‘What… is…this…?’

It was a really strange feeling. The prickling energy rising from the center of her chest was both hot and cold.

‘Is this what it feels like to gulp down a strong drink on an empty stomach?’ Erel could feel the energy rushing from her chest to her shoulders and down to her fingertips.

Amid this, Barkan’s movements as he fired off flames seemed very slow. The unknown power radiating from her fingertips enveloped his flame.

With a hissing sound, the flames fired out by Barkan dissipated into the air. To be precise, Erel’s power absorbed his flame and scattered it into different directions.

“Huh?”

Erel couldn’t believe what just happened. She looked down at her own hand with a bewildered look, but she couldn’t see the intangible energy.

“…What?”

Barkan had also witnessed the phenomenon. The smile he always used to mask his expressions, slipped for the first time.

Beneath his mask, Erel saw his eyes, which looked upon her as if she was a pretty doll or trophy to win, wavered.

“How are you able to absorb my power….?”

It could only be the ability of a Resabre. However, it felt like the ability wasn’t common knowledge.

It was natural for Barkan to be surprised. Unlike Masakas, who could freely use their powerful abilities, Resabre’s abilities were very passive.

Although it was clearly their own power, Resabres were unable to use their abilities at will. Even the ‘Sebring’, which was the process of absorbing a Masaka’s excess power and healing the damage caused by the overflow, had to be initiated by a Masaka.

Therefore, it was inevitable for Resabres to be treated like convenient tools that existed for the sole purpose of being used by Masakas. However, Erel had just proven that those past assumptions were incorrect.

There was a moment of suffocating silence while he stared at Erel as if she was a mysterious invention crafted by a witch, which made her very nervous.

What if Barkan asks about what just happened? Would she be able to come up with an answer?

No, she had no choice. Moreover, Barkan was not an opponent who would simply accept her answer. Somehow, he would persistently twist and push Erel until she gave him the answer he was looking for.

“Really…”

Barkan finally opened his mouth.

“This is quite amusing.”

He let out an unexpected sound and smiled seductively. Then, as if he was touching something fragile and easily marred, he gently caressed Erel’s cheek.

“What should I do? I think I’ve fallen in love with you, ” he whispered.

The man, who possessed an overall negative favorability, lied casually. The shy expression he wore while he spoke about falling in love at first sight, was disgusting. Especially when his cold, seductive eyes were filled with laughter.

It was evident that he intended to firmly take Erel in his grasp and dissect her bit by bit as if he was opening a machine to find the cause of an unknown malfunction.

“We will definitely get along. I should have known that from the beginning.”

Barkan’s eyes narrowed as if he was reminiscing about their previous meeting. Judging by the strange glow in those eyes, it was clear that he was reminiscing about the “taste” he had of Erel’s body.

“Ah… I’m already looking forward to the ‘Sebring’ that Miss Erel will give me,” he said in a voice lower than before.

Then he stuck out his tongue slightly and licked his lips.

All the while, his gaze never left Erel’s face. The moment she revealed the slightest bit of fear, his eyes flashed dangerously as if he was going to push her down and mount her immediately.

His gaze was like a vine that slowly entwined around Erel and held her captive. It was fortunate that his attention was no longer focused on Mirdal, but that didn’t mean she wanted to be his next target.

He stared at her with golden eyes that held the raw instincts of a wild animal. She felt dizzy and breathless as if an invisible hand was squeezing her throat.

Then a voice was heard from outside, breaking the intense tension between the two.

“Is there anyone inside?”

“We received a report that an explosion had occurred.”

A couple of royal knights stuck their heads through the slightly charred, broken door. After one glance at the destruction in Madame DeKie’s shop, their faces held a terrified expression.

“What the hell happened?”

“Is the collapsed lady over there okay?”

‘Oh, Beatrice!’

It was only then that Erel thought of her friend’s safety. As she frantically glanced around the store, she caught sight of Beatrice, who had fallen behind a half-collapsed decorative cabinet.

Her stomach dropped when she saw Beatrice’s body was motionless like a corpse. Even though Beatrice had tried to sell Erel to her younger brother, she still didn’t want Beatrice to die.

