The grey arrow streaked fast, splitting the air right through the narrow gap between Lucas and Silvara's heads with a sharp hiss.

Lucas jerked back, his eyes going wide as the arrow didn't embed itself in the door, but instead burst in mid-air. It wasn't an explosion of fire, but like a splash of thick, living paint. The grey fluid writhed wildly, shooting from behind Lucas's back to the front, coating the floor, walls, and even the ceiling, as if forming a closed dome to isolate them. The large window revealing the light outside vanished instantly, devoured by the suffocating, solid grey hue.

standing where the window had just vanished, Baron Aleric stood tall, a bow in his hand. Beside him, the Baroness—now clad in full plate armor with a winged helm—gripped a long lance. Their aura had changed completely.

Lucas swallowed hard, cold sweat trickling down his temple as he looked around. Shit, this is... a Domain Expa—

Tap.

The sound of a single footstep rang out lightly, but the effect was instant. The Baroness's figure vanished from her spot, and in the blink of an eye, she was standing right in front of Lucas. Lucas's eyes widened to their limit.

Before his brain could even process that speed,

"Aghhhkkk...."

A right hand encased in a steel gauntlet had already gripped his neck firmly, lifting him into the air. The Baroness's left hand remained steady, holding the lance at her side.

The woman's gaze was sharp, piercing straight into Lucas's pupils without mercy.

"Where is my son?" she asked coldly.

Lucas gasped for air, his lungs feeling like they were being crushed. His oxygen was cut off completely. Yet, amidst the suffocation, goosebumps rose on his skin. He felt a sharp wind suddenly manifest and swirl wildly within the room.

The Baroness flinched in surprise. Her eyes widened, reflexively darting sharply to the left.

There, Silvara stood in a combat stance. Her giant Claymore had been summoned and was now drawn in her hands, ready to strike.

The Baroness stared at her trusted knight, her gaze softening slightly—not quite as hostile as the look she gave Lucas.

Silvara's body trembled violently. Her face was pale, her lips parted slightly.

Why...? she thought.

She stared at her own hands gripping the weapon tightly—her body had moved on reflex to protect Lucas, defying her own logic—then her gaze slowly rose, shifting back to meet the disappointed eyes of the Baroness.

From a distance, from behind a bowstring still pulled taut, Baron Aleric's eyes narrowed. His focus wasn't on the threat Silvara posed, but on the face of the young man being strangled. There was something familiar about the facial structure grimacing in pain.

"He... looks like Lucian?" the Baron muttered with a frown.

The Baroness didn't hear her husband's mutter at all. She was about to glance back at Lucas's face to confirm her suspicion, but a dim flash of light appeared in Lucas's left hand.

Without warning, The Great Hoe—the peasant farming tool Lucas usually used—was summoned instantly into his grip. With his remaining strength and breath nearly running out, Lucas swung the hoe horizontally, slashing toward the Baroness's neck.

The Baroness's eyes went wide. Her combat instincts took over. She released her grip and leaped back with an acrobatic move to dodge the rusty blade.

Thud!

Lucas fell to his knees, his hands planting against the grey floor, coughing violently as he gasped for oxygen.

"Cough! Cough! Hah..."

As Lucas bowed his head weakly, the fine brown hair of the 'noble son' shimmered, its color fading and shifting into a pitch jet-black—a dark hue that stood in stark contrast to the Baron's lineage.

However, the change lasted only a few milliseconds. As Lucas took a deep, long breath and bowed his head lower, the black color faded as quickly as it had come, returning to ordinary brown.

The Baroness, still in a state of high alert and looking with the sharp eyes of a fighter rather than a mother, caught a glimpse of that black hair. She immediately aimed the tip of her Lance straight at Lucas's face. Her killing intent exploded twofold.

The Baroness hissed, her voice trembling between rage and wariness. "You must be the Demon of the North!?"

Lucas, still clutching his neck, only clicked his tongue softly. "Tch..."

Internally, he cursed, Why does everyone in this world have the same script? Silvara accused me of the same thing the first time she saw my real face.

Lucas tried to normalize his breathing, but the Baroness gave him no pause.

"How dare you attack me with that filthy weapon!" the Baroness snapped, her eyes flashing with anger at the hoe in Lucas's hand. "Instead of answering my question, you chose to—"

"SHUT UP!"

