Boran's instincts sensed the danger and sprang into action. He quickly ran toward the wooden door of the church, raised his shield in front of him, and rammed his shoulder against the door with all his strength. When his shield and body struck the door, the rotten wood shattered with a loud crash. The door broke from its hinges, swung inward, and Boran found himself in the main hall of the church.
The scene inside was far more chaotic than what he had heard from outside. In front of the ruined altar of the church, a young girl was fighting dozens of Wretchbound Howlers surrounding her. The girl was inside a white, semi-transparent shield unlike anything Boran had ever seen before. This protective field covered nearly a third of the room, forming a large hemisphere on the church floor with its vibrating edges.
The creatures—the Howlers—had filled the church. They all circled around the white shield, attacking frantically. Each of their strikes created bright white waves on the surface of the shield, but none could penetrate it.
The girl stood inside the shield; her appearance suggested she was at least twenty years old. Her long, wavy hair was golden and occasionally shimmered in bright waves before returning to normal. She wore an elegant white dress that reached down to her knees, with the chest area slightly open.
Boran's attention shifted to the staff in the girl's hand. This staff had symbols spiraling along its surface and a small blue crystal gleaming at its tip. Every time the girl waved the staff, the crystal shone brighter and spells shot out from inside the shield.
Before each spell cast, the girl murmured strange, incomprehensible words. These words didn't belong to any language; the sound sequences were more like musical notes, almost like commands given to the universe.
Boran paused at the entrance of the door. His reflexes kicked in immediately upon seeing the creatures. He raised his shield in front and took a fighting stance. The Howlers hadn't noticed his presence yet; their attention was completely focused on the blonde girl inside the defensive shield.
"Hey!" shouted Boran to draw the creatures' attention. "I'm over here, wretched creatures!"
Several Howlers turned their heads to look at the new threat. Their muffled, high-pitched howls echoed off the church walls. Two of them moved toward the door entrance, their claws creating sparks on the stone floor.
At that moment, the girl noticed his presence. Her eyes widened with surprise.
"Stay back!" the girl shouted, pointing her staff at Boran. "Don't come inside!"
Boran stepped back from the doorway and deflected a Howler's attack with his shield.
"I said don't come near!" The girl's voice was sharper this time, almost commanding. She raised her staff and those strange, musical words began to flow from her lips. Her voice was different now; deeper, almost like a combination of several voices echoing.
Boran remained at the door entrance, neither retreating further nor advancing. As he looked toward the girl's shield, two more Howlers tried to attack him, but he deflected both with agile movements. Then, as he prepared for another move, he suddenly felt a change in the air.
The room became suffocatingly heavy, as if the air itself was solidifying. He noticed all sounds in the church suddenly ceased. The howls of the Howlers, the sounds of their claws striking the stone floor, all suddenly sank into silence. It was as if time was slowing down.
The girl standing at the altar was drawing circles with her staff. Each movement left golden traces in the air. As the circles were completed, the crystal at the tip of the staff began to glow brighter—first a faint glow, then a dazzling shine, and finally a ball of light too bright to look at.
As Boran tried to understand what was happening, the girl's eyes turned completely golden. Light was now emanating not just from her staff but from her entire body. Her hair seemed to float in the air, as if suspended.
The girl spoke the final spell words, beginning as a whisper but gradually rising.
Golden light exploding from the staff completely filled the church hall. Boran raised his hand to protect his eyes, but the light was so bright that even his eyelids couldn't completely block this brightness. The spell spread in waves, instantly turning every Howler it passed through to ash.
The front of the light was approaching the door with incredible speed. With one last reflex movement, he pulled his shield to himself and waited for the fatal blow. But the wave of light stopped right in front of him. As if there was an invisible wall, the waves of light hung in the air surrounding him, but didn't advance even an inch.
The golden light of deadly brightness was just a few inches from Boran's face. He could look through the light to the other side of the church. The image was blurry, but he could see the Howlers vanishing one by one. The light hadn't killed him, it hadn't even touched him.
The deadly golden light, after reaching every corner of the room, began to slowly fade. First its brightness diminished, then its color lightened, and finally it disappeared completely. The inside of the church was plunged back into darkness; only the moonlight streaming through the windows and the faint glow of the crystal in the girl's staff illuminated the room.
The defensive shield the girl had created was also gone now. The girl had sunk to one knee at the altar, exhausted. Her head was bowed, and even her heavy breathing could be heard in this silence. Her staff was still in her hand, but it was no longer bright, emitting only a faint light.
Boran looked around; all threats had been eliminated. He hung his shield on his back. There was apparently nothing left to help with. After all, the girl was powerful enough to destroy all the creatures by herself and had shown no sign that she needed him. In fact, quite the opposite—she had warned him.
Boran slowly exited the church door. Just as he was wondering what to do, he heard brisk footsteps approaching. He turned to see the blonde girl running toward him with quick strides. The moonlight created silvery reflections in her hair.
