Seven Cuts

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Meeting Drak, first and foremost, required time.

Going by the examples of everyone previously classified as a Chosen One, they had all either resided in Talikal or spent an extended period of time there. Even Vlack had met Drak only after spending a full four months in the kingdom hunting down the World Boss.

"First, I shall give you a commission."

Of course, she couldn't wait around forever, so her plan was to alternate her residence between Talikal and other regions.

The day after the royal audience.

A middle-aged nobleman with a memorable mustache cleared his throat. Ahem!

Crunch! Rotten grass crumpled under his expensive shoes.

The outskirts of Talikal — Derical. Unlike the peaceful, fertile farmland of the kingdom's heartlands, the ground where the man stood looked barren at a glance, dry and utterly devoid of life.

"As you can see, part of Derical is dead land. The cause is a colossal serpent that took root in the mountains long ago, when they were still connected to the farmland."

"A serpent? What kind of snake are we talking about?"

"A serpent that devours life. The Green Snake."

With a grave expression, the nobleman emphasized the serpent's dangers as though delivering a warning.

"No matter how powerful you may be, Lady Lily, that serpent is a monster even the knight order has been unable to fully exterminate. Carelessness will lead straight to death."

It would hardly be a challenge for you, of course.

"Bear that in mind."

"...Tsk. It will take considerable time, so I shall return to the county seat. You are an Immortal — a week should be more than sufficient."

"Just wait here."

She turned her head smoothly, confirming the location. No matter how great the distance, nothing could escape eyes that carried the blood of a Celestial.

There it is, coiled up over there.

"Pardon?"

"This will be over quickly."

"Ha! however strong you may be, arrogance leads only to defeat."

"Got it."

"...What?"

How?

The serpent that devoured life — or rather, just an enormous olive-green scaled python. The Green Snake had been captured.

Time required: thirty minutes.

Subtract the round trip, the time spent surveying the surroundings, and the time spent researching the serpent, and the actual catching of it took, well, effectively no time at all.

Thud.

The head of the serpent — bigger than a giant bear — dropped at the nobleman's feet. An expression of sheer fury, frozen on a face that had never even registered its own death, as though the head had been severed mid-rage.

The nobleman who caught it stared up at her with dazed eyes.

The olive-green dagger, the Green Hermit, whirled lazily around the tip of her finger.

"Not bad. I suppose that's what they call a Masterpiece."

She didn't actually handle daggers all that well.

To be precise, aside from the spear and the hammer, she was not particularly skilled with any weapon. It wasn't that the spear and hammer weren't her mainstays — they were — but every other weapon had simply been drilled up to the threshold of what could be learned, and nothing more.

Ancient monstrosities and the Celestial and Demon races paid no mind to such 'half-baked' weapon arts. She'd merely picked the dagger up since she happened to have received a Masterpiece.

Whirr~

Still, perhaps because the weapon itself was so exceptional, she could dispatch most enemies without the slightest trouble.

What made it even more special was one of the weapon's innate abilities: Absolute Severing. An authority inscribed into the blade that guaranteed whatever it cut would be cut — as long as she could land the strike with this dagger, it was guaranteed to be a telling blow.

'Well, it's not Mythic-grade for nothing.'

Whirr~ Clack.

"Y-you caught it? Congratulations. Ahem! The gold coins will be paid out immediately—"

"Any other commissions?"

"Pardon?"

There was time to spare, after all. No harm in doing more.

Scraaaaape...

FWOOOOSH!!

'What in the world...'

Count Lethes, who had entrusted Lily with her seventh commission — the extermination of the Red River Ants — doubted his own eyes at the carnage unfolding before him.

According to the intel he'd gathered, the Immortal known as Lily was a warrior who wielded spear or hammer, crushing her enemies under overwhelming destructive power. But this—

"I'd say this side's done, too."

Fast. She carved down dozens of hound-sized ants at speeds the eye could not even follow.

The sharpness that made his whole body shiver was so keen that merely watching it felt like being sliced apart.

"Good heavens..."

Movements that surpassed even Talikal's Royal Dark Sword, the Sword Shadow. No — it exceeded every assassin he had ever laid eyes on.

'Like a Dark Wraith...'

That person was really supposed to be a 'warrior'?

"Ah. There's the boss."

Before Lily — who had carved down a hundred ants in mere seconds — a colossal ant appeared, its size rivaling a small hill.

The knight order periodically exterminated the Red River Ants that gnawed away at the farmland, but they had always been forced to turn back without ever managing to slay that 'Queen.'

By the standards of otherworlders, a Level 90 'Field Boss' — and one of the most powerful monsters in the region, never once exterminated in over a year.

Granted, if they committed half the knight order, they could probably bring it down even taking losses — but with war on the horizon, they had no resources to spare for that.

And if the thing had ever left its territory to 'invade,' Talikal would have been saddled with a truly nightmarish enemy.

KIIIIIIIIIII!!

"Ghk!"

At the Queen Ant's shriek, Count Lethes hurriedly clamped his hands over his ears. Even wearing protective enchanted gear and equipment of his own, the lethal sound rattled his entire body.

'And — and Lily?'

No matter how she moved like a Dark Wraith, she could not possibly sever the Queen Ant in a single stroke. According to all the information the knight order had gathered, striking the crimson wound on the Queen's chest could only disable it for a fleeting moment.

Less than a single second. But if it was Lily, that would be enough.

"Sevenfold Severance."

'Huh?'

It would be a joke to say 'something passed by' — and yet that was precisely how little Lethes understood of what happened. In the sliver of time it took him to blink once, lost briefly in thought about the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Queen Ant,

seven straight lines drew themselves through the empty air, and the Queen Ant's massive body simply fell apart where it stood.

FWOOOOSH!!!

Rat-ta-ta-tat!

The bursting sound reached his ears a moment too late, and the wreckage of the Queen Ant — now a corpse — rained down like a shower. And at the end of it stood Lily, twirling the Green Hermit and gazing into the empty air.

She seemed to be smiling, yet something about her looked off as she slowly rotated her hand, joint by creaking joint.

Lethes swallowed hard.

It's my own call.

This arrangement existed so that Lily could be summoned to exterminate the monsters plaguing each noble's territory in turn — and this round had simply fallen to Lethes. Now that the commission was finished, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it was his duty to pass Lily along to the next noble.

And yet.

"Thank you for your hard work, Lady Lily."

"I'd say that's enough for today. The next commission, in two days—"

"Might you consider taking on one more?"

A monster that could never, ever be requested through a mere 'commission.'

It never left its nest, so it caused no particular harm — but the moment anyone so much as set foot in its domain, it was a being capable of erasing an entire kingdom from the map. And above all...

"There is a monster in the snowy mountain bordering my territory. It's a creature that perpetually summons brutal cold, and every winter the damage to my people becomes truly dire... Ah, if you would take this one final commission, I will pay you double the fee."

"Hmm... Very well. I'll head over right away."

"Thank you!"

'Once the Frozen Blizzards of the White Dragon Sgaredo die, this hollow territory of mine will finally grow larger.'

With his head bowed, the corners of Lethes's mouth curled upward.