Chapter 239

The flames swiftly engulfed the encampment.

Crackle, crackle.

The soldiers’ tents burned, and the pungent smoke soared into the sky, while the sparks, rising like waves, darted toward the next tent with flickering tongues.

“Bring water!”

“There are too few soldiers!”

“Where are the mages?”

Valenciaunos stood in the middle of the flames, gazing vacantly around.

His eyes fell on a line of soldiers, and a dark shadow flickered ominously within the fire.

Boom!

A fireball burst forth and struck a group of soldiers who had just come running with water buckets.

“Ughhh!”

The soldiers rolled on the ground in agony, while Valenciaunos steadily moved forward, pressing through the wave of flames.

It was as if he would burn the entire basin.

Of course, that momentum could not last long.

“O God of the Rivers. I beseech you.”

“Blue and white, my long-time friends.”

“That you have summoned, clouds.”

Even though Doroysen was a nation of swords, there were several remarkable mages under the Crown Prince.

Whoosh!

Water streams began to rise from the river below, and six massive arms made of water attached to a man’s back, while rain clouds gathered in the clear sky.

Swoosh!

The river surged against the flames, and the water-formed giant’s arms struck the burning tent, while the rain clouds unleashed raindrops larger than a child’s head.

Sizzle!

The flames, which seemed ready to burn the entire basin, diminished greatly, with billowing white steam rising.

However, the flames did not extinguish and, like an immortal serpent, raised its head once again.

The three mages furrowed their brows, gathering mana.

‘Stronger than expected.’

‘Is it truly because of the royal blood of Solletarass?’

‘I feel like we just need to push a bit more.’

Thanks to their special magic tools, they were somewhat free from the influence of the sealed magical barrier, while Valenciaunos bore the full burden.

He had refrained from using the power of incantations or spirits for caution, which left him at a disadvantage in a frontal confrontation.

Nevertheless, Valenciaunos endured without summoning horns or scales.

This was not a miscalculation stemming from his pride but a thoroughly strategic action.

“Lady Trentia. It’s time to go.”

Thud, thud, thud.

The river flowed backward, rain poured from the sky, and flames howled like a serpent.

No matter how heavy Lady Trentia’s mechanical armor was, it was invisible amid the smoke, steam, and flames.

Whoosh!

A knight clad in special heavy armor and wielding an extra-large sword burst forth from the flames.

“Ugh!”

“Oh, no!”

“Block her!”

The three mages gasped and called for the soldiers.

Surrounding the mages were, of course, exceptional soldiers and swordsmen.

“Align the ranks!”

“I’m looking forward to this.”

The heavy infantry set up a shield wall with large rectangular shields and aimed their spears.

The renowned swordsmen of the martial sect dashed outside the shield wall, taking their stances and preparing their strikes.

“Whew, ha.”

However, Lady Trentia was a superhuman among superhumans, and her armor and sword were the best of the best.

Lady Trentia felt her heart’s beating echo louder than her footsteps.

Thanks to the spell of vision enhancement etched onto her helmet, everything was vividly clear as if she weren’t wearing one, and the mechanical armor, amplifying her strength using human skeletal and muscle structure, filled her whole body with power.

Whoosh!

As she drew strength and mana into her body, the mechanical armor matched her, puffing steam, turning chains, and tightening the steel fibers.

Sizzle!

In the next moment, a mana blade measuring three meters engulfed the great sword and blazed red.

“I am the knight of Duke Valencius, known as Trentia!”

Lady Trentia charged forth, swinging a sword that an ordinary person couldn’t even lift like a whip.

The renowned swordsmen experienced overwhelming pressure at the last moment that froze their bodies into immobility.

“Damn it!”

“Huh, huh?”

Swoosh!

A single sword traced a red arc and everything within was split in two, up and down.

Even the renowned swordsmen and elite soldiers, honed through training, rolled on the ground before Lady Trentia’s sword.

The faces of the three mages turned pale.

* * *

Just before Lady Trentia struck down the neck of one of the mages and sliced the waist of the second mage in half.

Tu, clang!

