Chapter 45
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: The Remarkable Abbot
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The Remarkable Abbot
‘…I have a bad feeling.’
Ever since seeing the gruesome state of the monsters, the black magician Feroron couldn’t shake the unease that had settled in his chest.
Everything was proceeding according to plan, yet an inexplicable chill kept tickling his neck.
“What’s the status?”
“…Yes! As planned, the Crimson Darkness and Hartlun have entered the castle. The forces that came out of the castle have been lured away as far as possible by the monsters.”
At the sound of a sharp voice from beside him, Feroron quickly recited his prepared lines.
“Good.”
Hearing the satisfied voice, Feroron stole a sideways glance.
The red lips of Aplit, ‘drinker of virgin blood,’ curved into a beautiful arc. Though she had a venomous air about her, she was a rare beauty.
But Feroron felt no wicked desires.
He knew all too well that she had consumed the blood of a hundred virgins to maintain that beauty.
And also the fact that she was over fifty years old.
“Um… but, Lady Aplit.”
Seeing that Aplit was in a good mood, Feroron carefully began to speak.
“Yes?”
“Is it really alright to make such a big scene? It may be the frontier, but this is still the Empire…”
“What does it matter? We’re just kidnapping one noble lady.”
‘And you’re causing all this chaos just to kidnap one noble lady!’
Feroron swallowed the words that had risen to the tip of his tongue.
“Besides, things are about to change. The Master said that once he consumes the heart of the ‘one loved by mana,’ he will transcend the wall. That means we’ll no longer have to hide from those hypocrites.”
Seemingly in a good mood, Aplit spoke at unusual length.
‘The wall?’
The ‘Master of the Sword,’ the pinnacle of knighthood, had appeared frequently throughout history and even now existed within the imperial family. But among mages, few had ever surpassed the ‘wall,’ a comparable state of mastery.
That was because proud and arrogant mages would rarely admit that another had reached the apex.
Because of this, the last person to have surpassed the ‘wall’ was someone from fifty years ago.
And now she was saying the Master would transcend the wall just by eating some noble lady’s heart… Even if it was the Master, it was a flimsy belief.
‘This feels like it’s going to fail.’
He was anxious, but Feroron had no choice.
“It’s time.”
“Right. The knights are only in the inner castle?”
“Yes. We just need to open the gate.”
“Just need to open the gate—?”
At Aplit’s sharp retort, Feroron’s eyes widened.
“Pardon?”
“How can you say that so easily? Opening the castle gate is an incredibly difficult task.”
‘They’re the ones who made the plan, so what do they want from me?’
Contrary to his inner thoughts, Feroron bowed his head again.
After glaring at Feroron, Aplit clapped her hands with a sharp crack.
At the same time, a dense energy spread through the surroundings.
Then, a monstrous creature with a hideous form, looking like at least five people merged into one, approached.
It had eight arms and seven feet.
It was Aplit’s specialty, ‘The Fused.’
They walked with an awkward gait, their differently colored feet clumsily planting on the ground. With each step, black fluid oozed out.
‘Oh…’
Feroron let out a small gasp of admiration at the sight.
The key to The Fused was how many could be attached to one, and a count of five was nothing short of the best.
“Where is the Knight Hunter?”
“Well… it seems he plans to arrive a little late.”
“This is why those ignorant demon vessels are…”
Aplit clicked her tongue and stretched her hands forward.
At that, The Fused, who had been walking awkwardly, fell forward and began to scuttle like insects, skittering rapidly.
The grotesqueness of their movements and the reek of vileness they exuded were certainly impressive, but Feroron was skeptical.
‘Without the Knight Hunter, we can’t open the gate on our own.’
Even if it was a castle on the frontier, a castle was a castle.
Opening those thick gates required overwhelming force or equipment. Or, perhaps, help from the inside.
Having been in hiding, they couldn't possibly have the equipment, and their inside help was focused on dealing with the knights in the inner castle.
The ‘Knight Hunter,’ who was supposed to provide the only remaining option of overwhelming force, was nowhere to be seen.
‘Did he get lost again?’
As this was a meeting of the Society, the Knight Hunter would arrive before it was too late, but until then, it was the black magicians who would be sweating bullets. And it was Feroron who had to endure Aplit’s irritation.
