Ch.137First Battle – 1

Neither Serena, Christine, nor Charlotte could react to Olivia’s sudden appearance. In the suffocating silence, only Olivia remained composed.

All senses were on high alert. Serena was gauging the skill of the woman before her, Christine was reciting prayers under her breath, and Charlotte was recalling her past battle experiences.

These three could confidently claim that across the entire continent, only they were each other’s equals.

Even if circumstances turned the entire kingdom against them, they were confident they could kill anyone who dared challenge them with minimal effort.

That’s who Serena, Christine, and Charlotte were.

But the girl before them was different. It was their first time encountering someone who made them instinctively realize they couldn’t guarantee victory even at full strength.

If the three of them had reached the limit of what humans could achieve with no room for further growth, the girl before them had completely shattered that limit and crossed beyond it.

They questioned whether she could even be called human. That boundary was something even Charlotte, who had lived the longest among them except for the boy, had yet to overcome.

And now, a being who had perfectly transcended that boundary had suddenly appeared.

However, they weren’t trying to avoid a fight or calculating their chances of victory. Their pride was too strong for that, and none believed they would lose.

After all, every woman present was secretly waiting for an opportunity to kill all the others and have the boy to herself.

One more addition merely meant one more person to kill later.

Serena infused her body with mana. Her Wind Shear, absorbing a massive amount of mana, transformed like glass. Blue light swirled around her body.

Christine summoned her holy power. Pale flames with a hint of yellow gently enveloped her body. A pair of wings prepared to unfold behind her back.

Magic circles appeared around Charlotte. The sound of multiple incantations murmured from her lips. The results of those incantations glowed brightly in both her palms.

While the black-haired girl who had suddenly appeared was clearly the most dangerous threat, they couldn’t afford to ignore the others either.

It was clearer than daylight that these three would sooner wish for the world’s end than cooperate with each other—unless the boy explicitly ordered them to.

Observing the rapidly chilling atmosphere, the girl tilted her head.

“Huh? Why did you stop fighting? Weren’t you putting on a show to entertain me? I came in person because watching from beyond dimensions wasn’t quite right, but now you stop when I arrive. Are you embarrassed? Should I leave again?”

“Should I leave again?” As the girl pointed toward the darkness that had half-consumed her lower body, Charlotte was the first to address her.

“So you were the main body. At last, I can cut off your head and extract all your memories. How fortunate. I won’t let you escape this time.”

The girl tilted her head at these words, briefly lost in thought. After a moment, she exclaimed “Ah!” as if something had dawned on her.

“I remember now. You’re that magic user? I don’t usually keep surface memories except for my Master, you see. Come to think of it, I never asked for your feedback. How was it fighting my avatar? Was it fun? You were fighting so earnestly.”

“What words could I possibly have for someone who fears direct confrontation and sends an avatar instead? Surely your nature is no better than a cowardly beast. To think you believe yourself worthy of questioning me—truly, your stupidity knows no bounds.”

The girl blinked at Charlotte’s words, then spoke with a genuinely puzzled expression.

“I got over my fear of insects a long time ago. Why would I be afraid of you?”

It was Charlotte’s turn to be dumbfounded by this unexpected response. She could read the sincerity in Olivia’s expression.

The woman’s words meant exactly what they appeared to mean.

She had gotten over her fear of insects. This implied not only that she wasn’t afraid of Charlotte, but also that she considered her nothing more than an insect.

It wasn’t meant as provocation to irritate Charlotte. The woman truly, deeply believed it.

That made the statement all the more bewildering.

“Aren’t you two going to fight? If not, there’s no point in me coming all this way. Well, since I’m here, I might as well take my Master with me. My home isn’t quite finished yet, but I’m sure he’ll say it’s fine. My Master is always on my side, yes. I’m certain of it.”

As Olivia gestured, the boy’s body floated up into the air. The black blood that had been continuously flowing from his mouth stopped the moment he approached the girl.

The curse had been placed with the sole purpose of bringing the boy to Olivia so she could keep him by her side. Now that she had achieved this goal, regardless of how it happened, the curse disappeared.

When Olivia reached out to cup the boy’s face, Christine spread her wings of holy power and lunged forward. A shockwave of holy energy scattered in her wake.

Serena and Charlotte hesitated in their pre-attack stances.

They too had intended to act the moment the boy approached the woman, but Christine’s sudden move triggered the mana nullification, causing the mana they had gathered to evaporate.

Though they hastily summoned their mana again, they were inevitably a step behind. They gritted their teeth as they watched Christine charge forward with her wings of holy power fully spread.

“Oh? Are you joining in? That’s a bit inconvenient right now.”

Christine rushed forward, purifying everything she touched with white flames, while Olivia maintained her relaxed expression throughout.

