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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Ruby
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Hestia stepped forcefully on the ground.
Due to the feline race’s characteristic agility and muscle efficiency, she approached much faster than the blonde knight Michael had anticipated.
The sword in her hand now was the ordinary sword Hestia originally used.
She had carefully placed the Full Moon Kiseteria in a spatial pocket.
Sparring with such a fine sword wouldn’t be helpful for training.
Clang!!
The sound of two swords clashing rang out.
The harsh ringing of steel.
And the continuous exchange of attacks.
Swoosh!
Michael deflected Hestia’s fiercely striking sword by throwing his body backwards.
“You’re not fully utilizing that superior physical ability. Use your leg muscles more efficiently.”
Michael pointed out the flaws he saw one by one.
Hestia quickly corrected each point he made.
Michael, with an expressionless face, continuously marveled as he parried the sword paths of the crimson-haired Myojok swordswoman.
Even a genius couldn’t correct pointed-out flaws this quickly.
‘Indeed, is this the swordswoman he chose?’
The warrior Yuma.
She was indeed a talent worthy of being his subordinate.
“Try using sword energy.”
“Okay!”
At Michael’s words, Hestia ignited sword energy on her blade.
Red sword energy flowed along the edge.
“Come.”
Blue sword energy flashed on Michael’s sword.
Boom! Boom!
Red sword energy and blue sword energy met as they swam through the air.
The waves of sword energy spread widely.
‘Her sword energy is also powerful.’
While marveling at this, Michael calmly pushed Hestia back.
“Woah!”
It looked as if three streams of sword light extended simultaneously.
So when she countered that sword path, her feet got tangled.
Hestia plopped down on the ground.
“Ooh! Strong!”
Seeing Hestia exclaim in admiration, Michael also spoke.
“You were strong too.”
Someone extended their right hand towards Hestia sitting on the ground.
“Stand up.”
It was Yuma.
“Mm!”
Hestia grabbed Yuma’s hand with a bright smile and sprang to her feet.
The blonde knight, First Princess Brigitte’s guard knight Michael, gazed at Yuma who had helped Hestia up.
“Lord Yuma.”
Yuma felt an inexplicable strangeness.
He sensed intense fighting spirit in Michael’s eyes.
“May I dare to ask for a lesson?”
Yuma quietly gazed at Michael.
If he received an attack from a Sword Master, he would have to parry.
Then [Absolute Counter] would have to come out.
It was obvious that Michael’s life would be ended right there.
Yuma decided to lie appropriately.
After all, he was making an effort not to end Michael’s life, so it was a white lie of sorts.
“I’ve stood on battlefields for long periods. It was a very long war.”
He first laid the groundwork.
As if there was some tremendous past story.
Of course, no such thing existed.
“It was an endless struggle. Maybe because I kept blood on my hands for too long, I’m not sure of the exact reason. But I can’t show mercy in my hands. Not now. It’s become pathological. So I can’t do things like sparring.”
Michael swallowed hard.
“…I see. So there was a reason you cut down all enemies in one strike. I apologize. I didn’t consider the weight of your sword.”
Michael had let his imagination run wild on its own.
That Yuma must have had a tremendously difficult path.
That he must have continuously trodden battlefields where blood and its echoes ran rampant.
Yuma left Michael, who had convinced himself of the reason for refusing the sparring, and walked towards Cloney on the opposite side.
Cloney was discussing magic with the Red Tower Master.
Crackle!
Blue lightning flickered in Cloney’s hand.
The lightning emitted dozens of branches.
“The mana is very fully intertwined. It’s an achievement hard to believe for a 3rd Circle mage. The light of the 4th Circle is starting to show, isn’t it?”
At Eldrie’s words, Cloney spoke softly.
“Yes.”
Probably because she wasn’t yet confident in her own achievement.
“Have confidence. You have great talent.”
Cloney smiled broadly at the archmage’s praise.
“Thank you.”
Eldrie bowed his head, looking at Yuma.
“Hello, Supreme Commander.”
Yuma spoke nonchalantly.
“This isn’t the battlefield yet, is it?”
Yuma looked at Eldrie with his Search Eye.
Cloney bowed her head to Yuma in greeting and then focused back on magic.
Eldrie approached Yuma.
“Cloney’s talent can be called truly genius. It’s expected that she’ll soon achieve 4th Circle. Her growth rate after that will also be steep.”
Yuma and Eldrie exchanged a few more words after that.
Yuma watched from a distance as Cloney cast lightning magic in one hand and ice magic in the other.
‘Yes, grow quickly.’
Yuma hoped for the day to come soon when he wouldn’t need to step forward.
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A day passed, and dawn broke again.
The First Princess of the Astes Empire gazed at Yuma in front of the main gate of the princess’s palace.
On either side of Yuma stood the mage Cloney and the feline swordswoman Hestia.
