Chapter 332

Time seemed to stand still.

It was a space where no one else could intrude.

Both the Celtrine army and the eastern army were engaged in a fierce battle, as if that space didn’t even exist.

*Thud! Thud! Thud!*

Heavy footsteps echoed through the air.

The sound of the Cavern Knights approaching, surrounding Regina and closing in on her.

They were all powerfully built, their bodies honed to the extreme.

They were emanating a formidable aura.

They were the elite of the eastern army.

The Cavern Knights.

There were fifty of them.

And they were facing a single opponent.

The Knight of Zephyr.

Regina Erenbert.

But the Cavern Knights hesitated to attack her, even though she was standing alone, her eyes as cold as ice.

Their honed instincts were warning them.

That she was a dangerous opponent.

However,

Overwhelming numerical superiority always gave courage and confidence.

And this time was no exception.

“Do you think you can handle all of us alone?”

One of the Cavern Knights spoke first.

But he was referring to their numerical superiority, not his own strength.

It was as if he was admitting that their only advantage was their numbers.

“Do you think you can handle me with fifty men?”

Regina retorted, her words laced with provocation.

It was a good tactic, at least in terms of psychological warfare.

The Cavern Knights’ faces darkened.

“Hmph, I wonder how long your arrogance will last. You’ll soon realize that even a lone wolf can be torn apart by a pack of wild dogs.”

“Heh, I wonder how many wild dogs will die? I’ll show you. Come on.”

“You dare!”

One knight was enraged, but he didn’t charge at her alone.

He knew that he would be torn apart by the wolf.

They had to attack together.

They exchanged glances.

They were a well-coordinated knight order, and they quickly reached an understanding.

They moved in unison.

“Haaa!”

“Hyaah!”

They charged at her, their weapons a blur.

Swords, spears, axes, even whips.

Their attacks came from different angles, with different ranges and different targets.

It was a situation that would confuse and overwhelm most people.

But Regina’s eyes remained calm and focused.

Her sword reacted to the spear that was closest to her, deflecting it with a swift and precise movement.

*Clank!*

It was a dull sound, unlike the sound of metal clashing against metal.

Because she hadn’t blocked it.

She had deflected it.

Deflection was one of her specialties.

And it wasn’t just any deflection.

It was a perfect deflection, a combination of her sharp eyesight, which allowed her to instantly grasp the flow of power, and her precise technique, which allowed her to execute her movements flawlessly.

“Ugh?!”

The knight who had thrust his spear grunted in surprise.

His stance had been broken.

Fortunately, his comrades’ attacks prevented Regina from counterattacking.

But,

It was just the beginning.

*Clank! Clank! Clank!*

She deflected all their attacks, one after another.

Swords, spears, axes, even whips.

And that wasn’t all.

Her eyes were searching for an opening.

Even a momentary opening.

Why?

Because she had the ability to exploit even the smallest opening.

*Whoosh!*

A brief pause between attacks.

Regina’s figure blurred, and she suddenly appeared before the knight who was wielding an axe, his stance still broken.

“Ugh?!”

The knight was caught off guard.

But he was a seasoned warrior, a master of his craft.

He just had to block a single attack.

If he could just block that one attack, his comrades would come to his aid.

He just had to block it.

It wasn’t a difficult task.

Even if his opponent was the Knight of Zephyr.

“Don’t underestimate me!”

He roared, focusing all his strength into his axe.

His eyes widened.

*Whoosh!*

Regina’s sword was already before him.

It was fast.

But he could see it.

He could see where the tip of her sword was aimed.

His left chest.

She was aiming for his heart.

He raised his axe, protecting his left chest.

He blocked it!

He thought.

But then,

*Whoosh!*

Regina’s sword suddenly changed direction, flicking upwards.

It was incredibly fast.

As if it was riding the wind.

W-What…?

The knight was shocked.

But his thoughts were cut short.

*Thwack!*

His head flew off, blood spraying into the air.

“…?!”

The Cavern Knights froze, forgetting to attack.

A strange silence fell over the battlefield.

Were they surprised that their comrade had been killed so quickly?

No.

They were shocked that their comrade had been killed with a single blow.

“One down.”

Regina said, wiping the blood off her sword.

But the knights were too stunned to react to her provocation.

“What did she just…?”

Their eyes were filled with disbelief.

That was the expression people made when they encountered something they couldn’t comprehend.

“…Did you see that?”

“Hmm, unfortunately not.”

They exchanged glances.

But they couldn’t come up with an answer.

Because they hadn’t seen it clearly.

Regina moved again, giving them another chance to see her technique.

But this time, she was different.

*Thud!*

“C-Coming…”

Before the knight could even finish his sentence, a red line appeared on his neck.

*Spurt!*

Blood gushed out like a waterfall.

The knights were splattered with blood.

“Ugh?!”

“S-She’s faster! Be careful!”

They were shocked and confused.

Regina’s sword claimed another victim.

*Thwack!*

Another head fell to the ground.

“D-Don’t stop moving! You’ll be killed if you stop!”

“Surround her while moving! Close the distance!”

As befitting the best knights in the east, they managed to come up with a countermeasure.

They moved constantly, making it difficult for Regina to target them.

And they surrounded her from all sides, closing in on her.