‘Damn demon vessels…’
Feroron muttered under his breath.
The chasm between the arrogant bastards who puffed out their chests just because they’d accepted a demon into their hearts and the cool-headed, wise black magicians was only growing deeper.
“Everyone, get ready. Bring out all the corpses you’ve brought.”
Aplit, too, seemed not to expect The Fused to break through the gate, as she issued an additional command.
“Yes!”
The black magicians at the back answered with a resounding shout.
‘How are we supposed to get through that thick gate by ourselves…?’
Feroron clicked his tongue inwardly and began to chant.
What could he do? He had to do as he was told.
Or he could just pretend to be doing something until the Knight Hunter arrived…
Aplit was probably thinking the same thing.
Seeing The Fused shuffling about, it seemed their purpose wasn’t to break down the gate, but to cling to it and instill terror in those inside.
‘Huh?’
Just then, something jumped down from the top of the castle gate.
Thud!
Its silhouette was that of a large person, but the resulting boom was too loud to be the sound of a human landing.
“What is that?”
Aplit muttered, dumbfounded.
Feroron, too, tilted his head in confusion.
‘They could just shoot arrows from the wall, and it would be hard to break through, yet they jump down on their own? Are they committing suicide? Or maybe they lost their minds from extreme fear.’
The Fused spotted their target and scuttled towards it.
Screeeech—
Then, the castle gate opened, albeit just a little.
Someone emerged from the gap, but it was too dark to see.
‘What the…’
Feroron was baffled by the situation.
They were busy contemplating how to breach the sturdy castle, and suddenly someone jumps down from it and opens the gate themselves?
He had no idea what was going on.
“Did we have another agent planted?”
Aplit, equally dumbfounded, asked in a bewildered voice.
“No. We don’t have anyone in the outer wall section.”
Feroron replied, scratching his cheek.
“Do they want to die?”
A hint of amusement crept into Aplit’s voice.
An obvious sneer formed on her red lips.
Just then, the dust settled, and the figure of their opponent became visible.
‘Good heavens.’
Feroron swallowed dryly upon identifying the figure.
Colorful armor, a massive frame, and a hideous, scarred face that was smiling broadly.
As if a truly welcome guest had arrived—a very bright smile.
The silent pressure emanating from the man made Feroron unknowingly gulp, trying to suppress the fear rising in his chest.
A primal sense of dread prickled his skin.
It was similar to what he had felt when he first saw the ‘Knight Hunter.’
Soon, The Fused leaped at the man.
The man grabbed one of the heads of The Fused and, as if butchering it with his sword, easily carved it into pieces.
‘Was he a knight?’
The hides of The Fused had been reinforced with black magic, making them difficult to pierce without using Aura.
But the man had cut through it with ease.
‘But there’s no Aura?’
Feroron narrowed his eyes, observing the man.
And when he saw how the man was carving up The Fused, his jaw dropped.
‘Is he cutting along the seams?’
Of course, The Fused were, true to their name, fused together, so they had seams where they were joined.
That was their glaring weakness.
However, as befitted Aplit, whose specialty was The Fused, the seams were so small and tight as to be invisible. Moreover, they were reinforced with iron thread, making them incredibly tough.
To cut through such fine seams with precision in the heat of a fierce battle was next to impossible.
That was why The Fused were impossible for ordinary soldiers to deal with.
‘It should be impossible, and yet.’
The man once again sliced off one of The Fused’s legs. Still, The Fused, with five legs remaining, clung to the man.
The man smashed his fist into the head of The Fused. Thud! It was a punch, but it sounded like a hammer blow.
The man’s fighting style was bizarre.
His swordsmanship, which precisely cut through the subtle seams, was clearly that of a master swordsman, yet when he fought up close, he threw punches and kicks like a common thug.
He even resorted to biting with his teeth when The Fused clung to him, preventing him from swinging his sword.
As if The Fused had murdered his parents, the man’s fight was a desperate struggle.
Crunch—
The moment his eyes met the man’s, who had finally torn off the head of The Fused with his bare hands.
At the sight of the man’s piercing gaze, the black fluid smeared around his mouth, and… the lips curved into an arc, Feroron instinctively lowered his gaze.
The man was smiling brightly, as if he were enjoying a delightful game.
