Chapter 19

Episode 19. Single-Plank Bridge Duel (5)

A skilled archer can shoot fifteen arrows per minute, while a knight using the power of Aura can shoot sixty arrows per minute.

However, Catherine, a master of archery, poured fifteen arrows at Keter in just five seconds.

Although her accuracy was low, with only eight arrows heading towards Keter, it was impossible for Keter to block all of them. He had no choice but to dodge.

Thud.

While Catherine shot fifteen arrows, Keter only shot one. Even if it was a transparent arrow, it was still just one. Common sense dictates that it’s impossible to block all fifteen arrows rushing in.

But Catherine, impiously, couldn’t believe her own archery skills.

‘Why does it feel like they’ll all be blocked?’

Catherine’s anxiety became reality. The first arrow she shot was deflected into the sky and shot down.

It was a fleeting moment, but Catherine, who had focused her Aura into her eyes, began to see it. The path of Keter’s transparent arrow. It was less of seeing and more of feeling.

‘Ah…….’

Catherine marveled.

She could only watch in awe as Keter’s arrow deflected all of her arrows.

Keter’s arrow moved like a living snake. With movements and angles that were impossible for an arrow, it deflected every single one of Catherine’s arrows.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!!

Catherine’s fifteen arrows were shot in an instant, but Keter deflecting all fifteen was even faster.

“…….”

The soldiers stood with their mouths agape, unable to speak. What on earth just happened? No one but Catherine understood.

Catherine’s fifteen arrows were deflected in all directions, as if caught in a typhoon.

If Keter’s arrow had been visible, they might have understood. But since it was invisible, the soldiers couldn’t comprehend it at all.

“Ugh…….”

Amidst this, Catherine groaned, clutching her left eye. Blood seeped through her fingers as she covered her eye.

“Captain!”

The soldiers, alarmed, rushed towards her, but Catherine extended her hand to stop them.

“It’s nothing. I just overexerted my Aura into my eyes.”

Keter chuckled at her words.

‘If you don’t treat it now, you’ll regret it.’

Keter could clearly see Catherine’s injury. Even though they were 100 meters apart, this distance meant nothing to Keter. His vision, or rather, the power of the Sephira family’s eyes, was extraordinary.

Keter knew from his medical training in Liquor. If not treated now, Catherine would go blind.

As Catherine wiped the blood obscuring her vision, Keter shot another arrow.

Whoosh!

This time, Catherine’s calf was torn, and blood splattered. A soldier who secretly admired Catherine shouted in anger.

“Young Master Keter! Isn’t this cowardly! The Captain is injured! At least wait until she can receive first aid……!”

Keter scoffed at his words.

“If you’re unhappy, why don’t you step up?”

Thud.

Keter shot an arrow at the soldier who spoke out of turn.

Thud! Thump.

The soldier collapsed backward without a sound. A large bump formed on his forehead as he fainted.

Keter looked around at the soldiers.

“If you’re going to call me cowardly, then step up. I’ll take you all on.”

As the soldiers hesitated, Catherine, having regained her composure, shouted.

“Wait. Please wait. I apologize on behalf of my soldiers’ rudeness.”

Thanks to the soldier buying time, Catherine managed to stop the bleeding from her eye. But she could clearly feel it.

‘If this continues, I might go blind.’

But what does that matter?

Should I admit defeat here?

No way.

Even if I lose my life, I cannot fail my mission. That’s the duty of a knight.

After all, the life I gained from the Sephira family, returning it wouldn’t be a loss.

“Let’s finish this. I haven’t lost yet.”

Catherine stared at Keter with her blurry vision.

Thud!

Keter shot an arrow indifferently and said.

“Of course.”

Blood splattered from Catherine’s right thigh again. Still invisible, she couldn’t react. The wounds kept increasing, and the bleeding worsened.

But Catherine didn’t give up. She used every technique she had learned.

The First Bow, White Sheep Bow, firing arrows in rapid succession at the target.

The Second Bow, Golden Bull Bow, firing three arrows in a triangular formation simultaneously.

But none of it worked. Keter’s divine archery was unmatched.

Since it was invisible, no one knew what was happening. It only made things more frustrating and suffocating. The soldiers watching were also struck by an unknown fear.

Catherine grabbed an arrow, then flinched.

It was her last arrow.

One of the rules of the Single-Plank Bridge Duel: the side that exhausts their arrows first loses.

Catherine didn’t need to see to know. Keter had far more arrows left than she did.

If she couldn’t defeat Keter with this one arrow, she would lose.

Catherine hesitated to shoot the arrow. Instead, she silently steadied her stance.

“Captain……!”

The soldiers were heartbroken.

Catherine’s defeat was inevitable. If she admitted defeat now, she could receive treatment.

But Catherine didn’t shoot the last arrow. It meant she would endure all of Keter’s attacks.

Keter spoke leisurely.

“Got anything else to show? Shall we end this?”

“Come at me. Even if it kills me, I’ll take your arrows.”

“No, you can’t die without my permission. You’re a slave.”

The sun was setting. Keter shot an arrow without delay. Another invisible arrow.

