Monarch of Death

With calm eyes and firmly pressed lips, she maintained an indifferent expression as she approached.

‘Huh?’

In that moment, the members of the King’s Order couldn’t react.

It was just too natural. There was no killing intent, no hostility, not even the slightest sign of annoyance.

Thud!

Suddenly, a flash struck. Accompanied by a faint scream, the member was flung into the air.

“Ugh… ugh…”

It was a front kick that accurately struck the chin, closing the distance in an instant.

Adding to that, the kick was imbued with aura, so the trained warrior was knocked out in a single blow.

A moment later, the other members rushed at the girl.

“What the hell?”

“Why were we just standing there, spacing out?”

Slashes came flying from both sides. The girl twisted her body and raised both hands.

Thwack!

It wasn’t even particularly fast, but the timing was so precise that she caught the blades between her fingers.

Then, a low voice followed.

“I must save…”

The members whose blades had been caught widened their eyes in shock.

‘Huh?’

‘Is this even possible?’

In legendary tales, it’s common for a master to catch blades with their fingers, but seeing it happen in reality was a first for them!

“Humans…”

The girl muttered softly as she shook her arms.

A purple wave of aura traveled along the blades, striking the two members.

“Gah!”

“Aagh!”

Another two comrades fell unconscious, collapsing to the ground.

The King’s Order was thrown into chaos.

They couldn’t understand why she kept saying she wanted to save them, yet continued to knock them out, and the girl was simply too strong!

“Everyone, be careful! It’s not just about that cursed sword!”

“Damn it! Why is she even more monstrous when she’s unarmed?”

Meanwhile, Serati was guarding Karnak.

Though ‘guarding’ might be an overstatement, as in reality, she was just keeping herself out of harm’s way while the others fought.

It wasn’t her usual behavior, but she had no choice.

Just thinking of the overwhelming killing intent from earlier made her legs shake. She couldn’t even bring herself to move.

At least the fact that the girl’s attacks lacked any killing intent eased her guilty conscience slightly.

‘But honestly, she’s treating them completely differently from how she treated me.’

When she fought Serati, it was as if the girl had encountered her mortal enemy, overflowing with rage and killing intent, but now she was merely knocking out the other King’s Order members.

It wasn’t just that she was holding back.

Even when she had the chance to deal a finishing blow, if it looked like they might get seriously hurt, she deliberately changed her stance and withdrew.

She went out of her way to ensure that her attacks left no lasting injuries.

Even during sparring with comrades, no one could be this careful about their opponent’s safety.

Karnak clicked his tongue and muttered.

[At least one thing is clear.]

[What is?]

[How such a powerful cursed sword could exist in the first place.]

The cursed sword isn’t strong. The sword itself is just an ordinary monster.

It’s just that the girl is too powerful!

[The cursed sword merely supplemented her with energy, and it was the girl’s own skill that used it so efficiently.]

In fact, it could be said that she was weaker because she was holding the cursed sword.

What on earth is her identity, that she can display such immense abilities at her age?

Serati pressed Karnak for answers.

[Think about it carefully. What have you done?]

[Why do you immediately assume I’m the culprit?]

[In this situation, how could someone searching for the Death King have nothing to do with you?]

[It could be a coincidence!]

In the meantime, the battle had entered a brief lull.

Whenever anyone approached her, they were knocked out swiftly, so no one dared to charge recklessly.

As the King’s Order hesitated, the girl didn’t launch any additional attacks either.

Taking advantage of the lull, Baros cautiously inched closer.

‘Wow, she’s really strong. But for some reason, she seems oddly familiar…’

And then it happened.

The girl’s face suddenly changed when she saw him.

Flames flickered in her eyes, and the purple aura around her body flared up dramatically!

“Lord Baros!”

“Huh?”

Baros was stunned.

She called him Lord Baros, not Sir Baros?

That title wasn’t used for him in this timeline.

The girl’s sharp shout erupted like a scream.

“Die!”

The girl launched herself at Baros.

It was just like when she faced Serati—unmistakable killing intent, extreme fury pouring out as a merciless barrage of aura.

“Ahh! Aaahhh!”

Her killing intent was so obvious that it made her trajectory easy to predict.

Startled Baros rolled on the ground, dodging desperately.

Other members of the King’s Order hurriedly moved in to assist.

“Hah!”

“She suddenly went berserk?”

“Sir Baros!”

Serati and Karnak, watching the scene unfold, muttered blankly.

[It’s confirmed.]

[Yeah, I’m the culprit.]

At this point, there was no denying it.

She was calling Karnak the Death King and directing pure hatred toward Baros, who had once been a Death Knight Lord. There was no way this was a coincidence.

Baros, having barely escaped, caught his breath and adjusted his stance, wiping sweat from his brow.

“Huff, huff… That was close.”

He slowly backed away, letting other members take his place.

The girl, watching them, hesitated for a moment.

Fighting with bare hands kept letting her ‘target’ escape.

She needed a sharper offensive approach.

The girl reached out her hand towards the fallen member of the King’s Order. A longsword that the member had dropped floated into the air and landed in her grip.

She let both arms hang down at her sides.

Bzzzz!

A blue aura surged up the longsword in her right hand, while her left hand became enveloped in a red battle aura.

Over her shoulder, a purple aura continued to rise like a mist.

The members of the King’s Order blinked in confusion.

“What is that?”

