Survivor of the Fallen Kingdom
It had been half a year since the girl first received the teachings of the Sword Demon, survivor of the fallen kingdom. In that time, she had learned a great many things from him. The truth that her peculiar constitution—one even the kingdom’s high priests had struggled to explain—was the result of seven severed channels that should have carried magical power. The revelation that special medicines infused with unique energies were required to ease her condition, and the way he had restored her body enough that she could manage a semblance of normal daily life even without them. And on top of all that—
“You will definitely be able to grow even further from here.”
Throughout their lessons, the Sword Demon casually tossed out motivational lines so embarrassingly earnest they could make the listener’s skin crawl. Yet those very words had, without her realizing it, quietly bolstered the girl’s self-esteem. Still, no matter how much her confidence grew, her originally timid nature—worn down by years of frailty—did not change so easily. Which was why—
“How can you be so sure I’ll grow that much?”
The girl questioned the absolute certainty in the Sword Demon’s eyes as he declared she would overcome her constitution and stand among the superhuman. It was a perfectly reasonable doubt, yet asking the one person who believed in her to explain the source of that belief felt like she was chiseling away at her own self-worth. Nevertheless—
“Because I can see the future. I’ve already watched you grow into a superhuman.”
His answer had nothing to do with her actual question. In fact, it was so absurdly off-target that the girl couldn’t help but smile when she saw how seriously he delivered it. She still had no idea why he was so convinced of her potential. But at the very least, knowing that one person in this ruined kingdom stood on her side and truly believed in her brought the girl a quiet sense of peace.
I stared at the scepter held in the princess’s hand.
The scepter, imbued with the power of an Outer God, was a sacred relic passed down through generations of Raziel Kingdom’s royal family. Unlike the clumsy pretenders who merely screamed for power, this artifact was genuinely linked to an Outer God and could draw upon its strength. Naturally, its potency depended on the sacrifice offered to it. What the former king had intended to sacrifice was the souls of every citizen in the Raziel Kingdom. With an offering of that magnitude, it would not have been difficult for the Outer God to force its way into this world. And if that had happened, it would have led directly to the end of everything.
That was why I had destroyed the Raziel Kingdom.
“When I razed the kingdom, I was certain I had disposed of that scepter as well…”
“It isn’t something created by the gods of the Outer Sea that can be destroyed so easily.”
Princess Arleah gave a bright smile and slipped the scepter back into her embrace. A relic that directly contained the power of an Outer God would naturally attract contaminants simply by existing. That had to be why they were swarming the area. It was like waving a slab of prime meat in front of starving beasts. The single-digit rank contaminants that had already tasted such power would not bother appearing here, but the lesser ones that had never even caught its scent would be irresistibly drawn in.
I glanced at Lieutenant Meln and Sergeant Lucas handling the contaminants outside the carriage before speaking.
“Do you intend to oppose me?”
“I believe I already gave you my answer.”
Princess Arleah’s eyes curved upward as she summoned a massive longbow into her hands. Like the Red Blood that Scarlet wielded, this was a divine weapon possessing its own ego—one that chose its master. In game terms, it was a Unique-grade item. One of only ten such artifacts in existence. The final legacy of the Raziel Kingdom.
Unique Grade
The last legacy of Raziel Kingdom. A bow with its own spiritual ego that selects its wielder. Said to make even fearless barbarians dread the sky itself.
The survivor of the fallen kingdom, gripping that final legacy, declared:
The longbow had been summoned inside the carriage. I stared at it intently. A craftsman does not choose his tools, yet a superior tool allows the craftsman’s skill to shine all the brighter. The silver longbow in the princess’s grip was exactly that. Even though she had only reached the fifth hierarchy, the moment she nocked an arrow with this weapon, its power and precision would rise another level entirely. If she were to combine it with the divine bow that had once slain tens of thousands and taught the northern barbarians to fear the heavens, it would become an opponent the current me would struggle to handle.
However—
“A marksman who walks straight into enemy lines?”
Close quarters were not an archer’s domain. I immediately stamped down, shattering the carriage floor beneath me, and drove a straight punch toward the bow in her hands. Striking her body directly might cause meaningful damage, but forcing her to drop her weapon would open the path for what came next.
