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Hannon had been kidnapped.

The moment I heard the news, I was already outside, tracking them down.

“Solvas, you said it was shadow magic just now, right?”

“...Yes, it was definitely shadow magic.”

Shadow magic was exclusive to the Umbra Count’s family.

They trained in it to plant spies all over the world.

So, if someone used shadow magic, it meant they were from the Umbra family.

“Ban, did you see the kidnapper’s face?”

“They wore a magical robe, so I couldn’t see their face. But I know their build. They were tall and solidly built.”

Mages generally weren’t so physically sturdy.

But for a spy, close combat would be necessary too.

It was definitely someone operated by the Umbra side.

My gaze turned to Solvas.

Solvas was chasing after the kidnapper along with Isabel, Ban, and me.

But thinking it was the Umbra family behind this, he seemed emotionally conflicted.

Who on earth kidnapped Hannon, and why?

The reason came to me faster than expected.

‘Duke of Whitewood.’

Among the nobles causing the current rebellion, there were mysterious individuals aiding them.

They were supposed to belong to the Mystics.

Duke of Whitewood would rush anywhere in the world if it involved Mystics.

In fact, other kingdoms consulted her first when it came to anything related to Mystics.

She was undoubtedly a duke representing the Empire.

But when it came to Mystics, she had walked a path more heroic than anyone.

All kingdoms respected this and granted her special access for matters involving Mystics.

The noble faction of Panisys must have considered this when they chose to employ Mystic users.

They would have feared the royalists seeking Duke of Whitewood’s help the most.

‘That’s why they targeted Hannon Irey, whom Duke of Whitewood had been paying the most attention to lately.’

When I had been impersonating Hannon, Duke of Whitewood personally kept me close.

That alone showed how much affection she had for Hannon.

And just now, Hannon had come to Panisys as reinforcements.

There couldn’t have been a better opportunity for the noble faction.

Their goal was to succeed in the rebellion.

If they could just detain Hannon for a while, they could bind Duke of Whitewood’s movements.

Later, under the pretext of “protection,” they could simply return Hannon without conflict.

A click of the tongue escaped me.

This whole situation arose because of the path I had walked as Hannon.

If anything, I should have been the one kidnapped.

Now an innocent Hannon had been taken instead.

Moreover, Hannon had recently been seriously injured.

He was still in the middle of recovery.

If he got hurt again, it could undo all the healing efforts.

“You.”

Just then, Isabel approached and spoke quietly.

“Don’t you think this whole thing feels a bit... intentional?”

As expected, Isabel had been thinking the same.

Having traveled with me and seen the flow of the world, she caught the unnatural elements in this situation.

Especially after hearing about the descent of the Demon Sovereign One during the Vulcan incident.

Thus, she noticed the signs of human intervention here too.

“This incident… Duke Robliage is involved.”

Who had requested Hannon to be sent to Aquiline Academy for support?

It was Duke Robliage.

Moreover, Duke Robliage had a deep relationship with the Mystics.

He had secretly supported Vulcan as well.

And now — how had the Panisys nobles acquired Mystic users?

Why had the leaping Apostle headed toward Panisys?

Piece by piece, suspicion piled up, growing into conviction.

It was all circumstantial evidence and coincidence.

But the one who could orchestrate such “coincidences” was obvious.

It even made me suspect he had been involved in the rebellion from the very start.

Isabel’s face stiffened.

All this, because of a single person.

One person had driven an entire kingdom into civil war.

And he did it without leaving a single trace.

Only Isabel and I, knowing the truth, could barely piece it together.

Before we realized, night had fallen.

The kidnapper was a shadow magic user.

Night was their domain.

At this rate, we might not be able to retrieve Hannon.

“Solvas.”

Thus, I needed to persuade Solvas, who was following us.

Only he, as a fellow shadow magic user, could track the kidnapper.

But Solvas was part of the Umbra Count’s family.

If they had ordered Hannon’s abduction, it meant the Umbra family had sided with the noble faction.

Would he betray his own house to help us?

“I will track them immediately.”

Solvas answered without a moment’s hesitation.

I was a little surprised.

I hadn’t expected Solvas to betray his family so easily.

“Hannon saved my life.”

Solvas clearly understood that his action would be seen as betraying the Umbra family.