“It’s okay, she’s just unconscious at the moment,” informed a knight after kneeling by Beatrice’s side and examining her.

“Thank goodness.”

As a result, Erel was deeply relieved; however, there was a look of disappointment evident on Barkan’s face.

No matter how arrogant Barkan was, he couldn’t blatantly murder in front of the knights.

‘And it was such a good opportunity to set an example, too.’

Erel pretended to not see the look of regret on Barkan’s face. Every second she spent with this man was like walking on thin ice, it was so unbearable.

“Who are you?”

“Reveal your identity!” shouted the knights with a wary expression.

To the knights, it must seem very suspicious to find two unconscious people on the ground, and two others standing around, at the scene of such destruction.

“Excuse me for causing a commotion.”

Barkan, who was like a beast on the verge of attacking, changed his attitude in a blink of an eye. Transforming into the persona of a perfect gentleman, he pulled something out of his pocket.

It was an insignia embedded with a mysterious, purple-tinged obsidian stone amid a gleaming platinum border. Upon seeing this, the faces of the knights quickly changed to awe and fear.

“Barkan Harmash…?”

“What brings the son of the Great Lord here? Did a Kitan appear?”

After confirming Barkan’s identity, the knights were relieved but nervous at the same time. When Masakas used their powers, it was usually only when Kitans appeared.

Even though Masakas were very dangerous beings, there was only one reason why they were not shunned by mankind. It was because they were the only weapons capable of killing ‘Kitans’, the human-eating monsters.

“Yes, unfortunately, one did appear,” Barkan answered. Then he raised his hand to point toward the warehouse where Kitan’s corpse was located.

Of course, the one who brought the Kitan to the shop and killed it was Mirdal, but Barkan pretended that it was his own efforts and lied smoothly.

“Don’t worry, I successfully subdued it.”

“Oh, my god. I can’t believe there’s Kitans in this downtown area now.…”

The oblivious knight relaxed and sighed briefly. He had no idea that a Masaka, who was supposed to protect humanity, had secretly captured a Kitan for nefarious purposes.

“Then, the reason the store was damaged…”

The knight paused as he looked around the devastated store. There was no way Barkan could’ve known what the words followed after that, but that didn’t seem to deter him.

“This one arrived earlier, but unfortunately he seems to be a little inexperienced in controlling his strength.”

With a friendly smile, Barkan immediately blamed Mirdal for all the destruction he caused. Unconscious and unable to defend himself, Mirdal naturally received the glares and criticism of the knights.

“Maybe it was his first time in action, so he got too excited and lost control. It shouldn’t have been a mess to this extent… I feel sorry for the shop owner.”

At his words, which cleverly added to Mirdal’s fault, the eyes of the knights sharpened a little more. In fact, Madame DeKie, the owner of the hat shop, was an influential figure with a distinguished reputation in society. She was also an exemplary citizen who showed favor towards the knights who patrolled around her store.

But now her new store had been reduced to ashes. It was obvious that there would be a lot of resentment from the prominent ladies of the social circles and complaints of the knights not doing their jobs properly.

Even in a situation where there was a Kitan on the loose, the knights glaring at Mirdal had no choice but to tremble. This was the same as burning down an entire house in hopes of killing a cockroach.

“……Alright. I think we need to hear about the situation from this Harmash separately.”

Two knights supported the unconscious Mirdal and lifted him up. They checked his pockets and pulled out his Masaka insignia. Since it was like an identity card, it contained all the information about a Masaka’s family and origins.

Mirdal would be taken to the security post and interrogated as soon as he woke up. While he wouldn’t receive harsh treatment as a Masaka, he would be sweating quite a bit when he tried to explain his actions.

Erel, who had just witnessed Barkan’s manipulation tactics, found it absurd. But she had no intention of drawing his attention. It was because Barkan’s smiling face, even at a side angle, was terrifying to look at.

Because of this, she almost didn’t hear what he said.

“That’s too bad.”

‘Too bad you didn’t kill Mirdal when you had the chance? Is that what you mean?’