Chapter 94

Sir Beatrix Constantinople swallowed the sticky liquid back into her mouth. After forcing it back down, a bitter pain followed.

The first time she faced the dragon Nidhogg, she had an eerie chill but was certain of victory. No matter how fierce and intense the battle would be, she felt that she would ultimately win.

Beatrix herself was well aware of her own strength. Though borrowing power from Oscar, Beatrix also possessed her own raw power and vast divine energy. She believed herself to be the strongest fighter in the group besides Oscar.

Even objectively, Beatrix was strong. Right now, if she went out into the continent, she could crush anyone who wasn’t an absolute powerhouse. Back when she had a contract with the arrogant demon Lucifer, she even cut down one of those “absolute powerhouses.”

However, Nidhogg was not someone Beatrix could easily dismiss.

“One measly human dares to stand against me! How presumptuous!”

KWAH-WAH-WAH-BOOM!

Nidhogg (Níðhöggr). The destroyer born from gnawing on the roots of Yggdrasil, the World Tree.

This dragon possessing four elemental attributes spreads poison with every step, leaving death and plague wherever it goes.

Despite being nominated as the next Dragon Lord, it was taken in by the Dragon King for exactly these reasons. Nidhogg was despised, hated, and feared by all races across the continent—deemed unsuitable for the revered position of Dragon Lord regardless of his immense power.

The Dragon King Endros pitied such a Nidhogg and invited him to the Demon Forest. Unable to refuse the call of a being akin to the ancestor of dragons, Nidhogg disappeared from the continent.

“Lizard scum like you… Gahk!”

“You there, cowardly lizard, running away so embarrassingly!”

KWAAJII-JIICK!

Four beams of destruction shot out from Nidhogg’s heads, obliterating everything in their path. Beatrix summoned her strength into her wobbly legs and dodged the beams.

Already, a deep red gash ran along her left shoulder. Every movement sent waves of pain through her body, but Beatrix kept moving to survive.

“Struggle all you want! Show me what that cocky attitude of yours is worth!”

“Damn it…!”

She spat venom between clenched lips. If only her body wasn’t so exhausted, she’d split Nidhogg’s face in two right now.

All around, the land was consumed by seas of fire and poison. Barely any semblance of a ‘fight’ existed; Beatrix was getting beaten down unilaterally by Nidhogg.

Nidhogg, excelling in magical prowess, used teleportation whenever Beatrix tried to close the distance, or placed restrictions on her speed.

“Lightning-!”

PAJEE-JIICK!

Dark clouds filled the sky, and lightning struck before Beatrix could even register it. An electrifying current coursed painfully through her body. A high-pitched scream echoed.

“Ugh… Uuuh…”

Using her sword stuck in the ground as a cane, Beatrix barely managed not to fall—but her body was practically unable to fight anymore. She was cornered like a rat.

‘What a pathetic sight.’

Beatrix painfully lifted her head. While she was utterly exhausted to the point of being unable to move a finger, the four-headed dragon hovered above her, wings flapping, still very much alive.

‘How foolish of me to claim I could take on Nidhogg alone… I don’t have the face to meet my lord now.’

The handle of the Greatsword felt unusually heavy today. It wasn’t just her imagination—it was beyond her trembling arm muscles to draw the blade again.

‘It’s over… The poison has already seeped into my body. Any further resistance would be meaningless.’

It was a desperate situation. Hope was nothing more than a distant dream. This was the kind of obstacle Oscar always talked about.

Beatrix closed her eyes tightly. Then, she tried to muster strength in her grip once more—but the sword wouldn’t budge. Instead, the image of a demon wearing a mask flashed through her mind.

Sometimes he showed his face, but Oscar always wore a mask—even while sleeping or eating, lifting it slightly to eat beneath it.

The knight recalled something her lord had whispered softly.

“Knight Beatrix, it’s obvious that everyone encounters obstacles in life.”

“Hmm… Obstacles are called such because we must overcome them. But sometimes, they’re too high to leap over. For example, if I told Beatrix to destroy the world, it’d obviously be impossible, right?”

“If it were your command, I might try.”

“…You don’t have to. I have no intention of ruining this beautiful world. Anyway, when you encounter such insurmountable obstacles, think about what lies behind you.”

“Huh?”

“Why? Don’t you know? Like the story of a mother walking at night with her child, encountering a knife-wielding thug. Between abandoning her child and fleeing or fighting with her child behind her, most mothers choose to fight.”

“Why? Because there’s no option to retreat. There’s something precious behind her that she absolutely cannot abandon, so even if it means death, she’ll confront it anyway.”

“Of course, the result of such reckless actions often ends in tragic death. But… out of a hundred, maybe one can happen. A mother with superhuman strength defeats the thug and returns safely with her child. Miracles do exist in this world.”

Campfire crackling. Black eyes glowing beneath the mask. Cheerfully tearing into deer meat while chatting animatedly… At the time, she thought it was just pie-in-the-sky talk. She didn’t believe in miracles.

Miracles are blessings from God. A single ray of grace given to those who’ve worked hardest, shown mercy by the Supreme God. But Beatrix had abandoned her faith in God long ago. On the day her father, the Pope who devoutly worshipped the Supreme God, died, she realized that while demons and angels may exist, the Supreme God does not.

“But you know, I have a question.”

“In such stories… What truly holds value?”

“The salvation that comes during a crisis from the Lord?”

“Or the sublime maternal love of a mother who protects her child despite knowing she will almost certainly die?”

“…Heart.”

