The black-hooded man kept running through the thick forest, completely ignoring everything else. In his rough and hurried strides, a sharp, thorny branch suddenly sliced across Olivia’s face as she hung limply in his arms.

Slash!!

The thorn cut deep into Olivia’s smooth cheek, leaving a long wound that welled with fresh blood.

However, Olivia did not move or make a sound; she was completely unconscious from the effects of the powerful sleeping potion.

The kidnapper’s instinct grew more and more uneasy. His heart hammered with a terror he had never felt before in his entire life.

The forest atmosphere around him felt increasingly suffocating and cold, as if the angel of death was hovering right above his head.

"Damn it! I have to kill this girl quickly before I get caught!" the man cursed, panting heavily.

He finally stopped in front of a dark, old stone cave. The area was located deep inside the forbidden forest where regular humans never set foot a place crawling with starving wild beasts.

Roughly, he threw Olivia’s unconscious body onto the cold, rocky floor of the cave.

Thud!

The man quickly pulled out his sharp knife, which gleamed under the faint light at the cave’s entrance.

His eyes scanned the area wildly, and he raised the knife high, aiming the blade directly at Olivia’s heart to end her life.

However, right at the moment he was about to swing his weapon, his entire body suddenly became weak.

His hands shook violently, as if a pair of invisible, heavy hands was pressing down on his shoulders from behind. Because he lost his focus and his strength dropped instantly, his swing missed!

Stab!

The knife did not hit her heart, but instead plunged deep into Olivia’s upper shoulder, barely missing her chest.

"Argh!" Thick, warm red blood immediately squirted out, soaking the maid uniform Olivia was wearing.

Seeing that his prey was still alive, the man gritted his teeth. He tried to pull his knife out, intending to stab Olivia right in the heart once more.

But at that exact second, a feeling of extreme discomfort and terror struck his soul again. His hair stood on end, and his breath hitched. The atmosphere inside the cave turned incredibly terrifying, like a giant monster was staring at him from the shadows.

"What is wrong with me...? This is the first time I’ve been this scared!" the man whispered, his face pale as a ghost.

He looked at Olivia’s blood-stained face, then looked out at the silent woods. The fear of ’something’ hunting him outweighed his desire to finish the job.

The man stood up in a hurry, stepping backward in a panic until the knife slipped from his grip.

He took one last look at Olivia’s body, lying weakly inside the isolated cave.

"Just assume she’s dead... She won’t survive in that state anyway," the man said, trying to comfort himself. With a severe injury, heavy blood loss, and wild beasts all around in the middle of this deep forest, the chances for a regular human maid to live were zero.

"I’m getting out of here!" the man said to himself before turning around and running out of the cave with all his might, leaving Olivia behind in a highly critical condition.

At the exact same time, in the middle of the thick forest...

Javien, who was speeding like black lightning, suddenly skidded to a halt on a large tree

branch.

BOOM!

Javien knelt on the branch while gripping his right wrist tightly.

The pain striking him this time was no longer just a dull throb, but it felt like he was being burned and shredded with a flaming knife! The demon blood inside his body raged violently, thrashing as if it wanted to break his magical seal in an instant.

Javien clenched his jaw so hard that his lips bled.

Underneath his armor sleeve, even though he could not see Olivia’s magical thread, the skin on his wrist suddenly blistered and turned red a sign that the destiny on the other side was on the brink of death.

"Olivia... blood..." Javien whispered, his voice trembling violently.

His restricted demon sense of smell suddenly caught a scent he feared the most. No longer the smell of the sleeping potion, but the scent of Olivia’s fresh blood flowing heavily in the air.

The scent came from the direction of a stone cave in the forbidden forest area.

Javien’s violet eyes instantly turned completely blood-red. A thick, freezing black aura poured out from his body, killing the grass around the tree. His promise to Olivia not to act recklessly completely flew out the window. All that remained in his head was one thing

Save Olivia, destroy anyone who touched her.

