Deep within Taymer Palace, lanterns swayed and flickered.

The corridors, once filled with the elegant flow of string music, now echoed with nothing but the piercing wail of alarms and the crackle of exploding magic.

The air was thick with the stench of burning and blood.

The intruder had come too fast, too violently, like a phantom pouncing on its prey in the dead of night. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"Stop him! Activate all rune traps! Guard Team, form up! His target is the Princess—do not let anyone near her residence!"

Annabelle’s voice was raw, but she struggled to maintain her composure and authority.

The Lady Chief, usually meticulous in her management of Taymer Palace’s internal affairs, now had her hair in disarray, her elegant uniform stained with dust and splatters of blood.

She gripped a Short Staff inlaid with a small Energy Storage Crystal.

Duke Margaret had personally entrusted it to her before departing—a key of authority capable of temporarily activating parts of the palace’s defensive Barriers.

Just ten minutes ago, a ghostly, dark gray figure had breached the outermost magical wards and physical checkpoints without any warning. It was as if he walked in another dimension, treating the elite guards and basic Barriers as if they were nothing.

The few High-tier Magic guards Margaret had personally stationed there activated their most powerful United Binding Magic the instant the intruder appeared.

However, the intruder merely lifted a hand. Obscure ripples flowed from his fingertips, and the Light Prison—strong enough to trap several Third-Class Wizard Apprentices—shattered without a sound. The six guards who had been casting the magic immediately collapsed, vomiting blood. Their minds had been severely damaged, and it was unknown if they were dead or alive.

’Shadow Hunter...’ Annabelle gritted her teeth, dredging the chilling name up from her memory.

He was a rogue Official Wizard on the internal wanted list of the Eye of the Profound. His methods were treacherous, and he specialized in stealth, breaking Barriers, and mental assaults. His power was unfathomable.

The protective forces left by Duke Margaret had been crushed with ease the moment they met him.

The gulf in their power was like a bottomless chasm.

"Hold the line! Buy time for Leia to get the Princess out!"

Annabelle yelled, swinging the Short Staff once more.

The crystal at the staff’s tip pulsed with intense energy, activating the final hidden "Paralyzing Thorn" rune at the far end of the corridor.

Twisted, dark-green runes instantly materialized on the floor and walls. Countless energy spikes laced with a neurotoxin shot out, hurtling toward the approaching dark gray figure.

For the first time, the Shadow Hunter paused his seemingly leisurely stroll.

A thin, writhing layer of shadow materialized around him, silently devouring the incoming energy spikes.

From beneath his hood came a soft, almost playful scoff.

"Futile."

His voice was as cold as an arctic wind.

...

THUMP THUMP THUMP!

Clutching Eleanor, Leia burst out of the bedchamber and sprinted down the thickly carpeted corridor like a startled bird.

Her heart hammered against her ribs, and she could almost hear the distant screams and sounds of destruction.

’If only... if only Lord Richard were here...’ The desperate thought flashed through Leia’s mind, unbidden.

Richard Duval. He was the Lord of Monte Territory, the Governor’s older brother, and a nobleman who was also a Great Knight. He had been Duke Temeris’s guardian back when she was still a princess.

Now, he was the Commander of the Merris Guard.

’If he were here, couldn’t he at least... at least hold the intruder off for a little while?’

’Could he fight his way out with the Princess?’

She knew it was impossible, but right now, the thought was the only faint hope she could cling to.

However, just as they were about to turn into the side passage leading to the art gallery, Eleanor, held tight in Leia’s arms, suddenly struggled.

"Leia, stop."

The little girl’s voice was exceptionally clear and calm, a stark contrast to the surrounding panic.

Caught by surprise, Leia nearly stumbled. She looked down, aghast. "Princess? We can’t stop! We have to—"

"Father is here," Eleanor interrupted, her voice still steady. Her dark eyes gazed into the endless darkness at the other end of the corridor, as if she could see through walls and space. "I heard him. He’s here."

Leia froze, as if struck by lightning.

Her first reaction was disbelief.

’Lord Melfield?’

’The Governor of Monte Territory?’

’He’s supposed to be in the Northern Territory right now, thousands of miles away!’

’How could he possibly be here?’

’Is she hallucinating out of fear?’

But then, she remembered that morning three months ago in the garden gazebo. Eleanor had said with the same certainty, "Father should be here," and then Murphy’s figure had truly appeared beneath the archway.

That kind of precise premonition was no mere coincidence.

’Should I believe her, or not?’

In that moment, time seemed to stretch.

In the distance, the faint, dull thud of an impact echoed—as if some heavy, reinforced door had been forced open.

The chill in the air intensified.

Leia bit her tongue hard, using the sharp pain to force herself to calm down.

She chose to believe—partly because of what had happened last time, and partly because she had no other choice.

"Right... right, Princess. His Lordship is here, that’s wonderful." Her voice was strained as she tried to soothe Eleanor, and herself. "But... but even if he’s here, we need to get somewhere safe first! He’ll find us! It’s too dangerous here. That Wizard is terrifying. His Lordship... he’s a Great Knight, but even so, I’m afraid he..."

Leia couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.

Deep down, she didn’t believe that a Great Knight at the "Peak of Mortality" could truly stand against a prepared Official Wizard who had already penetrated so deep into the palace.