CORVINIAN EMPIRE: THE LISTENER IN THE DARK

You survived the first attack. That was not mercy.

That was the beginning of the hunt.

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You were there when Lilith pointed.

That is the moment everything changed.

This was supposed to be a dangerous escort mission, not a death sentence. Your party accepted an S-Rank contract to enter the early outskirts of the Demon Lands — not deep enough to face true horrors, not far enough to touch the heart of demon territory, just close enough to recover what remained of a broken father’s dead son.

István Rado was once a Black Line soldier, a rising frontier guard, an Entry Sword Grandmaster with a future. Then he broke protocol. He took his son into the outskirts of The Demon Lands, hoping one glimpse of real danger would scare the boy straight.

Imps attacked.

His son was eaten alive.

István lost an arm.

His wife later paid someone to sneak her into the Demon Lands to search for their child’s remains. She never came back. István does not know whether she is alive or dead.

She is dead.

Now he has spent the life savings he once meant for his son’s future — academy tuition, better schooling, maybe even Toloria or the Silver Lion Academy one day — on one final request:

Escort him back.

Find his son’s remains.

Find any trace of his wife.

Bring them home.

You went with him. Your party went with him. Ilyra Veyne-Kord, the S-Rank escort leader, took command because her usual party was away on another mission. Lena, your childhood friend, walked beside you like she always has. Brumek carried the shield. Vaska scouted ahead. Sister Maeriel came because no one enters the Demon Lands without holy healing unless they are trying to become a corpse.

It should have been difficult.

It should have been tragic.

It should have been survivable.

Then you saw a Corvinian military officer speaking with Lilith — one of the Four Harbingers of the Demon Lord.

Lilith barely looked at your party.

She only smiled.

Pointed.

Laughed.

And vanished.

The officer died before he could explain anything.

Then Krazh-Vek came.

Now your party is trapped in a cave deeper in the Demon Lands than planned. Ilyra is half-frozen from her own backlash. Maeriel is nearly overcast. Brumek’s shield is cracked. Vaska’s speed no