"Those who roll in the mud reach the great mountain before those lying on silk."

『An old proverb from the Deep Tower』

"You dare... Livestock dares...!"

It was laughable.

To hear such words spoken at the academy, not on a farm, and from someone whose skull had been bashed in.

The disdain Shepherds had for their so-called "sheep" was glaringly apparent in those words.

Seti responded with a smile.
"Livestock? Shepherd, you should call us cadets or Black Sheep."

"Shut up! Shut your mouth...!"

The Shepherd spat curses as she fled.

Blood streamed from the back of her head, her body staggered, directionless, yet she moved desperately to widen the distance between herself and Seti.

Her actions were far from rational.
Had her skull remained intact, she would’ve activated her Binding or fought back with all her might.

But the Shepherd, having been caught off guard, couldn’t even manage proper steps.

Thud. After just a few strides, her legs tangled, and she collapsed, face-first, onto the ground.

"Gah...!"

She clawed at the earth to stand, but the sound of approaching footsteps made her turn her head.

Under the long shadow cast by the moonlight, a blood-soaked hammer gleamed in the hands of a girl who approached leisurely.

"Seti... You... worthless little wretch..."

Unconsciously, the Shepherd’s hand trembled.

It was inevitable—her own blood coated that hammer.

"If you're livestock, then act like it!"

Finally recalling her Binding, the Shepherd summoned her mana as Seti drew close.

She snapped her fingers just as Seti loomed over her.
Klak! "Kneel...!"

Twisted mana surged toward Seti’s head, and yet...

Seti merely smiled down at her.

"H-How...? The Binding...?"

"If I were afraid of the Binding, I wouldn’t have launched a surprise attack. Ah, but I guess your shattered skull kept you from thinking that far, huh?"

As despair colored the Shepherd’s face, Seti pulled something from her pocket.
A small black crystal, just slightly larger than a thumbnail.

Was it a magical tool absorbing the Binding’s spell? Or something else entirely? The Shepherd had no way of knowing.

But one thing was clear.
Seti, freed from her leash, was no longer a sheep.

"Seti, you traitorous b—"

Before the sentence was finished, the hammer swung.

Crunch! With a hideous sound, the Shepherd lost all feeling in her legs.

She didn’t scream, choosing instead to desperately channel her mana.

‘I have to think... Think fast...’

It was futile.

Seti knew the Shepherd far better than the Shepherd knew herself, and she had no intention of leaving any room for counterattack.

Thud!

The hammer came down again, black, corrupted blood splattering in the moonlight.

Seti aimed carefully. Maximum pain without a fatal blow.

Thud!

Again, the hammer struck. Sweat poured from her as emotions surged, tears of rage and anguish tracing down her cheeks.

Down, down.

And when a drop of sweat finally hit the pool of blood below, creating ripples, Seti stopped.

Her blue eyes locked onto the Shepherd, who lay slumped on the ground.

Perhaps due to her careful control, the Shepherd’s mouth could still move.

"Guh... H-how... can you think... you'll get away with this...? You... trash..."

"…."

Blood bubbled from the Shepherd’s lips as she muttered, almost delirious from pain.

"Trash...! Even with three potentials... you couldn’t handle two... You're all... defective...!"

Martial arts, magic, divine power—the three paths of mana manipulation.

Seti and her sisters were born with the potential for all three yet struggled to master even two.

The Korean government deemed this unacceptable. They drove the sisters relentlessly, forcing them to master all three paths.

Through torture, threats, and every vile method imaginable.

"And you... Seti, you’re the worst... A failure... who lost divine power... and is left only with martial arts..."

Seti set down her hammer and crouched, leveling her gaze with the Shepherd’s. Hatred and loathing tangled in the air between them.

"Failed... livestock... You’re only worth... being a broodmare...!"

"...A broodmare?"

Seti remembered the words from her dream, those vile words about searching for suitable studs.

She’d dismissed it as a cruel hallucination, but now...

"You thought we left you and your sisters’ chastity intact... out of kindness?"

Even though the words were meant to degrade her and her sisters’ femininity, Seti smiled sweetly.

Because she realized the Shepherd’s words reflected not just her personal opinion, but the views of the entire Korean government.

"Ah, so that’s why you came running all by yourself? The broodmare you never expected to amount to anything... brought you a fine stud?"

The Shepherd didn’t answer.

But her eyes, seething with hatred, told Seti that she was absolutely right.

"...Thanks for letting me know."

"W-what...?"

"I was debating how to connect Yeomyeong to the government. Now I’m sure."

Yeomyeong? He wasn’t just bait to lure her out?

"W-what does that... mea—guh!"

The Shepherd tried to continue, but Seti’s fingers stabbed into her temple.

"And another thing. I never lost my divine power."

Even with her head pierced, the Shepherd didn’t die immediately. And that fact filled her with pure terror.

"The gods abandoned me. All because I received orders from you to kill the Saintess during the games."

"Ah… Ahhh…"

Her lips flapped, incapable of forming a scream.

Seti slowly channeled mana through her hand, her voice quiet yet filled with resolve.

"But a new god has found me."

The Shepherd trembled.

Seti’s words rang true, and the mana coursing through her hand was undeniable proof.

It wasn’t martial arts or magic. It was what religious practitioners called divine blessings.

"Better than the Five Gods. My new god doesn’t discriminate with offerings."