A spear, cutting through the air, struck Lady Trentia’s mechanical armor shoulder with great force.

It was enough to throw her off balance for a moment.

She reflexively realized that her targets had crawled out on their own.

“Philius!”

Fully armored knights rushed out from the center of the encampment.

A knight wielding a stiletto-like estoc, a knight holding a crescent-moon-shaped spear, a knight wielding dual longswords, and a knight with a single straight sword…

In the center stood the Crown Prince, holding a silver kite shield and a longsword.

Philius quickly walked toward Lady Trentia, directing the knights.

“Maintain the encirclement, and the rest search for the Bandit Duke. Let the swordsmen act on their own. And Yulia—no, never mind.”

He pressed down the helmet engraved with a lion, and the knights of Doroysen surrounded Lady Trentia while scattering throughout the encampment.

Lady Trentia stood boldly, like a giant, with the flames at her back, waiting for the Crown Prince.

‘Duke Valen has said there’s no need to overdo it since there’s a plan. But if I can defeat the Crown Prince, that plan won’t be necessary.’

Above all.

‘I’ve been curious since the first time I saw him. Can I defeat him or not?’

Philius had the same thought.

‘An enemy knight.’

The underlings claimed that he had defended his lord, the Bandit Duke, against dozens of holy knights and had carved a path through thousands of infiltrators and undead to reach the single enemy.

“Crown Prince of Doroysen, Philius. I did not expect such a cowardly ambush from a knight of your renown.”

“The scriptures say that those who seek to take the land must be met with an appropriate recompense.”

“I hope you’re capable of handling the words you’ve uttered with a level of skill to back them.”

Philius’s sword and shield were covered in a glowing blue mana blade.

“If you were truly uncertain, you wouldn’t have said anything at all.”

The blood-red mana blade flickered on Lady Trentia’s great sword.

“Ha!”

In the next moment, the two knights collided fiercely.

Crash!

Lady Trentia’s sword descended like an iron mace of a giant king, and Philius raised his silver shield to deflect the blow.

“Gnah!”

Even with the mana blade added, the force was so great that the shield crumpled, but Philius momentarily succeeded in leaving Lady Trentia completely vulnerable.

He stomped on Lady Trentia’s great sword with his left foot, disarming her, and thrust his sword through the gaps of her plate armor.

Clatter!

He was shocked as he witnessed the flames bursting forth fiercely.

‘Marcus, just how many enhancement spells have you etched onto that sword?’

His blade, which could sever even a sturdy city wall, couldn’t even penetrate a mere few millimeters of plate armor properly.

In the next moment, Philius felt his body sway.

‘Incredible.’

Lady Trentia had managed to lift her great sword, overpowering the pressure he applied on her leg.

“Uggghhh!”

Swoosh!

The red great sword swept diagonally through the air.

Philius pivoted his left foot and leaned back, narrowly avoiding Lady Trentia’s downward slash.

He quickly plunged into the ground and thrust his glowing blue sword at Lady Trentia’s shoulder.

Bang!

Clatter!

With a fierce resounding noise and a burst of flames, the plate armor screamed.

Instead of recovering her sword, Lady Trentia clenched her left fist tightly and struck Philius’s breastplate.

Crash!

The impact packed with the technique of pushing energy caused the Crown Prince’s body to fly a few meters into the air.

Without a moment’s pause, Lady Trentia accelerated as he began to rise.

Empire Swordsmanship Level 1, One Gathering.

Empire Swordsmanship Level 2, Fire Fitz.

Empire Swordsmanship Level 5, Ascent.

Unleashing three ultimate techniques simultaneously, her muscles hummed a pleasurable scream as they tensed.

Mana wrapped around her muscle fibers, preparing to draw forth strength, coiling like a spring to counter the attacks of the protective knights, while her head and eyes honed in on the blood and mana flowing in and began to perceive the world’s movements as if they had slowed.

“Hah.”

Lady Trentia dodged the strike from the knight wielding the crescent-shaped spear, parried the thrust from the knight with the estoc with her gauntlet, and raised her sword, precisely targeting the gap between the Crown Prince’s breastplate and shoulder plate.