To others, it might seem the same, but this time it was different. Though the duel was short, Catherine, who had grown, faintly sensed it. The target of Keter’s arrow.

‘It’s coming for my neck.’

Was he trying to scare her into dodging by revealing his presence?

‘If that’s your intention, you’re wrong. I won’t dodge.’

Catherine closed her eyes, annoyed by her blurry vision. Even if my neck is pierced and I die, it doesn’t matter. That’s what a knight is.

Whoosh!

But Keter’s arrow only grazed past her again.

‘Again? Why?’

Just as Catherine was puzzled, something wrapped around her neck. It felt like being a condemned prisoner on the gallows.

Her body was pulled back. With a force comparable to a horse’s pull, Catherine couldn’t resist.

‘My legs…….’

Her lower body, consistently attacked by Keter. It was all part of Keter’s plan.

With continuous bleeding, Catherine couldn’t resist the pull and fell backward.

Thud.

Catherine fell on her backside. She frantically felt her neck, but there was no rope.

“Captain!”

The soldiers rushed to Catherine.

“Are you okay?”

“We’ll stop the bleeding!”

Then, Keter, walking leisurely, spoke to Catherine.

“Who won, slave?”

“…….”

Both Catherine and the soldiers kept their mouths shut. The soldiers only watched Catherine’s reaction.

Though her eyes were closed, Catherine felt their gazes. They were looking for her command. They were willing to lie for her sake.

But Catherine shook her head at the soldiers.

“I lost.”

The soldiers, seeing Catherine admit defeat so readily, lowered their heads in silence. To push further would only humiliate Catherine.

* * *

After Catherine and Keter’s duel.

Keter carried Catherine to the treatment room, and the soldiers returned to their quarters. The second shooting range, bathed in orange twilight, was already cleaned and empty.

Then.

Swish.

A man suddenly appeared in the middle of the empty space, bending down. He picked up something from the ground.

Though the ground seemed empty, as soon as his hand touched it, it revealed its form.

An arrow.

A hollow wooden arrow with its tip removed.

It was one of Keter’s arrows.

“Keter.”

The man muttered the name in a thin voice.

As the twilight cast shadows over the shooting range, the man’s eyes glowed in the darkness. His pupils were purple, and his irises were golden.

He was a mysterious figure, a member of the Bloodline of Sephira.

But only a handful knew of his existence. Even Basil, the current head of the family, had only heard of him, never seen him. The former head, Ricotta Basil, had only seen him once as a child.

The man walked through the darkness, collecting all of Keter’s arrows. The arrows remained invisible until they touched his hand, then revealed their true form.

The man, revealed under the crimson twilight, looked young. He appeared to be only twenty, tall and slender. Though he looked male, his beauty was so striking he could pass as female. And his ears were unusually long.

The world called them.

‘Elves.’

“Keter.”

The man whispered Keter’s name again. His transcendent eyes gazed at the mansions below the shooting range.

His name was Endymion.

Endymion El Sephira.

The guardian spirit who had protected the Sephira family for nearly 200 years.

His status, recorded in the Sephira family’s history, was ‘Elder.’

The position of ‘Elder,’ with power equal to the family head, was created solely for Endymion.

It had been 150 years since he last appeared in the Sephira family. It wasn’t just because he had lived over 500 years and found life meaningless.

“Lilian. I told you. No matter how much you try to control me, or the world, you can’t stop the flow of time.”

Queen Lilian was afraid. Afraid of humans growing stronger, threatening the position of the gods.

So she restricted magic and suppressed technological advancement. Even Endymion, an elf, couldn’t reveal his existence due to Lilian’s threats.

“Endymion. It might be fun to kill you right now, but watching the Sephira family slowly fall is even more entertaining. But if you really want to die quickly, why don’t you step forward?”

That was why Endymion couldn’t act, even knowing the Sephira family would fall.

If he stepped forward, the Queen would send the Lords. The four Lords who wielded the power of ‘Ain,’ like him.

If he fought, he wouldn’t lose outright, but he couldn’t protect the family forever.

So he just watched from the shadows. Hoping the Sephira family would grow on their own, turning crisis into opportunity, realizing the existence of ‘Ain.’

But then he appeared.

Chevil, a prodigy of the Sephira family.

Chevil was a child with boundless potential. The potential to realize the power of the void, ‘Ain,’ on his own.

But today, by chance, he saw Keter, who surpassed Chevil. Keter was closer to the realm of ‘Ain’ than Chevil.

Keter’s archery, elevated to a higher realm of nothingness using mana. It was also a signpost towards ‘Ain.’

“Keter.”

Endymion called Keter’s name for the third time.

Though it was certain that Keter was a talent surpassing Chevil, his expression wasn’t exactly bright.

Elves possess foresight. Though they can’t foresee at will, and it comes suddenly without warning—Endymion saw the future through Keter.

‘A burning mansion.’

The Sephira mansion before his eyes was engulfed in flames.

In the garden, a group of people watched the burning Sephira, and at the head of the group…….

Was Keter, smiling wickedly.