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Katia Heinkel Craven’s notoriety is well-known even within the military headquarters.

Lone wolf, someone who believes they’re superior to all, and possesses an alarming level of drive and recklessness.

If she desires something, she’ll exclude everyone around her until she gets it. If anyone dares to get in her way, they won’t be forgiven.

Most notably, when it comes to anything related to Lionheart’s fiancé, she sticks her nose into every detail without leaving anything out.

She doesn’t dislike people, but that doesn’t mean she pays attention to them either. It’s like her indifference radiates strongly.

So,

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that those who saw her now were gripped with an almost cosmic level of terror.

Katia, smiling brightly, walking briskly across the corridor with a cheerful grin, was so strange that such a description would fit.

“Ah, good morning!”

In fact, one of the attendants who received her greeting unconsciously took a step back.

If the person who normally demanded every piece of information about Aiden, relentlessly questioning, “Shouldn’t this be like this? Shouldn’t that be done like that?” suddenly behaves like this, anyone would react similarly.

“Hehe.”

Even letting out such pointless noises only amplified the fear.

Unlike her usual unnerving grin, she wore an expression of genuine happiness, unable to contain her delight.

And there, in her arms, Katia tightly held the hip flask she recently received from Aiden, spreading chaos within the military headquarters.

‘Friend!’

The truth is, even Katia couldn’t help herself.

Whenever that word came to mind, she couldn’t control this kind of reaction, so what was she supposed to do?

“Hehehe.”

As she again let out a sound that instilled metaphysical fear in those nearby, Katia moved outside.

She herself wasn’t entirely sure what she was doing. It was just that her body was filled with so much energy that she couldn’t stay still.

Probably.

That’s why her reaction to the ‘something’ flying toward her was a little slower than usual, as her mind was distracted.

“…..”

In an instant, a violent act — something that could be called terrorism — tore through the peaceful scene.

Even in such a situation, her reflexes allowed her to barely dodge it by tilting her head, though it was hard to avoid the collateral damage.

A massive steel beam shattered the windows of the central government building, and screams erupted from all directions.

Four in total. The long steel beams were distinctly covered in talismans stuck on like layers of mud.

These beams, flying one after another, crashed into the ground around Katia, forming a square and trapping her.

‘A barrier?’

The Suppression Pillars.

These are items made in the Far East. Spiritual objects infused with the maximum power of shamans to control ferocious mountain spirits.

Since they were made to subdue a beast whose roar could overturn a mountain, there are few more effective tools for ‘suppressing’ someone.

‘They’re using this, on me?’

Seeing such a rare object in the Empire, especially from a place so distant you’d need to cross an entire continent to reach its borders, is no easy feat.

Whoever managed to acquire these must possess incredibly, incredibly, incredibly strong power or influence.

It’s strange that someone would go through such lengths to specifically target Katia with this.

Who could it be, and why?

Before Katia could even finish sorting through these questions.

-!!

– ……

The four Suppression Pillars, embedded near her, began to resonate with each other. The talismans wrapped around the steel beams flew toward her, attaching to her body as if they were enveloping her.

Her divine energy was being drained. As if designed to perfectly sap her strength, she could feel her power weakening in real-time.

Then, the talismans and pillars began to resonate again, tearing apart the very space around them.

In an instant, the surrounding scenery changed. It was clear that Katia had been entirely transported somewhere else within the barrier.

She blinked once, and the changed landscape slowly came into focus.

A wide, open clearing. She wasn’t sure how far she had been taken from the central government building, but it was obvious they had chosen a remote place with no people in sight.

This meant that whatever was going to happen here, they didn’t want anyone else to witness it.

Indeed, a few armed men were already surrounding her, waiting.

“Who are you guys?” Katia asked, tilting her head.

“Kidnapping someone in broad daylight, planning a group assault or something?”

“Are you sure you can handle this?”

Instead of answering, vivid auras of energy flared up around the bodies of those encircling her.

Katia’s eyes subtly narrowed.

‘-Knights?’

The colors of their auras split into three or four distinct shades. They handled their energy with a density unimaginable to the average person.

Anyone who had trained their energy to such a degree couldn’t be anything but knights. And they seemed to be quite skilled at that.

Though there was a clear difference in skill compared to Noel, who could produce a pure white aura, this many knights gathered at once was a formidable threat.

At last, the group of knights charged at her in unison.

But still.

‘Are they really picking a fight, knowing who I am?’

Katia tilted her head and twisted her fingers in a symbolic gesture representing Sior, the god of purification. Following that, a tremendous amount of divine power began flowing from her body.

Despite being affected by the Suppression Pillars and covered with the talismans attached to her, she still had plenty of supernatural power left to use.

Challenging someone like her was reckless, beyond reckless.

Because of the overwhelming amount of power she had naturally, even controlling and lessening it herself was difficult — a destructive flame began to burn brighter.

More precisely.

It was just before that flame exploded.

Katia, about to wield her divine power, hesitated and stopped.

It was as if she suddenly remembered something.

In that moment of hesitation, a slash aimed at her cut through her body.

“She’s… not resisting?”

A perplexed voice from nearby echoed, and Levant furrowed his brow inside his visor.

Indeed, this was perplexing.

Given who their target was, they had taken precautions to weaken her twice over, and on top of that, they brought additional “measures.”

Yet, it seemed as if their opponent had little intention of resisting.

‘But… he said it wouldn’t be easy,’ Levant thought to himself, recalling the unsavory face of the Administrator who had predicted this. With a sigh, he resigned himself.

