Black Night

The night was as black as ink, and a storm was brewing.

A staggering figure fled through the pitch-black mountain forest.

She was a beautiful woman with a graceful figure.

Her face was made up and she wore fashionable clothes. She did not look like a resident of the nearby villages or towns, and was likely a tourist from a major city.

She ran through the forest, the shrubs and branches along the way scratching her body bloody and bruised.

Even so, she did not slow down, as if something terrifying was pursuing her from the darkness behind her.

The lights drawing ever closer ahead were no different from a ray of dawn in the night.

Almost there, almost there...

I don't want to die. I don't want to die!!!

The woman screamed inwardly. As the lights came closer and closer, the hope in her eyes grew stronger.

At last, she scrambled over the final steep slope and reached the open clearing before the Temple gates, paved with pebbles mixed into cement.

"Is... is anyone there? Help, help me!!!"

The woman cried for help with nearly the last of her strength, then collapsed before the tightly shut Temple gates. Bracing her right hand against the old door, she tried to push it open, only to discover that it was bolted.

"Open... open the door, hurry and open the door..."

Her hoarse voice was steeped in despair.

With what little strength she had left, she could only make a faint sound like a mosquito's buzz against the door.

In the end, she did not even have the strength to speak...

The woman lay limp before the gates, her chest heaving violently like a bellows.

"Ugh... ugh..."

She looked back into the darkness, biting her lip hard as low whimpers escaped her throat.

Perhaps the next second, that "monster" would charge out of the darkness and drag her into an abyss of despair.

"Open the door..."

The woman whimpered.

Creak—

Just as the woman sank into utter despair, a sound as heavenly as music suddenly came from behind her.

The mottled, dilapidated Temple gate, which looked as though it might collapse in a gust of wind, opened as she had wished.

The woman whipped around. A straight, gentle beam of light spilling from the Temple fell across the bridge of her nose.

As the wooden door swung open, the light on her nose widened, filling her eyes before finally enveloping her body.

Her trembling body froze in that instant.

Then—

The woman saw a clean-faced boy, and her mist-covered eyes slowly widened.

Like a drowning person who had finally grasped anything capable of offering a sense of safety.

Having caught her breath, her mind went blank for a moment.

The one who had opened the Temple gate for the woman was naturally Moyu, who had just filled his stomach.

At this moment, all he could see ahead was darkness so thick one could not see one's own hand.

Moyu merely glanced at the disheveled woman before turning to the deep, oppressive darkness ahead.

In that direction, a gauze-like glow of Nen stirred within the darkness at an indeterminate distance.

"A person? Or something else?"

Moyu stared silently at the aura "burning" in the darkness.

Whatever it was...

If it could leave this woman so battered and desperate, it was surely no harmless thing.

The woman finally came to her senses. Still sprawled on the ground, she wrapped both arms around Moyu's calf and cried hoarsely, "Help... help me. Something is chasing me... My friends were all killed..."

"Be clear. Was it a person or an animal?"

Moyu still did not look at the woman, his gaze fixed on the aura in the darkness ahead.

The other party had remained motionless, so he could only continue observing.

Hearing Moyu's question, the woman hesitated before saying softly, "I... I was only focused on running for my life... I didn't see what it was, but I heard my friends screaming. He... they..."

As she spoke in fits and starts, the woman suddenly glanced at the lights within the Temple, which offered at least some sense of safety, and pleaded softly, "Can... can you let me inside?"

"..."

Moyu said nothing and merely stepped aside to make room.

Seeing Moyu's movement, the woman immediately understood. Though she had almost no strength left, her will to survive still drove her to wriggle into the gate like an insect.

Afterward, she laboriously raised her head to look at Moyu, wanting him to shut the door quickly.

It was also then that the woman belatedly noticed that Moyu was staring in the direction from which she had come.

It seemed that from the moment he opened the door, the boy before her had never looked away.

Could he... see it?

The woman's gaze went blank as that possibility occurred to her.

But in her search for more security, she had no time to dwell on it. All she wanted was for Moyu to close the gates quickly, then call everyone in the Temple out.

"Lock... lock the door. That monster will be here soon..."

The woman pleaded weakly.

If she had not been exhausted to the point of collapse, she certainly would not have asked Moyu's permission. She would have run straight into the Temple.

"If all your friends were killed by the 'thing' you mentioned, what use do you think this broken gate, which even an elementary school student could kick down, would be?"

Moyu's expression was calm, and his voice was steady and firm.

The woman looked at the wooden gate, which creaked under the push of the breeze, and could not say a word.

At the same time, she realized that Moyu was far too calm, nothing like a boy should be.

"Then... then call everyone in the Temple out..."

"I'm the only one here."

Moyu replied casually, then saw that the aura in the darkness had finally begun to move, slowly pressing toward them.

"W-why are you the only one..."

When she heard that Moyu was the only person in such a large Temple, the woman froze.

A broken gate and a boy no older than sixteen... How could they possibly stop the monster that had slaughtered all her companions in the forest?

The woman fell into deep despair.

Moyu had no mind to spare for the woman's feelings.

Though he did not know what the "monster" she mentioned was, one thing was certain: this so-called "monster" knew how to use aura, meaning it was enough of a threat to endanger him.

If this woman had not come here for help and had instead died in the forest, she would not have brought this trouble with her.

But then, he would not have known that such a dangerous presence existed in the forest.

In any case—

From the moment this woman collapsed before the Temple gates, Moyu knew he could no longer remain detached.

Fortunately, he now had a way to fight Nen.

"Come in."

Moyu stepped back while watching the movement of the aura.

"Could you give me a hand..."

The woman looked at Moyu as he retreated and pleaded.

Moyu said nothing, only shook his head.

Given the current situation, this seemingly harmless "person seeking help" remained within his guard range.

Seeing Moyu be so cold, the woman could only wriggle her body and struggle to crawl into the Temple.

But she did not notice—

Under the light, the boy before her had no shadow.

Thanks to Sorrow Without Regret for the Alliance Leader support. Piggy was stunned—how could someone as short as me deserve such favor from a big shot? Now Piggy's body and heart are both yours!!! Thanks as well to Blood Prison Cold Wind for the ten-thousand reward... You also gave a ten-thousand reward when my previous book went premium. I have remembered it ever since. Thank you so very much!