“A noble who abandons the one who saved his life is no noble at all.”

Solvas’s eyes shone brightly.

Seeing that, I said nothing more and turned my eyes forward.

“Please.”

“Yes.”

"Yes."

A shadow stretched out from beneath Solvas' feet.

The shadow pierced through the veil of night and broke through the forest path.

Now that Solvas was clearly showing us the way, we picked up speed.

Our pace through the forest grew faster and faster.

After running for a long while, we finally saw the edge of the forest in the distance.

There, we saw a man running, dragging Hannon along, bound by shadows.

Compared to him, Solvas' shadow magic was of a much higher caliber.

So rather than fighting with shadow magic, it seemed he opted for a full-speed escape.

But he made the grave mistake of underestimating our speed.

"Isabel."

Goddess wings spread out behind Isabel.

Unlike before, the wings were smaller in form.

However, the power condensed within them was extraordinary.

Goddess' Wings: Acceleration

With a mighty leap, Isabel dashed through the forest.

The divine light pierced through the forest, spreading everywhere.

She burst through the trees in an instant and severed the shadow tethered to Hannon.

Then she wrapped her arms around Hannon and broke free from the kidnapper.

The kidnapper tried to resist, but Isabel was far too fast.

Realizing he couldn't win, the kidnapper abandoned Hannon and fled.

But that was yet another mistake — he had gravely underestimated us.

Now that Hannon was safe, we had no reason to show mercy.

Ban and I burst out of the forest at the same time.

Ban's sword and my knife-hand strike crossed paths, piercing the kidnapper.

He barely managed to wrap himself in shadows and teleport a short distance.

When Ban and I immediately moved to chase him again, he threw his hands up high.

"I surrender! I surrender!"

At that moment, the voice that rang out was one familiar to our ears.

My eyes widened slowly.

"Card?"

When I called out his name, the man pulled down his robe.

And underneath the robe — it was indeed Card.

"Card?"

Isabel, who hadn't known that Card was a spy planted by Panishis, looked visibly bewildered.

Ban, however, seemed indifferent, as if he didn't even remember Card.

Card scratched his head awkwardly and waved.

"Hello, Ban, Isabel, and... you over there."

Card's eyes met mine.

He still didn't know my true identity.

But he was sharp — the kind who could notice subtle things, like the fact that I had deliberately provoked Isabel on our first meeting.

A guy like that could very well figure out that I was Hannon.

"You're Senior Vikamon, aren't you?"

But Card pretended not to know.

How I interpreted that was up to me.

"Card, why were you trying to kidnap Hannon?"

Even while questioning him, Ban and I kept our knife-hand strikes trained on him.

We definitely had history with Card.

But right now, he was a kidnapper.

An enemy.

Hearing the question, Card fell silent for a moment.

Then he raised both hands and smiled brightly.

"Ha ha, well, because I was ordered directly by the Umbra Count family."

He confessed the truth nonchalantly.

But his eyes didn't seem resigned in the slightest.

"Actually, I'd like to ask instead. Young Master Solvas, why are you helping them now?"

He smoothly shifted the conversation toward Solvas.

By mentioning the Umbra Count family, Card was trying to wriggle out of responsibility, suggesting that he had no choice — that he was merely following orders, not acting independently.

A sly tongue.

Solvas also fell silent for a moment.

"…Even so."

From the moment he started chasing Card, Solvas had already made his decision.

"I cannot stand by and watch someone who saved my life be used by my family."

Even if it meant going against his house, Solvas chose to uphold his personal sense of justice.

He declared it firmly.

Card looked at Solvas.

Then a faint smirk crossed his lips.

"Well, sure. After all, you have a choice, Young Master."

Card said this as he slowly raised both hands behind his head.

Then, with a casual motion, he leaned his head back against a tree.

"For someone like me, a mere spy, there's no such thing as 'choice.'"

He had been raised from birth to be a spy — that was his fate.

The Umbra Count family had aligned itself with the noble faction.

From that moment on, Card had no other options.

"Friendship, loyalty, whatever — none of that matters. This job comes first. Must be nice for you."

Card’s eyes turned dangerously cold.

"Card."

I tried to stop him, sensing what was coming, but it was already too late.

"This is all I have."

Whoosh!

Suddenly, black smoke erupted from Card's entire body.