The girl stopped in front of Boran, breathless. Now looking at her up close, Boran noticed how small she was. She barely came up to Boran's chest. Despite her small stature, there was powerful anger in her eyes.
"Where do you think you're going?" said the girl, trying to regulate her breathing. Her tone was unexpectedly sharp. "Do you think you're helping by acting like this?"
Boran raised his eyebrows slightly; his reflexes were still alert, but now he faced a completely different kind of battle.
"I just wanted to help," he said in a calm voice. "I thought you were in danger."
The girl raised her hands in anger. "In danger? Did I look like I was in danger to you? You saw that I could destroy those creatures with a single move, didn't you?"
"I hate being interrupted during a mission," she continued, her voice vibrating with suppressed anger. "Five minutes. I only needed to hold out for five minutes, and you... you could have ruined everything!"
Boran slowly backed away. "I understand. I'm sorry for disturbing you. I won't bother you."
Just as he was about to turn and walk away, the girl quickly grabbed his arm. Her hand was so small, so delicate that Boran thought if he pulled his arm away, her fingers would easily break. But he didn't pull away.
"No, we're not done yet," said the girl, her eyes still burning with anger. "Heroes like you are always the same. When you see a girl, you immediately assume she needs to be rescued. Did you ever think? Maybe that girl is one of the best Spirit Guides you'll ever see. Maybe that girl has been preparing for this mission for days. Maybe that girl has been working hard to learn how to fight without interference!"
Boran sighed. "You're right. I made an assumption. I underestimated you. I apologize again."
The girl hesitated for a moment at this unexpected response, then returned to her anger. "You think it's that easy? You say 'I'm sorry' and everything will be fixed? This mission was a one-time trial, do you understand? A single attempt! If I had failed, everything would have been wasted!"
"I understand. I wouldn't have wanted to interrupt your tiral." Boran slowly pulled his hand away from the girl's arm and started walking again.
"Stop!" The girl rushed forward, blocking Boran's path. "Why? Why did you act like that? Barging into the mission area, as if... as if I were some helpless thing, shouting 'Hey, here I am, miserable creatures!'"
The moonlight surrounded the girl's light-colored hair with a silvery halo. Boran realized that the girl was much younger than she had appeared during the battle—perhaps eighteen or nineteen years old. But the anger and determination he could see in those eyes belonged to a much older soul.
"I acted instinctively," said Boran. "I saw the Howlers and... I took action. I didn't know you were that powerful."
"Of course you didn't know," said the girl, lowering her voice. "Nobody knows. Everyone sees me as a little girl with flowing hair who wanders around healing people."
Boran hesitated. "You've experienced this before, haven't you?"
The girl laughed sarcastically. "Before? On. Every. Damn. Mission! Even in my own team! Even my teammates treat me like I'm made of glass. For even the simplest spells, they ask, 'Can you do it, are you sure?'"
She paused, taking a deep breath.
"And now, when I was focusing on a simple five-minute endurance trial, you came along and nearly ruined everything."
Boran nodded. "You're right. I was wrong." He started walking again.
The girl quickly appeared at his side, still angry. "You can't escape like this! I'm still talking!"
"And I'm listening," said Boran, continuing to walk. "But I need to go now. Your mission is complete. I have my own mission too."
"Where are you going?" The girl was walking with quick steps to keep up with him.
"I need to rest."
"Why don't you teleport back to the Hub then? Where are you going?"
"To my campsite."
The girl silently examined Boran in the moonlight. Her gaze was focused, her forehead slightly wrinkled. Suddenly she stopped, her eyes widening.
"There's something..." she said, her voice completely devoid of her previous anger, filled with surprise and concern. "There's something about you."
Boran stopped walking and turned to her. "What do you mean?"
The girl took a step closer, her eyes scanning not Boran's body, but something invisible around him.
"I see a darkness within you," she said in a low voice. "An evil. But... in a strange way."
Boran frowned. "What nonsense are you talking about?"
"I'm not talking nonsense," the girl said in a definitive tone. "I'm a Spirit Guide. My 'Detect Evil and Good' spell works automatically. I can see the good and evil within people."
She extended her hand, moving it through the air without touching Boran, as if moving her fingers through an invisible aura.
"Normally, everyone has a bit of evil inside them," she continued. "It's natural. No one is completely pure. The amount varies in everyone. But yours... is different."
Boran took a step back, his face hardening. "I've heard enough. I need to go."
"No, please..." The girl placed her hand on Boran's arm, gently this time. "You misunderstood. What I see in you is... complex."
Boran hesitated. He saw the sincerity in the girl's eyes and felt a curiosity stirring within him. "Go on."
The girl took a deep breath. "You have an incredibly powerful, bright aura of goodness inside you. I haven't seen anything like it in anyone during my time in the New World. It's so bright it's almost difficult to look at."
A look of surprise appeared on Boran's face. "And?"
"And..." She paused, carefully choosing her words. "At the same time, there's an equally dark aura of evil that seems to have attached itself to you."