Master Of Astral Summoner

The sword pressed harder against Shaan’s neck. Fresh blood continued to trickle down his skin, leaving him completely still. His heart hammered against his chest. One wrong move, and the blade would pierce his throat. Shaan knew it. The woman knew it. For now, all he could do was stay still and hope someone would come to his rescue.

’Robin Hood... W-where are you?’ Shaan shifted his eyes, desperately searching his surroundings without moving his head. ’Damn it! Why does he always disappear when I need him the most—’

"Whoosh!"

An arrow whizzed past from behind the woman. She turned around swiftly and tried to deflect it. However, just as she managed to deflect the attack, a loud explosion occurred, sending her flying far away and out of Shaan’s sight in the blink of an eye.

’W-what just happened?’

His breath caught in his throat. He couldn’t understand what had just happened or where the explosion had come from. Everything happened so quickly that his mind struggled to process it. Then a familiar voice rang out from somewhere nearby.

[Bullseye!]

Shaan’s eyes widened. ’That voice... Don’t tell me...’

Shaan turned his head and spotted Robin Hood emerging from behind one of the nearby trees. He stood tall with his chest slightly puffed out, wearing the same confident smile on his face. He clearly felt proud of his attack after watching it strike the crazy woman who had tried to kill them.

[Take that, you damn woman!]

[Shaan?] Robin Hood immediately furrowed his brow and hurried toward Shaan. [Ah, thank goodness I wasn’t too late to save you.]

"That woman almost killed me." Shaan slowly got back on his feet and picked up his twin short swords from the ground. "I called for you several times, but you didn’t respond at all."

[Ah, about that...] Robin Hood scratched his head, smiling faintly. [I was trying a slightly different tactic to defeat that woman. So... I thought I’d hide and wait for the right moment to attack her.]

’Robin Hood really knows how to dodge the question.’

[I was late in coming to your aid, but... at least my attack managed to wound that woman, right?]

"Yeah, yeah. I get it." Shaan sighed deeply, deciding not to argue any further. He tightened his grip on his swords and looked toward where the woman had disappeared.

"Thanks for saving me, Robin Hood."

[Of course, no problem.] Robin Hood smiled as he glanced around the forest. [So, what should we do now?]

"We’d better go back to the building’s entrance and hope that—"

A deafening explosion suddenly erupted behind them. The blast made Shaan’s ears ring. He spun around, and the color drained from his face when he saw a massive cloud of smoke rising from the central building within the cathedral grounds.

"Oh, no..." His expression tightened. "Chelsie is in danger." Shaan immediately tightened his grip around his dual short swords. "Robin Hood, we need to get back there as fast as—"

’Ding!’

[You have defeated Dark Fenrir.]

[Reward Obtained: -]

[Bond Increased: +4]

[Congratulations! Bond has reached 100.]

[System Insameter has been disabled.]

[New Skill Unlocked: Wind’s Walker*]

[Robin Hood can fire a special arrow that creates a wind path along its trajectory. While the wind path remains active, Robin Hood can move at high speed along its trajectory and instantly reposition himself.]

[Warning: Using this skill immediately increases the user’s Insanity Level by 20–30%.]

"Quite an interesting skill." Shaan paused for a moment, reading the skill description carefully. "I really do need a skill like this."

Not long after, the insanmeter fitted on Shaan’s wrist all this time suddenly went off and dropped from his wrist on its own. Shaan immediately smiled. Good. At least nothing could restrict his power anymore.

[Hey, what’s wrong with you?] Robin Hood frowned as he watched Shaan stand there without moving. [We need to move before it’s too late.]

"Ah, it’s nothing." Shaan shook his head and closed the system window floating in front of him. "You’re right. We need to move."

Without wasting another second, Shaan and Robin Hood sprinted toward the building. They pushed themselves as hard as they could, desperate to find out what had happened inside. However, the moment they reached the entrance, Shaan froze. The scene before him looked completely different from what he remembered.

"I-Impossible..."

His eyes widened as he stared at the shattered glass scattered across the ground. Pieces of broken windows covered the entrance. Cracks ran across the walls, while several pieces of debris lay around the doorway.

"What’s going on?"

[I have no idea either.] Robin Hood shrugged. [We have to go inside this building and see what actually happened in there.]

"I agree."

Shaan pushed the door open and froze. The moment he stepped inside, his eyes widened at the destruction that filled the hall.

Parts of the ceiling had collapsed, leaving several cables dangling overhead. Chunks of concrete littered the floor, cracking the marble beneath them. Every window in the hall had shattered, and broken glass covered the ground like a layer of ice.

’What happened here?’ Shaan tightened his grip around his twin short swords. ’I need to find Chelsie. She must be somewhere in—’

His thoughts suddenly stopped. Someone stood on top of a massive chunk of stone in the center of the hall. A woman in armor stood with a sword in her right hand. Her golden hair flowed freely around her shoulders as she calmly surveyed the ruined hall.

"Na-Nalira?"

The woman immediately turned toward him. "Shaan?"

"What’s really going on here?" Shaan walked straight up to Nalira without a moment’s hesitation.

"What happened here?" Shaan hurried toward her without hesitation. "I heard an explosion while I was outside, so I rushed back here as fast as I could."

"...I don’t know either." Nalira shook her head. "Everything already looked like this when I arrived."She suddenly pointed toward the corridor ahead." We need to go through there." Her expression grew serious. "Chelsie must be in danger."

"It’s a good idea, but that corridor looks completely dark." Shaan narrowed his eyes, trying to see through the darkness stretching ahead. "Are you sure? It’ll be difficult to make our way through there."

"...Use the light around you." Nalira jumped down from the massive chunk of stone with ease. "Come on. We need to keep moving."

***

As they made their way through the corridor, Shaan realized his earlier concern had proven correct.

The explosion had destroyed every light along the passage, leaving them with almost nothing to illuminate their path. Broken concrete and debris covered the floor, forcing them to move carefully through the darkness.

The only source of light came from the crimson moon outside. Its eerie glow poured through a massive hole in the wall, casting long shadows across the ruined corridor.

’This-this’s insane.’ Shaan slowly stepped over a large chunk of concrete. ’I’m pretty sure this one was—’

He suddenly stopped. Several Twilight Sanctum guards lay scattered beside the rubble. Their armor showed heavy damage, and some of them remained completely motionless.

Shaan immediately rushed toward the nearest guard and crouched beside him. He placed two fingers against the man’s neck.

’I can still feel his pulse.’Shaan let out a long sigh and wiped the sweat from his forehead. ’Thank goodness. He’s still alive.’

"Sir, what exactly—"

His trembling hand shot forward and grabbed Shaan by the collar. "M-Mother Catarina..." His voice barely rose above a whisper. "She’s in danger."

Shaan’s expression changed. "Where is she?"