Richard and Sataniel were locked in a tense standoff.
But the fierce tug-of-war was now off-balance.
“Whirlwind Fire!”
Dozens, no, now hundreds of fiery tendrils flew towards Sataniel like precision-guided missiles, beginning to strike.
“GRAAAH!!!”
Sataniel, who had morphed his body aggressively to counter Richard, was now in a wider strike range because of it.
His body could easily bounce off ordinary magic, but the awakened Jenia’s magic was impossible to block.
Sataniel’s massive form started to catch fire, and seeing this, Richard, who had been focusing solely on defense until now, began his counterattack.
“These useless little bugs!!!”
His subordinates, meant to buy time while he dealt with the enemies, were nowhere to be seen.
The enemy started firing support one by one, making it difficult for even Sataniel to handle.
‘Where did it all go wrong?’
The Crimson Warden, a nuisance, but he could easily wipe them out if he and his subordinates faced them properly.
Yet, why were the Holy Knights of the Goddess Church, who had been watching quietly, helping them? Their relationship was almost that of sworn enemies.
Moreover, how could elite members of the Mage Tower, among the wizards, be joining to press him so hard?
It wasn’t just that.
Sataniel felt the signals from the subordinates he had shared his blood with continuously cutting off.
They had all become Night’s Kin after receiving his blood, so Sataniel was able to perceive the survival status and locations of his subordinates.
But the fact that those signals were being severed rapidly meant they were losing at the main battlefield they had left behind.
Sataniel couldn’t believe this situation.
What imperial military powers could be gathered in such a rural territory?
He wanted to grasp the ridiculous circumstances at hand, but he didn’t have such luxury.
CRACK!
“Cough!”
Richard’s attacks, wielding his great sword, were fierce as if he was finally releasing all he had been holding back.
“Phew….”
At least it was fortunate that the red-haired wizard had seemingly exhausted herself from casting massive fire magic and had paused to catch her breath.
‘Now’s the moment! If I concentrate all my power to take down Richard first, then eliminate them one by one….’
It was just because of the sudden support from the wizard that he had been pushed back; originally, Sataniel had been dominating Richard, but during this brief pause in aggression, he intended to resume his attack on Richard.
“Burn it all, everything I have.”
The great sword held before Richard began to ignite with brilliant flames, incomparable to before.
“T-that’s!”
Sataniel’s eyes widened in horror at what he was witnessing.
The flames Richard was conjuring were identical to those that had once nearly brought him to ruin and left him with scars that had never faded.
“You kill your kin! You destroy the lives of those who lived peacefully, mocking those who struggle every day.”
– I will not forgive you.
As he lit the final flames, Richard realized something.
‘Burn it all!’
He understood what those words from his Master meant.
Sword Master.
Richard had reached a level no one had achieved since Cal Origen, the sword saint of the Empire.
*
Clang!
“Now, maintaining the status quo should be possible.”
“I finally understand why defamation of His Highness has echoed throughout the Empire.”
The allied forces held off the enemy’s main forces.
At first, they seemed to struggle against the terrifying numbers of the enemy, but thanks to Alexander leading the special squad that slaughtered the enemy’s officers and scattered their formations, they were now pushing forward.
With a moment of breather, Alexander looked at Edric and Kyle, praising them with a mix of admiration.
Both were renowned figures that even Alexander had heard of.
One was a genius of swordsmanship born from the imperial family, while the other bore the title of the young hero of the North.
However, Alexander never took such evaluations at face value.
After all, rumors were typically 90% false and only 10% truth.
Nevertheless, today, the achievements they had displayed made him realize those rumors were actually underselling their talents.
Especially the performance of the Empire’s Third Prince Edric was beyond what Alexander thought he could have achieved at that age.
Given a little more time, Alexander thought he would undoubtedly be deemed the strongest in the Empire.
“Well then, I’ll leave this to you two and head to the mansion first.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to push hard here?”
Kyle questioned Alexander’s words.
“While that would generally be correct, I’m concerned that this side has been too easily handled.”