Swoosh!

Javien leapt down and dashed with unbelievable speed, snapping the tree branches in his path like a hurricane.

Within just a few seconds, the knight’s tall figure was already standing in front of the dark stone cave. Javien stopped.

His glowing red eyes stared into the darkness of the cave.

On the cold cave floor, a small body lay limply.

Javien stepped inside, his chest heaving violently. The moment he approached the body, his heart seemed to stop beating.

In front of him, Olivia lay perfectly still. Her smooth cheek that always looked clean now had a long cut that was bleeding.

And what completely shattered Javien’s sanity was Olivia’s upper shoulder there was a deep stab wound, and her maid uniform was drenched in thick blood that was still flowing.

"Olivia..."

Javien’s voice was incredibly quiet, shaking with an immense fear and rage. He knelt beside Olivia, his trembling fingers gently touching her cold cheek.

The moment that touch happened, a miracle occurred without Javien realizing it.

The magical thread on Olivia’s wrist, which was almost snapping and growing dim earlier, suddenly flashed a very bright and powerful red glow, absorbing the remnants of life energy from Javien to stabilize Olivia’s weakening heart.

Javien placed his ear against Olivia’s chest.

Thump... thump...

Olivia’s breath was very faint, but she was still alive.

The relief he felt lasted only for a moment before it was replaced by a deep, dark rage. Javien stood back up.

He looked toward the outside of the cave, tracking the scent of fear from the black-hooded man who had just fled a few minutes ago. The coward’s scent was still very fresh outside the cave.

The magical seal on Javien’s chest shook violently, cracking piece by piece because he no longer wanted to control his demon power. The wind inside the cave swirled fiercely, sending stone dust flying.

"Do you think... you can run after doing this to her?" Javien growled, his voice turning deep and echoing like a monster’s.

Javien looked at Olivia for a moment, making sure she was safe inside the cave, before he turned to face the exit.

With glowing red eyes and a killing intent capable of stopping a regular human’s heart, Javien stepped out of the cave to hunt down the black-hooded man.

Tonight, the forbidden forest would witness a demon going on a rampage for blood.

Before the black-hooded man could walk far from the cliff area, the cloudy sky immediately poured down a massive torrential rain.

Lightning flashed, tearing through the earth, followed by crazy roars of thunder, as if matching Javien’s boiling rage.

The hooded man tripped over a tree root, falling face-first onto the ground that was turning into mud. As he tried to stand up while wiping the rain from his face, his footsteps froze.

In front of him stood a tall figure cloaked in a thick black aura. A pair of violet eyes that had now turned blood-red glowed in the darkness of the night. Javien was not holding a sword, but his killing intent made the oxygen around the man completely disappear.

"W-What... are you a monster?!" the man screamed in terror.

Without a word, Javien dashed forward. One of Javien’s strong hands immediately grabbed the man’s collar and lifted him high with a single hand, before slamming his body against the nearest tree trunk until the sound of cracking bones could be heard.

CRACK!

"Arghhh!" the man screamed in pain, but his cries were drowned out by the roaring heavy rain.

Javien showed absolutely no mercy. He dragged the now limp man back toward the cave entrance to shelter from the rain. Under the stone roof of the cave, Javien stepped heavily on the man’s chest, pressing down until the man coughed up blood.

"Who Hired You!!!?"

Javien’s voice sounded incredibly deep, quiet, yet vibrating with a terrifying demon power.

He leaned down, gripping the stab wound he had made on the man’s shoulder with his fingers, twisting it slowly to force the villain to speak.

"ARGHHH! Mercy! Mercy!"

the man wailed, his tears mixing with blood and rain. He could no longer bear the torture of the devil in front of him. He opened his mouth, wanting to shout Delia’s name to save his own life.

"The one who hired me... s-she is..."

Suddenly, the hooded man’s eyes widened completely. The veins in his neck and face popped out abruptly, as if something was choking his throat from the inside.