Lucas suddenly stood up, his emotions exploding. He pointed the tip of The Great Hoe right at the face of the fully armored, majestic Baroness, completely utterly unafraid.

"ARE YOU DUMB?!" Lucas screamed with a painfully hoarse voice. "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO ANSWER, HUH?! YOU CHOKED ME! HOW CAN A PERSON TALK IF THEIR NECK IS BEING CRUSHED LIKE THAT?!"

Lucas's shout echoed inside the grey dome.

The atmosphere suddenly went dead silent. The Baroness froze, her mouth hanging slightly open, shocked to be yelled at with logic that—she had to admit—made perfect sense.

On the other side, Silvara, who was still in her combat stance and ready to cut down anyone, slowly lowered her shoulders. She watched Lucas's back heaving up and down as he suppressed his emotions, then let out a long sigh. Her panic slowly receded, replaced by a strange, familiar feeling.

Ahh... this man, Silvara thought, the corner of her lips twitching slightly. He can definitely handle this.

Twang.

The sharp snap of a bowstring shattered the tension. A pitch-black arrow hissed through the air, embedding itself vertically into the floor—dead center between Lucas and Silvara.

Instantly, the shadows beneath their feet began to boil. Thick as spilled ink, the darkness morphed into dozens of tendrils, surging upward with alarming speed.

"Shit—!"

In a heartbeat, Lucas and Silvara were tightly ensnared. The shadow ropes coiled around their legs and waists, pinning their arms firmly against their sides. Lucas struggled, summoning every ounce of strength to wrench The Great Hoe free, but the shadows were as rigid as steel. He was completely immobilized, as if hit by a high-tier premium crowd control skill.

"Now what?" Silvara hissed beside him, her body frozen in place.

"I don't know," Lucas replied, gasping for air, his eyes darting to the bindings. "Looks like your lying skill is still too low, Knight."

Up ahead, Baron Aleric lowered his bow. Tap. He took a single casual step, yet his body blurred, instantly materializing right beside the enraged Baroness.

"My dear," the Baron said, his voice soft but firm.

The Baroness whipped her head around, her chest heaving. Hot steam seemed to hiss from the joints of her armor. "Why are you just standing there, Aleric?! You saw it yourself! That black hair... He must be a demon possessing our son's body!"

Her grip on the lance tightened until the metal groaned under the pressure. Tears were already streaming down her face behind the visor of her helm. Her heart was shattering, believing her son was truly gone.

"Let our son's body rest in peace... We have to kill—"

A hand landed heavy and slow on the Baroness's shoulder, cutting her sentence short.

The Baron fixed a serious gaze on his wife, then slowly shook his head. "Stay your hand. Something is wrong."

"Wrong how?! He's a monster!"

"It's not that," the Baron cut in quickly, his voice dropping low, analytical. He glanced at Lucas, whose hair had returned to brown, but the Baron's mind remained fixed on the fleeting image from two seconds ago.

"You were too blinded by panic when you saw the black hair. But my eyes caught it clearly..." The Baron pointed the tip of his bow at Lucas. "When his hair turned black and the disguise faded... his true face..."

The Baron paused, narrowing his eyes at Lucas as if trying to look past the young man's physical form.

"...The face behind that black hair, the bone structure... it was still Lucian."

The Baroness gasped. "What...?" Her voice trembled violently.

"That changes nothing!" shrieked the Baroness, her voice cracking between grief and rage. "It must be a demon's trick! He is still not my son!"

The atmosphere in the room collapsed instantly. The Baroness unleashed her pure killing intent—a pressure that was no longer just a strong wind, but a crushing weight that made the wooden floorboards beneath them groan ominously.

Lucas's knees trembled violently, completely out of control. His vision began to blur at the edges.

Shit... he thought, his lungs feeling like they were being squeezed dry.

Suddenly, a cheerful chime rang out in his head—a sound that rarely appeared unless something important was happening.

[Ding!]

A transparent blue panel appeared right in front of his face, floating innocently in the middle of this life-or-death situation.

[Calm Down, King! Help is on the way (⁠๑⁠˙⁠❥⁠˙⁠๑⁠))]

Lucas blinked. His fear was momentarily overshadowed by pure confusion. He stared at the blowing-kiss emoticon with a blank gaze. What the hell? Help? From whom?

[Look forward, King! (⁠☞ﾟ⁠∀ﾟ⁠)⁠☞]

Lucas looked ahead. "Huh?" His eyes went wide.

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