In a distant past.
In a village on an island in the southern part of the continent, a family of four ordinary fishermen lived.
The husband and his pregnant wife went fishing together, while their two daughters took care of household chores.
Life was hard as fish were not always plentiful, but the family lived happily, caring for each other.
Then one day came. The couple hoped to catch more fish.
Their daughters were growing up, and another child was soon to be born from the wife's womb, so they wanted to save more money for the future.
After much deliberation, they ventured into a fishing area that was designated as a forbidden zone by the village.
It was a place not fished by the village, as it was considered sacred for generations, and thus, was abundant with fish.
This was the beginning of their trouble.
A sea dragon lived in these waters, and tragically, the couple's net caught the sea dragon's child, tearing it to pieces and killing it.
Enraged, the sea dragon appeared before the couple, devoured the husband, and cursed the wife.
'I curse the child in your womb. Like my child, caught and torn in your net, it will live a hideous life and meet a miserable end.'
The wife barely made it back to land, gave birth to the child after ten days and nights of suffering, and then died.
The child was born with a grotesque appearance. Instead of hair, snakes were attached to its head, its body sprouted animal fur, and its limbs were made of metal.
Its eyes turned everything they gazed upon to stone.
And so.
The two sisters did not abandon their horrifically born younger sibling. In place of their deceased parents, they decided to raise the child with care.
The sisters' names were Stheno and Euryale.
And the name of the monster-born youngest was Medusa.
***
Day 2 of the Gorgon Sisters' invasion.
The weather was overcast. It seemed like it would soon rain, or perhaps snow or hail would fall.
Kugugugung...!
The nest built by the Gorgon sisters in Crossroad had collapsed.
Amidst a cloud of dust, stone structures crumbled altogether, scattering like ashes.
Then, from within that cloud of dust, the shadows of two monsters slowly emerged.
Kung... Kung... Kung...
Stheno and Medusa.
The two monsters stepping out of the nest were even bigger than the day before.
Medusa, who had devoured Euryale and absorbed her wings and petrifying skin, and Stheno, who had absorbed residual magic power, were even more swollen in size.
Even the arms that had been severed were now fully reattached as if nothing had happened.
"..."
Chk-
Blocking the path of the two advancing monsters were two knights.
Lucas and Evangeline.
Lucas, hastily wearing mismatched high-quality armors left in Crossroad, draped a black cloak over them.
In contrast, Evangeline wrapped a white cloak like a scarf and stood at ease in her custom-fit armor.
'When our lord returns.'
Lucas, glancing at Evangeline, grumbled.
'I'm going to ask for a set of the best armor for myself too.'
'How unfortunate. There's no armor as good as mine.'
'There will be.'
'Nope~ There won't be.'
The two knights briefly locked eyes through their helmets.
'Then I'll have to ask Kellibey to make it.'
'Our dwarf master is quite skilled, but nothing compares to mine, imbued with the essence of the ancient magical kingdom. Never.'
'We'll see.'
'We'll see, pfft, not scared at all.'
Exchanging banter, the two knights simultaneously deployed their mirror shield and ice shield.
Kiiiiing!
The petrifying evil eyes of Stheno and Medusa swept across the area.
Kugung! Kugugung...!
Amidst the buildings turning to stone and then crumbling, the two knights slowly stood upright.
"...Don't their gazes seem heavier than yesterday?"
"It's not just your imagination. They definitely seem stronger."
"We're in for a tough day again, sigh..."
"The better we perform, the less others have to sacrifice. Let's give it our all."
Evangeline extended one fist towards Lucas.
"Don't die."
Lucas also extended a fist, bumping it against Evangeline's.
"Same to you."
Kung!
Their gauntlet-covered fists met and then parted.
"Kiyaaaaaaaak-!"
Medusa and Stheno let out a resounding roar simultaneously.
The intense sound waves flew, leaving only the skeletons of the surrounding crumbling buildings, blowing everything else away.
The two knights, their cloaks fluttering, dispersed to the left and right.
***
The strategy for the second day was slightly different from the first.
Lucas would lure Stheno, and Evangeline would lure Medusa.
Since the objective of the operation was no longer to kill the enemy, but rather to wait for Ash's return.
There was no need to fight recklessly.
They just had to keep blocking the evil eyes with the mirror shield and maintain a safe distance while fleeing within the city.
The tactic was set for Lucas and Evangeline to handle the two monsters primarily, but if they became exhausted or endangered, the remaining hero parties scattered throughout the city would intervene and assist.
And one of those hero parties deployed.
Three survivors of the Blacklist were huddled together on a building's rooftop, holding a meeting.
"Let's run away."
The golem sorceress, her eyes shimmering, spoke in a low voice.
"Seriously, we can't go on. We're not even in a state to fight anymore."
"..."
"Let's run away this time. No, not just 'let's run away.' I'll escape alone if I have to, leaving you behind!"
"What...are you saying? Leave us... and escape alone...?"
The young child in prison clothes, bound in chains, and using black magic, had aged drastically into an old man.
As his young appearance maintained by black magic faded, his original appearance emerged.
The black magician pointed a trembling, liver-spotted hand at the golem sorceress.
"All this time... after feeding and raising you...! Ungrateful thing...! I've paid off your gambling debts so many times...!"
"I appreciate that you covered my gambling debts. But that's not a reason for me to throw my life away here."
The golem sorceress glared at the other two.
"With a black magician old man weakened and struggling even to form a contract, and a blind swordsman with broken legs! I have no intention of dying here with you."
