119. In front of the people of Essenmund (2)

Kakang- Chaeng-

The sound of clashing weapons filled the encampment. Soldiers and mercenaries, belatedly drawing their swords, joined the fray.

I, too, threw myself into the battle. But even as I plunged into the fight, I shouted to our still-disorganized allies.

“If there are any holy priests, please quickly identify the monsters’ ranks! It’s dangerous to just charge at them recklessly!”

At those words, a faint light green hue enveloped the surroundings. The priest who had created the light shouted.

“Three sudden gates confirmed! There are Rank 2 monsters! More than three of them! It looks like there are over 20 subordinate monsters as well, so be careful!”

“Rank 2 monsters… Shit! With my skills, I can’t face a Rank 2 monster… Still!”

Just as he said, Rank 2 monsters and above are high-ranking monsters.

Around the time of the first semester midterms, even Chloe and Rosette, who were at the top of the student rankings in Pantheon, couldn’t face a Rank 2 monster alone.

Of course, I’ve recently faced even Rank 1 monsters, but the people gathered here aren’t knights. Rank 2 monsters are very dangerous for them.

‘And yet, everyone isn’t backing down.’

As expected of Essenmund, that spirit could be felt among the soldiers.

‘Three Rank 2 monsters, huh.’

Still, it’s not me, but even the current Lucia could handle those monsters sufficiently.

Lucia is a 6th Circle swordsman. Her skills are enough to make her a regular knight, not just a White Night trainee knight.

But I asked Lucia to protect the group.

Aylin and Cecilia are non-combat personnel, and the spiritist Tricia isn’t particularly specialized in combat either. It was better for Lucia to protect them.

‘Actually, it’s more that I want to stretch my limbs.’

I could feel the soldiers’ tension in the darkness.

The soldiers and mercenaries formed their respective formations. They gathered around the holy priest, receiving blessing spells.

Three sudden gates. And the demonic power emitted by the high-ranking monsters began to engulf the surroundings.

Without a shield of divine power, they would quickly be afflicted with curse-like debuffs. It wasn’t for nothing that Pantheon students also served as holy priests.

‘The soldiers here probably can’t use divine power, though.’

Proof of faith offered to the Six Gods. That’s the same as studying theology and doctrine.

It was extremely rare for ordinary soldiers to use divine power. That just shows how elite the Pantheon students were.

“Let’s take out the subordinate monsters first!”

The mercenaries shouted. The battle continued.

But now it’s the night of the new moon, when the moon doesn’t rise. So the soldiers’ movements looked unnatural.

Awakened ones who use Mana have far superior physical abilities than ordinary people, but even so, night battles where visibility is extremely limited like now are never easy.

‘Well, it’s no problem for me at all.’

The source of demonic energy is the power descended from the Goddess of Darkness.

I could use that demonic energy in the realm of Domination. So, this darkness is like daytime to me.

I quickly assessed the soldiers’ strength.

Roughly 50 soldiers and mercenaries are gathered at the encampment. Everyone’s equipment wasn’t bad.

And even after confirming the Rank 2 monsters, their eyes were still alive.

‘Everyone seems to have combat experience. But they’re not at the level where they can take down Rank 2 monsters.’

Still, they continued to fight, raising Mana on their swords. Some could even use Aura.

Kyaaaaaaaak-

The Rank 2 monster let out a terrible scream. The demonic power vibrated the air in all directions.

Fortunately, the Rank 2 monster seemed to be assessing the soldiers’ strength while moving the subordinate monsters for now.

It was a typical monster move. They fear opponents who aren’t consumed by demonic power.

‘That’s why the people of Essenmund fight well even against the permafrost.’

The indomitable spirit passed down from Sword Empress Aylin.

Even in Aylin’s era, they knew that a soldier’s fear further amplified the monster’s demonic power. Of course, if they didn’t fear the monster, that debuff would be reduced.

Shashak-

I sliced the necks of three subordinate monsters blocking my path.

Like the movements of an assassin, moving silently.

I recalled the Bernice defense battle where Aylin faced the most heinous monster, the Fallen Angel Graiel.

‘Aylin also feared Graiel.’

She drove her subordinates to their deaths.

Even so, the odds were extremely low. The black Aura that Aylin raised in that desperate situation was the Absolute Darkness of Prior Enlightenment.

But Aylin surpassed even that Absolute Darkness.

After that, Aylin created the most intense Aura that could be created with the Lionheart Sword. The ultimate technique, White Night.

‘I think I know now. How high the Sword Empress’s realm was.’

The enlightenment I gained from Roia’s trial was also constantly being renewed.

‘I’m still far from reaching the Sword Empress or my maternal grandfather’s realm.’

I was now re-examining the swordsmanship I was using.

Considering that the technique I initially thought was White Night was actually a common sword strike that couldn’t even be compared to Aylin’s White Night.

The answer to the next realm will start from revisiting the current realm.

So, I’m even rethinking the mysteries of the sword form of Absolute Darkness, which I was already using skillfully.

‘Sword Empress Aylin suppressed herself even in the midst of terrible despair.’

Aylin even hid her fear of Graiel within herself.

Aylin was the master of Essenmund and the master of the lions. As the leader of the North, she had a duty to punish Graiel.

She couldn’t reveal her fear as she stepped over the corpses of Essenmund’s elite soldiers and knights.

‘So, the essence of the sword form contained in Absolute Darkness is concealment.’

I gripped the hilt of Shiertia tightly. And soon hid my body in this darkness.

---

“Huh… what happened?”

