Ch.8585. Royal Ranch (4)

Sverrina von Pyraxil. From the moment of her birth until now, she had never been anything but a noble, living her entire life with distinguished bloodline.

The Pyraxil family, northern nobles from a principality that once held the title of Margrave in the distant past.

For generations, they had been tasked with defending against barbarian tribes and enemies outside the Empire’s northern borders, which naturally led Sverrina, the second daughter of the family head, to follow the path of a soldier.

Of course, it was merely obligatory service for the sake of noble honor and responsibility, but quite coincidentally, Sverrina’s qualities as a warrior granted her the blessing of Aura.

Thanks to this, Sverrina gained the power of Aura and could have swiftly secured a high position in her family, but…

In this process, Sverrina instead suffered from an inferiority complex.

The cause was none other than her elder sister, the first daughter and virtually confirmed successor to the family leadership, Karina von Pyraxil.

Because her sister excelled in every aspect, Sverrina suffered from extreme feelings of inferiority.

Not only did Karina awaken to Aura at age 13, but she was also born with a natural talent for controlling spacing, showing greater prowess with the spear than anyone else in the family.

On top of that, her character was flawless, and her qualities as a leader approached perfection.

Because of this, Sverrina had long abandoned any lingering attachment to the position of family head due to the unbridgeable gap that she couldn’t even bring herself to envy… Instead, what filled Sverrina’s sense of self was nothing but inferiority.

It’s not particularly strange that Sverrina became irritable and hysterical in the process of trying to hide her inferiority complex that could not be resolved by any means.

And that day was not much different from usual for Sverrina.

After distinguishing herself in a war against invading Orc tribes from the Great Plains, she was granted the authority by the Holy Empire’s Emperor to requisition one mid-tier magical beast from the “Imperial Pasture.”

So she left her homeland for once and visited the Imperial Pasture in person, but the treatment she received there was utterly deplorable in her view.

This isn’t allowed for this reason, that isn’t allowed for that reason. Every time she tried to select a magical beast she liked, she was rejected, causing Sverrina to begin boiling with anger…

“Hey, you! Are you in charge here? I’ll get straight to the point. Transfer ownership of that wolf magical beast to me. I’ve decided on that one.”

“…What are you suddenly talking about?”

“Oh, come on. Do I have to explain again? Just look!”

Having finally found a magical beast to her liking, Sverrina showed an attitude demanding the beast from the druid she presumed to be a staff member, and when the druid refused her “generous” offer with some words, she responded with audacious indignation.

“Y-y-you lowly—”

“I, Gregory Aleinos, heir to the territorial nobility of Aleinos in the Frankish Kingdom, challenge you to a duel for insulting me and my mother, and attempting to steal another’s property like a thief. I’ll crush you as you wish, fool.”

Somehow, she found herself in a position where she had to duel the heir of a foreign territorial noble.

‘Huh, a magic user dueling a warrior. He’s the fool here.’

Of course, Sverrina didn’t think for even a moment that she would lose, and this was far from an unreasonable assumption.

The greatest advantage that a mid-tier warrior and Aura awakener has over other mid-tiers is the enhancement of all abilities through Aura.

Physical abilities become strong enough to rival mid-tier magical beasts, and the cutting power of weapons or defensive power of armor can be extremely enhanced.

Additionally, the excellent magic resistance and high tolerance to various additional effects granted by Aura are also advantages of Aura users.

They completely ignore the enemy’s tricks based on high tolerance, and withstand enemy attacks with durability that seems inhuman.

Moreover, the power of attacks enhanced by Aura, a special type of magical energy, is so great that it’s difficult to withstand unless one is also an Aura awakener.

Therefore, in this type of one-on-one duel-like combat, an Aura user inevitably has an overwhelming advantage. Having reached this “common sense” conclusion, Sverrina drew the curved sword from her waist.

Two curved swords lavishly decorated with jewels, crafted using the rewards she earned for her outstanding service in the war against the Orcs. After drawing them from their scabbards, Sverrina…

—KWAAAANG!!!