In the blink of an eye—not as a figure of speech, but literally the time it takes to blink once—Christine’s fist reached Olivia.

Her punch, powerful enough to destroy a castle, flew toward Olivia’s head, but Olivia made no elaborate preparations to counter it.

She simply extended her left hand slightly into the punch’s trajectory.

Christine’s fist made direct contact with the extended left hand. With a thunderous boom, a circular shockwave erupted and swept through the entire room.

The already precarious walls and floor cracked as if about to collapse. Ominous creaking sounds came from all directions. It seemed unlikely to hold up much longer.

Christine’s captured fist trembled. In stark contrast, Olivia didn’t move even slightly.

“You…”

Serena and Charlotte’s faces were the very picture of bewilderment.

Not only Charlotte, who was bound by the shackles of mana nullification, but even Serena, who could reasonably match Christine, couldn’t block her holy power-infused punch so easily.

Anyone attempting to block such a punch would have to be prepared for their entire arm to be shattered.

But this woman was different. Not only did she effortlessly block Christine’s punch, but she remained completely unaffected despite direct contact with holy power.

‘If I could use physical enhancement, I might be her equal.’

Even as Serena was shocked by what unfolded before her, she realized she could use physical enhancement against this girl.

It was only because she had to face that monstrous strength with her bare body that she was frequently hindered. Honestly, if not for mana nullification, she was confident she wouldn’t lose in a contest of strength against Christine.

While Serena was mentally analyzing Olivia’s capabilities, Charlotte was shocked for a different reason.

‘That was definitely black magic.’

Black magic.

The magic her husband had been so obsessed with eradicating, the magic that used black mana, and the magic he had strictly forbidden Charlotte from understanding or even attempting to understand.

Yet that woman had used such black magic. That was why Charlotte couldn’t hide her shock.

Normally, Charlotte should have only sensed that some foreign mana was being used, nothing more.

But through her husband’s explanations in the black magic workshop, she had vaguely grasped the concept, allowing her to recognize black mana.

The boy would be horrified if he noticed.

‘Since she uses black magic, that woman…’

Perhaps this black-haired woman was connected to the reason why the boy was so wary of black magic.

This seemed worth investigating after beheading that woman and presenting her head for questioning.

Christine paid no attention to the fact that her punch had been so easily blocked. Her focus was entirely on the boy who was about to make contact with Olivia.

“What have you done to my God?”

“God? Who? My Master? Ah, I see. So that’s why I felt uncomfortable every time I heard that word ‘god’?”

“Silence that tongue before I tear it out. What right does a vile heretic like you have to wag your filthy tongue?”

“Oh, this concept looks fun. I should try it with Master later. A nun offering her body to a priest in the confessional—that seems quite nice. Yes, yes. Master will surely like it too.”

As if there were no more words to be said to a heretic, Christine summoned her holy power. The pair of wings unfolded behind her back, fluttering with holy energy.

At that moment, Olivia’s expression completely changed upon seeing the pair of wings radiating sacred light. The subtle smile at the corners of her mouth vanished.

Her black pupils scanned the wings made of holy power.

“This is… holy power? I couldn’t tell until now because it was too weak, but now I see it. Yes, it’s holy power. Definitely.”

Her usually carefree, bouncy tone turned cold and filled with a chilling frost. Her eyes darkened as she looked at Christine.

The left hand gripping Christine’s fist tightened. Christine’s arm began to twist clockwise, little by little.

“I really don’t like this. Truly.”

What happened after those words was something even Charlotte momentarily failed to comprehend.

Even her brain, capable of discerning moments within moments if she wished, couldn’t keep up with the situation. A gust of wind blew in through a gaping hole.

She recalled what had just happened.

She had seen the girl suddenly change her demeanor and kick Christine in the abdomen with her right foot, but what happened next? Charlotte’s eyes surveyed the room, now in complete disarray.

A large diagonal hole had been torn through the floor, extending all the way outside the castle. It had likely destroyed not just this room but the floors below as well.

One side of the castle wall had completely collapsed, revealing the blue sky. That’s where the wind was coming from.

With her hearing amplified by physical enhancement, she caught sounds from beyond the hole in the wall. People were confused by something that had suddenly shot out from the castle and crashed into the ground.

Christine was nowhere to be seen. The holy power that had been about to fill the room had long since disappeared.

Charlotte fully understood what had just happened.

The black-haired woman had kicked Christine, sending her flying backward. Hit without time to react, Christine had crashed through the castle and landed on the roadside.

Serena and Charlotte, without any coordination, both summoned as much mana as they could. Despite facing these two, Olivia was muttering something with her head bowed.

“I hate things like that. I don’t like it. Master is mine. He should only be mine. Those things—”

She raised her head. Olivia’s eyes turned toward the remaining Serena and Charlotte.

“Yes, maybe I should just kill you both here too?”