The bandits look down and, upon seeing Alicia’s body, they start panicking—she was supposed to lead them to the 13 Regalia that were lost! Meanwhile, at the bottom of the cave, Alicia regains consciousness thanks to the curse of immortality that Clevatess placed on her. Sure, she can’t die—but the curse doesn’t grant regeneration either. Right now, she’s paralyzed from the neck down, every bone shattered, and her blood rapidly draining. She has no clue how to escape. Worse, if the bandits realize she’s alive, things could get ugly.
As she struggles to move, the blood pooling from her wounds begins floating—then Clevatess materializes from it in a tiny form. Alicia is shocked to see him so small, but he explains he’s manifesting using the blood magic in her body. That same blood magic is what’s keeping her alive. If she bleeds out entirely? Permanent death.
However, Clevatess promises that as long as she’s useful, he’ll replace her blood and heal her. But he hasn’t started yet, which Alicia notices, so she impatiently asks why. He says he’ll heal her, sure—but first, he wants her opinion on something. Apparently, he recently offered Nu (the wet nurse candidate for Luna) a chance to escape this wretched place and live a better life. But surprisingly, Nu rejected him flat out.
Clevatess wonders if Alicia knows why. She figures it’s because Nu sees Clevatess as a powerless slave, incapable of keeping promises. Bandit groups like this don’t just let people leave, and escapees are always hunted down. Being born and raised in this camp, Nu probably thinks freedom is a hopeless dream.
Clevatess asks if there’s a solution. Alicia bluntly suggests: just kill all the bandits. If no one’s left to chase her, Nu might actually believe she can be free. She adds that with his power, Clevatess could easily wipe out the camp. But Clevatess refuses—if word got out that he left the mountain, enemies might take advantage and invade his territory. Instead, he wants Alicia to handle it; after all, it’s normal for a hero to slay bandits.
Alicia tries to protest, but Clevatess shuts her up and forcefully pumps her full of blood, regenerating her body. When the bandits finally reach her, they’re horrified watching her bones snap back and tissues reattach. The agony is unbearable, but soon she’s back to full health.
They can’t believe she survived the fall, but figure it doesn’t matter—as long as she’s alive, they can force her to lead them to the 13 Regalia. One cocky bandit charges alone and slashes her shoulder, but after what she just endured, it’s nothing. She grabs his arm, punches his face in, then snatches his sword and eyepatch. Alicia still hates being forced to fight, but these scumbags need to go down.
While Alicia handles the bandits, Clevatess focuses on finding Nu and convincing her that escape is possible. Meanwhile, Nu returns to the tavern, where Karmy (correct name for Carmy) is worried about her bruises. Karmy hates seeing Nu beaten but can’t stop the bandits. Still, she asks Nu to start clearing dishes.
Noticing Nu is in an oddly good mood despite the abuse, Karmy asks what’s up. Nu admits it’s not “good news” exactly, but it made her happy. She asks Karmy what the outside world is like. Karmy is surprised; Nu never asked that before. She explains she was born here and never saw the world, while Karmy was brought here after her home was destroyed—so her memories of the outside aren’t happy ones.
When Karmy asks why the sudden curiosity, Nu reveals someone asked her if she wanted to leave. Alarmed, Karmy slaps Nu—you can’t say things like that aloud with bandits nearby! They see slaves as disposable. The women here only survive by watching each other’s backs.
Just then, Bloco (correct spelling) walks in, having heard everything. Karmy grows nervous, asking why he’s here since he rarely visits. Bloco says he heard a baby was brought in and wanted to check. He asks Nu where the baby is, and she says Luna is in the stables. As he turns to leave, he tells Nu to come with him. From his tone, Karmy can tell this isn’t good—but she has no power to stop it. Meanwhile, Nu remains clueless about the terrible fate that might await her.
Once Brokov takes Nu away, Karmy slams her hands on the table in frustration. Nu was the only one capable of taking care of the babies here, and now she’s gone. But Brokov couldn’t care less. Karmy tries to convince herself that there was nothing she could’ve done and that Nu brought this on herself by talking about escape in front of Brokov. Yet, the guilt of what’s about to happen to Nu weighs heavily on her.
