Under the cold moonlight, two figures ran at full speed through the forest.
"Can we make it?"
With no one else around, Saeko Busujima no longer held back as she moved, her pace far beyond what she usually showed. She could clearly feel the urgency in Arthur's attitude. Even though she had long sensed that the so-called "adoption" might be nothing more than a lie, until the truly cruel truth was laid bare, no ordinary person would jump to such a horrifying conclusion.
Arthur didn't have the luxury of explaining the reality of this orphanage, this place that raised children like livestock under the guise of care. His mind kept counting down. To keep the children's bodies and minds in the best condition, they had to believe they were living in a happy world until the very last moment. Fear would ruin everything: tense flesh, panic and despair. So Mom would never drag Nina away by force like a task to be completed. After raising them so carefully for years, she would be even more cautious when delivering the "final result."
Just like in the original story—with Isabella holding the child gently, humming softly while walking at an unhurried pace, like the Pied Piper guiding someone forward without resistance, step by step toward a fate they couldn't yet comprehend.
"We're almost there!"
Mom had left some time ago, but her pace wouldn't be fast. Even with their physical abilities suppressed to a fraction of their peak, Arthur and Saeko still retained adult-level fitness, refined further by their combat training. Their control over their bodies was precise, efficient. Sprinting at full speed, they quickly reached the route Mom had taken.
Before long, a massive stone building rose into view beneath the night sky. Bright lights glowed from within, yet not a single worker could be seen. The surroundings were eerily silent. Inside the several-meter-high arched gate, a tall figure walked inward carrying a lamp.
Arthur's eyes sharpened.
He could see Nina, already asleep, resting against her shoulder.
"It's Nina," Saeko said quietly, turning to look at him, waiting for his decision.
Arthur frowned as he studied the structure ahead. The biggest problem right now wasn't distance, it was information. They had no idea how many enemies might be stationed inside, or how many guards were posted around the facility. If they rushed in blindly, they could trigger an alarm. Saving Nina only to expose themselves, and possibly doom every other child, would be the worst possible outcome.
This was an impulsive act, one that could very well lead to consequences far worse than the benefit of saving a single person.
And yet, to simply stand there and watch Nina walk to her death… that was something he could never accept.
If he were alone, danger wouldn't matter. At worst, he would fail the challenge, die, and exit the instance. But now things were different. He carried the White Blade's promise on his back, and her sister was still in the dormitory, waiting for news. If he acted recklessly, caused chaos, and left behind an unsalvageable mess for that girl to face alone, his conscience would never forgive him.
Time waited for no one.
Arthur didn't deliberate for long. In the end, he chose the answer he knew he could live with—he couldn't allow his life to be burdened by needless regret.
He would save her.
It might cause his previous plans to collapse, but plans could always be rebuilt. Regret, however, once rooted, would linger forever. If he turned away now, from this day forward his heart would be gnawed by the pain of having done nothing when he could have acted.
He didn't believe in concepts like "inner demons," the kind often exaggerated in cultivation novels, but he understood the idea of psychological shadows all too well. Just like the darkness that once haunted Saeko's past, some things, once formed, never truly disappeared.
A "rose-tinted life," as a certain philosopher once described, was waiting ahead of him.
Why would he be the one to stain it?
"Saeko… there might be a fight soon."
Arthur opened his personal inventory and retrieved two swords. He kept Murasame in his own hand and passed the other katana, one he had prepared specifically for her, forward.
Saeko Busujima accepted the blade with a solemn expression.
"Who are we fighting?"
She didn't believe they would be fighting Mom. Although she could sense that the woman had some level of combat training, it was rudimentary at best—far from the level that would require Arthur to take things seriously.
Which meant there was another opponent waiting ahead.
But who?
What kind of enemy…?
Or perhaps—
Was it even human?
She had always possessed a vague awareness of Arthur's strength, at least for now, ordinary humans simply couldn't be his opponents. That feeling became especially pronounced the moment he picked up a weapon. It was the unmistakable aura of a human grandmaster.
And yet, Arthur's grave expression at this moment made her realize that what they were about to face might be something that transcended humanity altogether.
Saeko Busujima wasn't surprised by her own conclusion. Perhaps, ever since before they entered this instance, Arthur had already been mentally preparing them. The danger he had repeatedly hinted at was finally about to surface.
Under the cover of night, the two of them stealthily approached the outer wall of the building. Due to the suppression of his physical abilities, Arthur's five senses were also restricted, but he could still vaguely make out fragments of conversation from inside.
If he hadn't already known the truth beforehand, he might have assumed the occupants were ordinary humans. Unfortunately, the absurdly oversized doors and windows alone were enough to prove otherwise—those living inside were definitely not normal humans.
They reached the main entrance. Beyond it stretched a long corridor, completely dark, like a tunnel descending into the depths. Darkness was something that instinctively evoked fear, but both Arthur and Saeko Busujima were long accustomed to such environments. Back when they fought zombies, they had spent countless nights locked in brutal struggle beneath far worse shadows.
There was still moonlight outside, so after a brief adjustment to the gloom, they could barely make out the interior.
The corridor was empty.
Only a truck was parked near the entrance, its cargo bed tightly covered by a thick canvas that concealed whatever lay beneath.
A scene I had once seen in an anime suddenly flashed before my eyes... déjà vu… but Arthur didn't think Nina had already fallen victim at this moment, because Mom's voice hadn't appeared yet, and the recipient hadn't come out either.
Creak—
A somewhat grating sound echoed through the empty corridor as a door inside the building suddenly opened. A slightly impatient, middle-aged man's voice rang out, "You're a bit late."
The orange light spilling from the room cast an exaggeratedly large human shadow across the ground, almost instantly swallowing Mom's slender silhouette.
Mom looked into the room expressionlessly, without the slightest ripple in her brow. "The children at home were a bit clingy, so I was a little late leaving."
"Never mind, at least it's not past the time for the ritual yet." The "person" inside seemed to step forward, and Mom took a few steps back to make space.
"Then let's just perform the blood-drawing ritual out here."
The being hidden within the house finally emerged.
At that moment, it felt as if a bone-chilling cold wind swept through the corridor, the temperature dropping several degrees in an instant. Even the moon outside was swallowed by dark clouds, as though all the darkness in the world had poured in at once—proclaiming the demon's presence upon the earth.