"Cough, hack!"

Ban coughed violently and rubbed his eyes, overwhelmed by the smoke.

Swish!

At the same time, a shadow moved through the gaps in the smoke.

But here, there was Solvas — a being superior to even a Card.

The moment Solvas's shadow overpowered the Card's shadow —

Whoosh!

— the Card burst through the black smoke, appearing right in front of Solvas.

Solvas’s eyes widened.

Within the black smoke, the Card spread his shadow in all directions, creating confusion.

He had already realized that Solvas would prioritize suppressing the shadows first.

The Card’s elbow struck Solvas’s jaw in an instant.

Solvas had already expended a lot of energy fighting against the leaping Apostle.

Carelessness and fatigue.

Because of these two factors, Solvas couldn’t dodge and took a direct hit.

Flash!

At that moment, Isabel’s wings spread wide.

A dazzling flash erupted from her wings, blinding enough to nearly rob one’s sight.

Which meant that the Card’s shadow magic was neutralized as well.

Exposed in the open, the Card stood revealed.

He smiled as he looked at Isabel.

"Isabel, how long are you planning to keep holding onto me?"

"What?"

As Isabel expressed her confusion, Hannon suddenly moved.

Hannon's hand brushed against Isabel’s side.

“Kyah?!”

Startled by the sudden touch, Isabel dropped Hannon.

Inside Hannon’s clothes, a shadow that had been secretly planted was manipulating his body.

The Card rushed in and snatched Hannon up again.

Then he tried to flee once more.

"Card."

That was until gray flames rose up before him.

I wiped my mouth as I burned away the poisonous smoke with the flames of ash.

I had long known that Card's ability to react was outstanding.

But I hadn’t expected him to handle the situation this well against the very best of Zerion Academy.

Even when facing a superior force, he countered with wit and quick judgment.

That was his specialty.

Although we were still suffering from the fatigue of fighting the leaping Apostle, his improvisation was remarkable.

"Come to Zerion Academy."

Despite my persuasion, the Card, carrying Hannon on his back, simply stared quietly ahead.

"You don't have to sacrifice everything for House Umbra. You know, right? A spy will always end up just a spy."

After a long silence, Card finally let out a deep breath.

Then he casually laid Hannon down on the ground.

"Vikamon — no, that’s not right."

Card turned to look at me.

"Wagnon."

There was a faint smile on his lips, one that looked as if he'd given up a long time ago.

"I've lived as a spy all my life, so I know. This civil war — the nobility faction will win If I run away now, Umbra will chase me for the rest of my life. Unlike a noble young master, I don't get a second chance."

He said this while looking down at Hannon.

"And sorry, but… time's up."

Rumble!

At that moment, a roar and tremor echoed from beyond the forest.

From the direction of Aquiline Academy.

My eyes widened.

At the same time, I realized what Card's true objective was.

"You!"

Isabel, too, realized Card’s purpose and shouted at me.

The Card’s real goal was to lure out Aquiline Academy’s available forces.

During that time, the noble faction's soldiers would storm the Academy.

To capture Maron, the prince of Panesis.

The Card smiled.

A spy must deceive to the very end.

And he had completed his mission perfectly as a spy.

I approached and lifted Hannon up.

Then I handed him over to Solvas, who had barely regained his senses.

"Solvas, issue a direct order to Card: abandon Hannon and stand down."

Solvas was one of Card’s superiors.

If Card had received orders from House Umbra, then Solvas, a direct bloodline of Umbra, could override them.

"Solvas Umbra’s order. Card, cease any further attacks on Hannon."

"Yes, sir."

Card obeyed without a word.

He seemed unfazed, knowing he'd already accomplished his primary goal and didn't care about anything extra.

Just then, Ban returned, having barely stopped coughing.

With Bani here, Card wouldn't be able to pull anything else.

"Card."

At that moment, the ash flames surged even more fiercely around us.

As confusion flickered across Card’s eyes, I clenched my fist tightly.

It had been a long time since rage had fueled my power.

"If the noble faction loses this civil war, that's all that matters."

"What?"

For the first time, confusion appeared on Card's face, as if he couldn’t understand.

A grim smile stretched across my lips.

"Keep that in mind."

And with that, I leapt forward, engulfed in flames of ash.