‘I knew I had a bad feeling!’
Why did the images of orc corpses with their lower abdomens torn out suddenly come to mind?
Feroron subtly covered his groin with his hand.
***
‘Ah, that’s a bit of stress relief.’
Ptui—
I spat out the gritty taste in my mouth.
My mind, which had been reeling from the Abbot’s story, actually cleared up once I started moving my body.
‘These demons are better than the Abbot. At least I can beat them up.’
A bitter smile formed on my lips at the thought.
Of course, these things were far below the standard to be called demons.
Crash!
Looking to the side, I saw the Inquisitor, her expression back to its usual blankness, swinging a greatsword as large as herself.
The grotesque creatures were helplessly pushed back by the greatsword, which was wreathed in a brilliant white light.
‘Holy power really is the best for these kinds of things.’
It was a display of valor befitting an Inquisitor, known as a judge of demons.
During a brief lull, I observed her movements.
She had a habit of stepping forward with her right foot before swinging her greatsword horizontally. She also had a habit of stomping her feet in succession before a major thrust.
I habitually memorized such trivial details.
In unforeseen circumstances, such trivial things have a way of magnifying their importance.
Still, I was thankful that the grotesque creatures had kindly marked themselves with dotted lines.
Their hides were tougher than expected, so I would have had a hard time without those lines.
‘Must have been made by a kind black magician.’
I offered a small, silent thanks to the creator who had so thoughtfully drawn the cutting lines.
I went back to cutting and tearing the grotesque things apart, as if doing origami.
A moment later, the Inquisitor split the last remaining grotesque creature in two with a precise vertical slash.
As it split in half, the black blood that splattered on the Inquisitor was instantly incinerated by the brilliant light surrounding her.
The black-hooded figures, who were clearly the bad guys, stared at us with devastated faces.
They had intermittently cast curses or shot black orbs at us, but I just had to hide behind the Inquisitor.
Not giving up yet, the figures fiddled with their hands and summoned something new.
“Grrrraaaawl—!”
This time, it was a large, grotesque creature.
The seams were much tighter than before, so much so that I had to narrow my eyes to see them.
Clearly, it was made by a black magician skilled in needlework.
‘With that kind of sewing skill, they should have opened a tailor shop.’
I clicked my tongue and readjusted my grip on my sword.
Judging by the regret on their faces, it seemed they had brought out something they had been saving.
Just then, my eyes met the Inquisitor’s.
The Inquisitor gave a slight nod and charged forward first.
I followed suit.
The massive creature swung its arm, but it was sliced off by the Inquisitor’s greatsword.
No, the moment it touched the Inquisitor’s light, it melted away.
I slid between the creature’s legs.
I briefly checked underneath for anything that might be there, but disappointingly, there was nothing.
So I plunged my sword into a very fine dotted line on the inner side of its middle thigh and sliced upwards.
Rip-rip-rip—
The stitches burst, and one of the creature’s legs collapsed. The black blood that spewed from the wound painted a long streak on the ground.
The grotesque creature’s posture crumbled, lowering its height, and the leaping Inquisitor simultaneously lopped off two of its heads.
Having lost its heads, the grotesque creature fell forward.
It was a pathetic end, unbefitting its grand entrance.
The Inquisitor, who had landed as lightly as a cat, looked at me and nodded again.
‘What’s with her?’
She kept bowing her head every time we made eye contact, as if it meant something, but I didn’t bother to think too deeply about it. She was a strange one, after all.
“Hsssk…!!”
A strange sound erupted from the black magicians’ side, and this time, a black energy exploded with enough force to fill the entire area.
Several of the black magicians collapsed as if their energy had been drained.
The already dark night grew even deeper.
‘Black magic.’
I quickly hid behind the Inquisitor.
In response, the Inquisitor emitted a white light from her entire body.
The light was as brilliant as the sun rising on the earth.
In front of it, the black energy spewed by the black magicians was nothing more than a mere shadow.
And a shadow, naturally, crumbles before the sun.
The Inquisitor kicked off the ground and swung her greatsword.
I had noticed it before, but despite wielding such a massive sword, her posture and speed were not bad.
‘Though she seems to be a bit of a matchup-dependent fighter.’
Against black magicians, she was an overwhelming force, but if I were to imagine her as my opponent, she didn’t seem that difficult.