Just then, in that infinitely slow world, the Crown Prince got back up.

Whoooooooosh-!

His sword blazed a hauntingly blue.

Lady Trentia could sense that a vast amount of mana was flowing into that sword.

Crack, crackle.

As the mana exceeded the capacity of the metal, cracks appeared along the blade, and pieces began to chip away.

Even while accelerating, Lady Trentia felt a shiver down her spine.

‘Doroysen has their own secrets of swordsmanship.’

‘I’m curious as to what it is!’

‘Normally, directly releasing pure mana to attack is only possible at the realm of the Aura. If I try to release a mana blade, it just scatters.’

‘Are you saying that Doroysen is different?’

‘Those folks seem to have their own vision techniques, allowing them to use mana blast to push through the armor.’

The teachings from her academy days flashed through her mind.

Instinct, as a living being, grasped defeat and stiffened her body, but reason, as a knight, set her spirit ablaze with ambitions and courageously shouted to advance.

And Lady Trentia had always been a knight who had suppressed her instinct as a living being.

‘There are no renowned knights who die in bed.’

Dying on the battlefield was a knight’s wish and romance.

“Hahahaha!”

With wild laughter spilling from within her helmet, Lady Trentia brought down her great sword.

Whoosh—!

Simultaneously, a blue mana blast surged upwards.

* * *

A massive mechanical armor lay sprawled in the basin’s grass.

The white plate gloves remained intact, but the tightly coiled steel fibers inside emitted smoke.

“Truly brave you are, enemy knight. Duke Valen would be envious.”

Philius, the Crown Prince of Doroysen, exhaled roughly as he looked down at Lady Trentia, who had been dragged outside her armor.

She was unconscious, bleeding from her eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.

“Capture her.”

Philius ordered his knights, who then commanded a trainee to bring over magical handcuffs.

‘It seems the evolution is nearing completion.’

He began to ponder when Duke Valenciaunos might be captured.

In that moment, two figures stepped out from between the flaming tents.

They wore colorful uniforms that were unsuitable for the chaotic encampment.

“I haven’t killed Lady Trentia yet. Good. That’s a relief for both of us.”

The voice trembled slightly, but it was so cold and sinister that no one noticed.

“Valenciaunos?”

“To be honest, it was a bit of a close call. I remembered your face, but I didn’t know precisely what your relationship was by this point. However, judging by your expression, it seems I have the right answer.”

His disheveled white hair was stained with blood, and his yellow eyes gleamed like a great dragon that had lost its own.

“Surrender. Otherwise, I’ll let you die slowly.”

In Duke Valenciaunos’s arms lay the unconscious Yulia.

The swordswoman with black hair and an ethereal aura was severely burnt and was in immense pain.

Even in her unconscious state, she emitted faint groans of distress.

Philius stepped forward in rage, but the knights blocked him.

“It’s just one swordswoman!”

“Calm down.”

“No!”

Regardless of whether it was an empire or a kingdom, when a knight spoke, bad outcomes followed.

Ultimately, those words only backfired.

Philius howled at the sky.

“I swear by my name, my sword, and the God of Radiance. If you lay even a finger on her, your knights will perish painfully!”

At that moment, an unexpected reply came in return from Valenciaunos.

“…I’m prepared to die painfully, but I’m unsure about that swordswoman.”

Lady Trentia slowly opened her eyes, spat out the blood pooling in her mouth, and softly spoke.

It was a relaxed tone that could only be upheld if one thoroughly believed it would turn out that way.

“Go on, try to kill me, Crown Prince. Make it so that it is well-known for a hundred years. But remember, my lord is far more wicked, sadistic, and cruel than you think. Even after over two years of serving him, there’s been no sign of change.”

Duke Valenciaunos drew forth a sword with a black blade, raising it above Yulia’s foot.

“Still undecided in your heart? Then I might be able to offer a little assistance.”

He exuded an energy that seemed ready to end her life as a swordswoman at any moment.

Lady Trentia looked up at Philius.

His face had already turned pale.