"Senior... why?"

The surroundings were filled with scenes of bloodshed, and all of them had familiar faces.

"What in the world..."

I hastily let go of the hilt of the sword I was holding, but the figure pierced by the sword didn't change.

"Lucia."

Lucia, with Galakshur impaled through her chest, looked at me with a helpless expression.

"Senior, why... me..."

Her gaze fell to the ground, where Vivianne's lifeless body lay next to her.

"They were all killed by Senior. All of them..."

This couldn't be real. Stay calm. What has happened to me?

'Lethe's temple, black smoke?'

.

.

.

.

"Haa..."

I regained my senses.

Looking around, I saw a scene I had witnessed before unfolding.

"Give it back!"

"No way! Try to take it from me!"

The children's cries echoed, and it was followed by the horrific memories.

A nightmare where everyone I knew was dead.

"So this is what happens when I'm engulfed by the black smoke..."

If I hadn't experienced something similar once through the Laziness Barrier, I would have been deeply shocked.

Maybe it would be better to die cleanly and return?

Wait a moment. What about Luna?

I looked up at the sky where Luna was supposed to have flown, but there was nothing there.

I waited for her for a while, but there was no sign of her coming back.

'Is she in shock? Or did something else happen?'

In the end, I decided to search for her in the direction where I had last seen her.

Squeak!

"Rulf."

Unexpectedly, Rulf found me first.

Why is it that Rulf is here, but not Luna?

Squeak! Crunch!

Rolf climbed onto my body and started pointing at something.

Understanding his intention, I followed the direction Rulf was indicating.

As I ventured further into the alleyways, an eerie feeling began to creep in.

The city that had appeared so lively now seemed to be veiled in gloom.

It was as if only a portion of the city had fallen asleep.

Everyone appeared to be asleep, and the streets were shrouded in silence.

'Is this where Luna started?'

Not the most pleasant place to begin.

But that aside, what is she doing and where is she?

As I pondered these questions, I suddenly felt someone's gaze on me.

It was children.

'They're completely different.'

Unlike the children who had been playing and frolicking on the street I had started from, these kids were full of vigilance and looked miserable. I continued walking, ignoring their gazes.

"Hey, mister!"

A child's voice called out to me.

"Did you come back from the Dragon Expedition by any chance?"

I raised my head in response to the out-of-place question.

"No, I didn't participate."

"Oh, um, I see."

The disappointed expression on the child's face piqued my curiosity.

"Why did you ask?"

"Huh? Oh, our father was taken away. We were just wondering..."

'Taken away? Conscription?'

Weren't only mercenaries and knights supposed to participate?

Come to think of it, it did seem oddly chilly.

Even if it's a poor district, the lack of people was too unusual. With a hint of concern, I asked the child again.

"Have all the people who were here been taken away?"

"Yes. All the adults participated in the expedition."

The boy's answer furrowed my brow, even though I couldn't explain why. As someone who roughly knew how the Dragon Expedition would unfold, I didn't have a good feeling about this.

'It probably failed. That's why this city became a dungeon.' If the Dragon Expedition had succeeded, Krivmaher wouldn't have come here and died. It was highly likely that the people in this city had all died or turned to ashes due to the supernatural power of this dungeon.

I stopped my train of thought and turned my gaze to the child for a moment before resuming my steps.

'I just had a gut feeling.'

I knew that they weren't real people, but still...

No matter what, it left me with a dogged feeling.

What could have happened in this city?

Why did it turn into a dungeon?

As my thoughts twisted and turned, Rulf suddenly jumped down from my shoulder and ran off somewhere.

It was an abrupt action, but interpreting it as a sign that Luna was nearby, I immediately followed Rulf.

"Luna."

In a corner as dark as night, her radiant hair was disheveled.

Luna Pendragon.

She was deeply asleep.

.

.

.

.

From the moment I began to have memories...

I had always been alone.

"Luna Pendragon. The child who received both a curse and a blessing."

That was the first phrase I remembered.

Even though I hadn't done anything...

My identity had already been stamped and fixed.

"Why...?"

I couldn't understand.

I was just born that way.

But there was no one by my side, only the wandering souls of the deceased.

"Mom..."

I had no family.

My only relative, my mother, was rarely with me.

As if she had to hide and conceal herself, she endured the pain.

Just because I was born, I was alive.

"Luna, to survive in this cruel world, you have to become stronger."

From some point on, I started learning magic from my mother.

Interacting with my mother was still difficult, but just being with her made me happy.

