Connecting with nature had always been one of Ethyl's abilities since she was very young. She used it recklessly to her advantage during her studies at the institution, but the first time she truly understood its value was when she was forced to fight a hellhound for the first time, five years ago.
Fighting such a demonic creature had once seemed impossible. The fact that she survived that night left her confused for an entire year.
Ethyl waited another year before encountering a creature like that again—not out of fear, but because she was suddenly alone and had lost all motivation, even the will to exist in this world.
That night five years ago was burned into her memory. She could still recall exactly what she was wearing and what she had eaten. Her brother's disappearance just days before the triple full moon devastated the family and tore apart whatever emotional bonds they still had.
After that, they couldn't communicate. They couldn't smile, talk, or even function normally, knowing he was out there—scared, cold, and hungry.
Serov was five years old when he disappeared. Ethyl's parents weren't very skilled in magic, so they contacted one of the best mages on the island to cast a locating spell—a sophisticated one, or so he claimed.
They paid him a large sum, money they couldn't even afford. In return, he simply told them he couldn't sense Serov's energy anywhere in the region. He had supposedly determined this using Serov's shirt as an anchor.
Many thoughts crossed her parents' minds: maybe he had been kidnapped, maybe someone had taken him to another region, or maybe the mage had just lied and wasn't that talented after all. That's why they kept searching, even as the triple full moon approached.
Ethyl still remembered her mother crying as she wandered the streets, asking strangers if they had seen her little boy. She remembered her father blaming her for his disappearance.
Serov used to play around the house every morning under her watch. But that day, she'd been distracted by cooking. When she went to check on him, he was gone—and that was how everything started.
The first hellhound Ethyl ever saw was the largest of all, but only because her fear made it seem that way. Now, she could admit they were all the same size.
The portal that day had opened far from their home, but they were still caught in the chaos. Her parents were calling out Serov's name when the hellhound found them. That day was the most terrifying of her life.
Her parents froze at the sight of the creature. They tried to run—toward her, to protect her—but it was faster. It killed them before they could reach her.
She still remembered the hellhound's terrifying howls, echoing in her ears even now.
That day, she reached into her pocket, pulled out some salt, and began to cast a spell she had read once in one of her parents' old books. She had no idea how she even remembered it.
Next to the spell, there had been a note: "This spell only works with divine energy."
At the time, Ethyl thought divine energy was something rare and sacred—out of reach. But then she remembered something one of her teachers had once said:
"Divine energy is everywhere. Everything in this world is built with it. Every creature has it. Without it, we wouldn't belong to this world—but to the world beyond."
Those words saved her life.
In the middle of her panic—crying and breathing heavily—she pressed her hands to the ground and absorbed the divine energy around her. One of her strengths had always been her ability to control that energy inside her body, to shape and channel it into magic.
Without thinking twice, she cast the spell and said:
"Unstabilize the magic core inside the hellhound."
To her astonishment, it worked. The energy she projected cut the hellhound's connection to this realm. It just stood there, unmoving, for over a minute—until she shouted:
"Destroy the magic core."
The creature exploded in a burst of light and vanished within seconds.
That was the trick. But it required a great deal of energy—and this place was not promising. The salt had scattered in front of her, and she could feel only a faint amount of energy in the soil.
Isiah called out to her again:
"Let's run, you're crazy!"
But she didn't even glance at him as she began absorbing the divine energy around her.
The process wasn't easy. She had already used a significant amount of magic to extinguish the burning house, which left her drained and weak. The divine energy here was average—nothing like the fields around the institution, where it flowed freely.
Of course, no one else knew that. Why?
Because she was the only person who had spent time wandering across Delwias Island, testing the divine energy in various places—in case she ever needed to use it again.
Isiah looked at her with disbelief. Her stubbornness surprised him. But instead of leaving her behind, he made up his mind, stepped closer, and said:
"Let's move."
She shoved him hard, knocking him to the ground.
"I can't let this monster roam free. I won't let this happen—not to anyone else."