Chapter 1
“Go in.”
Clang.
My body was shoved forward and rolled across the cold stone floor. I didn’t stop until I’d rolled two and a half times.
“How pathetic. If you really were a saint, why don’t you save yourself? Oh, you can’t? Of course you can’t. You’re a fake.”
The man saying this tired line was Crown Prince Baldier Lihardt.
No—by now, he was probably Emperor Baldier Lihardt.
But that position wouldn’t last long.
Because—
‘Once tonight passes, the Empire will be destroyed. By the demon invasion.’
No matter how many times I said it, he never listened. Talking to a wall would’ve been more productive. I swallowed my curses and spoke.
“Your Majesty, do you really want the Empire to fall? Tonight at midnight, a rift will open above the imperial palace—”
“Shut up!”
Baldier shouted as if he didn’t need to hear another word. I shouted back even louder, hoping someone would hear.
“Isn’t there anyone there?! The world is ending tonight! Damn it! A rift is going to open!”
“Enough, Liana. Why are you so obsessed? Ah, I see. Was this your plan to ruin the celebration for the new saint?”
As he muttered to himself like a madman, a cold smile spread across Baldier’s face.
“Stop disgracing yourself and disappear quietly. I’ll graciously order your head to be displayed in the most visible place. Even you won’t be able to reattach a severed head, will you?”
Laughing as if refreshed, Baldier turned and walked away.
‘That lunatic…’
He had always been trash. It was suspicious from the start when he suddenly came to the temple and worshiped me. And when he heard my prophecy about the coming destruction, he completely lost it.
“Ha…”
A hollow laugh escaped me. Something had gone terribly wrong.
Yes, I was a Saint.
But even I felt something was off. Setting aside my nickname—“The Holy Lunatic”—my powers felt incomplete.
According to the prophecy texts, a Saint possesses three major abilities.
First: the ability to see the future.
I could see fragments of the future sometimes. That alone convinced everyone I was a saint, and Baldier became fascinated by it. But they were only brief, unclear visions.
Second: the ability to find and awaken the Knight of Prophecy, who would stop the apocalypse.
In the end, I never found him. I followed vague clues from dreams and met countless famous knights and mages—but none of them was the one.
Third: healing powers.
My healing power was incredible.
The problem was—
‘It only worked on my own body.’
That’s right. My healing ability was almost exclusively self-healing. When healing others, I was worse than an average priest.
‘I could barely cure small wounds or stomachaches.’
Luckily—or unluckily—most people didn’t know this, except the High Priest. Saints rarely healed others directly, after all.
That was why Baldier kept me around.
Until she appeared.
Cecilia.
One day, she appeared at the imperial palace, claiming she was the true saint. Baldier doubted her at first—but she began predicting deaths far more accurately than I ever had. Slowly, he started trusting her.
A real saint appearing in a relaxed palace?
‘Isn’t this my retirement chance?’
Honestly, I was excited. If Cecilia agreed, I would’ve handed everything over and left immediately.
But one day, Cecilia sat in front of the palace gates, crying and praying, demanding I be punished for impersonating a saint.
That night, she collapsed from exhaustion.
And Baldier chose her side.
‘They’re both insane…’
My faith in humanity shattered.
Impersonating a saint was a capital crime under imperial law.
Everything moved fast after that. I was dragged into the torture chamber and tortured in every way imaginable.
It was meaningless.
My automatic healing erased the pain as quickly as it came. The torturers realized it soon enough and stopped.
Then I was thrown into the underground prison.
My execution was scheduled for the next morning.
At that point, a question surfaced.
‘Where did it all go wrong?’
Was it when I told the truth about what I saw during the aptitude test at the Grand Temple?
I had seen a massive pair of shining wings in my vision—and simply said so.
The High Priest immediately declared me a saint.
Later, I learned from a secret prophecy book only the High Priest could read:
Ordinary priests saw white feathers. High-potential priests saw white hawks. The number varied by talent.
Only those destined to be saints saw giant wings.
“…I should’ve lied and run away. What glory did I think I’d gain?”
I muttered bitterly.
Then—
“Is that… true?”
A low, calm voice came from the darkness of the opposite cell corner.
I hadn’t sensed anyone else.
“Who’s there?”
“Answer me. Is it true? That a rift will open above the palace at midnight.”
He asked without revealing himself.
“Well… it doesn’t matter who you are.”
“It’s true.”
“Ha… hahaha.”
He suddenly laughed—then choked violently. Something splattered onto the floor.
Blood.
Seeing it, I moved toward him without thinking.
Instinct.
“Let me take a look.”
Tap—
Before I could touch him, a large hand grabbed my wrist.
The man slowly raised his head. Moonlight revealed his face—and I gasped.
Piercing blue eyes with golden light swirling inside.
A scar across the bridge of his nose.
Jet-black hair falling over his face.
He had every single trait of the Knight of Prophecy.
“Is there no way to stop it?”
‘Wait… this man… no way.’
My heartbeat grew loud.
“The Knight of Prophecy alone will cut down the Eye of the Abyss.”
“The Knight of Prophecy?”
“In the future I saw, the Knight sealed the rift and slaughtered every demon.”
“Where is he now?”
The moment he spoke with restrained fury, I knew.
It’s him.
This man was the knight I was supposed to awaken.
“He is—”
I stopped.
His left arm and right leg were gone.
His abdomen was soaked in blood.
It was too late.
Even if I were a real saint, I couldn’t restore lost limbs.
Telling him the truth now would only hurt him more.
“…He’s not here.”
I closed my eyes tightly and placed my hand on his abdomen.
If I couldn’t save him, I would at least ease his pain.
White light flowed into his body. His breathing steadied.
“You… are you really a saint?”
“If I were, I wouldn’t be rotting in a prison on the day of the apocalypse.”
“…I see.”
He smiled faintly.
“Who are you? Why are you here?”
“My name is Calyx Lihardt. I was imprisoned for the crime of existing.”
“…Lihardt?”
Only royalty bore that name.
“I’m the previous emperor’s illegitimate son. I lived my entire life in the shadows. Apparently, even that wasn’t enough.”
Calyx laughed bitterly.
I’d heard rumors of a hidden imperial bastard.
So that was it.
No wonder I never found him.
“I lived as a mercenary captain. Used another surname. People called me the Black Hawk of Hennes.”
“The Black Hawk of Hennes?!”
Hennes Gorge—near the Grand Temple.
The answer had been right next to me all along.
Then—
“Cough!”
Calyx spat blood again. His life force was fading fast.
I placed both hands on his chest.
“Wait.”
I poured everything I had into him.
As an apology.
“As penance.”
“Why… go this far for me?”
Calyx asked weakly.
I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his.
Only the Saint’s kiss could awaken the Knight of Prophecy.
It was too late—but I wanted to atone.
A powerful sensation surged through me.
Then everything went silent.
My vision turned white.
‘So this is how I die… without saving anyone.’
Then—
The massive wings I had once seen appeared again.
This time, there were two pairs.
“Uh…?”
The world began to redraw itself.
Sunlight poured into the Grand Temple hall.
The high priest looked at me solemnly.
“So, Liana. What did you see in your vision?”
I looked around slowly.
‘This is…’
Yes.
I had returned.
Back to the moment of the aptitude test.