As I gradually grew stronger, the magic I had learned, combined with my special abilities, began to shine.

"Well done, you're my daughter after all."

The day I received my first praise from my mother.

It was a night when I was so happy that I couldn't even fall asleep.

Growing little by little, sometimes attending meetings, and occasionally watching the faces of others for the first time in my life...

My abilities, coupled with the magic I had mastered, began to shine.

But then, my mother died.

Bam.

It was a day when the rain poured heavily.

Everything in the Adeyrian Marsh, where the hiding place was, was soaked by the rain.

My mother, who always had a pale complexion...

With a face as white as the thick fog...

She appeared before me, taking her last breath.

"You are Luna Pendragon."

Meeting Evan von Orleans was the first time it happened.

He arrived, carrying my deceased mother as if cradling a princess.

He didn't explain anything.

I had no idea how my mother had died, who had killed her, or where she had died.

He silently laid my mother on the bed and affectionately stroked her hair, but that was all.

"To survive... you must become stronger."

I couldn't comprehend what Evan meant, given his sorrowful expression. I didn't know who he was, why he had come with my mother's lifeless body.

Finally, he uttered a phrase as if casting a spell and vanished into the rain.

And so, my last surviving relative left this world.

I was left alone in a world filled with despair, and I wept through the night.

"Soul Imprint."

I couldn't let her go like this.

Fortunately, I could see that her soul hadn't departed yet.

I carefully used the Soul Imprint that I was told to use with caution.

"Now, Mom will be with me forever."

My hands trembled, and tears fell drop by drop. I wasn't foolish.

A dead person was dead.

The soul was merely a remnant.

But even knowing that, I couldn't bear the overwhelming loneliness.

I knew it might torment her.

But I couldn't let go of my mother, knowing that she could be the only one to comfort me.

Even if the others in this world were afraid of me, calling me a wicked sorceress...

I smiled, concealing my true feelings.

As long as I had my mother, it didn't matter what anyone else said.

As long as I could appease this loneliness...

I wore a smiling face and lived my days.

In the midst of such days, he appeared.

"You cannot kill me."

At first, I didn't pay much attention to him.

I only had the expectation that maybe, with this playful young man, I could find something to ease my loneliness.

But then, he showed me his actions.

Unlike me, who whined every day about being lonely but did not have the courage to die, he was entirely different from me.

He burned with a passion for life like no one else, fearlessly plunging a knife into his own chest.

'Adrias Cromwell.'

He carried the burden of life, burning his own lifeline.

Perhaps what I had yearned for wasn't someone like him.

Our meeting was brief, but the strong impression he left lingered even after I returned to my sanctuary.

There was no connection between us, yet I couldn't forget him for a while.

'Ah, Adrias Cromwell.'

When I ventured outside my sanctuary for the first time in a long while due to an unexpected request, I realized the connection when I found out that Adrias was the one who had killed Kyle.

I wanted to become close to him.

I wanted to approach him and see what would happen.

Could I find meaning in life just like him?

Perhaps, just perhaps...

Could I forget my loneliness by his side?

With the whole world shunning me and facing the opposition of those dark mages known as the "Assembly."

Among the people who hated me for merely being born.

Please.

Save me.

I don't want to entertain these agonizing thoughts any longer.

Please.

Someone...

"Luna."

Who...?

"Luna Pendragon."

Now, the voice that had become more familiar than anyone else's.

The owner of that voice...

"Let's go back, together."

A smile formed.

"My friend."

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.

.

.

It was warm.

Despite wanting to stay in this warm state, I reluctantly stirred, eventually unable to keep my eyes closed under the slow, soothing touch that wiped away my drowsiness.

Inside the slowly opening eyelids, a galaxy was positioned.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Friend..."

Luna could smile brightly thanks to a man who filled her pupils just like that galaxy.

"You're back."

"I waited. I'm relieved you're safe."

There was someone who cared for her and waited for her.

She was no longer alone.

Just that fact made Luna happy.

Even though the experience might seem ordinary to others, Luna lay on his lap, looking up at the sky and thought she had made a really good decision to come out of her hiding place to find Adrias.

A new friend and her only friend.

Click!

"Ruf! You were here too!"

Because this reality was so blissful.

Luna thought, 'I don't want to see my friend in pain,' and deliberately avoided looking up, even though she thought it might be okay to repeat eternity in this place.

Feeling Adrias' warmth against her head, Luna's silvery-white eyelashes trembled.

Someday, she would undoubtedly have to leave this strange place.

But at least for this moment, Luna hoped it would last forever.