Chapter Five

The Nightmare Drake lowered its massive head.

For one terrible moment, nobody moved.

Even the horses had gone silent.

Its crimson eyes swept across the road before settling on Elara.

She felt it immediately.

A pressure against her chest.

Not physical.

Something deeper.

As though an invisible hand had reached inside her body and wrapped itself around her heart.

Her silver mark burned.

The five stars surrounding the crescent moon pulsed beneath her skin.

One of them shone brighter than the others.

[First Fate Bond: Awakening.]

Elara stared at the message.

"Who is it?"

The system disappeared.

"Of course."

She almost laughed.

Even now, it refused to explain anything.

"Elara!"

Her father's voice snapped her attention back to reality.

Cedric stood several steps ahead, sword drawn.

The guards had formed a defensive line between the carriage and the beast.

"Stay inside!"

Elara looked at the enormous creature.

She knew what Nightmare Drakes were.

They were not ordinary monsters.

They were ancient magical creatures capable of consuming enormous amounts of mana. Their breath could burn through enchanted steel, and their scales were resistant to most forms of magic.

According to the novel, only an SSS-rank Sentinel could fight one alone.

And even then, victory wasn't guaranteed.

Her father wasn't an SSS Sentinel.

Neither were the guards.

They were going to die.

Elara's stomach twisted.

She couldn't simply sit inside the carriage and watch.

The drake suddenly opened its mouth.

A red glow formed between its teeth.

"DOWN!"

Cedric shouted.

The guards raised their shields.

Fire erupted.

A torrent of crimson flames exploded across the road.

The air became unbearably hot.

Elara felt someone grab her arm and pull her backward.

Her mother.

They fell behind the carriage just as the flames swept over the road.

The shields screamed.

Several guards were thrown backward.

One crashed into a tree.

Another dropped his sword.

"Father!"

Cedric remained standing.

His sword was buried in the ground, and a translucent barrier surrounded him.

But cracks were already spreading across it.

Elara's heart pounded.

Her mother gripped her shoulder.

"Don't go."

"But he'll die."

"Your father knows what he's doing."

Elara looked at the barrier.

It was already failing.

"No, he doesn't."

The words escaped before she could stop them.

She knew.

She knew exactly what would happen.

If the drake attacked again, Cedric would not survive.

She couldn't let another person die because of a story she remembered.

Elara stepped forward.

Her mother grabbed her.

"Elara!"

"I can stop it."

"You don't know what you're doing."

"I do."

She pulled away.

The moment her feet touched the road, the air changed.

The Nightmare Drake froze.

Its enormous head turned toward her.

Elara felt the creature's emotions.

Rage.

Hunger.

Pain.

But beneath all of it was something else.

Fear.

She stopped.

Why would a creature like this be afraid?

The answer came through the bond.

Not words.

A sensation.

Something was hurting it.

Something buried deep inside its spiritual core.

Elara closed her eyes.

She reached toward it.

A wave of silver light flowed from her body.

The guards gasped.

Her hair lifted in the magical wind.

The drake roared.

Elara almost stumbled.

Its spiritual energy crashed against hers like a tidal wave.

For a moment, she couldn't breathe.

Then she saw it.

A black crystal embedded inside the creature's spiritual core.

It pulsed like a second heart.

Corruption.

But this was different from what she had seen in the Moonfang.

This corruption had been placed there deliberately.

Someone had poisoned the drake.

Elara opened her eyes.

"Who did this to you?"

The creature roared.

The answer came through the bond.

A man.

Black clothing.

Silver eyes.

A hand covered in strange markings.

Elara's blood turned cold.

She didn't recognize him.

But the creature had seen him.

Someone was deliberately corrupting magical beasts.

Why?

The drake suddenly lunged.

Elara raised both hands.

Silver light exploded from her palms.

The beast collided with the barrier.

The ground shook.

Elara screamed.

The barrier cracked.

She could feel the creature's spiritual core tearing against hers.

She needed to release it.

But something held her there.

A strange warmth.

Not her own.

Someone else's.

A presence brushed against her soul.

Cold.

Powerful.

Controlled.

For one heartbeat, she felt as though someone was standing directly behind her.

A man's voice whispered inside her mind.

Don't be afraid.

Elara's eyes widened.

She didn't know the voice.

Yet somehow—

It felt familiar.

The warmth spread through her spiritual core.

Her silver light became brighter.

The black crystal inside the drake cracked.

Once.

Twice.

Then shattered.

The Nightmare Drake screamed.

A shockwave swept across the road.

Elara was thrown backward.

Someone caught her.

She landed against a solid chest.

For a moment, she couldn't move.

Then she looked up.

Her father.

Cedric held her tightly.

"Are you insane?"

Elara blinked.

He looked furious.

And terrified.

"I'm sorry."

"Never do that again."

He released her and turned toward the road.

The Nightmare Drake was gone.

Only scorched earth remained.

The guards slowly rose.

Nobody spoke.

Elara looked at her wrist.

The first star was still glowing.

Then a new message appeared.

[First Fate Bond synchronized.]

Her breathing stopped.

[Bond Target: Adrian Valen.]

She stared.

No.

That was impossible.

Adrian was thousands of miles away.

He wasn't supposed to appear anywhere near this part of the story.

Yet at that exact moment, far beyond the northern mountains, inside the fortress of the Northern Duke, a man stood alone beside a window.

Adrian Valen opened his eyes.

Black hair fell across his forehead.

His expression was cold.

He had spent the previous night battling an unfamiliar disturbance inside his spiritual core.

Then, without warning—

It disappeared.

Completely.

For the first time in years, there was silence inside his mind.

Adrian slowly lifted his hand.

A faint silver glow appeared against his palm.

His eyes narrowed.

"Who are you?"

He didn't know why he had asked the question.

He didn't know why he could suddenly feel the presence of someone far away.

But he knew one thing.

Someone had entered his spiritual world.

And he intended to find out who.

---

Back on the road, Elara remained frozen.

Adrian Valen.

The Northern Duke.

The first male lead.

She had promised herself she would never meet him.

She hadn't.

Not yet.

So why was there already a bond between them?

Her heart sank.

The system appeared again.

[Fate deviation increasing.]

Elara stared at the words.

Another message appeared.

[Warning: The Host's presence has altered the original destiny of the Five.]

Then—

[Estimated survival probability: 37%.]

Elara's face went pale.

"Thirty-seven?"

The system vanished.

She looked toward the distant road.

The Imperial Capital was still two days away.

And already, the story she remembered was beginning to fall apart.

Elara slowly covered the glowing mark on her wrist.

She had wanted nothing more than to survive.

But perhaps survival would no longer be as simple as avoiding the main characters.

Because one of them had already found her.

Even without knowing her name.

And somewhere inside the darkness of the northern kingdom, Adrian Valen had begun searching for the woman who had entered his soul.