Clang—!
The magic-infused fist collided with the spiritually empowered weapon, sending shockwaves exploding outward. The sudden gust of wind made it seem as though the bow was resisting, but a weapon was still just a weapon. In the end, Moonlight could not endure the force and clattered to the ground some distance away.
“As expected, it doesn’t break.”
I clicked my tongue as I watched Moonlight skid across the floor. Destroying it would have been ideal, but even though the game had become reality, the rule that Unique-grade items could not be destroyed apparently remained unchanged.
“Because it is a weapon into which the kingdom’s greatest craftsman poured his very life.”
While I was still staring at Moonlight with a hint of regret, the princess’s dagger flew toward me. The instant her bow left her hands, she had drawn a blade from within her robes and slashed at my abdomen.
“To waste a weapon that carries such a life—!”
Her movements were refined and precise, as though someone had taught her well. Precisely because of that, they were far too easy to read. I lowered my head to evade the dagger and simultaneously launched a powerful kick at her lower body.
“Using it in a place like this is simply wasteful.”
In any battle, once the lower body’s balance is broken, victory becomes difficult to claim. All the more so in fights between superhumans, where a single instant of judgment decides the outcome. That was exactly why I had shattered the carriage floor with my first step.
“If you know to use such techniques against the very person who destroyed your kingdom—”
Yet Arleah was no ordinary warrior. She had survived just as many close-quarters battles as long-range ones on the battlefield. She understood the importance of lower-body stability perfectly. Using magic power beneath her feet to generate instantaneous repulsion, she leapt with minimal movement to dodge my kick. At the same time, she twisted mid-air and drove her heel straight toward my head.
“Wouldn’t that person be satisfied as well?”
Whoosh—!
I glanced at the princess’s foot hurtling directly at my skull.
This one’s going to be hard to dodge cleanly.
It was an attack launched while she was already airborne. If I twisted my stance even slightly to counter, she would simply adjust her trajectory and follow. Since she was descending from above while I had attacked from below, the angle allowed for such a change. With a superhuman’s physical ability, even a redirected kick would carry devastating force.
Retreating, however, would cost me a breath of initiative and hand her the chance to press the attack. In battles between superhumans, whoever seizes the tempo first usually wins. Losing that tempo once makes reclaiming it incredibly difficult.
Either way, avoiding damage entirely seemed impossible. In that case—
“Your center is wide open.”
I’d simply take the hit. Ignoring the incoming kick, I stepped deeper into her range. At the same time, I drove my clenched fist upward in a rising strike, like a dragon ascending to the heavens. The princess’s eyes widened at the sight of the magic coiling around my fist, but having already committed to her attack, she could no longer evade.
BOOM—!
CRASH!
In that instant, the princess and I traded blows. However—
“Keuk!”
“Hoo…”
The princess, who had taken a direct punch to the abdomen and was now coughing up blood, and me, who was using magic power to soothe the throbbing wound on my shoulder. The victor was obvious.
“Flesh for bones… To think you would actually put that lesson into practice.”
“I only taught you techniques that could be used in real combat. That’s why I taught them.”
Watching the princess spit out the blood pooling in her mouth, I steadied my breathing and replied. After all, every skill I had taught her was something I had mastered back when I was known as the Sword Demon. At least when it came to instruction, I had never taught anything that could not be executed.
“So, what do you plan to do now? Just purifying the magic power I’ve driven into your body should already be taking everything you have.”
I glanced around. The contaminants piling up on all sides were being handled efficiently by Lieutenant Meln and Sergeant Lucas. Although I could sense a large number of powerful entities approaching from afar, I was confident I could subdue the princess before they arrived. Once I took the scepter from her and sealed it with my magic, the contaminants would lose interest. We would still be able to escape.
“You’re right. At this rate, it does seem too much.”
It appeared the princess had reached the same conclusion. She let out a deep sigh and reached into her robes once more. For a brief moment I thought she might be surrendering—until every instinct in my body screamed a single warning: Get away from her.
Princess Arleah, eyes fixed on the floor, whispered:
“At this rate, it is too much.”
The scepter emitted a jet-black light. A sinister radiance I had never witnessed before—one that seemed to devour all hope.