After kicking the ground so forcefully that it sounded like something exploding, she used the recoil to launch herself like a cannonball and swung her blades.

Sverrina had no doubt. Her strength, speed, and skill were not something a mere magic user could handle.

The impact transmitted through her scale armor surrounded by Aura. Presumably a type of magic attack that could be fired in rapid succession, but its power was insufficient to bring Sverrina down.

—PUEONG!!!

Secretly raising the corner of her mouth, she brushed off the impacts hitting her armor and accelerated forward by kicking the air again.

The distance of dozens of meters was closed in an instant, and the light of Aura flickering from the scimitar in Sverrina’s hand poured over the blade like a cascade.

“Blade Extension,” one of the basic techniques of handling Aura. Using the weapon as a central axis, creating an additional blade made of Aura was reproduced in Sverrina’s hands.

She believed without a doubt that the blade made of Aura would cut through the magic user’s defensive magic, and that Sverrina’s attack would end the druid’s life…

—KWADEUDEUK!!!

“…?!!”

As if mocking Sverrina’s belief, the druid attacked her with the head of a giant snake summoned by a casual wave of his hand.

—SEOGEK! SEOGEOGEK!

She cut one head that came tearing through the earth with her scimitar, and subdued another by splitting it in half from the front.

With movements that seemed impossible for someone wearing thick fur and scale armor, Sverrina cut down the heads one by one and charged at the druid again… or tried to?

‘What… is this…?’

Gone. Nowhere to be found. Not in Sverrina’s field of vision, nor detected by the supernatural senses unique to mid-tiers that can sense magical energy or Aura.

The place where the druid had been just moments ago, mere seconds before, was now empty.

This momentarily dazed Sverrina, but she wasn’t foolish enough to panic in this situation.

[—Activate!]

—WOOOOONG—!!

By speaking the activation word, Sverrina released the magical power contained in her sword—the power of magic that strengthens physical abilities—to enhance her body and prepare for the enemy’s surprise attack.

The best way to deal with any situation, according to her family’s teachings, was to respond steadily rather than using highly variable methods.

She spread her hands holding a curved sword each to either side and sharpened her senses.

The situation of not knowing where an ambush might come from heightened Sverrina’s tension, and as she began to feel increasingly irritable—

—KUGUGUGUGUGU!!!

The ground bulged, naturally forming sharp pieces of earth that flew in all directions, and the raised ground protruded outward like blades.

Even just the fragments of earth that burst out in this process would have been enough to end dozens of lives, but that wasn’t the core of the druid’s spell.

—WOOOONG—KWAGWAGAGAGAGAG!!

What rose from the earth was none other than a mass of yellow-red energy. The earth’s essence, formed by condensing the “magical power of the earth,” became a pillar of light containing terrifying heat that struck Sverrina.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAA—!!!!”

Sverrina screamed at the heat that felt like her skin was burning, transmitted beyond the armor protected by Aura.

If not for the skin of northern magical beasts containing cold energy, she might have truly died from this strike.

“Y-y-you damned barbarian!!!”

But Sverrina survived. She endured that seemingly fatal pain with her armor and Aura, and neutralized the burns covering half her body with the healing power contained in her remaining sword.

She, Sverrina, could not possibly accept the current situation.

She struggled to straighten her staggering body and corrected her breathing. Forcibly filling her weakened body with Aura and magical power to straighten up, and just as she was about to move her body through the magical power spread throughout—

“…Fool.”

“—?!!”

The druid, who wouldn’t miss this good opportunity that she had handed to him, swung his “oak staff” while mockingly deriding her.

—TAAAACK!!!

The violence that erupted from a body enhanced to the extreme using all sorts of magic had devastating results. The shockwave that penetrated her helmet at the moment of impact sent Sverrina’s consciousness flying to the stars.

[…Wow!]

This duel, witnessed by a small griffin right beside them, ended in the druid’s victory.