Rivern rode his horse along the Deep Rock Forest trail at full speed. The sound of the hooves echoed through the woods, urgent and lonely.

"Nicole, please don't go. Don't go there..."

He muttered to himself in the wind, his brow furrowed, struggling to shake off the emotions from his earlier conversation with Aurora.

He had watched Nicole grow up, spending fifteen years with her, yet he never imagined she would be a survivor of Acorn Town.

"Why does it have to be Acorn Town? Why does it have to be there..."

Why...?

He asked himself over and over again, but the only answer he could come up with was that fate was playing a cruel joke.

Apart from Nicole's time reset, he knew better than anyone what had happened back then. Because at that time, he was there, in that scene of slaughter and bloodshed.

However, back then, he was not on the side of the light.

The afternoon sunlight was blindingly bright, causing Rivern to squint. All he could hear was the rushing wind in his ears.

Within it, there seemed to lurk a maddening whisper.

"Why? Why are you trying to stop that girl from going there?"

"Are you afraid? Afraid that she will remember everything, afraid that she will find out who you really are?"

Rivern gripped the reins with one hand, the other hand weakly covering his ear.

"Shut up."

The voice did not quiet down as he wished; instead, it intensified.

"She has the right to know the truth, and you have no right to stop her."

"How do you think she'll react when she learns that her beloved Rivern was an accomplice to the demons that day? Just thinking about it is amusing, don't you agree?"

Rivern gave up covering his ears, realizing that the voice was coming from within him.

He spurred his horse onward, the wild wind tangling his blonde hair, and his emerald eyes taking on a crimson hue.

"Damn it, shut up!!" Rivern couldn't help but curse.

The voice seemed to laugh, its tone filled with malice and madness, echoing in Rivern's mind like a curse.

"Will she follow the same path you did back then, hmm? What do you think?"

"You won't harm her!" Rivern shouted.

"No, no, no," the voice laughed again. "I won't harm her, but you will."

"I will not!"

"Then let's wait and see. Let her hate, fear, and seek revenge. Let her end her enemy with her own hands. Let her break your pathetic shell for me. One day, you will return to my side. In that case, I must prepare a new collar for you, one that you will love."

Rivern no longer responded to the voice. Instead, he touched the ring on his left index finger with his right hand. With a brief prayer, a burst of light emanated from the ring.

The horse was startled and began to veer off the Deep Rock Forest trail, trying to bolt into the woods.

Rivern leaned down to soothe the horse, finally calming it down and slowing its pace.

"Do you really think you can escape your fate? Do you really think..."

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Rivern pointed the ring at his own heart.

"I told you to shut up!"

The ring's light gradually concentrated, like a blade of condensed light, piercing through his body.

The wind stopped, and that voice finally disappeared.

As the light faded, Rivern collapsed from the horse's back.

The horse lowered its head and paced nervously around him.

Lying on the ground, Rivern quickly regained consciousness. He rolled over and lay flat on his back, coughing forcefully a few times.

The blinding sunlight made it hard for him to open his eyes, so he had to shield his face with his hand and turn his head to the side.

"...What have I done?"

Before Rivern could sit up, a loud voice broke in.

"Priest? What are you doing lying on the ground?"

A swordsman led the way, followed by three or four other members, emerging from the woods one after another. Their faces seemed to carry the victorious smiles of a successful hunt.

Rivern sat up. "I'm fine."

"Good to hear. Even if you weren't, we don't have time to help you," the elemental mage said coldly as he passed by Rivern.

A young archer stopped beside Rivern. "Why are you alone? Where are your teammates?"

Obviously, he wouldn't believe that a low-level priest like Rivern, with almost no offensive capability, would dare to venture out alone. Without the support of teammates, the survival rate of a low-level priest encountering dangerous beasts was virtually zero. Acting alone was akin to a death wish.

Rivern looked up at him, understanding his thoughts, and went along with it. "I got separated from them. I'm just about to go find them."

"Are you sure you can manage on your own?" The archer watched as Rivern hurriedly stood up, looking concerned. "You can come with us. We're heading back to Northsail."

"I'm fine," Rivern replied with a polite smile, though it seemed somewhat forced.

The archer gave him one last look before deciding to catch up with his teammates, who were already moving away.

"Take care, priest," he said, waving goodbye to Rivern.

Rivern waved back and then watched them from a distance, hearing snippets of their conversation.

"I saw it with my own eyes. That black panther turned into an elk, and then it carried the girl away at full speed."

"You want to say a battle pet turned into a mount? Who would believe that?"

"It even talked! It mocked us for not handling our prey and bragged about killing more beasts than we ever have. Damn it, these days even battle pets can insult people? Could the Beast Tamer Guild really have dabbled in some dark magic? Did they team up with those shady alchemists to create the legendary chimera?"

"...Are you sure you haven't taken too many drugs?"

"...Why don't you believe me!"

They wouldn't believe what the swordsman had seen, but Rivern did.

He also realized that the werewolf had already reunited with Nicole.

"No... you can't go to that place. Because it's... already..."

Rivern hurriedly mounted his horse and rode towards Echowater Town.

He knew he had to find Nicole immediately, but before that, he had to prepare for the worst.

He needed to return to the church in Echowater Town. There was something he had to bring with him.

***

When Rivern arrived at the church, Father Ron was at the chapel entrance, talking to a few adventurers.

Rivern didn't have time to greet them. He jumped off his horse and rushed towards his room.

"Rivern?? Why are you back so soon?? Hey, why are you running so fast?"

Ron had never seen Rivern so frantic. He apologized to the adventurers with a nod and then hurriedly followed after Rivern.

……

The curtains in the bedroom were meticulously drawn, leaving the room in complete darkness.

Rivern pulled two pieces of clothing from the wardrobe and stuffed them into a backpack. Then, he dragged out a dusty wooden box from under the bed.

He wiped away the dust, revealing an ancient and faded emblem of a "Sacred Scepter" on the box.

Without hesitation, he opened the box. Inside were old, tattered scraps of paper, covered in writing that had faded to the point of being illegible.

He pushed aside the scraps and found a crystal vial wrapped in black cloth at the bottom of the box.

In the dim room, the liquid inside the crystal vial emitted a golden glow, faintly illuminating Rivern's face through the black cloth.

He picked it up and examined it closely for a moment. The golden light reflected in his emerald eyes, yet it couldn't bring any warmth to his cold gaze.

Rivern carefully placed the crystal vial into his backpack. The last bit of light in the room vanished.

In the shadows, his expression was unreadable.

Hurried footsteps approached from outside. Rivern quickly pushed the wooden box back under the bed and turned to see Ron appearing at the doorway.

"What happened?" Ron asked, puzzled.

"Did you know all along that Nicole is a survivor of Acorn Town? Why didn't you ever tell me?" Rivern asked.

"You never asked me," Ron explained innocently, then added, "What's going on? Has something happened to Nicole?"

"Nicole's pet black panther is a werewolf shapeshifter, and he is also one of the survivors of Acorn Town."

"What?" Ron found it hard to digest this news.

"They are already heading towards the ruins of Acorn Town."

Rivern couldn't explain everything to Ron and could only give a brief summary.

"What??" Ron couldn't believe it.

Rivern strode out of the room, leaving his back to Ron.

"I will protect Nicole. I promise you."

"Rivern," the old yet powerful voice called out his full name for the first time, "Rivern Rybirths."

Rivern paused, responding somewhat guiltily, "Yes."

"Don't lose yourself, and don't lose your way." The old priest's words were filled with admonition, not blessing.

"Understood. Please don't worry about me." Rivern turned his head and gave Ron a smile.