Perhaps because she specialized in fighting demons rather than humans, her swordsmanship lacked sharpness.
The black magician at the very front was split in half, spraying red blood.
The Inquisitor didn’t stop there; she spun around and swung her greatsword again.
The black magicians behind him were simultaneously cut down, painting the ground with long streaks of red.
The only one left was a fellow who had dropped to his knees before the Inquisitor had even charged. He quickly showed his open palms.
It was a clear sign of surrender, but the Inquisitor nonchalantly raised her greatsword.
No questions asked. It was the stance of an excellent inquisitor, but killing a man who had already surrendered was a stupid move.
“Wait!!”
I shouted hastily.
The Inquisitor, who had stopped her greatsword just above the man’s head, turned to look at me with her emotionless eyes.
“Their skills seem too shoddy to be targeting a castle with knights. We need to hear their plan.”
I said, staring at the Inquisitor’s feet.
“…Conversing with demons is a sin.”
The Inquisitor, holding her greatsword at a slant, spoke at length for the first time. Her clear voice, which didn’t match her murderous appearance, refreshed the air.
“Still, it is necessary to prevent any potential harm.”
I focused on her right foot and, out of her sight, readjusted my grip on my sword.
“I… I’m not a demon! I’m a black magician! A black magician!”
The simple-looking black magician cried out in a desperate voice. The Inquisitor’s brow furrowed.
“Black magicians are also demons.”
“We’re different! I’m not like those stupid demon vessels…”
The Inquisitor seemed to be contemplating, frowning as she looked back and forth between me and the foolish man.
I looked at her and nodded.
I didn’t know what it meant, but I was just mimicking what she had been doing all along.
At that, the Inquisitor bit her lip and took a step back.
Phew…
I let out a small sigh of relief and approached the man.
“Name.”
“It’s Feroron!”
“…Roche?”
“Pardon?”
“Never mind. If you want to live, tell me everything you know. Then I’ll think about it.”
“Yes! This is what happened…”
The man, truly wanting to live, spilled everything he knew.
From the Society he belonged to, to the fact that they were targeting the noble lady’s heart. He revealed everything without a hint of hesitation.
‘The lady is the one loved by mana? They’re going to rip out her heart and eat it raw…? These savage medieval bastards.’
I let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity.
Eating a person’s heart raw… truly befitting of the savage medieval times.
‘They could at least boil it first. Such savages… Tsk.’
I clicked my tongue and organized the man’s words in my head.
The plan was more elaborate than I had expected.
If what he said was true, the inner castle must be in complete chaos right now.
[Just trust me, my friend.]
Ben’s unreliable smile came to mind.
‘He’s a knight, though. He wouldn’t be passed out like last time, would he?’
I shook my head, thinking it was a useless worry.
The man had already been tricked twice.
If he fell for it again, he wouldn’t be human.
And Nova had said she had made her own preparations, so it didn’t seem like they would collapse right away.
Of course, I had to get to the inner castle as quickly as possible.
‘By the way, did these guys not know there was an Inquisitor here?’
Perhaps this strange Inquisitor’s combat prowess was just exceptionally high compared to others.
If all inquisitors were this powerful, every demon’s head would have been smashed in by now.
“…Hehe.”
The man, having revealed the entire plan, scratched the back of his head, watching me cautiously.
As promised, I thought for a moment, then took a step back.
Splat—!
As if she had been waiting, the Inquisitor’s mace shattered the man’s head.
His head exploded, and the hot blood that sprayed out splattered from my face down to my waist.
‘She’s got a short temper.’
I brushed the blood and bits of flesh off with my hand.
The Inquisitor continued to swing her mace until the man’s head was a pile of meat.
Not stopping there, she went to the severed heads of the others and personally smashed them all with her mace.
To think that the one carrying out such brutal acts was the same person who hid in a tree to eat cake…
‘What a remarkable Abbot.’
I had to admit it.
Her technique was so practiced that it didn’t even take much time. After thoroughly turning everything into lumps of meat, the Inquisitor stared at me and nodded.
I didn’t know what it meant, but I nodded back.
Then the Inquisitor approached, and this time, instead of my forehead, she placed her hand on my ear, and a light enveloped my forehead.
‘She could have at least wiped her hands.’