The battle at the encampment was over. There were some minor injuries, but no deaths.

“Didn’t they say there were definitely three Rank 2 monsters? But how… is there not a single dead person?”

“No, more than that, who took down the Rank 2 monsters? There weren’t any knights here!”

“Although Oiler-nim can use Aura… but still, three Rank 2 monsters…”

At those words, the soldiers’ gazes turned to one place. He didn’t seem to be a knight.

A man with quite sharp eyes answered that gaze. He shook his head.

“No. I didn’t kill the Rank 2 monsters.”

Everyone buzzed at Oiler’s words.

“Then who killed them? They’re not like the Rank 3 subordinate monsters we faced! Is it possible to kill three Rank 2 monsters without a trace?”

The soldiers looked around. At that moment, one soldier’s gaze reached a certain carriage. But that carriage was said to belong to a merchant group.

It was said to be a transport carriage to deliver magical supplies needed for Harsen. Soon his gaze turned elsewhere.

Oiler briefly observed the traces of the monsters on behalf of the soldiers. And soon he said as if he couldn’t believe it.

“The cut surface is surprisingly clean. If so, that means they perfectly controlled Aura as they wanted. This is something that only a White Night knight or… no, a White Night High Knight can do!”

His words caused another commotion. But there was one person who secretly denied his words.

‘No. Even a White Night High Knight might not be able to do it. At least it’s something that knights who have reached the Master’s realm can do.’

Lucia was quietly listening to their words right outside the carriage.

She saw it. Yulian had dealt with three Rank 2 monsters at once with his sword. And Lucia was shocked by the movement of that sword.

‘It was faster than my swordsmanship. And yet, it was so secretive that it didn’t even make a sound. And it was more precise than any other Aura Sword.’

Lucia’s realm is a 6th Circle Aura Expert.

So, unlike that swordsman named Oiler who was barely using Aura, she was already at a level where she could sufficiently compete with a White Night knight.

But Lucia knew.

‘If it were the original me. If it were that level, I wouldn’t have been able to see even a little bit of Yulian-nim’s swordsmanship.’

The movement was like a ghost.

Hiding in the darkness and shadows of the night. Yulian’s actions were secretive and swift, to the point where it was difficult to grasp even a little movement.

The reason Lucia could grasp that movement was because her body was the incarnation of Yunir.

Although Lucia couldn’t use demonic energy as skillfully as Yulian.

At least her eyes were receiving the goddess’s blessing as is, so it was possible.

‘Yulian-nim seems to have developed one step further in the meantime. As expected… he’s an amazing person.’

The Aura Sword named Absolute Darkness. The pinnacle swordsmanship that Yulian creates seems to have reached the next realm again.

That swordsmanship was completely different from the Lionheart Sword that Lucia knew.

The Lionheart Sword creates a magnificent swordsmanship by fully emitting the inherent Aura to the outside. The Lionheart Sword is a famous strong sword even in the Empire.

But the Absolute Darkness that Yulian showed a little while ago was so secretive that it didn’t even feel like the Lionheart Sword.

It was as if all movement around the Aura had stopped. The huge pressure that the Aura emitted to the outside wasn’t felt at all.

That extremely stopped movement. It was as if it was freezing everything around it.

‘I saw it when Yunir-nim and Yulian-nim were training. Yulian-nim… was using Aura like the Domination of demonic energy.’

The Domination that can even stop the opponent’s time. He controlled all his movements like that Domination, hiding it all from the outside.

As a result, the Aura was extremely restrained. It was like a fragment of ice abandoned in extreme cold.

Yulian created that Aura, which contained sharpness enough to cut even the surrounding space, on the sword body of Shiertia.

‘As expected, Yulian-nim is really amazing. I feel like he’s moved one step further away from me again.’

Besides, now that Yulian has returned to his hometown of Essenmund. As the next master of Essenmund. As the next Margrave, he will be faithful to his role.

For a moment, she almost felt depressed. But Lucia quickly shook her head.

She had already come to Essenmund. From now on, she had to become a member of White Night.

‘There’s Uriel-kyung in the White Night Knights.’

Yulian’s escort knight and the female knight of the White Night Knights. If she doesn’t want to lose to that Uriel, she shouldn’t be easily frustrated.

‘If I want to stand by Yulian-nim’s side. I have to become stronger too!’

Lucia knew well how attractive Yulian was.

Even the goddess who lent her body, Yunir. Lucia, her incarnation, remembered that her heart as a woman wavered while sharing love with Yulian.

He’s a man who can even seduce a goddess like that. She shouldn’t be satisfied with being in the position of a prospective wife.

‘I’ll prove my worth to Yulian-nim even more!’

It was then. The soldiers’ voices were heard again.

“Anyway, it’s fortunate that there were no casualties among our allies. If there are any injured, let’s quickly finish treatment and take a rest!”

It seemed like the night’s attack was coming to an end like that.

Lucia also slapped her cheeks with both palms to come to her senses.

‘Yes! If I don’t want to lose to Uriel-kyung, I have to study the mysteries of swordsmanship without rest…’

At the moment she was making that resolution. Someone stood in front of her.

“Huh? What are you doing?”

A familiar voice, it was Yulian. Lucia’s face flushed fiercely.

“Ah, no! I was just waiting for Yulian-nim to return…”

“I see. Anyway, it seems like the attack is over. It would be good to take a rest before we start again.”

Lucia nodded vigorously at Yulian’s words.

As dawn broke, the group headed to Harsen again. But when they reached close to it. Something unexpected was happening.

Yulian’s territory, Harsen, was burning.