“What a modest departure ceremony.”
Just three support troops.
Even Sword Master Michael couldn’t dare to underestimate this small force.
Brigitte adjusted Yuma’s black coat.
“The epaulettes on your shoulders suit you well.”
On the right shoulder of the jet-black coat was an epaulette with six golden stars, signifying the rank of Supreme Commander of the battlefield.
Brigitte, staring intently at Yuma with her blue eyes, continued speaking.
“Haigelt, the Empire’s Second Seat, has also agreed to support. He’s in the east now, so he’ll arrive at the front later than you. Haigelt has an independent mercenary group. He will supplement the troops from his side. Originally, what they requested wasn’t soldier manpower, but special forces that could turn the tide of battle.”
On a battlefield where Aura Blades and meteors ran rampant, a few strong individuals were needed more than numerical superiority.
Cloney approached Brigitte.
“I’ll be going now, Princess.”
“Yes, take care, Cloney.”
Brigitte stroked Cloney’s hair.
There were times when she thought it might be safer to keep Cloney with her.
But seeing Yuma’s actions, she was convinced.
Even in the midst of war, it would be safer for Cloney to be with Yuma than with her.
“I-I’ll see you again, Your Highness!”
Brigitte chuckled as Hestia spoke with pathologically awkward formal speech.
“You’re talking as if you’re going on a trip rather than to the battlefield. May I touch your ears?”
Brigitte was quite curious about Hestia’s perked-up cat ears.
Hestia’s shoulders twitched at Brigitte’s gaze.
“It’s okay if you… touch them gently.”
Brigitte carefully stroked Hestia’s ears.
The soft fur’s sensation flowed through Brigitte’s fingertips.
“Oh ho, oh ho.”
The corners of Brigitte’s mouth twitched.
Hestia’s body trembled.
Continuous ear touching made her body ticklish.
Brigitte wanted to touch the ears more seeing Hestia’s whole body twitch, but she abruptly stopped her hand gesture when she saw Yuma’s bored gaze looking down on her and Hestia’s behavior as if it were pathetic.
“Hmm, I should stop teasing you.”
Hestia’s ears, freed from the tickling, stretched up again.
“Take care, Supreme Commander Yuma.”
“Yes, I’ll be back.”
Yuma and Brigitte exchanged glances.
Those glances contained trust in each other.
“Let’s go.”
At Yuma’s words, Cloney and Hestia
At Yuma’s words, Klone and Hestia responded energetically.
“Yes!”
“Okay!”
They would have to take the Halo magic train to Arkan again, then travel by carriage from there.
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“……”
Tornel, the Marquis and guardian of the empire’s southernmost border, stared at the ominous sky.
Drip…
Raindrops began to fall one by one from the pitch-black, gloomy sky.
Could it be a sudden shower?
Beyond the falling rain, he could see the enemy’s torches distorting.
He saw tents with flickering, dying flames.
They were the tents of the barbarian country Pineon.
“Father.”
Tornel turned his head to the right.
He saw his eldest son, Merkel, who had turned twenty-four this year.
“Let’s go inside. The rain is getting stronger. Those bastards who were hiding even on a sunny morning won’t move in this rain.”
“Right.”
The raindrops were getting bigger.
Merkel watched his father’s massive back as he entered the tent.
It was the back that was called the empire’s first wall.
“Seeing how they set up their tents so close, it seemed like they would attack at any moment… but it looks like they’re hesitating more than we thought.”
At Merkel’s words, Tornel slowly shook his head.
“I’m not so sure.”
For the strong, there was a conversation not through words, but through intuition.
The aura rising from the distant barbarian country’s king, the Conqueror King Kamet, was not that of someone who was afraid.
A crouching beast.
A beast waiting for the chance to rise and bite its opponent’s neck.
That’s how Kamnet felt to Tornel’s eyes.
Right after Tornel entered the tent.
Boom──
A massive drum sound was heard.
The tent door opened roughly.
“Marquis Tornel! They’ve started advancing now!!”
Tornel’s face crumpled.
“What?”
Tornel hastily came out wearing heavy armor and carrying his beloved giant axe.
He saw the shining eyes of many beasts in the darkness.
They were the
“Marquis Tornel.”
It was a heavy voice.
“Our war will begin now.”
Boom──
Another drum sound reverberated after Conqueror King Kamet’s words.
“My lord!”
At his subordinate’s cry, Tornel quickly looked to the left.
It was Knight Ulchef, who was in charge of the left flank defense.
“Their archers have already taken the mountain ridge!”
Darkness and rain.
Tornel realized he had made a serious miscalculation.
Kamet’s heavy voice rang out that warning bell.
“We do not fear darkness and rain. Because that’s how we’ve lived. Because that’s how we’ve survived.”
“Uoooooooooh!!”
The barbarian warriors’ war cry followed the Conqueror King’s words.
The war had begun.
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