After Trey left, Keyrin finally stopped hiding the trembling running through her body.
She had been doing everything she could not to show him her strange condition.
Otherwise, he might start worrying and, using the bond between master and servant, try to pull the information out of her himself.
That was something she wanted to avoid at all costs.
He was not yet ready to see the dream she had last night.
The moment Keyrin started recalling what she had seen, cold sweat appeared on her palms, while the warmth slowly began leaving her body.
In the dream, she stood atop a mountain.
The world around her felt familiar, almost like home, yet at the same time, something about it was deeply wrong.
It was a sunny day.
The sky looked clear and calm.
And that calmness was what frightened her the most.
Determined to understand what exactly was causing this feeling, Keyrin moved forward.
As she walked through the forest, she heard neither animals nor insects.
The absolute silence felt unnatural.
Too dead.
After walking a little farther, Keyrin came to an abrupt halt.
A sharp stench of blood and decay struck her nose.
It nearly made her vomit.
For a second, she even wanted to turn around and leave.
But her curiosity proved stronger.
Trying to find the source of that smell, she kept walking.
With every step, the stench grew stronger.
So strong it felt like it was literally suffocating her.
But Keyrin continued onward anyway.
The moment she stepped out of the forest, she froze.
Before her stretched a valley completely littered with rotting corpses.
No matter where she looked, bodies lay everywhere.
Light elves.
Dark elves.
Humans...
All of them were dead.
Unable to understand what was happening, Keyrin slowly walked forward until she noticed a lone figure standing with its back to her.
A familiar aura radiated from that being.
Far too familiar.
But she could not determine its race.
Black wings extended from its back.
Its skin was red, covered in something resembling dragon scales.
Its face was more elongated than a human's, yet it did not resemble a dragon either.
Its eyes looked draconic, but unlike the mindless monsters, intelligence could be seen within them.
The figure slowly moved forward, as if completely unaware of Keyrin's presence.
After sweeping its gaze across the field of corpses, the creature snapped two fingers.
Seven figures immediately appeared beside it.
Keyrin recognized two of them at once.
The first was the elf with chains.
But now he had changed.
Spikes had appeared along the edges of his chains, while the chains themselves coiled around his arms like living creatures.
The second was the orc with the enormous shield that completely concealed his body.
At the center of the shield was a blood-red eye, observing everything around it.
"Trey?.. Is that you?" Keyrin asked, unable to believe her own eyes.
She could not accept the fact that this massacre had been caused by the young half-elf she was meant to serve.
"That is not entirely him. But at the same time, it is him."
A calm female voice sounded from behind her.
There was quiet sadness in that voice.
Turning around, Keyrin saw a woman standing before her in a red dress that fluttered despite the complete absence of wind.
Her hair flowed freely over her shoulders.
The beauty of this woman could easily eclipse any elf and any representative of other races.
But her aura and dark crimson eyes made one thing unmistakably clear—she belonged to no known race.
"Goddess Hes?" Keyrin asked in confusion. "What do you mean?"
She shifted her gaze back toward Trey, who was slowly walking away from the battlefield accompanied by two tormentors.
"He will leave you and the princesses behind after graduating from the academy and continue onward alone," Hes said calmly. "In seven years, all races will come to know his name."
She paused briefly.
"And two years after that, the hunt will begin."
The goddess's voice remained even, but far too much was hidden beneath that calmness.
"The representatives of all races will unite once again, wishing to destroy the Chosen One and prove to the gods that they have no need for us."
Keyrin listened in silence.
The figures of Trey and his companions gradually disappeared into the distance.
"Left alone and no longer trusting anyone, he will begin sinking into despair," Hes continued. "Surrounded by the hatred of every race, all he will hear are curses and wishes for his death."
Her voice grew quieter.
"Even those he could have once called friends will look upon him as a parasite."
The goddess fell silent for a moment.
"And then something inside him will break."
A chill ran down Keyrin's spine.
"He will abandon the path of the Chosen One."
Hes looked directly into her eyes.
"And walk the path of the Destroyer."
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"He will reject everything that once connected him to the races and the gods."
The goddess slowly gestured toward the valley around them.
"And then the entire world will be painted in blood."
She pointed at the mountains of corpses.
"What you are seeing now are the remains of the last survivors."
Keyrin felt everything inside her tighten.
"Or rather, that is what they were until he found them."
"Why are you showing me this?!" Keyrin shouted, her voice breaking. "Why didn't you stop him?"
She was terrified.
So terrified that all she wanted was to wake up and forget everything she had seen.
"I tried," Hes answered painfully. "All of the gods tried."
For the first time, genuine despair could be heard in her voice.
"But he no longer listened to our words."
She stepped closer.
"This is the near future. And you can help prevent this fate."
"Me?" Keyrin asked in panic.
She took several steps backward.
"Why me? Why not someone else?"
Her voice trembled.
"Unlike him, I'm weak. My magic is only A-rank. I can't stand against him!"
As she backed away, Keyrin stumbled and fell.
Beneath her palms, she felt someone's body.
Slowly lowering her gaze, she saw the face of a young light elf.
His expression was forever frozen in horror.
Like a mask.
"He trusts you," Hes said quietly.
Keyrin looked up at her.
"You do not need to be stronger than him."
The goddess's voice softened.
"Every monster needs someone who will accept them for who they are."
A faint trace of hope appeared in her eyes.
"If you want to save him, do not turn away from him."
After those words, Hes raised her hands and clapped twice.
The world around them vanished.
Keyrin jolted awake.
Her entire body was drenched in sweat, and her heart was pounding so violently it felt ready to burst from her chest.
For several seconds, she simply sat there, trying to steady her breathing.
As she gradually came back to herself, Keyrin realized one simple truth.
It had not been a dream.
It had been a vision of the future.
A warning sent by Goddess Hes.
A warning of what would happen to the world if Trey remained alone.
But Keyrin still could not understand why the gods had chosen her.
Images of that possible future resurfaced in her mind again and again as she walked toward the bathroom.
Somewhere deep inside, she feared seeing that monster once more.
Opening the door, Keyrin froze.
A surprised Trey was standing before her.
She did not even remember how she had managed to reach him.
That was when she asked him for the oath.
And he gave it to her without even understanding what was troubling her so deeply.
Now, standing in the kitchen and staring blankly ahead after he had left for class, Keyrin let out a heavy sigh.
Then she forced herself to focus on more pressing matters.
They needed to gather information about the capital of the Alvs.