The Royal Capital (1)
“H… e… ro….”
Haa. Daisy let out yet another deep sigh. Even after the relentless barrage of magic she had unleashed just moments ago, the creature stood completely unfazed. It had been high-powered spells reaching the eighth tier, the kind that could erase even a high-grade monster in a single strike. Yet this skeleton somehow endured it all.
Strange. No matter how strong its magic resistance is, this shouldn’t be possible.
An eighth-tier spell should still inflict at least some damage even against resistance. The complete lack of any trace meant the thing possessed magic resistance at the ninth tier or higher. Only two people in the entire world could reach that realm: Daisy’s own master, and her master’s master. Daisy was absolutely certain that no one else could ever be free of her magic.
There’s something here. Something I’m missing. I’m sure of it.
She was known as the worst klutz in the history of Heroes. The disciple even Namgung Hyeon, the master who had trained every Hero, had given up on. The one the other Heroes would quietly try to stop from taking action whenever possible. She caused so much trouble that she was the subject of endless talk and complaints. But that was only in daily life. When it came to being a Hero, she was a Hero through and through.
Once battle began, she carried out her objectives with perfection. The process might look a little chaotic compared to the other Heroes, but the results were never a mess of mistakes.
Shall I check?
Daisy’s hands began drawing an enormous formula in the air. This was the ultimate magic that no mage on this land had ever reached. It was the first majestic step toward preparing a ninth-tier spell.
Her opponent was a mage just like her. Judging by the amount of mana condensing and the complexity of the formula taking shape, it was easy to predict what kind of devastating magic would come next.
And yet he doesn’t look nervous at all.
Magic resistance was never absolute. It simply blocked a significant amount of damage. So how many people in the world could stand calm in front of a ninth-tier spell that had practically reached the level of transcendence?
The thing before her was strong, but it was neither her master nor her grandmaster. Even if it died and came back to life a thousand times, it could never reach their realm. The fact that it still reacted like this only proved her hypothesis was correct.
Life Force Vessel. So that’s what it has. It keeps reconstructing its body with that.
Normally, it should have revived in its original form at the vessel’s location. But this thing kept appearing right in front of her through some unknown method. Every time it took her spells head-on, it endured them completely, then stubbornly fired its own magic right back at her.
Either it was confident because its Life Force Vessel was nearby, or it was severely underestimating Daisy’s stamina. Perhaps both.
Hah.
Daisy was truly dumbfounded. Mages were inherently frail in physical strength. In close combat, they were worse than low-ranking mercenaries. Their weak bodies meant they could be easily captured once approached. Daisy knew such prejudices ran rampant in the world. And honestly, they weren’t entirely wrong. A mage only needed to excel at magic; there was no reason to swing a sword. They trained their mana retention to maintain acceleration spells longer, not to build stamina for running faster or farther.
But unfortunately for everyone else, Daisy herself was a monster who had stepped outside that common sense.
Even if it made sense for the creature to trust its own Life Force Vessel, anyone who knew even a little about the Magic Hero should never have made the second mistake. They should have guessed after seeing her occasional interactions with the other Heroes.
Or did they simply assume we were just casual acquaintances? Not fellow disciples under the same master?
Whatever the case, the idea of a mage with weak stamina or endurance did not apply to Daisy. She was more resilient than any knight or mercenary in the kingdom. The only ones superior to her in pure physical strength were clearly defined: her master, her grandmaster, and her fellow disciples who had trained alongside her. Against anyone else, she was confident she could knock them out with her fists alone if magic wasn’t an option.
“You seem pretty confident.”
“K… kuh…?”
“Then shall we get started on the ‘real’ part now?”
One of Daisy’s hands, which had been preparing a ninth-tier spell, slipped free of the formula. Normally, breaking a formula at this stage would cancel the magic entirely. But she was the Magic Hero, the one called the Mage Tower itself. While one hand continued drawing the ninth-tier formula to completion, her other hand began preparing an entirely different spell.
“S… tu… pid…”
“What’s stupid?”
“D… dou… ble… cas… ting… a… nin… th… ti… er…?”
“Why wouldn’t I? Oh, can you not do it? What kind of mage are you, then?”
“K… kuh… ugh…”
“But skeleton, it’s still too early to be surprised. This isn’t the end.”
While drawing two completely different ninth-tier spells with both hands, Daisy slowly parted her lips and whispered something. At the same time, a brilliant white light began to shine from her eyes.
The skeleton demonic human froze in shock at the sight. It had known the Heroes were strong. It had known their level was incredibly high. But this much?
Was what it was seeing truly real?
“…Sp… irit…?”
At the skeleton demonic human’s mutter, Daisy smiled.
“Im… pos… si… ble… how… is… that…”
Well. If you had stayed by Master’s side, that skull of yours would have been shattered from all the beatings.
