Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: 1vs500
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Overwhelming numbers.
Just those three words alone, and most people would understand.
No matter how strong and skilled a grown man is at tug-of-war, if five hundred kindergarten kids charge in all at once, he'll lose in the end.
That's just common sense.
So what about this?
Three special forces soldiers armed to the teeth with the latest weapons versus fifty lions.
Obviously, the lions would win.
But the one holding the line right here...
She had experienced it before.
That impossibility turned into reality.
As a child in the back alleys, a young girl wielding nothing but a metal rod had slaughtered a gang of thieves.
This time was no different.
Bare-handed, without even a rod, she stood facing down five hundred demons.
And on top of that, she was nursing a serious injury from mana backlash, unable to unleash her full power.
Five hundred demons. Enough to raze an entire village to the ground.
No one in their right mind wouldn't take one look and run screaming.
Even her own vassals, her subordinates, her most favored Knight Captain, or even her son Dillon—
if they saw this fight, they'd gasp in horror and rush to drag her away.
Anyone could see there was no chance of victory. And as a lord, she knew better than anyone that you don't invest in hopeless battles.
That's exactly what they'd pressured her with.
And the result?
The House of Britna had lost its former glory, suffered defeat after defeat, and been pushed back on every front.
But...
"It was the same back then, too."
Her gaze turned to the man collapsed behind her, his body charred black.
A man she hated, loved, and could give everything to without regret.
"When you have to, you make the call."
Die here.
Or weave a miracle.
That miracle might not even have a 1% chance. Yet the Britna line...
"Has always carried on that way. Don't forget it."
She drew an old pair of gloves from her bosom.
Pure white, yet stained with traces of blood soaked and scrubbed away dozens of times.
The other side of her current calculating, cautious self.
The full power she'd unleashed for that one thing she absolutely had to protect.
Behind the woman, wolves began leaping from the shadows like an entire legion.
"...Hah, you still can't trust me to the end, huh."
-Krrk?
The bat-shaped demon's head swiveled around.
As its burning gaze locked onto the Ice Palace Lord, it flapped its wings furiously, shattering the window and charging into the banquet hall.
In a situation ready to erupt into flames at any moment.
Her mind stayed cool as if doused with ice water.
A chaotic melee she'd endured dozens of times before.
"Guess it's about time I got used to it."
Rachel tugged on the tips of her pristine white gloves and pressed down firmly on a hat that seemed to appear from nowhere, staring straight ahead.
-"The family's... loser... the family's loser... heh heh, the family's... loser."
-"Forgot your... sins? They won't fade... won't..."
Their tones deliberately scraped at human weaknesses.
But they fell on deaf ears for Rachel, who had already steeled herself.
She was preparing her strike.
Boom! With a thunderous kick off the ground, the woman's foot exploded against the floor. In that split-second instant, no one—not even someone who looked like a pure ranged caster—could predict or react.
In that frozen moment, it felt like she was bounding through the air. Her hand formed a knife-edge.
Her target: the demon right at the front. But massive wings, at least a meter wide, flapped from either side.
"Kraaarak?!!!"
The bat demon twisted its face in shock at Rachel's sudden close-range shift, raising its front legs tipped with razor claws. A lesser demon through and through—its reactions and judgment far sharper than the lowliest beasts she'd fought in the past.
But its fatal mistake was failing to shake her off in one go.
Thud. The demon's head near her fist froze solid in an instant, like it'd been doused in liquid nitrogen. She clenched, and boom! It shattered.
Hot blood sprayed like a fountain from the torso, leaving only the neck behind. The woman accepted the blood staining her white clothes without resistance, turning her gaze to another demon still scanning confusedly.
But the demon wasn't dead yet.
-Crack.
Its lingering leg senses refused to let her go.
The moment she tried to smash it.
"Grrrrr..."
One of the five kin-wolves guarding Ian's perimeter lunged, tearing into the demon's body.
It was a sturdy, fast brute with no other strengths, but its master's skill had leveled up—faint aura now shimmered on its fangs. Not much of a threat to demons alone, but piling on numbers and bites would make it impossible to ignore.
"Kuh!"
Rachel slipped free of the demon's grasp and lunged again.
The one at the top here.
The biggest wings. The red horns.
That one.
Their eyes met then.
The monster's dumb gaze shifted toward Rachel's fist.
It never imagined she'd close in so fast.
Like a beast taking an unimaginable blow at point-blank range.
It desperately hurled thorns to halt her, but she neither dodged nor blocked—she took them all.
But even so, was this proof of its leadership?
Demons surged from below, swarming her form.
This time, two bear-like demons covered head to toe in muscle.
They charged from both sides. If they'd come from one direction, she might've had a way to fend them off, but these tactically coordinated demons moved like clockwork. Sly bastards.
But experience brought the unexpected to their plan. Ambushes only shine in the opening clash. Once played, it was an all-or-nothing card with no take-backs.
Just before their strikes landed,
she seized the thorn embedded in her shoulder.
"...!"
The demons' eyes shrank to pinpricks at the unforeseen response.
Was she scared, targeting them?
No. Her goal was elsewhere.
Rachel channeled the rebound from barely dodging their attacks, plus amplified mana, into the thorn.
Too late for the demons to realize and fly off now.
"...Grrr."
The stubborn wolves gnawed relentlessly at their legs.
"Kraaaaaah!!!!!!"
Even for demons, the chilling dismay drew a thunderous roar—but it only bloomed a smile on her lips.
The one shaking off the wolf leaped forward.
-Thud.
A short sound.
The spot her hand touched froze instantly. No groan escaped before its head cracked open in death.
-Crash!
"Krahahahak!!!!!!"
