A few days ago.
Southern Continent, Crossroad, Temple.
"Aaaaaah!"
Lilly's scream reverberated through the temple.
Lying on the bed, gritting her teeth in pain, Lilly let out another scream.
"It hurts so damn much, shit!"
To alleviate Lilly's pain, Zenis, the head priest infusing divine power into her swollen belly, remarked.
"Ah, how many times do I have to tell you! Swearing is not good for prenatal care!"
"Do you think I care about prenatal care right now?! I feel like I'm dying!"
Lilly's delivery was imminent.
Her private room was already in chaos. Midwives and priests alternated in their busy entrance and exit, frantically cleaning up amniotic fluid and blood.
But that wasn't all.
"Lilly! Hang in there!"
"We are here for you! Fight on! Fight on!"
"Breathe in! Inhale! Hoo! Hoo!"
Outside the room, friends crowded like clouds.
Wizards, alchemists, elves, and various other acquaintances... everyone Lilly had met since coming to the southern frontline gathered to support her delivery.
"The sponsorship for the child will be undertaken by our Alchemy Guild!"
"Nonsense! Our Mercenary Guild Mage Union already called dibs!"
"Are you treating the child as an item to be reserved? Besides, half the child is an elf! Our Elf Autonomous Region has already started collecting donations-"
"Hey! Line up, line up! Our Crossroad Women Heroes and Mercenaries Rights Committee, or CroWoHerMerc Committee for short, has already finished fundraising!"
"Why does that committee have such a name...?"
From arguments over who gets to be at the top of the impromptu sponsorship list,
"Has she thought of a name for the baby?"
"Should the name be in human style or elf style?"
"If it's human style, Imperial or Lilly's hometown style?"
"Different names for a boy and a girl..."
"Sometimes half-breeds are androgynous, right?"
"What are the possibilities then?"
To discussions about what the baby's name should be.
As they noisily argued, even coming to blows at times, they eventually felt the need for a referee and peeked into the room.
"Have you figured it all out, Lilly?!"
Touched by everyone's warm concern for her and the baby, Lilly tearfully yet vigorously responded.
"Get out, all of you bastards-!"
Finally, unable to stand it anymore, Head Priest Zenis came out and dispersed the crowd.
"Alright, I know you all mean well, but the mother is having a hard time, so please, let's stop here and go."
"But we want to see the baby's face..."
"We need to imprint ourselves as the uncles and aunts. There's something called the imprinting effect, you know?"
"We need to make a good impression now so the baby will follow us later!"
In front of these well-intentioned(?) people, Zenis sighed deeply.
"Lilly can't use her legs, and it's a difficult birth because the baby is a half-breed... If things don't go well, it might take a few more days."
The amniotic fluid had broken much earlier than expected, and Lilly had been suffering in intense labor for hours since being transferred to the temple.
Yet, the baby showed no signs of being born.
Zenis, who had assisted in several half-breed births before, intuitively understood.
This childbirth was going to be a long and arduous battle.
Gathering here early and making a fuss was pointless, as everyone would be too exhausted to properly celebrate when the baby was actually born.
"When the baby is born, I'll inform you right away, so come and celebrate then... Now, now! Please go back."
Eventually, persuaded by Zenis's gentle request, Lilly's friends dispersed in small groups, imploring to be called as soon as the baby was born.
Only Burnout and Bodybag remained in the room.
These two elves had been taking care of Lilly, who had been physically incapacitated. Perhaps that's why they were more worried and couldn't leave her side.
"Head Priest, Lilly won't be in danger, right?"
Bodybag, speaking for the mute Burnout, stepped forward to ask.
"We're worried... she's been struggling for months..."
"With so many priests here, what's there to worry about? Just a bit more suffering, that's all."
Zenis almost habitually reached for a cigarette, but quickly remembered he was in the presence of a pregnant woman and put it back.
"Kids who give their mothers a hard time during birth usually grow up strong. This one will grow up especially tough."
"Is there anything we can do to help...?"
The two elves asked earnestly. Zenis smiled broadly.
"Then maybe offer a prayer!"
"Ah, but we don't believe in the Goddess..."
The two elves looked embarrassed, but Zenis gestured with his eyes.
"Then to the Elven gods! The World Tree or whatever! We need their blessing right now, don't we?"
Nodding, Zenis went back into the room.
Burnout and Bodybag looked at each other and, as if on cue, brought their hands together in front of their chests.
Humans have their gods, and elves have theirs. But who looks after the half-breeds born between them?
It was a matter to be thought about after praying to both sides.
***
Crossroad.
Atop the southern city walls.
Whooooo!
The dry winter wind howled over the city walls, where two knights stood.
Lucas and Evangeline were seriously checking the condition of the walls, testing various siege and defensive weapons.
"Lucas."
Evangeline, brushing her hand over an artifact, blurted out. Lucas, aligning a cannon's sight, did not turn but responded.
"Speak."
"When Lilly gives birth..."
Evangeline muttered with a seriously furrowed brow.
"It'll be cute."
"..."
What kind of comment was that?
Lucas, incredulous, retorted as he turned to look at her.
"Don't state the obvious. Of course, it'll be incredibly cute."
"But have you decided on a gift for the cute baby that's about to be born?"
"..."
Lucas, silent for a moment, awkwardly inspected the next cannon.
"...Not yet."
"You're so inattentive. How can you be a stand-in commander like that? A proper frontline commander should be good at taking care of these things."
