High in the mountains, the chaos had finally settled into a cold, heavy silence. The bandits were a pathetic sight now—some bound and unconscious, others simply trembling in the dirt. The knight squad stood over them like iron statues, their weapons still drawn, just in case one of the rats still had some fight left in him.
At the center of the wreckage stood the Princess.
Her hands were finally free, though her breathing remained ragged and unsteady. A knight stepped forward, carefully draping a heavy cloak over her shoulders to hide the mess of her clothes.
"Your Highness… are you alright?"
She nodded slowly, her mind still trying to catch up with the sheer violence of the last few minutes.
"I… I am fine."
Her eyes wandered, scanning the broken terrain and the bodies of the men who had tried to take her. Then, her gaze snagged on something out of place.
It was a spear.
It was embedded so deep into the rocky ground that it looked like it had grown there. The sheer force required to sink a blade that deep into mountain stone was… unnatural.
"What is that?"
She stepped closer, the knights following her with wary glances. The Knight Leader reached out and gripped the shaft. He had to plant his feet and pull with a grunt of genuine effort before the stone finally groaned and let go.
He turned the weapon over in his hands, his brows furrowing.
"This…"
"Looks like a craftsman's mark," another knight added, leaning in to see the steel.
The Princess stepped forward, her eyes locked on the weapon.
"That spear," she said, her voice softening but carrying a sudden, sharp weight. "It saved me."
The knights looked at her, confused.
"That strike… it disrupted them. It created the only opening we had." Her grip tightened on the edges of her cloak. "Whoever threw this protected my life."
Her eyes hardened.
"And my dignity."
The Knight Leader straightened his back immediately. He knew that tone.
"Your Highness…"
"Find the one who made this spear," she commanded. Her voice was calm now, but it carried the kind of authority that didn't allow for excuses. "I want to thank them personally. And reward them."
The Knight Leader bowed his head low.
"As you wish, Your Highness."
The knights moved with a new kind of urgency, securing the spear as though it were made of glass. They began the grim work of packing up, ready to hunt down an origin for the mysterious steel.
A New Day
The summer heat was a physical weight, but inside the restaurant, the air was seasoned with the familiar, gritty comfort of grilled fat and spilled wine. Madam Da-li sat at the counter, the "Legendary Queen" currently reduced to a chair for Eunha, who was systematically demolishing a giant cracker.
A sealed envelope sat between them. It looked innocent enough, but in a house like this, paper usually meant blood or money.
Yuna entered, her eyes immediately locking onto the wax seal. "What's that?"
"Commissions," Da-li said, sliding it forward. "Bounties. The Guild's way of asking for favors they aren't brave enough to do themselves."
Yuna unfurled the contents. Her eyes skipped over requests for rare herbs and missing livestock, stopping on a page that felt heavier than the rest.
"Slasher Demon (B+ Rank) — Lin Fu Village."
"I'm taking this," Yuna said.
Andrew, who had just walked in with his crew, let out a sharp whistle. "A B+ for your first outing? That's not courage, kid. That's an appetite for disaster."
Yuna didn't look at him. She looked at her mother. "Can I?"
"Lin Fu is a tea village," Da-li said, her voice shifting into a low, analytical hum. "Four hours away. The people there handle herbs, not steel. They're easy targets. Soft." She leaned forward, the maternal warmth replaced by the shadow of a general. "Andrew, tell her what a Slasher is."
Andrew straightened up, the playful glint in his eyes dying out. "I saw one once. They're called Slashers because they don't just kill. They're butchers. They carve. By the time they're done with a victim, there isn't enough left to bury."
The room went cold. Even the regulars stopped chewing.
"Good," Da-li said. "But that's the textbook answer. What do you lot actually know about demons?"
The party's mage girl spoke up tentatively. "They're... evil? From hell? Bringing misery?"
Da-li sighed, a sound of genuine disappointment. "As expected. Fairy tales for children. Demons are a race, born of the Demon World. Some are born like you or me. Some are forged from human rot. And some..." her gaze sharpened, "...are artificial. Bound souls stitched into demonic meat."
She turned to Yuna. "The most common ones represent the Seven Sins."
"And the Slasher?" Andrew asked.
"It's not that simple," a small voice cut in.
Everyone turned. Eunha was still holding her cracker, but she wasn't eating anymore. "A Pride Demon evolves into a Slasher once it reaches a certain level of power!. You aren't fighting a regular monster, sister. You're fighting a special monster who earned it's name."
The silence was absolute. Andrew stared at the child. "How the hell does she know that?"
"She reads my notes," Da-li said, patting Eunha's head with a small, private smile. "She's curious."
The Departure
The restaurant erupted into cheers as Yuna prepared to leave. To the villagers, she was their girl making it big. To Da-li, she was a piece of her soul walking out the door.
At the threshold, Da-li leaned down and kissed Yuna's forehead. "Come back soon," she whispered. Then, looking at Andrew: "I'm trusting you with a part of my life. Don't make me come looking for both of you."
Andrew nodded, his face grim. "I'll take care of her. Like you did for me."
As they began the trek toward Lin Fu, Yuna felt a sudden ripple in the air. Her hand shot up, catching a small, red charm mid-flight. She looked up to see Eunha perched on a tree branch like a predatory bird.
"Return it to me when you get back," Eunha called out, her voice oddly steady. "And don't lose. If you lose, who am I supposed to spar with when I grow up?"
Yuna didn't look back. She just gave a sharp, confident thumbs-up and kept walking.
"Get down from there," Da-li commanded from the base of the tree.
Eunha dropped, landing perfectly in her mother's arms. "I want banana chips now, Ma!"
Da-li let out a weary sigh, the kind only a mother of a potential world-ender could manage. "Alright. But first, fetch me some white roses from the garden."
Eunha grinned. "Deal!"
As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting long, bloody shadows across the path to Lin Fu, mother and child walked back into the house—the legendary Empress and her chaotic spark, waiting for the first of the daughters to prove her steel.