Even the strongest warrior would be weakened in a confined space.

“Ugh!”

“Gah!”

But screams of death continued to ring out.

It was strange.

She couldn’t be killing the best knights in the east so easily just because she was fast.

Then…

“D-Damn it! I know! It’s the direction! Her attacks change direction mid-flight!”

One knight finally realized the reason after five of his comrades had been killed.

He was right.

– Snowstorm.

It was one of the Erenbert family’s secret sword techniques, where the sword’s trajectory would suddenly change mid-flight, like a snowflake caught in a blizzard.

But the problem was,

Knowing it didn’t mean that they could easily counter it.

Blocking an attack that suddenly changed direction was practically impossible.

But the Cavern Knights managed to come up with another solution.

“Block the entire area, not just a point or a line! Everyone, shields up!”

A thrust was a point.

A slash was a line.

They could block those with their weapons.

But what if those points and lines suddenly changed direction?

It was difficult to block them with weapons, which had a limited defensive range.

Then?

They had to block the entire area.

And the best way to do that was with large shields.

Knights usually avoided using shields because it reduced their offensive power, but they had no choice in this situation.

They needed strong defenses.

They quickly grabbed the shields of their fallen comrades.

Their encirclement became even tighter.

But Regina didn’t care. She continued to attack, trying to break through their wall.

“You won’t escape!”

A knight wielding a longsword blocked her path, his eyes burning with determination.

He couldn’t afford to retreat.

Retreat meant death.

*Whoosh!*

Regina’s sword flashed towards him.

He raised his shield instead of his sword.

*Whoosh!*

He saw it clearly.

Her sword’s trajectory changed direction mid-flight again.

But,

*Clang!*

A loud clang rang out, the sound of metal clashing against metal.

His shield had blocked it.

He smiled triumphantly.

“I did it! I blocked it!”

The other knights also looked encouraged.

Now that they knew that her sword wasn’t unblockable, they had nothing to fear.

It was then that,

Regina thrust her sword at him again.

“You think that’ll work?!”

The knight who had blocked her first attack confidently raised his shield, pushing forward to keep her at bay.

‘I’ll stop her here, and then my comrades will… Huh?!’

He suddenly noticed something.

A faint blue glow was emanating from her sword.

Aura?!

Damn it!

He channeled his aura into his shield, reinforcing it.

Aura wasn’t omnipotent.

A shield imbued with aura was like an iron wall.

Even aura couldn’t penetrate it.

But then,

The blue glow contracted, as if it was being compressed.

The knight didn’t understand what was happening.

*Thud!*

“G-Gah?!”

He gasped in shock as he felt a sharp pain in his chest.

But it was too late.

He was already dying.

*Thud!*

His body collapsed to the ground.

“W-What?!”

“His shield was pierced, even though it was imbued with aura?!”

The Cavern Knights’ morale wavered again.

“D-Damn it! It’s condensation!”

“Condensation?”

“She condensed her aura into a single point and pierced his shield!”

“W-What?!”

Most people didn’t realize this, but channeling aura into a powerful blast was actually the easiest stage.

Channeling aura into a subtle and refined form was much more difficult and powerful.

And what Regina had just demonstrated was a technique where she further condensed that refined aura.

Into a single point, like a thread.

That’s why it had been able to pierce through a shield imbued with aura.

– Fine Snow.

It was another one of the Erenbert family’s secret sword techniques.

“Six down.”

Regina’s cold voice echoed through the air, crushing the Cavern Knights’ spirits.

It was a bizarre situation, where a single person was overwhelming a group of over fifty elite knights.

“D-Damn it! Just overwhelm her!”

“Y-Yes! It’s all or nothing!”

The Cavern Knights finally abandoned all caution and charged at Regina from all sides.

* * *

*Bang!*

Duke Cavern jumped to his feet.

The knight commander’s face was grim.

“…I apologize, Your Excellency.”

“She’s a monster.”

“I never imagined she would be this strong…”

“It can’t be helped. And,”

Duke Cavern calmed down surprisingly quickly.

“She might be strong now, but she’ll eventually collapse. She’s only human, and she’ll get tired.”

He had seen countless strong warriors in his long life.

Even master-level warriors.

And he had witnessed their limits.

Regina Erenbert would be no different.

He was certain of it.

Even though the casualties were higher than he had expected.

“But it seems like it’ll take a while for her to collapse.”

He narrowed his eyes.

Once Regina collapsed, the enemy’s right flank would also collapse.

He had planned to use that opportunity to turn the tide of the battle and end it quickly.

But that plan was no longer feasible.

“Our forces in the center are making no progress. Should we send reinforcements…?”

The knight commander asked cautiously.

The Turtle Unit.

The enemy’s elite unit was holding firm in the center, and their forces were struggling to break through.

The knight commander thought that they needed to send reinforcements to the center.

But Duke Cavern had a different opinion.

“No, leave the center alone.”

“Y-Yes…?”

“We won’t be able to break through their defenses in the center, even if we send reinforcements.”

“Then…?”

“We’ll target the right flank.”

He pointed to the right flank, where Max Celtrine was located.

“Send all the remaining knights to the right flank. We’ll break through their lines and end this battle.”

Duke Cavern’s blade was now aimed at a new target.