"Quiet. I'm good with a sword, not with this kind of thing..."
Maybe a cradle, diapers, or other childcare items would be good? Or just give a congratulatory money...
Thinking about the items made his head spin. With a headache setting in, Lucas groaned and looked at Evangeline.
"And what about you? Have you prepared something?"
"Of course! Who do you think I am? I'm the president of CroWoHerMerc and the future lord of Crossroad, aren't I?"
Indeed. That's right.
The girl-knight before him - no longer a small child, but rather tall now - was the heir of the Cross family. Realizing this anew, Lucas exclaimed, "Ho."
Evangeline shrugged her shoulders.
"I have one year left before I regain the rights to this city, one year. It's naturally my duty to take care of the welfare of the people belonging to my territory!"
Then Evangeline laughed smugly.
"You know, in a year, I'll inherit the title of Margrave of the Borderlands? Then Lucas, you won't be able to talk informally to me like now."
"...Maybe I should ask my lord for a count title too. So I can keep speaking informally to you."
"Ah, how could you! That's so petty! Cheating! I just want to hear some honorifics from you!"
In front of the whining Evangeline, Lucas shook his head in disbelief and gestured with his chin.
"...So what did you prepare?"
"Oh right, I got sidetracked. Ta-da! This!"
Evangeline, as if she had been waiting for this moment, pulled out from the space between her armor... a paper box wrapped around a garment.
It was a fancy baby dress decorated with frills and lace. Evangeline laughed with a "Mwahaha."
"A dress for the first birthday party! I bought it in advance with my own money!"
There was Evangeline, revealing her love for frills and lace once again. Lucas, inwardly rolling his eyes, was puzzled.
"First birthday party? What's that?"
"Eh? You don't know about first birthday parties? It's called a 'doljanchi', celebrated on a baby's first year. It's always a big event here." (TL Note: 돌잔치 (doljanchi) is a Korean tradition that celebrates the first birthday of a baby. )
"Ah, I see."
Being from the Imperial Capital, Lucas had never heard of this custom, but he quickly understood it was a celebration of the child's first birthday.
"Is there a special reason to celebrate the first birthday?"
"Of course. Crossroad is a fortress city at the very southern tip of the world."
Evangeline, tucking the dress box back into her armor, looked out over the southern plains.
"Fundamentally, people die here. It's a place where people flock to maintain the frontline and build a wall of death to hold back the monsters."
"..."
"Crossroad has grown enough to be called a 'city' now, but decades ago, it was just a small village. How many children do you think were born here? And what were the chances of those children surviving their first year?"
Lucas remained silent, observing Evangeline, who had matured since he first met her.
"In this place, where monsters and humans die intertwined, the birth of a new life, and its survival, are all occasions to celebrate."
"..."
"So, I, as the future lord and the heiress to the title of Margrave of the Borderlands, must bless all life born in this city."
For the next year.
Until Ash completes his three-year tenure.
Evangeline declared her resolve to protect the city and the new life that would be born.
Listening to the young, budding lord's determination, Lucas chuckled and teased.
"But why a dress? What if it's a boy?"
"Tsk... These days, kids don't care about such distinctions! Even if it's a boy, he'll wear it just fine, right? It'll be super cute!"
"Don't project your desires onto someone else's child..."
As they bantered, the two finished inspecting the southern city walls.
"Pant, pant! Sir Lucas! Lady Evangeline! It's an emergency!"
A knight in full armor came running breathlessly. The two knights turned in surprise.
It was one of the heroes from Lucas's knight party. The sweat-soaked knight reported while panting.
"The parties that went on autonomous exploration in the Lake Kingdom dungeon..."
"The three parties I sent? What happened?"
"We went in to check after they failed to return well past their expected time, and..."
The next words stiffened Lucas and Evangeline's faces in dismay.
"We, we found them all... annihilated!"
"What...?!"
"Annihilated, you say?"
The bewildered Lucas and Evangeline followed the knight.
"Please, come and see for yourselves! This way!"
***
Lake Kingdom. Inside the dungeon.
Stepping through the teleport gate into the dark dungeon, Lucas drew his [Bestowed Sword].
The blade of light formed, pushing the pitch-black darkness in all directions.
Similarly, Evangeline extended her cavalry lance imbued with a fire spirit.
The light emanating from their weapons rolled like waves, sweeping away the surrounding darkness.
It wasn't far from the safe zone where the teleport gate was located.
"This is...!"
Lucas's face hardened in dismay.
There they were.
At the narrow entrance to the alley leading into the safety zone.
Fifteen mercenaries who had gone on autonomous exploration. All in the midst of a desperate escape—
"...Turned to stone?"
They were petrified.
Some had fallen, others were running, and yet others were on their knees praying, all frozen in time.
Turned into stone while still alive.
"Did they all turn into stone while they were alive...?"
Evangeline, seeing such a phenomenon for the first time, murmured in a trembling voice.
"Who could have done this...?"
"..."
Lucas didn't answer.
Instead, he picked up something that lay scattered around the petrified heroes.
"This is..."
Staring at the glittering, gem-like object, Lucas muttered.
"...Scales, huh."
Picking up the scale, Lucas clenched his fist tightly.
And then he stared into the darkness.
The ominous darkness spreading out like ripples, making a noise like insects devouring something.
"..."
Something...
Something immensely evil was lurking in there, preparing to strike.
To invade the human world, to kill the living.