The Royal Throne Hall remained silent.
Everyone was still thinking about Saksham's vision.
A destroyed village.
A mysterious enemy.
And the words...
"I have finally found you."
King Alexander finally broke the silence.
"Captain Leon."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Prepare an investigation team immediately. We leave for Aeris Village in one hour."
Captain Leon bowed.
"As you command."
The king then looked at Saksham.
"You are not coming."
"What?" Saksham exclaimed.
"The enemy is clearly connected to you. That makes you a target."
Saksham clenched his fists.
"But I saw him. Maybe I can help."
"No."
The king's voice was firm.
"I will not allow you to risk your life."
Suddenly—
DING!
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Hidden Quest Updated
Objective:
Travel to Aeris Village.
Reward:
Skill Upgrade.
Failure:
Unknown Consequences.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Saksham's eyes widened.
The system itself wanted him to go.
He took a deep breath.
"Father... I have to go."
King Alexander looked into his son's eyes.
For the first time...
He saw determination that could not be changed.
After a long silence, the king sighed.
"Fine. But you stay beside Captain Leon at all times."
Saksham smiled.
"Thank you."
One hour later...
A group of knights left the Royal Capital.
The journey lasted several hours.
As evening arrived, they finally reached Aeris Village.
Everyone froze.
The village was completely destroyed.
Burned houses.
Broken walls.
Smoke still rising into the sky.
Not a single person remained alive.
Even the experienced knights looked horrified.
Captain Leon slowly walked forward.
"This... is a massacre."
Saksham's fists trembled.
He had seen this place in his vision.
Everything looked exactly the same.
Suddenly...
His new eyes activated on their own.
The world changed.
Blue mana particles floated everywhere.
But among them...
There was another energy.
Dark red mana.
It covered the entire village like a curse.
Saksham followed the trail.
"Over there."
Captain Leon looked at him.
"What is it?"
"I can see something."
The group followed him until they reached the center of the village.
Then...
They stopped.
A man was standing there.
He wore black armor.
A long dark cloak moved in the wind.
His silver hair reached his shoulders.
And his eyes...
They glowed crimson red.
The man slowly turned around.
"So..."
A cold smile appeared on his face.
"The child of fate has arrived."
Every knight immediately drew their swords.
Captain Leon stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
The man placed one hand on his chest and bowed slightly.
"I am General Nocthar."
"One of the Four Servants of Darkness."
Everyone's expressions changed.
Even Archmage Valerian became pale.
"The Four Servants..." he whispered.
Nocthar smiled.
"I see that my reputation still exists."
Captain Leon pointed his sword at him.
"Did you destroy this village?"
"Yes."
"Why?!"
Nocthar's smile disappeared.
"To find him."
He pointed directly at Saksham.
"I have waited many years for your appearance."
Saksham stepped back.
"You know me?"
"No."
Nocthar's eyes narrowed.
"But my master does."
A terrifying amount of dark mana exploded from his body.
The ground shook violently.
The sky turned dark.
The knights could barely breathe.
Captain Leon immediately stood in front of Saksham.
"Everyone, battle positions!"
The knights charged.
But...
BOOM!
A single wave of dark mana sent them all flying.
Some crashed into buildings.
Others fell unconscious instantly.
"What?!" Saksham shouted.
One attack.
Only one attack.
And the royal knights had already been defeated.
Captain Leon gritted his teeth.
"This monster..."
Nocthar slowly walked forward.
"I did not come here to kill all of you."
His crimson eyes locked onto Saksham.
"I came to see whether the Child of Fate was worthy."
Captain Leon roared and charged.
His sword glowed with powerful mana.
SLASH!
Nocthar raised one hand.
Clang!
He stopped the sword with his bare fingers.
Everyone froze.
Captain Leon's strongest attack...
had been blocked effortlessly.
Nocthar smiled.
"You are strong."
"But not enough."
BOOM!
He punched Captain Leon in the stomach.
Blood flew from Leon's mouth.
He crashed into a destroyed house.
"Captain Leon!" Saksham shouted.
For the first time since coming to this world...
Saksham felt completely powerless.
Nocthar slowly approached him.
"So weak..."
"So fragile..."
"And yet..."
"You carry the fate of this world."
Dark mana gathered around his hand.
Saksham couldn't move.
His body was shaking.
Fear filled his heart.
Then—
DING!
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Emergency Quest Activated!
Survive.
Time Remaining:
03:00 Minutes.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Saksham's eyes widened.
Three minutes.
He only needed to survive for three minutes.
But standing before him...
was a monster.
Nocthar smiled.
"Show me, Child of Fate."
"Can you survive... against despair?"
To be continued...