‘It’s better this way.’

But instead of speculating further, Levant reaffirmed his determination by readying his sword again.

After all.

“You all probably know what’s going on by now,” he said to his men.

This was their chance to handle the dirty work, gain the prince’s favor, and deliver a blow to those annoying associates of Lionheart.

“She’s not someone who’ll die easily, so don’t hold back. Since we used magic to bring her here, the pursuit team will be late.”

Regardless of her condition, they were simply here to do their job.

As expected, the military headquarters was thrown into unprecedented chaos.

It was no surprise, considering a near-terrorist act had taken place in broad daylight.

However, the more pressing issue that escalated the confusion was the question of where exactly Katia had been “transported.”

No one could track her whereabouts after being teleported with magic. Naturally, no one had ever wielded such power before.

Except for one person.

Someone who had immediately dashed out of the headquarters with the words, “I’ll find her no matter what.”

[Aiden, have you found her?]

“Somehow!” 

[–How did you do it?!] 

Noel’s shocked voice rang out.

It was only natural — Aiden had done something alone that even the elites at the central headquarters wouldn’t have dared to attempt.

Even Aiden himself hadn’t been sure it would work.

‘Now that I think about it!’

When Katia first met him, didn’t it feel as though she somehow *knew* he was there and had come looking for him?

She even saw right through Aiden’s disguise at that time.

Thinking she might have some related ability, he searched through his skill menu, and the result was a jackpot.

-System Message  

Copying ‘Divine Sensitivity: Perception.’

-Skill Info  

Divine Sensitivity: Perception (Holy Body)  

Divine beings can sense each other’s presence acutely. It’s easy to track the location of the target!

Thankfully, Aiden had two skill-copying tokens from Katia, and he didn’t regret using one in such an urgent moment.

“I’ll send you her location, so please dispatch support immediately! I’m going ahead!”

[Wait, Aiden! It’s dangerous to go alone–]

Before he could hear the end of the sentence, Aiden dashed toward the source of the divine energy he had sensed.

It didn’t take long to find what he was looking for.

Explosions. Air being swept aside. Remnants of energy filling the surroundings.

Several knights were relentlessly attacking someone in the center without giving them any break.

“-Pursuers? Already?”  

Someone muttered, pointing their sword toward Aiden, gathering energy at its tip.

Aiden also noticed another person quickly grabbing the wrist of the one preparing to attack.

“He’s Lionheart’s fiancé. If you strike him directly, we’ll have a mess on our hands!”

“Ugh!”  

As they hesitated due to those words, Aiden didn’t. Without any delay, he pushed past them and rushed toward Katia.

Even though the knights had paused their attacks momentarily, their hostility was still clear.

But Aiden didn’t seem to care about them at all.

“Katia, are you okay–”

His sentence was cut off.

Katia’s appearance was a wreck.

She was crouched down as if hugging something between her knees, her clothes in tatters, her body covered in gruesome stab wounds and bruises.

How long had she been standing there taking hits? Her regeneration hadn’t even kept up, leaving the injuries deeply marked on her.

“Why…”

Aiden gritted his teeth as he took off his coat and wrapped it around her.

“Why did you let them beat you like this? You’re more than capable of defending yourself.”

“It’s nothing. You know me. It doesn’t even hurt.”  

Her voice returned in a whisper, barely audible.

“That’s not the point–!”

“You told me not to fight.”

Aiden froze in place.

Indeed, Katia wasn’t the type to just stand there and take a beating like this.

Hadn’t someone recently asked her to stop picking fights with people for no reason? To avoid hurting others whenever possible?

If only she hadn’t remembered that request, things might’ve been different.

Thoughts raced through Aiden’s mind.

‘If they’re knights…’

Knights of the empire were the face of the military, each with their own standing.

Politically and militarily, they were treated as top-tier personnel.

If something bad happened to such a large group of knights, especially involving her…

It could spell trouble for Aiden.

So,

Even though she could have easily subdued them,

She had stood still and let them beat her until it came to this.

Before Aiden could even find the right words, as he was wrapping his coat around her, his hand brushed against her body, causing Katia to flinch as if an electric current ran through her.

She curled up further, as if desperately trying to hide her torso.

“Are you hurt? Let me see.”  

“N-no, wait, this, this–”

Her voice, unusually flustered, reached his ears, but Aiden ignored it and gently pulled back her arms.

Then, he saw what she had been protecting so closely while being beaten.

A hip flask.

The one he had given her not long ago as a symbol of their friendship.

Despite how desperately she had tried to protect it, it was now torn, battered, and split in two.

While Aiden was at a loss for words, Katia finally spoke, her voice trembling ever so slightly.

“-Are we… still friends?”

It was around then that Aiden finally looked at her face for the first time.

She was trying so hard to wear the same smile she always did.

But even from the corners of that smile, Aiden could clearly see the trembling.

A trembling filled with anxiety so obvious even he couldn’t miss it.

“I couldn’t… protect it as well as I should’ve.” 

Because of that…

She stayed in place, taking the beating without even running away, until she ended up in this state.

Because she was afraid it would get worse.

Afraid that if the ‘symbol’ of their friendship broke, they wouldn’t be friends anymore.

“…”

Aiden closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath.

It was only after a moment passed that he managed to speak, trying to sound rational.

“Yes. Of course.”

“…Really?”

“So, could you wait for just a moment?”

He turned his gaze toward the knights around them, who still had their swords raised.

“As her friend, I need to collect some payback from these bad guys.”

And then, all at once, a burst of supernatural energy exploded around him.

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