from somewhere.

The feeling of pressure made him sweat.

“Come out! Why aren’t you coming?! If you don’t come out, I will cut down the whole forest!!”

Again, trees, rocks, and grass were cut. Still, the dread didn’t die down.

He was too aware of things; he could even feel the dust on his skin.

‘Where?! Where?! Where?!’

He could feel nor see anything.

What could be felt was the darkness with no end, like a sea.

But when did the fog turn this thick?

As soon as he thought that, he felt suffocated.

‘This damned thi…’

There was nothing in the forest.

Instead, the trees and rocks he cut down couldn’t be felt; he stood alone in this darkness with the hair on his body standing up.

The illusion of time stopping could be felt.

Fear of not realizing when and how the attack will come.

“I…”

There will be no answer even if he asks.

Flinch.

And he felt something touch him. But, of course, nothing was touching his arm.

This time, he felt it at the back of his neck.

He hurriedly touched the neck, but again, nothing was there.

This was similar to the itch you feel after seeing a bug fly on you.

Peros, not being able to stand it, shouted.

“Where?! Where are you?! Please come!!”

It was then.

Something passed by. Startled by it, Peros swung the sword only to touch nothing.

As he was about to sigh, he felt the same thing behind him again.

Peros denied himself the respite and stabbed again, but he couldn’t feel anything being pierced.

“Huk, huk, huk.”

He was out of breath despite not doing anything.

Even though this Sword Master barely moved, he couldn’t help but get tired; this was the pressure of the psychological burden on him.

Everything would be fine if the fog just lifted up.

He was sure of getting out if that happened.

It was then.

Tak.

A hand came out from the darkness and grabbed Peros’ wrist.

“Kuaaaak!”

Peros was startled and stabbed the sword at the opponent grabbing his wrist.

Puack, there was just his hand.

No!

How could he do this?

Distrust rose in himself, and Peros was already going crazy in fear.

Driven by instinct to survive, he pulled the stabbed sword and stabbed it again.

-Why… why did you kill me…

In the darkness, he could see eyes bleeding.

“Kuak!”

Peros, familiar with this sound, fell back on his butt and crawled back in fear.

He knew who it was in the air, so he felt terrified.

“G-Go away!!”

-Why…. You didn’t have… to kill me.

The head spoke mournful voices, and Peros shouted at Katarina’s head, which he himself had thrown away a few hours back.

“Don’t be ridiculous! You had to die for me to live! So, of course, I had to kill you!”

-Bad guy… so selfish…

“Right. Don’t make fun of me.”

Peros jumped up and approached Katarina’s head as if possessed.

-Bad guy. Trash guy. Selfish bastard. Coward. Bad guy. Trash guy. Selfish bastard. Bad guy. Trash guy. Selfish bastard. Coward. Bad guy. Trash guy. Selfish bastard. Coward. Bad guy. Trash guy. Selfish bastard. Bad guy. Trash guy. Selfish bastard. Coward. Bad guy. Trash guy. Selfish bastard. Coward.

“Die!!!”

Katarina’s head was cut in half again. And the two parts disappeared in the mist. Peros took a deep breath.

Sweat was dripping down his forehead.

He just looked to the side.

And the charred face.

He knew who this was.

“Draxar.”

-…

-Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

“Ahhhh!”

It felt like he was losing his mind.

No, he was definitely going insane.

Peros cut off Draxar’s head again.

And it wasn’t just two heads.

Dozens of heads of Katarina and Draxar came to mind at the hellish recitation.

-Why did you do it? Why did you kill me? Why did you do it? Why did you kill me? Why did you do it? Why did you kill me? Why did you do it? Why did you kill me? Why did you do it? Why did you kill me? Why did you do it? Why did you kill me? Why did you do it? Why did you kill me?

-Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

-You die too. You die too. You die too. You die too. You die too. You die too.

-Bad guy. Trash guy. Selfish bastard. Bad guy, trash guy. Selfish bastard. Bad guy. Trash guy. Selfish bastard.

Despite cutting, stabbing, and slicing them, they kept coming up. Peros could neither die nor kill in the darkness and kept wielding the sword in fear.

It was all tiring, and he knelt down in despair.

Heads gathered around him and kept cursing him.

“God Zenith… I… I…”

He looked up at the sky.

“Have mercy on me.”

Suddenly, he covered his head.

“Hahaha.”

Jamie was sleeping on a tree with legs crossed, looking at Peros.

As if dancing alone in the forest, he kept cutting down trees and rocks and screamed. Thanks to this, all the animals around ran away.

The reason to do this was simple.

[Level 3: Curse]

Using the power of Curse, which he awakened two years back, he pushed the limit of fear.

Having reached 9th class, even a Sword Master couldn’t escape it. He could have killed Peros quite easily, but the reason he didn’t was simple. It was because Peros crossed the line.

“You betrayed your colleagues. You don’t deserve to die in peace.”

He didn’t even make the slightest effort to save his colleagues and seized the chance to assassinate them.

He didn’t mean to blame the man for his lack of character, but he should have just run instead of killing them.

Being punished is a given if you ruin the lives of others to pursue your dreams.

“To suffer endlessly in the depths of darkness and then die.”

Jamie stood up and spread darkness over his head.

Peros will die struggling alone in the darkness.

It was the future shown by ‘Future Walker’.