The knight murmured with a changed voice. Her eyelids slowly opened, determination swirling in her eyes.

“I must not retreat.”

Following her lord’s advice, the knight reflected. Even in this hopeless situation, she remembered what she carried on her back. The reason she must never falter.

“From the start, I had no choice. The moment I took my oath as a knight to my lord, I gave up the right to give up.”

A demon who loves her despite wearing a white mask mischievously. A prickly but adorable wolf girl. A naive yet dependable human king. A clumsy but steadily growing angel. A precocious and commendable young goblin.

If she failed to stop Nidhogg here, his poison would reach them.

Then, who could possibly stop Nidhogg?

“No, I shouldn’t think about that future.”

She will block it. No matter what happens, she will block it. With the heart of a parent defending their child, the resolve of a soldier defending their homeland, she will block it.

She will discard the thought of failing. This is something that must be done, something that will definitely be accomplished.

“I will cut off Nidhogg’s head.”

SWISH!

Divine power surged from somewhere, pulling the Greatsword embedded deeply in the ground. Though much blood stained the hilt, there was no tremor in the hand gripping it.

The knight rose to her knees. Despite the terrifying scene still before her eyes, hesitation was no longer an option.

KWAAAAH!

Just then, Nidhogg unleashed his breath attack after gathering sufficient energy. The breath powerful enough to obliterate an entire mountain descended upon Beatrix.

In response, Beatrix…

Swung her sword once.

WHOOSH!

A clean, concise motion. Unlike her previous aggressive and violent swings, this was a cool and calm strike.

“…! The breath is splitting apart!”

The breath cleaved cleanly in half where it met the sword swing. Unsatisfied with merely cutting through, the flash of light continued beyond the breath, forcing Nidhogg to hastily lower his head. The flash narrowly grazed over Nidhogg’s head.

Drip. Blood trickled from beside the dragon’s ear. Of his eight eyes, six rolled to examine the wound. Though minor, it couldn’t be ignored.

This meant the knight had now reached the level where she could kill a dragon—something she hadn’t been able to do until moments ago. It was the first injury Nidhogg had received in this fight.

Nidhogg’s eyes turned downward. There stood the small human who had slashed his breath and wounded him, sword raised, staring straight at him.

Had this been a few minutes ago, he might have found her audacity infuriating.

“Hahahaha!”

But now, it’s different.

“An unbreakable will! You’ve reached the level where your will manifests as sword energy!”

“…”

The energy surrounding the human’s sword shone brightly, proving its existence. Much brighter and denser than ordinary energy.

“You humans call this Sword Energy, don’t you?”

“…Stay still.”

“And others call it Sword Master! Another Absolute Power has been born in this world!”

Absolute Power. A term used to describe beings who surpass their species, regardless of race.

A human stronger than a dragon. A human who challenges gods. A single individual whose power rivals an entire nation’s military.

The world calls such transcendent power Absolute Power. And right now, Beatrix Constantinople has stepped into this realm of Absolute Power.

“Staying still makes it easier to cut you.”

Her determination to never lose and her conviction as a knight transformed into strength. Beatrix swung her sword without a trace of hesitation, fully committed to winning this duel and condemning her opponent to defeat.

SHWOOOOSH!

“But! I too have reached the Absolute Level! Do you think I’ll fall so easily?”

“Nyeh your intentions don’t matter. The only certainty is that I will win.”

Nidhogg fired four breath attacks simultaneously. Each contained so much energy that they didn’t shatter like before when colliding with Beatrix’s sword strikes.

Their battle was evenly matched. Beatrix continuously launched Sword Energy, the higher concept of sword qi, while Nidhogg manipulated the elements to assault her with various disasters.

Beatrix’s Greatsword turned white and black. As divine power and demonic energy mixed, the sword energy became even fiercer. However, instead of flowing chaotically, Beatrix’s rock-solid mental fortitude kept it tightly controlled.

“HAAAP!”

“ROOOAR!”

Both Beatrix and Nidhogg felt pressure like resisting a waterfall. But while Beatrix resisted purely through blind belief, Nidhogg calculated his chances of victory objectively.

“Remarkable. To break through barriers in such a short time. If it were another dragon, this human would have become a Dragon Slayer long ago.”

“But unfortunately, I’m glad. Though things seem evenly matched now, humans have limits to the amount of energy they can contain. Compared to a Dragon Heart… they’re far inferior.”

“There will soon come a moment when her energy runs out. All I need to do is endure until then. It’s a bit tight, but with this level of energy, I can definitely withstand…”

Right when he was thinking that…

KWAH-KWAH-KWAH-BOOM!

Suddenly, the ‘demonic energy’ Beatrix emitted exploded in size, far greater than her divine power.

Overpowering the divine energy, it completely engulfed her sword in darkness, spreading upward to the heavens.

No, it wasn’t darkness originating from her sword. Somehow, the sky itself had been covered in pitch-black darkness, incomparably darker than the storm clouds Nidhogg had summoned.

KWAA-KWAH-KWAH-BOOM!

The expanded demonic energy enveloped Nidhogg. With just one strike, the massive dragon’s entire body shattered, and its life ended.

“What… What is this…?”

Even Beatrix herself seemed shocked by the sheer power, staring at the dark sword in her hand. Dark demonic energy she couldn’t fully contain billowed out like steam from her entire body.

Cold sweat ran down her spine. Beatrix’s gaze turned toward the northern sky.

The place where Dragon King Endros resided should always be clear skies.

But now, it had turned into a complete Darkened Heavens.

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