I clicked my tongue at the unpleasant dampness I felt on my ear.
After finishing her blessing, the Inquisitor nodded, and I nodded back in turn.
“The sun rises, and the darkness shall retreat in fear! Behold! Those who crawl on the ground and hide in the shadows shall flee back to whence they came! Inquisitor! Honorary Monk Aron! Can you hear my voice!”
A pale figure on top of the castle wall was shouting at the top of his lungs.
He had disappeared for a moment, and it seemed he had gone inside to ring the bell. His face was covered in sweat from rushing, but the power in his voice was unchanged.
“Drat! It seems you cannot hear me!! Wait just a moment—I shall come down at once!”
The Abbot on the wall soon disappeared.
At that, the Inquisitor’s face turned pale, and she looked back at me.
Emotion flickered in the Inquisitor’s normally indifferent black eyes.
“There are more demons in the inner castle, we should go…”
“Yes!”
The reply came before I could even finish my sentence.
I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at her swift response, and the Inquisitor tilted her head in confusion.
“How dare the filthy and unclean raise their heads with such arrogance! Do they think His eyes do not reach them simply because the sun is not visible! I shall immediately deal with these…”
As the Abbot’s voice grew closer, we moved with haste.
***
Dylan… no, Jokjebi felt a sudden chill and rubbed his arms. He and Pul were guarding the back gate.
“Sir, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
Jokjebi swallowed hard.
Even the familiar scenery looked particularly eerie today.
“The chances of them coming to the back gate are low. It’s small, so few people use it in the first place.”
“Yes, sir. That’s what I thought too.”
Pul let out a small smirk.
The two made small talk to ease the tension.
Mostly, it was Jokjebi who chattered on, with Pul occasionally adding a word or two.
How much time had passed like that—
Dong—dong—dong—dong.
An ominous, heavy bell toll echoed from within.
“Sir?”
“Something must have happened. Hmm.”
Pul frowned, seemingly in thought.
Just then, a deep voice came from directly below.
“Hey, you two—. Is this Casadic Castle?”
It was the slurred speech of a drunkard, but Jokjebi couldn’t laugh. The man was as massive as that son of a bitch, and the presence in his voice intensely stimulated Jokjebi’s instincts.
Jokjebi, whose eyes had been opened to danger after getting involved with Aron, naturally sensed it. The distinct scent of death wafting from the man below.
“Who are you.”
Pul, in place of the frozen Jokjebi, answered.
Pul had already grabbed a nearby bow and nocked an arrow. Jokjebi was anxious that Pul might actually shoot.
“I asked if this is Casadic Castle.”
The man didn’t answer Pul’s question and just repeated his own.
Pul’s expression turned strange at the brazen response.
Jokjebi hastily grabbed Pul’s arm.
“Sir. Let’s open it.”
“…What?”
“Let’s open the gate.”
“What are you talking…”
“He looks crazy strong, doesn’t he! We can’t stop him on our own anyway, so instead of dying for nothing, let’s just open it and tell that son of a… I mean, the Jojang.”
Jokjebi spoke as quickly as he could, glancing nervously at the man.
The man was nonchalantly yawning and scratching his neck.
“Nonsense. We are the Outer Wall Guard. Open the gate to someone we don’t even know!”
Pul and Jokjebi were very similar in personality, just as they were in appearance, but there was a crucial difference.
For Jokjebi, his own life was the priority in any situation, but Pul, even while being calculating, tried to fulfill his duties.
Of course, Jokjebi thought that was just a meaningless death.
“I’ll say it again! Identify your…!”
Jokjebi swiftly smacked the back of Pul’s head as he shouted down below.
Pul crumpled forward.
It was a clean shot to the back of the head. Jokjebi, thinking his head-smacking skills had improved, raised his hands high.
“This is Casadic Castle! Welcome! Ta-da! Welcome! This is Casadic Castle, at the eastern edge of the Empire, where the water is clear and the air is fresh!”
Jokjebi expressed the grandest welcome he could, waving his hands and even shaking his hips.
At that, the man leaped up with a heavy thud! It was the agility of a wild beast.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
‘…Crazy.’
Sounds like a hammer pounding came slowly up from below, and soon, a thick hand appeared over the wall.
The man who finally climbed up stood on the edge of the wall.
