Someone’s success can often bring negative feelings to someone else.
And at this moment, the anger she felt… and the feeling of jealousy stemmed from that very reason.
“Haah!”
– “Pah!” –
The sword swings wildly, infused with magical energy.
It split the scarecrow standing right in front of her as if it were bursting apart.
In the late hours of the night, a woman swings a wooden training sword madly in an empty training ground…
Queen Andreas.
She was feeling absolutely miserable about the recent events unfolding.
A war between Bohemia, which had risen in rebellion, and the Emperor’s Army trying to suppress it.
The victory in the war was almost immediately followed by an alliance with the neighboring Rhapsody Region.
And then came the decision of the Heretic Alliance after that.
These consecutive events had made the crisis-stricken Bohemia even stronger than before, which had left her father, Count Turun, with a grin that reached from ear to ear.
However…
As these events progressed successfully, a thick dissatisfaction, anger, and jealousy swirled within the Queen’s heart.
The reason was…
That guy was leading all of this…
That guy, whom from her perspective could never be seen favorably.
‘Santana…’
Her younger brother, designated as Bohemia’s next heir simply because he was born a male.
At the same time, he was a troublemaker who had ignored their father’s orders and ran away to become a Paladin, unlike her, who had worked day and night for her father’s acknowledgment.
Yet,
Despite that past,
Even having thrown away their father’s wishes and the family completely,
When Santana returned home, he received their father’s attention and love more easily than she ever had.
Moreover, right after that, he began to succeed at all the absurd things in a completely different manner, garnering significant interest not only from their father but also from the nobles of Bohemia.
Now, there wasn’t a single person in Bohemia who didn’t view Santana as the next heir.
Thus, her younger brother, who had obtained so effortlessly what she had struggled to earn, was making her blood boil with every passing moment. This frustration was being expressed without filter as she swung her sword in training… or rather, as a means of venting.
‘What on earth is he? What is he… that he can so easily obtain what I could never?! I’ve done my best! I practiced swordsmanship and magic every single day according to father’s wishes! So how… how is he able to get what I couldn’t?!’
Queen, filled with fury and magic that felt like it could kill, swung her blade.
“Huff… huff.. huff..”
After blasting through all the scarecrows set up before her, she started panting in the midst of her lingering anger.
At that moment…
“Miss! Queen Miss!”
A frantic voice calling out to her.
Queen wiped the emotions off her face and asked as calmly as possible.
“…..What is it?”
“Something terrible has happened, Miss! An intruder has entered the inner courtyard!”
“Intruder? Is it an enemy attack? How many are there?”
“There’s only one intruder! But…”
“But?”
The servant wore a face full of chaos and horror.
And from his next words, Queen felt a rush of unease as she hurriedly moved toward the courtyard.
*
“Kyahhh!!”
“Kerrrgh!!!”
Screams of comrades echoed from all directions.
Amidst them, the mage Ludwig, tasked with protecting Bohemia’s Lord’s Castle, trembled in fear.
He considered himself a solid fifth-grade mage with decent skills and had confidence in his abilities.
However, at this moment… he was experiencing despair he had never felt in his life.
Countless semi-transparent skeletons rushed towards him and his comrades.
To fight back, the soldiers shot their guns and swung their swords, but their attacks had no effect, almost like striking smoke.
On the other hand, those struck by the Ghost Legion bore no visible wounds.
Wherever the sword landed, there was no blood, nor even a scratch; the spear thrust forward passed through without leaving a drop of blood behind.
In a situation where the swung swords of opponents didn’t even collide, but just passed through…
However…
“Urgh!”
“Urrrgh!”
Although there were no visible wounds, those hit by the weapons of the Ghost Legion cried out in pain and collapsed.
The soldiers gathered here began to fall one by one to the blades of the Ghost Legion.
“What… what is going on… Is this really magic?”
Though Ludwig had devoted half his life to studying magic, what unfolded before his eyes was magic he had never seen or heard of before.
True, there were similar magics that moved corpses, of which he had learned the basics.
However… the magic before his eyes was in an entirely different dimension.
Unlike the corpse manipulation that breaks down with a strong hit, the Ghost Legion was impervious to physical force at all.
Even when mages swung their wands infused with power, the ghosts still suffered no damage.
And at this moment…
Ludwig saw a ghostly knight charging towards him on horseback.
“Hiiiiiiiiiiiing!!”
With a chilling horse’s cry, the ghost knight charged, lance in hand.
In that moment, Ludwig was frozen in fear, unable even to think about casting magic.
Then suddenly…
“Hyaaah!”
“!”
– Pah! –
A sharp sound echoed suddenly.
At the same time, the ghost knight charging toward Ludwig burst into flames and vanished like paper consumed by fire.
And then, in his ear, a familiar but stern voice began to resonate.
“Get a grip, its weakness is flames. Use magic to set it ablaze.”
“!… Y-Yes! Understood, Queen!”
The mage glinting with fire around his sword stood there.
Queen Andreas.
As she obliterated the knight, the Ghost Legion displayed a moment of hesitation, allowing the previously beleaguered soldiers to take a step back, regroup, and prepare their form.
And watching her, the mage… or perhaps witch, who seemed to have summoned the Ghost Legion, began to show signs of interest.
“Oh… this is exquisite. I never guessed someone would analyze my magic so quickly.”
“Who are you?! What is your reason for invading Bohemia?”
Queen aimed her sword at the figure before her.
With a rich smile gracing her lips, she spoke in a tone of amusement.
“Hoo… Well, I can’t really reveal who I am due to certain circumstances. But… if I had to give a reason for my intrusion… maybe boredom?”
“…”
With a slight, casual tone.
In response, Queen gathered her strength and began to release even more intense magical power with a fierce expression blazing with rage.
“Oh really? If you can’t answer who you are, I’ll just have to make you talk by force!”
With that, she charged at her enemy.
All the pent-up frustration caused by Santana would not be kept inside. She swung her flaming sword without hesitation.
And as the ghosts crumbled around her in flames, the soldiers behind her, who had been frozen in fear until now, began to ignite their own weapons as per the Queen’s orders.
“Let’s go! We fight these things!”
“Woahhh!”
With the captain’s command, soldiers rallied with burning swords and spears, rushing forward.
However… what they didn’t know was…
At that moment, the sorceress who summoned the Ghost Legion wore a composed smile full of confidence.
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