Those words never left Daisy’s lips.
Thinking of her master, who had said those terrifying words in front of his disciples, Daisy manifested a total of three ninth-tier spells. Brilliant strands of mana spread across the world, their light illuminating the entire area.
Shields were often misunderstood because of their size and utility. They were seen as extremely limited tools, or objects restricted solely to defense. Gerard himself had heard such comments several times.
The other Heroes like Garam and Jenia each had something flashy and intense. Yet the only male Hero was known for swinging nothing but a shield. It seemed that fact had rubbed some extreme Hero supporters the wrong way. Coward. Dead weight. The guy who hides behind his shield even when he should be fighting. Ridiculous, truly baseless nonsense spread from strange places.
Every time, the knights under Gerard’s command grew furious. How could anyone say such things about the man standing firm at the front line? Gerard would calmly tell them not to react, that it might be a trap set by the Demon God Worshippers. He stopped his subordinates with quite reasonable concern.
Even after that, such rumors kept appearing whenever people forgot about them. What was so great about carrying a shield? It wasn’t even a sword or spear. It was ambiguous to even call it a weapon. How could a Hero use something like that?
To such rumors, Gerard would simply snort and not bother responding.
Is a shield really a weapon? Does it even belong in the category of armaments?
If someone asked him that, Gerard would reply with a question of his own: Have you ever been hit by a shield, or stabbed by one?
THUD!!
The greatsword demonic human was sent flying backward by the powerful shield charge. Gerard had absolute confidence in his strength against anyone. Even if you combined the twins, the skeleton, and all the other demonic humans, the number of beings with superior physical ability could be counted on one hand.
Yet he had just been pushed back head-on in a contest of pure power. Not by someone wielding a sword like him, but by a man holding nothing but a shield. And to make it worse, by the Hero who stood in perfect opposition to him!
“How long do you plan to keep hiding behind that thing?”
The shield he thought he could split in two at any moment remained rock-solid. When he glanced around, he saw his forces steadily melting away. The Demon God Worshippers might be strong individually thanks to their fanatical faith, but group battles could not be won by individual strength alone.
The human soldiers had already formed ranks and were advancing steadily, locking the front line in place. Once a battle became entrenched, no individual could overcome the group. And what about the monsters they had summoned by offering blood sacrifices on their side?
A few had charged into the enemy formation and were inflicting massive damage. But more than half were locked in brawls with the Combat Hero. The comrade who should have been supporting those monsters and turning the area into a sea of flames had disappeared somewhere to capture the Magic Hero. He still had not returned and remained completely out of contact.
This has gone completely to shit. Fuck.
The original plan had been to enter the royal capital with ease. Even though the Magic Hero was inside, they were simply a runaway prince returning home. There should have been no room for Heroes to intervene at all. Once inside, they would kill the tens of thousands of innocent people within, creating even greater hatred, fear, and terror with their blood to offer to the great being. When that entity finally awakened within his body, they would simply destroy everything.
But the king’s side, which had shown no particular reaction before, suddenly deployed troops. It was as if they would no longer allow any approach and would treat anyone who came closer as an enemy. Thanks to that, the blood sacrifices they desperately needed had become far too few.
They had already known the Heroes were in the capital. So they had secretly gathered Demon God Worshippers and monsters from various places as preparation and simply needed to wait for the great being who was approaching from somewhere.
Yet not a single one of them has shown themselves.
This wasn’t just a setback. At this point, the operation was simply ruined. At this rate, they couldn’t even summon the great being, let alone destroy the royal capital. In that case, what they had to do was simple. Inflict as much damage as possible here and imprint fear upon them. If they could kill a Hero or two in the process, there was nothing better.
KWANG!!
This time, the greatsword demonic human’s attack sent Gerard staggering backward. Even while swinging that massive blade, he showed no signs of fatigue. It wasn’t simply a matter of good stamina or strong willpower. Every time a sinister light flashed from the greatsword he held, the demonic human’s movements, which had seemed to slow, sped up again.
There was something there. Whenever his stamina seemed to drop, it recovered. There was a strength that the man had not yet noticed, and at the same time, a weakness.
“Are you just trying to buy time? How pathetic.”
“…”
“Coming out of the royal capital was a mistake. It means you’re exposing your rear.”
At the greatsword demonic human’s words, Gerard slightly poked his face out from behind his shield.
“It seems you’ve called in more forces from outside.”
“The royal capital will become a massive pool filled with blood. And it will become exactly what we desire. No matter how long you hold out! No matter how much you cling to my ankles!”
“…Haa.”
Gerard let out a light sigh. At first glance, he appeared troubled, as if worried about what was to come. But the thought actually running through Gerard’s mind was the complete opposite of worry.
So that’s why she isn’t visible.
I was wondering why the youngest… no, why the seventh wasn’t showing up at all.