"N-no... d-don’t—!"

"Shhh."

Seti raised her other hand to cover the Shepherd’s mouth.

Had even the moon turned away in horror? Its light dimmed, casting Seti’s figure in shadow.

As the night’s darkness enveloped them, and as Seti’s blessing reached its peak, something dark and writhing burrowed into the Shepherd’s mind.

"The Shepherd who took my sister. My first offering... to you."

The Shepherd screamed as a foreign sensation filled her mind.

A scream too late.

Leaving the cleanup to Corvus, Yeomyeong ran for a long while before finally arriving at the rendezvous point.

There, he stopped in his tracks, spotting Seti.

"…Seti?"

She sat amidst the bushes, gazing at the moon with a serene expression.

"You’re here? You’re a bit late. The Shepherds must’ve been strong, huh?"

"No, not really. Something unexpected happened…"

Yeomyeong hesitated mid-step as he approached her.

The ground around her was drenched in black blood. But that wasn’t what stopped him.

It was her "seat."

Specifically, the masked woman, crouched on all fours beneath her.

Judging by the way her limbs trembled, she wasn’t dead, but Yeomyeong couldn’t fathom why Seti would use her as a chair.

He frowned slightly and asked, "…What’s that?"

"Hmm? What’s what?"

Without a word, he gestured at the woman below her. After a moment’s pause, Seti replied lightly.

"Oh, this? Nothing much. Just a Shepherd who chased me."

"…That’s nothing?"

"She’s our Shepherd now."

Seti stood, stepping off the woman, who remained motionless—docile, like a puppet.

"…What did you do to make her like that?"

"Nothing big. Just tinkered with the black magic in her head a little."

Her tone was casual, as if it were no big deal.

But the ability to enslave a half-monstrous Shepherd... How?

Yeomyeong’s suspicion deepened, and he prepared to ask. But before he could speak, Seti suddenly closed the distance and wrapped her arms around him.

"…Huh?"

It was a sudden hug. Yeomyeong froze, unsure whether to push her away or reciprocate.

"…Seti? What’s wrong?"

Instead of answering, Seti tightened her grip, burying her head into his chest.

Her breath, hot and steady, felt like that of a dragon. Yeomyeong thought it oddly fitting.

"Just for a moment… Just a little while…"

"…."

"Can we stay like this?"

Her voice was pained, yearning. Yeomyeong hesitated briefly before embracing her, his hand gently stroking her back.

He couldn’t hold her too tightly, though.

He was still a young man, and his body reacted before his mind.

Yeomyeong silently recited an unfamiliar prayer in his head, looking up at the oblivious moon.

He stayed that way until Seti calmed down.

Their embrace didn’t last long.

It ended after Yeomyeong repeated the prayer five times.

"…Yeomyeong, do you remember our plan?"

"Of course I do."

Yeomyeong would build fame, use that notoriety to gather government officials in one place… and wipe them out in a single stroke.

"Do you think… we can still go through with it?"

Seti’s question was tinged with fear. Fear of rejection.

Yeomyeong understood her anxiety.

When they first devised the plan, he had been nothing more than a dung beetle, dreaming of revenge with no room for hope or alternative futures.

But now? He was Yeomyeong, the Saint of Heaven—a figure everyone watched closely, one with endless possibilities.

If he wanted, he could abandon revenge and choose a future as bright as his newfound fame.

That was what Seti feared.

But Yeomyeong swept away all her doubts with one answer.

"I won’t stop until I’ve killed every last one of them."

"…."

"If anything, I’m more worried about you."

"…Me? Why?"

"You’re free from the Binding now. You could abandon revenge and escape to another country with your sisters."

The moment he said this, Seti pouted wordlessly. Her expression made it clear what she thought of such an idea.

It was answer enough.

Smiling faintly, Yeomyeong clasped her hand, calloused yet soft and beautiful.

"Don’t forget our deal, okay?"

"…Deal?"

"You help me, I help you. No risking each other’s lives."

He reminded her gently of the promise they’d made when they first joined forces.

The forgotten vow buried deep in her memory.

Seti’s lips quivered slightly, as if caught off guard, before she pressed them shut.

A brief silence followed. Before it could stretch too long, Seti spoke hesitantly.

"Yeomyeong, about the plan…"

"Yeah?"

"I found… a good way to use the government. That Shepherd back there? I kept her alive to use for it…"

Seti paused before continuing, her words faltering.

"And I’ll… pretend I seduced you… on her orders…"

One deep breath.

"And that you fell for me…"

Another deep breath.

"And that Korea thinks… they can control you because of it…"

She trailed off, her eyes darting away nervously.

Yeomyeong watched her for a moment before chuckling softly.

"You’re saying we pretend I fell for your beauty?"

Having her idea summed up in a single sentence, Seti couldn’t hide her flustered expression any longer.

Her face wavered between laughter and tears, her lips trembling slightly.

Yeomyeong resisted the urge to touch them, instead letting go of her hand.

"Let’s stop here."

"…Huh? Stop what?"

"Any more, and it won’t just be curfew we’re breaking. It’ll be an overnight absence."

Even with the Transparent Cloak, there’d be no excuse for that.

As Yeomyeong explained, Seti’s face turned a bright shade of red.

A shade even her sisters had never seen before.

Fortunately, they didn’t stay out overnight.

Although, they were about three hours late for curfew.