Chapter 35: Pulverize
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 35: Pulverize
Sensing something was deeply wrong, the masked man flung the window open. Light flooded the pitch-black room, which had been devoid of any illumination.
Aiden squinted, his eyes adjusting as he looked outside. From the view, he could tell they were in an incredibly tall building, almost a tower.
Even at such a height, the masked man let out a low groan as he looked down at the ground below.
“…Lionheart?”
Even from this distance, something immediately caught the eye.
Amid the drab, low-slung buildings, a lone woman advanced, wreathed in a thick, Pure White Qi that rolled like a dense fog.
It was an ability no one in the Empire could fail to recognize. Pure White Qi. The symbol of the Lionheart.
And…
With every step she took toward them…
The mist of Qi billowed outward, growing ever larger.
Soon, it spread to cover the entire surrounding area, its sheer presence exerting an immense, crushing pressure.
With each of her steps, an entire city block vibrated. Building frames shrieked and facades shook, crushed under the weight of her power.
A pathetic whimper escaped one of the men, a sound of pure, childish terror. It was a sight so dizzying that he couldn’t stop the sound from slipping out.
A walking power plant. A one-man army. The vanguard of the Empire, always the first to plunge into any battlefield.
Seeing her now, it was easy to understand why one woman held so many titles.
“…You called her your wife. Are you really the Lionheart’s husband?”
“Can’t you tell just by looking? Please, just listen to me while you still can…”
“However,” the masked man who had asked the question spoke up triumphantly, “even if she is the Lionheart, she won’t be rescuing you that easily.”
As Aiden let out a sigh bordering on despair, another boastful statement followed.
“This building has been reinforced with every possible defensive measure. Even a Giant Demonic Beast would find it difficult to tear down.”
His voice dripped with pride. True to his words, they certainly hadn’t skimped on defenses. After all, these were people who smuggled all sorts of contraband into the Imperial Capital under the protection of the Imperial Prince and the Administrative Minister. It was no surprise their headquarters would be heavily fortified.
But.
“That’s only if it’s a Giant Demonic Beast,” Aiden said, his skepticism plain.
And for good reason.
“I told you. That’s the ‘Lionheart’ out there.”
What followed proved his words entirely accurate.
* * *
In the original game, Noel Astria Seimurs’s combat power was always depicted at the absolute peak, regardless of the time or environment.
The game world was teeming with monsters, so it was hard to call her the undisputed strongest, but she was undeniably a force to be reckoned with wherever she went.
In other words… it meant that, at least in this situation, there was absolutely no way to stop her.
“Hey, what’s a woman doing coming to a place like this all by herse— Hieeeek!”
The sound of a thug trying to pick a fight, only to choke on his words in sheer terror, echoed through the air.
The Imperial Capital Black Market was filled with all kinds of vicious thugs, but the moment they saw Noel walking slowly down the main street, they didn’t pick a fight. They scrambled to flee in utter panic.
Considering how they’d treated Katya before, their reaction was startling, but anyone who felt Noel’s aura would have done the same. It was like facing an enraged beast the size of a house.
Noel’s gaze was fixed on one of the tallest buildings in the Imperial Capital Black Market—the place where, according to Katya, Aiden was being held captive.
“…”
Noel stopped walking.
With that simple act, a heavy pressure, like the silence before a bomb detonates, fell over the area.
“—Haa—”
As she adjusted her breathing, the Pure White Qi infused her vocal cords. To those nearby, it might have sounded like a mere whisper, but to those inside the tower, it rang louder than a megaphone.
It was an incredibly sophisticated application of Qi.
“—I do not know who you are.”
When a woman like her spoke with such sharp hostility, it evoked something far deeper than fear.
“I do not know what your goals are.”
The very air rumbled. A terrifying pressure weighed down on the surroundings, heavy enough to make the faint-hearted lose consciousness just from the sound of her voice.
“But I know who you have in your custody. Return my husband. If you do—”
Those words…
“—I will let you live.”
…fell like a freezing frost.
“…”
“…”
The men inside the tower exchanged glances. A rapid exchange followed, one that couldn’t be faulted for its speed.
“…Can we win?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Then buy us some time. Throw everything we have at her.”
Honestly, considering the aura Noel was radiating, their response showed an admirable amount of guts.
As soon as her ultimatum fell, their answer came not in words, but in the form of several iron pillars flying toward her.
Suppression Pillars. The same items used against Katya, designed to weaken the supernatural abilities of anyone within their barrier. Their effectiveness had already been proven when they broke Katya’s momentum, and she possessed a monstrous level of power herself.
The only problem was… the knight standing before them, hailed as the strongest in the Empire, held that title for a reason.
The Qi floating around her body instantly condensed.
Before the Suppression Pillars could even begin to resonate, the Pure White Qi took shape, wrapping around the iron pillars.
Then, Noel clenched her fist as if squeezing something. In response, the Pure White Qi began to spin violently.
Instantly, those treasures—carved from Spirit Wood and refined multiple times by first-rate shamans—were…
Crunch.