“How is she doing that?”

She was simultaneously manifesting a red and blue aura, all atop a foundation of purple aura.

It was a transcendent level of mastery, where even the attributes and intensity of aura could be freely altered.

“Even the commander can’t do that, can he?”

“Isn’t that something only possible if you’ve at least mastered the Silver Sword Aura?”

Baros looked equally bewildered.

[What is this, young master? Has there ever been a swordsman in this era capable of something like that at her age?]

Serati asked.

[Is that supposed to be difficult?]

In the past, when Baros had possessed her body, he had demonstrated a similar technique.

Since he made it look so easy, she had assumed that once you reached a certain level, everyone could do it.

Baros snapped back in frustration.

[Of course it’s difficult! Only someone at my level can pull it off!]

Karnak’s expression darkened.

[So, you’re saying that girl has aura manipulation skills on par with you, Baros?]

Although he had lost all his power after returning to this era, Baros had once been the strongest swordsman, taking down three of the Four Martial Kings.

‘It does feel oddly familiar…’

Baros narrowed his eyes.

It wasn’t that her martial arts techniques felt familiar. The techniques she used were basic and common, not belonging to any particular school.

But the flow of her aura, the essence of her martial arts, was something he had definitely encountered before.

‘Where have I seen this?’

Karnak, too, was getting a similar feeling, but from a different perspective.

He didn’t know much about martial arts—it wasn’t his area of expertise.

But the flow of martial essence embedded in her movements was unmistakable.

‘Strange. We’ve never met before, so why does this feel so familiar…?’

Just then, the girl turned her gaze.

“Lord Baros…”

Then, she suddenly screamed with fury.

“Accursed dog of the Death King!”

The members of the King’s Order looked bewildered.

From their perspective, this outburst was completely out of the blue.

“…?”

“…?”

But for Karnak and Baros, it was a shout that dredged up memories from the far recesses of their minds.

“Guh!”

“Oh, no!”

Both of them realized where this familiarity stemmed from.

“This… this is bad!”

Suddenly, Karnak waved his wand frantically, his face pale as he shouted.

“Explode, flash of light!”

Ten magic bullets radiated beams of light, slicing through the air.

The girl didn’t even bother dodging. She just stared at the magic bullets, draping herself in an aura shield.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The magic bullets struck her, erupting in rapid, deafening explosions.

But they couldn’t harm her. She stood like an unshakable mountain, enduring the entire assault without flinching.

Taking advantage of this, Karnak spun around quickly.

“Baros! Serati!”

He knew that whether she was hit by one shot or ten, they wouldn’t be able to penetrate her aura defense. That much was clear.

But there was one benefit to firing ten shots.

The dust cloud was ten times bigger!

“Run!”

After blocking the girl’s view, Karnak started sprinting at full speed.

Baros followed suit, groaning strangely.

“Ewww!”

Given the situation, Serati had no choice but to follow them as well.

As she chased after them, she asked in disbelief, “What’s going on with you two? Do you really know her?”

It was the first time she had seen these two, who were usually full of themselves, so pale and shaken. They didn’t even have the presence of mind to use discreet magical communication.

“It’s Laficel!” Karnak replied between gasps.

“The Martial King of Syphras! Laficel Crotéum!”

***

The members of the 1st Battalion of the King’s Order were completely bewildered.

‘What now?’

‘What’s going on?’

Their leaders—Ziken, Trib, and Harris—had all been taken down. So the only ones left to command the King’s Order were Karnak, Baros, and Serati.

But those crucial leaders suddenly up and fled, abandoning all their subordinates?

‘Should we run too?’

‘But we can’t just leave our fallen comrades!’

While the entire 1st Battalion was in a state of confusion, the 7th Battalion seemed oddly unfazed.

“Looks like he’s up to something again, doesn’t it?”

“Sigh, it’s always like this.”

“Why can’t he ever talk it through with us first?”

As if accustomed to such situations, they calmly surrounded the girl and prepared for battle.

Despite being abandoned by their leader, they showed no signs of feeling betrayed.

If Karnak had been a cowardly man, the troops would have undoubtedly despised him.

But surprisingly, he was held in fairly high regard by his subordinates.

For one, he rarely pushed his men into dangerous situations, preferring to avoid sending them into harm’s way. (Though, in reality, it was easier for him to use necromancy without his men around, so he intentionally kept them at a distance.)

He also never forced them into unreasonable missions just to claim military honors. (He prioritized capturing cultists himself to extract information rather than relying on the battalion’s collective achievements.)

And most importantly, Karnak was extremely diligent about providing his troops with food and drink.

For reasons unknown, he approached meal preparation with a near-religious fervor, as though their very souls depended on it.

For those who work with their bodies, having a superior who ensures proper meals is a vital matter.

He had always been a good leader, frequently moving in secret, and often did things that seemed nonsensical at the time.

So, a sudden retreat wasn’t all that shocking.

“Looks like Captain Karnak has a plan!”

“Let’s follow his lead!”

The 7th Battalion threw themselves into blocking the girl’s path.

Thanks to their efforts, Karnak, Baros, and Serati managed to safely reach the entrance of the canyon.

As he caught his breath, Karnak shivered.

“By the gods, it really is Laficel!”

Baros wore a similarly exhausted expression.

“How is Laficel here, young master?”

Serati, looking between the two, cautiously asked, “Who exactly is Laficel?”