Beams Cutting Through the Night Sky

“I, I want to fight alongside you too!”

At Count Leus’s words, Seraphine placed her hand on her forehead.

Men, really…

“I think you’d be more helpful if you just stayed quiet. One wrong move and you could get seriously hurt.”

At Seraphine’s sharp response, Leus bowed his head deeply.

Nod.

Loen, standing beside them, gestured his agreement with her words.

One must know the difference between courage and recklessness.

Seeing the Partisans causing large-scale disturbances, they clearly had some plan in mind.

It was right to minimize variables as much as possible.

“I’ll prove to you right here that I’m not a burden!”

Raising his head again with a determined expression, he drew his sword. His eyes glanced briefly at Loen.

Whoosh.

Gripping his sword with both hands, Leus closed his eyes.

Soon, dark red flames began to blaze from his sword.

“?”

“Wow… dual attributes?”

The fierce flames of mana rising up.

This meant he was at least a 4-star knight.

Judging by the color of the flames, his attributes were darkness and fire, undoubtedly dual attributes.

Looking at the defense commander’s surprised expression, Loen realized he had been keeping his abilities secret.

“4-star?”

“Yes… I’m currently just before completing my fourth star.”

Even at the highest level of 4-star?

Loen asked.

“Why have you hidden your abilities until now?”

“My father told me to keep them hidden until I reached 5-star level…”

“So you’ve been training alone all this time?”

As Leus nodded, Seraphine abruptly threw a question.

“Count Leus, how old are you now?”

“18… years old.”

Due to the barrage of questions from the two women, Leus’s shoulders gradually shrank.

To summarize:

At 18 years old, he had reached the highest level of 4-star, with dual attributes.

In some ways, his talent rivaled that of Loen and Seraphine.

‘Who would have thought I’d discover such unexpected talent here.’

When Loen’s narrowed eyes stared at Leus, he flinched momentarily.

He had summoned the courage to reveal his abilities for various reasons.

But now he was starting to regret speaking up…

“Count, you said you wanted to fight together, right?”

“Yes? Yes…”

“I’ll trust that you’re not the type of coward who says one thing and does another.”

“..”

Just then, the alarm magic Loen had set up throughout the castle sent him a signal.

A surprise infiltration taking advantage of the chaos.

As expected.

“Defense Commander. Please take charge of the wall defenses.”

“Yes, sir!”

After giving instructions, Loen led his companions and the Count into the interior of the lord’s castle.

On the high hill where Haven’s lord’s castle stood.

At the bottom of the cliff located behind it.

A group was climbing the cliff under cover of darkness.

Commander Darus’s meticulously organized elite assassination unit, commonly known as the Elimination Squad.

One hundred experienced knights and mages.

For the Partisans, who struggled to cultivate high-level forces, this represented a truly substantial military power.

Their mission was just one.

To infiltrate the castle and assassinate Haven’s lord, Count Leus.

Finally, the Elimination Squad reached the top of the cliff.

‘We’ve arrived.’

The squad leader caught his breath as he looked down.

His squad members gathered around him.

Their eyes took in the sight of Haven’s city district, covered in flames and smoke.

The city was in utter chaos.

Protest groups setting fires and marching through the streets.

Swarms of demons covering the sky.

And… Imperial troops entering the city.

“Captain. The legion’s intervention seems much faster than expected.”

The squad leader’s brow furrowed.

According to the original plan, the city should have already fallen into even greater chaos.

But the scene unfolding before the Elimination Squad’s eyes was completely different.

Legion soldiers were moving in an orderly fashion, suppressing both protesters and demons.

In the sky, demons were falling helplessly, and gunshots could be heard from all directions.

The legion was quickly restoring order.

The sight was somewhat majestic, but to them, it was just a scene that made them frown.

‘The plan has gone awry.’

BOOM! BOOM!

Just then, tremendous explosions erupted from one of the streets in succession.

The elimination squad members’ attention instinctively turned to that location.

And they saw it.

The shocking scene of a giant demon, massive enough to be visible even from the cliff top,

helplessly collapsing backward.

“…”

A heavy silence flowed among them.

To think soldiers alone, without knights, could take down a demon of that size.

“Judging by their rapid response, our assassination plan may have already been exposed.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to retreat and plan for another day?”

At his squad members’ words, the squad leader gritted his teeth.

“The Commander-in-Chief ordered that this mission must be completed without fail. Therefore, there is no retreat. We proceed into the castle as planned!”

After all, their target was just Lord Leus, nothing more.

According to what they’d heard, he was merely a 3-star youngster.

Even if an inspector was protecting them, the squad leader was confident in the assassination’s success.

Failure was not an option here.

At the captain’s cry, the determination in his squad members’ eyes blazed once again.

Whoosh!

Having reached a point with minimal surveillance, they threw grappling hooks toward the high outer wall of the lord’s castle.

Then they climbed up the wall one by one and entered through a window.

Finally, the Elimination Squad successfully infiltrated the castle.

The interior of the lord’s castle was eerily quiet.

Pitch-black darkness filled the corridors, and not even the slightest sign of human presence could be felt.

It was like a castle of the dead, as if all life had evaporated.

‘A lord’s castle governing a major city is this quiet?’

The Elimination Squad had successfully infiltrated.

They all instinctively sensed danger.

But having set foot inside, they had to complete their mission somehow.