The next one fared the same.
It got mobbed by the wolves the first had shaken off, spilling black organs and blood across the floor.
Two lesser demons down in the blink of an eye.
They hadn't even been touched by the thorns she'd fired yet, realizing only now that those were just for blocking projectiles.
A pink shield, supercharged with demonic energy, advanced on Rachel.
Lesser demons, maybe. That overflowing mana made it no pushover. Piercing a shield as tough as their hide twice over? Impossible.
At least, if thrown.
So, have the underlings rip, kidnap, and kill the now-defenseless woman.
But seeing the approaching figure, it knew its prediction was dead wrong.
A vile grin spread across the demon's lips, eager to mock and toy with her. How to play with a noblewoman at night. What screams, what despairing faces.
Demons' favorites: first, devouring human organs; second, livers; third, fooling clueless humans into unfair pacts while they laugh like idiots.
But the woman before it wore a murderer's smile more terrifying than any.
"Hah, you're still alive."
"!!!!!!"
The demon recoiled at her killer's smile.
Flap. Instinct drove its wings upward. To flee to the sky.
The moment it thought it'd escaped!
-Kwa-gagang!
The woman's form vanished from view as it plummeted to the ground.
It had anticipated the move, already coiled for takeoff.
The entire situation danced in the palm of her hand.
Realizing this, the demon scowled up at the arrogant woman.
"Y-you, you bitch...!!! Krrk, krahahahak!!!!"
Reflexive curses.
Thud. Beyond the dome shield, everything looked alien pink to its eyes.
Crack... Boom! Boom! Boom! Kwaang! Rachel's fists, spinning an Aura Blade brute-force style, hammered the shield dozens of times.
Each blow shook the demonic power, freezing encroaching demons. The unkillable wolves multiplied, blocking paths.
"Save... me! Save me, you slaves!!!! Can't even stop one idiot—hup—"
Crack. Fissures spiderwebbed across the shield.
No time to reinforce with mana before the next fist crashed down.
Confirmed effective, the blows accelerated, thuds resounding.
From the cracks: 1cm... 2cm... 10cm... In seconds, the gap yawned wide.
Shatter— And the human woman who appeared...
"....."
Revealed eyes colder than any demon, radiating chill fury.
The shattered shield no longer protected it.
A satisfied expression on her face.
But the demon, steeped in terror, trembled its sturdy legs side to side, its twisted face etched with pre-death dread anyone would recognize.
Her golden eyes, flushed murderous red, looked down.
"...You're human, aren't you? Right?"
A question laced with madness.
The demon understood, pierced to the core, but couldn't reply.
Huff, huff. Shoulders heaving with ragged breaths, Rachel flashed a victorious smile and seized its head. Just this much had tired her out.
Mounds of demons left to handle.
Killing the leader wouldn't scatter them all.
Greedy demons would fight for the vacant throne.
And the new prey? Rachel, the one who'd slain the boss here.
Reason enough to fear.
But the woman, body caked in blood, rose and looked up. Late-charging demons focused, their taunting mouths snapping shut.
Silence fell over the battlefield.
For a moment, the world seemed dyed red.
Brushing aside the mystery, another enigmatic woman emerged from the building rubble.
".......Who was the demon that did that to Master?"
Her voice cut through the chaos with overwhelming presence. Simply stepping forward once...
Invaded the area with her mana.
Arrows of mingled black and red blood hurtled toward the woman.
The maid-uniformed beauty was perfection itself. Porcelain skin, a seductive figure that could make anyone drool.
But her icy eyes and narrowed gaze bespoke pure killing intent.
No time to fall for her allure before the crushing malice tensed everyone up.
A rage unfit for her doll-like frame pierced the sky like a scream.
Rachel, who'd unleashed Aura Blade once, was utterly spent.
Come to think of it, what was this woman's true nature?
Had she known and still left it to her?
Rachel's eyes widened in shock as she checked the mana belatedly.
Yuria, who'd questioned the demons, stood primly with hands clasped, gazing up emotionlessly.
"I asked who you are."
Her sharp killing intent, demonic aura pulsing like a tangible form. Even demons might shudder.
She gripped the dark red blood in her hand.
Under their stares, the petite maid's face darkened—not with fear, but shadow.
Yuria's eyes turned black.
"...Hah?"
No answer came.
At that tiny irritation, the roughly four hundred eighty demons twitched like they'd been spasmed collectively. The monsters who'd crunched humans moments ago looked pathetic, quivering.
The impatient ones were the demons. They veered from Rachel.
Kill this woman or not—either way, it wouldn't touch her mood. Hostages? Useless.
Those cold eyes weighed: slaughter them all here? Or lock them away for eternal torment?
Leave an escape? No way. One glance from the maid froze them solid. Their legs wouldn't budge.
"...I can't just let you all die easy. Everyone except the demons who did that to Master—I'll make it painless for you. So."
She slowly unclenched her hands. The blood spears took throwing stance.
"Answer me."
They couldn't flee in terror or just stare. All they could do was charge with desperate fury to kill the enemy.
No demon wants to die, demon or not. They could revive later with human sacrifice, so five hundred strong charged without hesitation.
One of them would surely revive the fallen with a human offering.
But that one maid was dangerous.
The demon legion, fearless even against armies, quailed.
Not one left alive. Certainty of annihilation.
Total extermination echoed deep in their minds.
Just for irking her—they'd all die. Not one spared.
The woman raised her hand.
The demons screamed like panicked civilians.
-"S-save me!!! Spare me...! Spare me.... Spare me!!!!!"
-"Stop... No...no... Danger, danger... Die!!!!!"
The demons' screams.
Filled the House of Britna.