“Hm… it is indeed true that the enemy’s main force seems smaller and weaker than expected.”
“Yes, it seems likely that those who staged the mansion assault are stronger than anticipated.”
In agreement with Alexander’s words, both Edric and Kyle nodded.
The battlefield at present was one that could finish off the remaining enemies even without Alexander’s presence.
Thus, it felt wiser to take the remaining forces and support the mansion for any unforeseen circumstances.
After finishing his words, Alexander charged through the enemy lines, cutting them down on his way to the mansion.
*
“GRAAAH!”
Until now, Sataniel had never let out a scream, no matter how often he got cut.
But now, things were different.
This time, it was impossible for him to extend dozens of arms and whip them around like before.
Zzzt.
Watching his own severed arm, Sataniel felt a burning sensation at the cut, like the scar on his face.
‘Regeneration is not happening easily.’
Ordinary flames wouldn’t affect him at all, being merely a nuisance to most Night’s Kin.
But now, the flames burning from Richard’s great sword were different.
If cut by that, regeneration would take an extraordinarily long time, coupled with excruciating pain.
In this situation, extending his arms again to attack would only present an opportunity for the enemy, so Sataniel returned to his original form.
‘I’ll block it! If I can just hold out long enough….’
Thus, Sataniel decided to stall as much time as possible while waiting for Richard to self-destruct.
That was like facing a flood or a landslide—foolish.
Moreover, he was merely an ordinary human compared to himself.
There was no way he could sustain such overwhelming power with a human body for long, so Sataniel aimed to endure until Richard tires out.
“You’re looking frightened, Sataniel.”
“What?!”
“Are you feeling the urge to run away again?”
Richard spoke, mocking him as if he could see straight through Sataniel’s mind.
At that remark, Sataniel heard the sound of the thread of reason in his mind snap.
“This… filthy human!!!”
“So, are you scared of the ‘filthy human’s’ attack and ready to run once more?”
Richard’s words struck at Sataniel’s core.
Born to a superior species, as the leader of the elite guards, Sataniel—the stigma he carried of becoming a great being by stealing the blood of the Night’s Kin, made it intolerable that he faced imminent danger from mere humans.
“I’ll kill you!!!”
An emotional, irrational decision made in a moment he normally wouldn’t have.
Sataniel, who had planned to wait for Richard to tire, lost his sanity and charged forward.
At that moment, Richard lifted the great sword, not in his usual stance of the Spirit of the Swordsmanship but horizontally at waist level.
And then, with blinding speed, he executed a vertical slash, causing Sataniel to be caught off guard and split in two.
“Guh…”
That wasn’t the end.
As though not giving a moment’s respite, Richard performed a horizontal slash, cutting Sataniel’s halved body into quarters.
Fires began to blaze in the gaps of the torn remains, and the pieces of Sataniel’s body began to ignite.
“Richard!”
Cypris, who had been unable to intervene for fear of becoming a hindrance in their battle, rushed to Richard.
“…You did it.”
Then Richard collapsed, as if he had melted into Cypris’s embrace.
The final strike.
This was the last ounce of strength Richard could muster.
And it wasn’t solely his doing.
Had Jenia not supported him in his time of need, he might have faltered and collapsed first.
Had Sataniel not faced him, the sword saint wouldn’t have provoked Sataniel into a frenzy to rush in like this.
This was a collaborative strike created by all those who had fought alongside him.
“It’s not over!”
But there was no time to relax.
Everyone’s gaze turned to Jenia’s shout, as she, exhausted from rapid growth and excessive magical use, drew their attention.
“This is!”
Richard’s severed body parts, countless shreds.
Those fragments began to twitch and move.
Pop!
Mimicking a doll made of flesh, those pieces scattered in all directions, attempting to escape.
“Don’t let a single one escape!”
Fortunately, they hadn’t let their guard down, and quickly began to pursue the fleeing pieces of Sataniel.
But they didn’t know.
That a tiny fragment had slipped through their focus and crept into Somerset Mansion.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
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Bro, wtf has anything to do with writing stories and comic books? Author lost his mind