At that moment, Clevatess appears, carrying Luna. Karmy is startled—she didn’t even hear him come in—but quickly realizes he’s probably here because he wants to feed Luna. Regretfully, she informs him that Nu is gone and likely won’t return. Karmy dislikes it, but that’s just how things work here. However, Clevatess doesn’t accept that. His piercing gaze tells Karmy he’s dead serious about ensuring Nu’s safety, and he demands an explanation.
Meanwhile, Brokov leads Nu down an old stairwell. Nu is amazed; despite living her entire life in the camp, she’s never seen this place before. Brokov explains that it was once part of a massive magic ore mine. Magic ores have countless uses—for example, the lamp Brokov carries works because of crushed magic ores mixed with insect oil.
Before becoming a bandit, Brokov spent a lot of time researching the applications of magic ores, particularly how to mix them with various liquids to produce unique effects. He casually tells Nu to ignore the skulls on the floor—they’re “nothing to worry about.”
Then, Brokov turns off the lamp, plunging them into darkness. Nu panics, pleading for the light to be turned back on. When Brokov complies, she’s horrified to see his pet monster Betty standing right behind her. As part of his experiments, Brokov developed mixtures that allow him to control demons like Betty, which helped him become the leader of the bandits.
As the leader, Brokov says he can’t let someone live after expressing a desire to escape—so Nu will be executed by Betty. Panicking, Nu tries to flee, but Brokov commands Betty to eat her. As she runs, Nu thinks back to Clevatess’ offer and deeply regrets not accepting it. Suddenly, she sees Clevatess holding Luna at the tunnel’s other end. Her last thought is sorrow for not being able to care for Luna anymore.
Normally, this is where the hero would save her—but not this time. Nu is devoured by Betty, swallowed whole. Luna starts crying at the horrific sight, but Clevatess remarks coldly that this is just how the world works—magic beasts need to eat, and it’s his own fault for arriving too late. He’s disappointed to lose such a useful woman but resigns himself to the loss.
Turning to Brokov, Clevatess finds it strange that a proud troll from the Western Forest like Betty would obey someone like Brokov. Brokov scoffs, thinking Clevatess is crazy for insulting him here, and orders Betty to eat Clevatess next. But to his shock, Betty refuses to move—she looks terrified, paralyzed with fear. She even vomits up Nu, though she’s covered in stomach acid and missing an arm and leg.
Yet, she’s still alive. Clevatess neutralizes the acid with his powers and gently sets Luna down next to Nu, comforting her in her final moments. Then, using his shadow, Clevatess discreetly carries both Luna and Nu away. By the time Brokov looks back, they’re gone. He assumes Clevatess used magic to escape, though Clevatess himself is clueless about magic.
Brokov accuses him of feigning ignorance, believing magic is the only explanation for his feats. He explains that magic combines magic stones, herbs, and special ingredients to produce effects. For instance, he shows a drug in his coat, crafted from magic stones, herbs, and parasitic fly larvae—it makes anyone but him dumb as a rock. Using it on Betty, she became fully obedient.
Brokov pours the drug into his fire, creating vapors. As soon as Betty inhales them, she loses all reason and charges at Clevatess in a blind rage. Clevatess is tossed around helplessly; in his human form, his power is limited. While flying through the air, all he can think about is how mad he is that Alicia never mentioned magic to him.
Meanwhile, Alicia continues cutting down bandits. She’s already killed eight, but many remain, and her stolen sword is broken. She knows she’ll need a better weapon to win. She runs toward the flooded cave—about 50 bandits are left. Though immortal, she can still tire, so if exhaustion hits before the bandits are dead, she’s done for.
Reaching the water, she sees the lake monsters already waiting. Jumping in would be suicide, so she climbs the scaffolding instead, tricking the bandits into following her up. Once enough of them climb, she cuts the support rope, collapsing the structure and sending most of them into the water. The monsters enter a frenzy, devouring the bandits.
During the chaos, Alicia hides inside a barrel and sinks to the lake bottom. Since she doesn’t need to breathe, she waits patiently, hoping to reach the legendary sword hidden below.