‘Everyone maintain combat readiness.’

The squad leader’s hand signal.

The squad members, with tension at its peak, stepped into the darkness.

One step, one step, very quietly.

The lord’s bedroom.

But it was completely empty.

‘Split into three groups to search the entire castle, then regroup here.’

The Elimination Squad quickly dispersed according to the instructions.

The squad leader led thirty elite members toward the upper floor where the lord might be.

‘Have you checked the office?’

‘No one’s there.’

‘The audience hall?’

‘It’s completely empty.’

It was enough to make ghosts wail.

Not even a human shadow could be found anywhere.

‘Return to the rendezvous point for now.’

‘Yes.’

Back in front of the lord’s bedroom.

His squad members waited silently for their allies.

‘Are Teams 2 and 3 still not here?’

‘No.’

It was from that moment.

When they instinctively felt that things were going wrong.

If a battle had broken out, they should have heard at least minimal noise.

But the castle interior was ominously quiet.

Continuously, from the moment they set foot in this place until now.

10 minutes.

Time passed like an eternity.

The squad leader moved.

‘We’re going downstairs.’

‘Yes.’

To check on the other teams, they made their way down the stairs, cutting through the darkness.

A corridor so quiet not even footsteps could be heard.

A mage squad member from the rear approached and gave a hand signal.

‘Captain!’

‘What is it?’

‘Powerful sound-blocking magic has been cast throughout the entire corridor!’

This is insane.

Everyone prepare for battle!

His shout was not transmitted to anyone due to the magic.

But his intention was sufficiently conveyed through his mouth movements and vigorous arm gestures.

Thirty squad members surveyed their surroundings.

Just as the Elimination Squad was trying to form a defensive formation while checking front and back.

From the far end of the corridor, wrapped in darkness where nothing could be seen.

Flames.

Dark red flames rose like the fires of hell. The captain’s eyes widened.

‘Count Leus!’

The identity of the one raising the flames was Count Leus, their assassination target.

The blood stains on his face created an eerie atmosphere in contrast to his gentle appearance.

The seemingly naive look was nowhere to be seen.

Rather… he seemed somewhat ecstatic.

And behind him.

Among the shadows flickering in the flames, another silhouette slowly revealed itself.

Red eyes set in a face shadowed by darkness.

It was Loen Franz.

Her hand shot out through the darkness.

Then, as if swinging a sword through the air, her finger traced from left to right, from bottom to top.

That hand gesture!

The squad leader immediately recognized that Loen Franz’s cruel specialized magic was being cast.

‘Everyone scatter!’

He urgently signaled, but it was already too late.

Two white lines crossing the narrow, long corridor horizontally and vertically.

Some squad members with swords reflexively kicked off the wall and jumped up,

narrowly avoiding the cutting with acrobatic movements.

But the rest couldn’t.

A silent hell unfolded.

The horrific sight of bodies being cut in half and limbs being severed.

Yet without any sound whatsoever.

It felt like having a nightmare.

The surviving squad members, including the captain, raised their mana to the extreme and charged forward madly.

There wasn’t even proper space to avoid magic. They had to approach that witch somehow to have any chance of winning.

When they had traversed about half the corridor.

Loen’s next magic was cast.

Between her and the Elimination Squad, a glowing sphere appeared in midair.

Damn it all.

Someone unknowingly blurted out a curse.

Immediately after, a storm of fragments swept through the corridor.

There were no survivors.

A few squad members who managed to approach swung their swords at Leus, but instead were all slaughtered by his counterattack.

“Deactivate blocking magic.”

A wide-open rooftop with a view in all directions.

Loen silently looked down at the cityscape.

“Isn’t this actually a good thing?”

At Psyche’s sudden words, Loen’s gaze turned to her.

“A major city being invaded by demons is, as far as I know, the first such incident in decades. When this news reaches the imperial capital… it might cause quite an uproar? Then Loen’s reputation would rise even higher…”

Loen and Seraphine were surprised at her words pouring out.

Such words from Psyche’s mouth…!?

Silence fell again among the group after a brief exchange.

The cold night wind roughly tousled their hair and clothes.

“Stop the approaching demons.”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

Psyche and Leus responded to Loen’s instructions.

Loen surveyed the city.

The overall battle situation favored the legion.

The knights on horseback were crushing the protesters and demons.

The soldiers were confronting demons with cannons and muskets.

But in other areas.

In places without knights and cannons, demons with huge bodies were freely wreaking havoc in the streets.

The muskets didn’t seem to be causing meaningful damage to their thick exteriors.

But that too was about to end.

It was time to completely quell this chaos.

Loen, with his hair swept all the way up, and Seraphine, gracefully crossing her arms.

The two mages stood back to back against the night sky.

Woong—!

Their goal was only one.

The complete extermination of the demons.

Soon, an enormous amount of mana began to violently swirl around them.

Finally.

From their fingertips, destructive mana beams exploded outward.

The beams tore through the veil of night and brightly illuminated the entire city.

A ray of hope for some, and a beam of death announcing the end for the demons.

Whoosh—!

The demons that had been wreaking destruction fell helplessly.

Their wings, limbs, and heavy bodies instantly turned to ashes, dispersing pathetically into the night air.

Where the beams had swept, only charred afterimages, broken debris, and silence remained.

That night, the citizens and soldiers of Haven, unable to sleep, stared in awe at that wondrous sight.