「Late at night.」
Aria Sterling, deep in sleep, was jolted awake by a frigid aura. She quickly got out of bed, threw on a robe, then pushed open the window and leaped out.
Behind the main building of Azurewave Manor was an enormous garden. Beyond the garden stood a row of auxiliary buildings, which included a tea room, a gym, and the servants' quarters...
Aria Sterling followed the potent scent all the way to the outside of the tea room.
There, a servant was pinned against the wall, a dark figure's hand clamped around his neck.
In the moonlight, the servant's face was deathly pale, his mouth agape.
He couldn't scream, nor could he draw a breath.
He didn't even have the strength to struggle.
Just as the servant was about to lose his life, Aria Sterling traced a talisman in the air and, without hesitation, slapped it onto the dark figure's back.
"Ugh..."
The dark figure, struck suddenly, let out a muffled grunt. It dropped the servant and darted to the side.
Turning to see its attacker, the dark figure roared in a coarse, muffled voice, "What the hell are you?"
"And what the hell are you?" Aria Sterling shot back.
As she spoke, she was already helping the half-dead servant to his feet.
"Madam?" The servant was utterly shocked.
'He had been sure he was a dead man, never expecting to be saved by Mr. Landon's wife, who had only moved in a day ago.'
The next second, the servant pointed at the dark figure and said, "That's... that's Mr. Landon."
The figure was dressed in black and wore a black hat with a very large, attached hood. Between that and the cover of darkness, its entire face was hidden, its features impossible to make out.
The build, however, was a perfect match for Landon Hawthorne.
"Are you sure?" Aria Sterling asked the servant.
Terrified, the servant nonetheless nodded firmly. "It's Mr. Landon. I saw his face."
"You're asking to die!"
The dark figure let out a low roar, enraged at being recognized, and lunged toward them, its hand shaped into a claw.
"Madam, look out!"
The servant shouted a warning to Aria Sterling, but she just shot back, "Stay put!"
With that, she moved to intercept the dark figure's attack.
There were lights on that stayed lit all night, and the moon was bright, but the servant was still too stunned to see what happened.
All he knew was that a light emanated from Madam's palm, then shot out and struck the dark figure.
Struck by a talisman for the second time, the dark figure staggered back several steps. It spat out a "Damn you!" before turning to flee.
Aria Sterling didn't give chase. She turned back to the servant. "Are you alright?"
"Madam... you're incredible." The servant now looked at Aria Sterling as if he were seeing a deity.
"Go get some rest. And don't tell anyone what you saw tonight," Aria Sterling warned, then turned and walked away.
Once in the garden, she hid within a floral trellis to observe the row of auxiliary buildings.
'She had seen many servants here during the day, yet somehow, not a single one had been woken by the commotion just now.'
With that thought, she once again traced a talisman in the air and sent it flying, only for it to be repelled.
"A barrier!" Aria Sterling was astonished.
'Whatever set this ward is no common phantom or malevolent soul. It must be at least a spirit-level demon.'
'Or perhaps, a Fiend.'
'To think that a malevolent being of this level is hiding in the bustling city of Valerium... It looks like I won't be able to leave here anytime soon.'
Aria Sterling didn't try to break the barrier. Instead, she returned to the main building.
This time, she went through the front door.
As she passed Landon Hawthorne's bedroom, she heard a chaotic clamor from within, along with a frigid aura very similar to the one from before.
Completely ignoring the butler Uncle Carter's earlier warning, Aria Sterling kicked the door open and stormed in.
The light inside was dim, making it difficult to see, but the room was clearly a mess. The sound of things smashing came from deeper within.
Aria Sterling rushed in to see Landon Hawthorne, dressed in pajamas, rampaging as if he'd gone mad, grabbing and smashing everything in sight. His face was contorted into a savage snarl, his features twisted, and his eyes glowed red—he looked like a Fiend, or a wild beast...