He was even bigger than he had looked from a distance.
He seemed even larger than the mountain-like Aron.
“Are you a knight?”
Under the man’s cold gaze, Jokjebi’s eyes darted around, assessing the situation.
“No, sir!”
Jokjebi instinctively chose his answer.
“I see. Have a good night.”
The man nodded, walked past him, and—
Only after his footsteps faded did Jokjebi finally breathe easily.
He took off his outer garment and covered the unconscious Pul before staring at Casadic Castle.
The darkness of the night made its pitch-black form seem terrifying.
Phew…
Jokjebi took a deep breath and quickly ran down the stairs.
And he ran with all his might.
“Father! You son of a bitch! Fath… you bastard!!”
Jokjebi ran until his feet were sweating, repeatedly shouting for the man who was worse than any demon.
Jokjebi knew very well what he did best.
And that was to tattle on the intruder to a very scary son of a bitch.
***
Knight Ben readjusted his grip on his sword and stared straight ahead.
The large door, unadorned as the lady preferred simple things, was entirely engulfed in flames.
Strangely, the fire was not red but black, and it was not hot but cold.
The entire room where the lady was staying was burning in those bizarre black flames.
Phew…
Ben checked his own condition.
Unlike that time, he hadn’t eaten anything, nor had he allowed anyone near him.
Thanks to that, his body was in its usual state.
Ben gave a small nod and took a step forward.
The crimson flames, though not hot, had a palpable presence, but Ben pushed them back by raising his Aura and moved forward.
A knight walking into a burning room to save a lady. It was like a scene from a heroic epic, and Ben smiled faintly.
Ben stepped forward without hesitation.
In the center of the crimson flames stood the noble lady.
Her face, so beautiful she was called the Flower of the East, was filled with confusion and fear.
Perhaps because he had grown fond of her during his long time as her guard, Ben unknowingly took a step closer.
For now, evacuating the lady from this place was the top priority.
“…Ah.”
“Yes. It is I, Knight Ben.”
The lady’s hazy eyes suddenly cleared.
“What… should I do now?”
“You need not worry, for I am here…”
Ben couldn’t finish his sentence. The lady had suddenly thrown herself into his arms.
His mind instantly became a tangled mess in the face of this completely unexpected situation.
The lady was engaged. Although she was beautiful, Ben’s feelings for her were not those of a man for a woman.
But for the Flower of the East to express her feelings so sincerely, rejecting her would also be…
Just as Ben was muttering, ‘This is why handsome knights have it so tough…,’
A chilling sensation made Ben quickly shift his posture.
At the same time, a sharp pain shot through his left shoulder.
Ben clutched his shoulder and staggered back.
It was clearly the lady’s face, but the expression on it was not that of a shy maiden, but the smile of a murderer.
The lady shoved the piece of flesh in her hand into her mouth and chewed on it ferociously. The blood that dripped from the flesh trickled down her pale hand.
Crimson flames erupted from the lady’s body, reaching for the ceiling, and the piece of flesh melted away.
What was revealed was a woman in a tight-fitting outfit.
“Men, as always, when it comes to a pretty face…”
The woman smiled, a clear sneer on her face, and sharpened her fingernails.
Ben checked his shoulder.
There was a large hole in his left shoulder.
The pain was excruciating enough to make him lose his mind, but Ben grit his teeth and held on to his consciousness.
“…I happen to prefer your current appearance.”
Ben forced strength into his trembling hand and raised his sword.
It was a joke, but it held a hint of truth. Ben’s eyes, after all, were glued to her massive chest.
At that, the woman’s lips curled up in contempt, and she pointed her dagger-like fingernails at Ben.
Her stance and aura were formidable. It was clear that facing her would be difficult, especially after already taking a fatal blow, but Ben didn’t complain.
As always, he would simply do his best in the given situation.
‘Don’t worry, I won’t be as careless as last time. It’s embarrassing to say it myself, but I’m quite strong among knights.’
Suddenly, he remembered what he had said to his friend, Aron.
Amidst the cold flames, Ben’s face grew hot.
‘Not this time! Absolutely not!’
His momentarily blurred mind sharpened, and Ben gripped his sword firmly, aiming it at the woman.
As always, the tip of Ben’s sword did not waver.