…crushed to pieces as easily as snapping dry straw.
“…”
“…”
My god.
The men inside the tower stared, their jaws hanging open. They had deployed at least twice the number used on Katya, and seeing them neutralized in an instant was enough to make them lose their minds.
Just how high is her output…?!
While Qi was easier to project than other supernatural abilities, a feat like that still required the physical force equivalent of ripping a small house from its foundations.
And she did that… without an oath to a god, and without any significant movement?
“Is she c-crazy—?”
“Stop spacing out and throw everything we have!”
“But these are all items requested by the client…!”
“If we don’t get out of here alive, we’re dead anyway! This is no time to worry about the consequences!”
“Even if we want to use them, we need time! We have to stop her from getting any closer…!”
Just hearing their screams made it clear how monstrous her feat had been. The men, who had managed to keep their cool until now, fell into utter chaos.
And as always, panicked people are prone to making the worst possible decisions.
“Let’s use this guy! Isn’t he her target in the first place?!” someone shouted, pointing a finger at Aiden.
“…No, no, wait. That is a really, really bad idea—!”
“Do it! Tell her we’ll kill him if she takes another step!”
Before Aiden could stop them, someone dragged the chair he was tied to and shoved him against the window.
“Damn it, don’t you dare come any closer! I’ll slit his throat right—”
But before he could finish the sentence, Noel’s eyes locked onto Aiden, who was a bloody mess.
“…”
Ah. It’s over.
Even from a distance, the moment Aiden saw the murderous intent flooding Noel’s eyes, he instinctively knew. A ferocious aura settled into her gaze, so intense it could be mistaken for a flare of crimson flames.
“Law,” she whispered, invoking her oath.
The Pure White Qi already swirling around her grew even more intense.
Then, the landscape itself seemed to crush inward. Or at least, that’s how it appeared. Before them stood a woman whose presence was so overwhelming it felt as if the entire world was sinking.
Despite not being the direct targets, the people on the streets below shrieked and collapsed to their knees, their legs giving out.
“I swear.”
The moment those words left her lips, the billowing Qi condensed into a single point. The supernatural power that had seemed to crush the world gathered into the sword she held, creating a momentary vacuum.
“To my enemies, fear.”
Then, she drew her sword. As Noel unleashed a light slash into the air…
—the very space itself warped.
“—Huh?”
Someone watching from inside the tower let out a dumbfounded sound. It was the sound of delayed comprehension, of a mind struggling to process what it had just seen. No one could blame him.
What followed was a sight that no human could possibly produce.
In the next instant, the ceiling tilted and warped. Dust and debris rained down into the room.
Then…
“…Uh.”
A death rattle escaped someone’s throat.
“W-Wait, wait, waaaah—!”
People shrieked and tumbled as the entire room lurched sideways.
Only then did comprehension dawn.
—The entire tower… was tilting and collapsing.
The massive spire, so tall one had to crane their neck to see the top—the very building they had proudly boasted was reinforced with every defensive measure—had been sliced cleanly at an angle by a single, casual slash. Like a kitchen knife through a vegetable.
“…”
Just what kind of woman did I get engaged to?
As the thought crossed Aiden’s mind, absolute pandemonium erupted around him. They were so high up that people shrieked and scrambled, desperately trying not to fall out.
While everyone struggled to grab onto window frames, rebar, or anything to keep from falling…
The person who had caused this entire scene leaped up to them in a single bound.
As Noel landed on the precariously balanced floor, the faces of the men around her turned deathly pale. To them, she must have looked like the Grim Reaper itself.
And that wasn’t an exaggeration.
“—”
Noel, her eyes burning with crimson flame, scanned her surroundings and raised her sword once more. A skin-flaying murderous intent swirled around her. Anyone looking at her would have seen their life flash before their eyes. This is where we die…
“Dame Noel, Dame Noel! No, you can’t kill them!”
That would have been their fate, had someone not rushed forward and clung to her.
The moment she realized it was Aiden—who had somehow freed himself and was now clinging to her back—Noel flinched and looked over her shoulder.
“…Aiden?”
“Calm down, seriously! I’m perfectly fine!”
“…”
Her murderous intent vanished instantly. The crimson flames in her eyes disappeared without a trace.
Instead, in stark contrast to her previous terrifying aura, all the color drained from her face. Her demeanor softened, turning delicate and fragile. To an onlooker, she looked like a teenage girl who had just witnessed her first love get brutally beaten.
“…A-Are you alright?”
The world of married couples is truly a mysterious thing, the masked men couldn’t help but think. To think that the woman from just a moment ago could turn into this.
“Ah, yes. I just have some bad cuts.”
At his words, Noel’s gaze swept over Aiden’s face, which was covered in blood that dripped down and soaked his clothes.
“…”
Crimson flames flared in Noel’s eyes once more.
Seeing her reach for her sword again, Aiden panicked and clung to her with all his might.
“I told you, I’m perfectly fine—!”
…It took several long minutes for Noel to finally calm down.