At that, the blind swordsman huddled in the corner suddenly stood up.
"Hey, I got healed by the priest yesterday, okay? I can walk now!"
Attempting to demonstrate, the blind swordsman stumbled over a stone in front and fell.
"Ah!"
"Look at that, look at that idiot. Why didn't you ask to get your eyes fixed while getting your legs healed?"
The grumbling golem sorceress turned her empty magic ingredient pouch inside out, shaking it vigorously. Only dust came out.
"It's the same for me. I don't have enough ingredients to summon golems anymore."
"..."
"This dumb and dumber and even dumber... there's nothing we can do against those powerful monsters."
"..."
"Let's stop this nonsense and just run away together. Okay? If I can somehow get the last ingredient, I can summon a golem to carry us and we can flee..."
That's when it happened.
Kuagwagwagwang!
The building they were sitting on shook violently with a loud noise.
"What's that?! What's happening?!"
The terrified golem sorceress quickly looked down at the building below.
"Kiyaaaaaaaak!"
"Kr... Ugh!"
It was Lucas and Stheno.
Stheno charged with a frenzied and mighty force, and Lucas tried to block the charge with his sword strike.
But Stheno, indifferent to the light sword digging into her hand, kept pushing forward relentlessly.
Lucas was helplessly pushed back - almost an entire block away, until he was slammed against the exterior wall of this building, back first.
Flash-!
Even in that state, Lucas swung his light sword horizontally with great force,
Clatter!
successfully severing all the fingers on one of Stheno's hands.
However, Stheno, with her fingers gone and only her palm remaining, somehow managed to grab Lucas's neck.
The pressure of her palm alone was enough to crush the neck part of Lucas's armor, making it hard for him to breathe.
"Krh... Ugh!"
Kugung! Kugugugung...!
In that state, Stheno pushed Lucas against the wall. Crashing through the building's exterior with his back, Lucas was dragged inside, his collar still in her grasp.
The three Blacklist members watching from above broke into a cold sweat.
"What do we do? Shouldn't we join in?"
"If... that knight guy dies, then this city is really finished...!"
As the blind swordsman and the black magician murmured, the golem sorceress snapped at them.
"Get a grip, idiots! What do we expect to do by getting involved in that fight? We'd be trampled like bugs, just like those who died yesterday!"
"..."
"Shit! Forget it, do what you want. Join in or dry up here, I don't care, I'm really leaving..."
The next moment.
The golem sorceress had to stop talking.
Waaaaah...!
From the other side of the city, faintly heard.
Waaaaah, waaaaah...!
It was unmistakably the sound of a baby crying.
The startled trio looked in that direction. The baby's cry came from the direction of the temple.
"Huh?"
"Wait, this... could it be?"
Despite the situation, a smile unwittingly crossed the faces of the three upon hearing the baby's vigorous crying.
"That's the baby, right?! It's finally born?!"
"Damn, all that trouble yesterday was worth it...!"
"Blessings to you, child. Grow up and never gamble..."
While the three ruffians were remotely blessing the birth of the child.
Kwagwagwang-!
Suddenly, Stheno burst out of the building wall, having been fighting Lucas inside.
Hearing the baby's cry, she had thrown Lucas aside and immediately rushed out.
"Kruck, kruck..."
Stheno's head, swiveling left and right, suddenly snapped up.
Waaaaah...!
Toward the sound of the baby's cry, coming from the temple.
Tuhak-!
Kicking off the ground, Stheno started running towards the temple at a terrifying speed.
"Uh oh..."
"Wait, wait, where is that thing going?!"
"That crazy monster! Hey! What are you doing! Hey-!"
Ignoring the trio's shouts, Stheno charged towards the temple, shaking the ground.
The three Blacklist members looked at each other with pale faces. The golem sorceress spoke with a trembling voice.
"...It's no use looking like that. I'm really going to run away."
The blind swordsman and the black magician said nothing.
Staring towards the temple, the golem sorceress trembled with rage.
"Ah, why does the world try to make me the bad guy, damn it...!"
***
The Temple.
With a haggard face, Lilly looked down at the baby in her arms.
The child, wrapped in a cloth, who had been crying vigorously, was now soundly asleep in Lilly's arms, as if it were a lie.
"This naughty one. He must have had a tough time being born, didn't he?"
Zenis, also covered in blood and sweat, wiped his sweat-soaked face with a stained towel.
"It was really tough. I've never seen such a difficult birth, and I've never seen a mother and child overcome one like this. Whew."
"..."
"So, have you decided on a name for the baby?"
After staring silently at the baby's face for a while, Lilly answered slowly in a hoarse voice.
"Cid. I'll name him Cid."
"Cid..."
Zenis chuckled.
"It's a nice name."
The next moment.
Kuagwagwagwang!
The walls of the temple burst open.
Zenis, swept away with the shattered wall, spat blood and was buried under a pile of stones. Lilly, in a daze, clutched the baby tightly and looked forward.
"Kruck, kruck..."
In the midst of the swirling dust, a monster stood.
A Gorgon with a massive body covered in metal and stone, snakes writhing on its head. It was Stheno.
And just as Stheno's cloudy, gray gaze was about to fall on Lilly and the child-
Chwaak!
Torkel, wedging himself in between, raised his mirror shield forward.
"Run away!"
Torkel, already thrown back once trying to block Stheno's charge, was covered in blood.
In that state, Torkel turned back and yelled towards Lilly.
"I'll hold her off, hurry-!"