Duke of Hembiurg

The grip on his sword wavered slightly as he waited for the ghoul's attack, Nathan felt like he might fall asleep at any moment, but he was holding on by sheer force of will.

His head would occasionally drop slightly before he stared at the calamity again. But even as the seconds passed, the calamity did not move, it simply stared at him as it continued to growl with an increasingly tense face.

Suddenly he noticed how the ghoul tried to remove something from his forearm. Nathan squinted and saw a silver bracelet clutched tightly around the ghoul's wrist.

Nathan didn't know what it was, but he took advantage of the fact that it seemed to be the ghoul's source of distraction.

Tightening his grip on the hilt of his sword as much as he could, Nathan ran towards the ghoul and swung his sword.

The ghoul suddenly looked at him out of its stupefied state and with its open hand defended itself against Nathan's attack.

His long fingernails were strong enough to deflect Nathan's blow, so he then used his other arm to attack Nathan's torso.

Nathan defended himself and continued to fight the ghoul. For him, he was doing everything he could to finish off the calamity, but if someone were watching from the outside, they would see how much slower than normal they were both moving, even a mundane human would be able to see their movements.

Nathan clenched his jaw anxiously, knowing that he could not resist the sleep that was invading him much longer. His essence was being drained at a constant rate as he needed to strengthen his body to be able to move properly and not fall asleep, but knowing that he was reaching a limit, Nathan decided to end it all in one move.

He stepped back nimbly, and the ghoul didn't bother to follow him, he even looked more annoyed with the bracelet in his hand as he growled furiously, banging his head in annoyance.

Nathan sighed and used most of the essence that was left in his body, pouring it over the edge of his sword and the rest into his arms.

He didn't need speed, he just needed to kill the ghoul.

After the sword was at the limit of what it could hold of essence, Nathan leapt at the ghoul, who looked back at him with fury before letting out a scream that echoed through the corridors of the castle.

The ghoul opened its hands wide revealing its sharp claws, then stretched out its arms to hurt Nathan even if it cost him his life.

Nathan had no intention of turning into a ghoul, so using his remaining strength, he held back and instead of attacking, he threw his sword.

The ghoul, expecting a melee attack, did not manage to defend himself against the sword that was rapidly approaching his torso.

The sword plunged into the chest of the ghoul, who cried out in pain and with the last of his strength ran towards Nathan, still with the sword stuck in his body.

Nathan was already on his knees after having used most of his essence, so he could no longer dodge.

However, the ghoul's skin quickly began to change color, acquiring a reddish hue that became more prominent with each passing second.

The ghoul's skin began to evaporate and a few centimeters before it reached Nathan its body vanished completely in a cloud of ash.

Nathan remained on his knees while he sighed. He knew that when ghouls died, they disappeared as if they were burning. He trusted the information he had learned, and it worked.

'Ah… Damn'

However, Nathan didn't even have the strength to stand up anymore. So, with his vision blurred, he was barely able to see the end of the corridor where Lynn was lying asleep.

Before he passed out, Nathan saw something silver next to him and out of reaction he reached out and grabbed the bracelet that had been on the ghoul's wrist.

Seconds later his eyes closed, and he fell asleep on the cold ceiling of the corridor.

***

Hundreds of meters below Nathan, in a large room that resembled a large throne room, a group of five people were looking at each other in silence.

Faye, Nathan's sister, was holding a sword in her right hand and in her left the severed head of a calamity.

Her face and clothes were stained with black blood, but she didn't seem to mind in the least, as the smile on her face revealed her mood.

With his sleeve, she wiped some of the blood that trickled down her forehead and sighed as she tossed the head she held to the side.

"So, what are you going to do?"

Faye looked at the group of four in front of her.

Among them, the man she had fought outside the rift was glaring at her in fury as he clutched his arm in pain covering the wound he had.

"Fucking bitch..."

Faye just shrugged at the man's insult.

"...Right ...Let's prioritize getting out of this place" the old man said with annoyance after considering it for a while.

All around her, dozens of calamities lay dead on the ground, their body parts mostly sliced off by fine cuts.

Faye did not bother to look at the woman and the man with the strange hat behind the old man, knowing that they were his subordinates. Instead, she noticed the man with straight black hair, who wore baggy black trousers and a tight-fitting shirt that revealed his muscles.

"And you? King of the mercenaries"

The man simply brought his sword to his shoulder and relaxed his body.

"I will do as you say, princess. As long as you pay the appropriate price"

Faye clicked her tongue in annoyance. She didn't like being called that.

"Name your price"

The King of the mercenaries shrugged.

"I'll say it as soon as we get out of this place... before then"

The man raised his sword and pointed towards the throne where a pale man with white hair reaching to his waist was watching them with an amused expression.

"I suggest we take care of that first"

Faye looked at the man sitting on the throne and smiled.

"I agree"

The man on the throne suddenly started clapping periodically. He then got up from the throne and began to walk down the stairs as he approached the group.

"It's been a while since I've seen something this interesting"

The man paused somewhat in surprise. 

"Oh... it seems my manners have grown rusty over time. Being cooped up in this castle for so many years takes its toll on the mind you know"

He then leaned forward slightly.

"My name is Vcansire, Duke of Hembiurg... or once was"

The whole group fell silent at the introduction of the man who called himself Vcansire. Then the mercenary king began to laugh loudly.

"HAHAHAHAHA" He wiped away a tear that was streaming down his face and began to flow essence onto his sword "That's a surprise, this is the first time I've ever seen a calamity speak"

Vcansire stood upright again and now had an indifferent look on his face.

"There seems to be some confusion... I am not what you call a calamity. Now, I respectfully request you to be quiet, you damned monkeys who dare to raise your weapons at me"

The man released a pressure that made the five present in the room recoil. Not only that, the hundreds of people in the castle were paralyzed by that energy, only a few people could not feel the man's aura, mainly because they were asleep.