‘That’s it!’
The speed and power were truly overwhelming.
Thick veins bulged on the High Priest’s arm, which had looked so slender before.
Even I, who knew nothing about physical combat, could tell at a glance:
‘That’s no ordinary human.’
“Guh!”
A flicker of shock crossed Kiaros’s eyes as he struck the High Priest’s vital point with lightning speed.
“What’s wrong? Surprised that a dragonkin might die at the hands of a human?”
He even gave a sharp, confident smile as he whispered.
“Don’t be too shocked. I’m almost a dragonkin myself.”
But despite the blow to a vital spot, the High Priest didn’t even flinch.
Instead, the grip choking Kiaros’s neck only tightened.
He was obviously gaunt and frail, yet it was nearly impossible to subdue him. The High Priest’s eyes gleamed with madness and murderous intent.
‘But there’s always a test subject that outsmarts the others!’
Just as Kiaros’s brow furrowed slightly…
“Activate!”
I quickly targeted the High Priest and activated an attack scroll.
It was one of the scrolls given to me by the Tower Master.
I poured all my mana into it, calculating as fast as I could.
Normally, attack scrolls only cause a minor scratch at best, but…
“Uwaaaargh! Aaaaaaagh!”
With a loud crash, the High Priest was flung back.
Blood now stained his back and chest.
Panting, I tried to catch my breath. The empty scroll fluttered to the ground as I saw the High Priest’s wretched state.
This wasn’t just a scratch… It was as if he’d been hacked to pieces with a blade. His priestly robes were soaked in blood.
I immediately rushed out and flung open the door.
“Aaaaaaagh!”
Opening the door dispelled the soundproofing scroll’s effect.
Hearing the High Priest’s screams of agony, the knights outside rushed in.
“What’s going on?!”
“Your Highness, are you all right?”
They saw Kiaros collapsed on the floor and the High Priest writhing in agony.
It was shocking enough, but Kiaros remained cool. He slowly got to his feet and spoke.
“Arrest him immediately for attempted regicide. Judging by his superhuman strength, he’s likely a test subject of the Modification Faction. Cooperate with the Crows.”
“Yes, sir!”
The knights didn’t seem fazed by the bloodied High Priest.
They must have assumed Kiaros had handled it. He continued, his voice low.
“…And for now, everyone out.”
The knights dragged the still-screaming High Priest away and left like a receding tide.
Kiaros turned toward me, slowly.
His shadow fell over me.
“Namia Loafi.”
“…Yes.”
My voice was already trembling as I answered.
I was afraid to meet Kiaros’s eyes. He asked, his tone almost incredulous.
“What was that scroll? Since when do attack scrolls have that kind of power?”
“…”
“And…”
He took a step closer. I stepped back, keeping the distance between us.
Kiaros’s eyes darkened as he asked,
“Why did you use an attack scroll? As if you were certain that even I, a dragonkin, wouldn’t be able to subdue the High Priest?”
He was sharp—unbelievably sharp. How could he pick up on something like that so quickly…?
I glanced up at him with frightened eyes.
“…Do you know I’m in the Dark Period?”
I knew he was smart, but not this smart…
My back finally hit the wall as I kept retreating.
Kiaros stopped, moving slowly. His eyes were full of confusion.
Honestly, he’d have every right to say, ‘This woman’s using strange powers, she’s suspicious. Take her away for investigation.’ Yet even now, he seemed to hesitate, as if afraid to threaten me.
“Your Highness.”
I confessed, my voice shaking.
“I’m sorry, but I am suspicious.”
“What?”
“I-I mean… I’m a test subject too. I-I didn’t know either, but… my mother… she kept experimenting on me…”
My words tumbled out in a mess. Still, Kiaros would understand.
But the more I spoke, the more monstrous I felt.
A ‘test subject’ who didn’t even know she was being experimented on…
“It’s true I know the future, and that I have strange powers.”
“Namia. Wait. You’re shaking too much—just calm down for a moment…”
Kiaros looked flustered, but I forced myself to keep talking.
“S-still, if I die, I’ll die by my own hand. I’ll never bring chaos to the Empire.”
“Wait, what are you talking about—”
“Thank you for everything. And to Keyvon…”
My throat tightened at Keyvon’s name. Tears streamed down my cheeks.
“Just tell Keyvon I left him a letter.”
Then I spat out the words I’d been preparing.
“Activate.”
The next scroll I’d been calculating was a teleport scroll.
The one Oson had asked me for, long ago.
[“Namia, hurry up and make me a teleport scroll. Right now. It doesn’t have to be far—just enough to get me outside the Imperial Palace. Okay?”] Back then, I’d said it’d be faster to just walk thirty centimeters. That was the scroll.
But now, I could amplify the scroll’s power by thousands of times.
Focusing desperately on my destination, I closed my eyes.
‘Dad… Tower Master… Just one last time…’
Whether I died here at Kiaros’s hands, or in the heart of the Modification Faction, it made no difference.
There was no middle ground for me.
Pretending to know nothing and hiding away meant nothing now.
I didn’t want to spend my life on edge, wondering when my mother’s experiments would manifest in me again, just barely clinging to life.
If I had to choose, I’d rather charge into the Modification Faction and see my family one last time before I died.
“Nami—!”
Before Kiaros could finish, my body was enveloped in brilliant light.
* * *
How far would I be able to go?
I’d poured every last drop of mana into setting the destination to the South.
‘I should have arrived somewhere in the South, at least.’
I had a rough idea of where Dad and the Tower Master would be.
[“Namia, I’m about to plunge deep into enemy territory to save my daughter and son-in-law.”] I’d guessed as much from the Tower Master’s letter.
Deep in enemy territory…
As far as I knew, the Tower was vast and sprawling.
If even the Tower Master described something as ‘deep and vast,’ it had to be enormous.
For it to be that big and still not discovered by the Crows…
[“Once the Minister began to suspect the High Priest, we dispatched Crows to every Imperial temple. Until then, we hadn’t interfered inside the temples out of religious courtesy.”] It meant there was a space the Crows couldn’t access for some reason.
So there was only one answer.
‘The temple.’
The Tower Master had said he was heading South.
And in the South was the largest Grand Temple on the continent.
[“Are you staying at the Grand Temple in Farens now?”]
[“Yes. Since I came up for the banquet, I’ll stay at the Imperial Temple for about ten days, then return to Farens.”]
It was the very Grand Temple in Farens where the High Priest had stayed until now.
I closed my eyes and tried to picture it.
My mother, who’d recklessly come down to the dangerous South for experiments, and my father, who’d sold himself to that illegal organization she was involved with.
‘If I go deep into the temple… I’ll find Dad, right?’
I’d been too scared to even try before.
I’d just waited, hoping Kiaros would use all his authority to save Dad.
But now, I was desperate.
I had nothing left to lose, and honestly, I didn’t care if I died—so I was ready to charge in headfirst.
‘Let’s go. Let’s just break through.’
It wasn’t intentional, but I’d become incredibly powerful. As long as I had attack scrolls, nothing scared me.
Meanwhile—My spinning vision gradually began to slow.
It felt like the teleportation was ending.
My feet touched the ground, gently.
“Ah…”
Even though it was November, a distinctive warmth wrapped around me.
I must have arrived in a southern coastal village; I could hear the distant sound of waves. I even heard the familiar southern dialect from my childhood.
I snapped my eyes open. At the same time, I realized—I’d made it to the South.
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