By the time the battle between Rikrakamur and Alon began—

“Thank you so much, Saint!”

“It is not because of me, but all thanks to Sironia’s grace.”

Another monster wave had been repelled from the fortress walls at the border.

“Yes...! Thanks to Sironia’s grace, there were almost no casualties!”

“That’s a relief.”

Yuman answered and looked down from the fortress walls.

What met his eyes were soldiers clearing away monster corpses beneath the hastily repaired sections that had been destroyed just days ago, along with stretches of fortifications still incomplete.

“When are the mages expected to arrive?”

“They’ve been contacted urgently and are on their way, but it seems it will still take some time.”

“That’s worrisome.”

Yuman’s expression darkened.

‘It’s not a major issue for now, but...’

Since the expedition had left to hunt Rikrakamur, Yuman had repelled two monster waves and managed to do so relatively well.

However, the reason for his unease was the fortress walls that remained damaged.

‘If the walls were intact, there might not have been any casualties at all...’

Even with Yuman now part of the allied forces, casualties continued to occur.

No matter how much they repaired the walls, the monsters had an uncanny ability to break through them again.

And even someone like Yuman could not bring back to life a soldier killed in an instant.

‘I hope the mages arrive as soon as possible.’

Of course, the number of casualties was small.

To have repelled the waves with such minimal losses was an impressive feat.

However, to Yuman, the number did not matter as much as the loss of a single life.

What mattered was the sanctity of human life.

The mere existence of casualties weighed heavily on his heart.

After all, he was the Saint.

He lowered his gaze, carefully studying the bodies of the soldiers among the monster corpses.

Though the state of those bodies was gruesome, he did not avert his eyes. Calmly, he offered his condolences.

Once the cleanup was roughly completed—

While discussing with Kiriana’s aide how to fend off the next monster wave—

“...Someone appeared in the north?”

“Well, it’s not a reliable rumor, but...”

He heard a rather peculiar story.

“...So, when the soldiers were patrolling the border, they saw something resembling a person in the north. Is that correct?”

“Yes, it’s just a rumor among the soldiers. You don’t need to concern yourself too much. I only mentioned it because it came to mind.”

“...If you don’t mind, could you tell me more about it in detail?”

Yuman’s expression grew serious.

The aide, who had brought it up casually to lighten the mood, looked puzzled but continued the story.

A moment later—

“So there’s a rumor that someone with white hair was seen in the canyon area of the northern region?”

“Yes, but as you know, [N O V E L I G H T] it’s unlikely there’s anyone in the border area. Both we and the Empire keep it under strict control. Although the report reached Kiriana, most dismissed it as a hallucination.”

“Hm.”

“However, after Cardinal Yutia’s arrival—”

The aide paused briefly before continuing.

“The soldiers who saw the figure claimed that the person resembled Cardinal Yutia... well, that’s the gist of it.”

“...”

“Haha, saying it out loud, it does sound like an absurd rumor. After all, it makes no sense for the Cardinal to be there.”

The aide scratched his head awkwardly as he spoke, noting that the soldiers had only seen the figure from quite a distance, which made the account even less credible.

But Yuman, listening to the story, remained silent.

...

He pondered deeply, gazing toward the north, where a fierce battle was likely raging.

*****

A massive crystal plummeted, pierced through Rikrakamur’s body, and erupted in an explosion, frost blooming beneath the blue moonlight.

!!!!!

Rikrakamur let out a chilling scream, thrashing wildly.

With a single sweep of its tail, it leveled the surrounding trees. From its sharp mouth poured needle-like tendrils, scattering frantically in all directions.

Even its slightest movements shook the ground as if the entire continent were quaking.

Between its monstrous cries, Rikrakamur’s crimson eyes burned.

Eyes devoid of reason.

From the tail of its colossal, streamlined body, black slime began to burst forth.

Like the slime Alon had discovered at the castle gates, it consumed all forms of magic.

This was a unique ability granted only to the monstrous Rikrakamur, rendering all mages’ powers ineffective.

In an instant, the massive ice crystal Alon had created melted and disappeared.

The crystal that had accurately pierced Rikrakamur’s body was gone.

The magic Alon had crafted by combining applied self-construction and spellcraft was nullified by the irrational laws of the world bestowed upon the monster.

It vanished like a mirage.

Even amid that irrationality, Alon prepared his next spell.

Having anticipated Rikrakamur’s behavior from the start, Alon remained confident in his ability to win.

He checked his remaining mana.

Although he had manifested the spell for only about two seconds to conserve energy, his reserves were already down to half.

It was enough to cast several small spells.

But far too little to create magic powerful enough to meaningfully harm Rikrakamur.

Even so, it didn’t matter.

Having already injured Rikrakamur and forced it to rampage in the open marshland, Alon’s plan was proceeding perfectly.

“Unity of Shadows.”

As Alon murmured softly, the small creature that had been tucked into his chest pocket earlier sprang out, its body now covered in crimson eyes.

The creature’s tail flowed down Alon’s hand and seeped into the ground in an instant.

Raising his hand, Alon cast another spell to deploy a shield.

Soon, a projectile from a phantom wood was fired toward the shield in Alon’s hand.

With a loud bang!, Alon’s body shot into the air.

Having escaped the range of the black slime, Alon looked ahead.

There, glaring at him with chilling red eyes, was Rikrakamur—twice the size of the fearsome golden dragon, Lainisius.

For a moment, a question flashed through Alon’s mind, but his hands were already moving, instinctively forming seals.

“Refraction, Repulsion, Azure Light.”

The words flowed from his lips almost automatically.

His spellcasting speed had become noticeably faster than before.

Then—

“Linear Diffraction.”

Like flicking a pebble—

Alon fired the azure light formed at his fingertip.

Not at Rikrakamur.

But toward the fractured, unstable ground beneath the monster’s rampaging body.

Kwaaang!!!

The lightning from Alon’s hand struck the ground.

The spell was small and insufficient to harm Rikrakamur directly,

But that tiny force penetrated the already cracked and unstable marshland floor.

Boom-Kuugugugug!

The small impact triggered the collapse of the ground.

Kwaaaaang!!!

Rikrakamur’s massive body began to be dragged into the abyss.

*****

Kiriana stared blankly in one direction.

She wasn’t the only one.

The knights and soldiers—every single one of them—were looking at the same place.

It was where Marquis Palatio stood.

Clad in a shadowy, rippling black coat, his left hand wrapped in an ash-gray aura as he floated in the air, his presence was so striking that no one could look away.

Beneath the dignified, radiant figure of Marquis Palatio—

The knights and soldiers, who had been terrified at the mere sight of Rikrakamur... and even Kiriana, who felt awe that surpassed fear, watched as Rikrakamur fell into the collapsing ground.

Kwaaaaaak—!

The deafening roar was so loud it felt as though their eardrums would burst.

The tremor was so powerful that soldiers and knights stumbled and fell, unable to stay on their feet.

Even so, their eyes remained fixed on the scene.

As Rikrakamur was dragged into the abyss, its bottom unseen, the sight of Marquis Palatio standing in stark contrast filled them with overwhelming reverence.

At that very moment, as everyone stared blankly at that single figure—

“...Ah...”

At the edge of the marshland,

Within the dense forest,

In a place no one had yet paid any attention to...

Yutia gazed at Marquis Palatio with an almost rapturous expression, drinking in the sight of him.

Behind her—

Crunch— Crack!

The sound of bones being crushed, accompanied by dying screams, echoed through the air.

At the noise disturbing her admiration, she quietly turned her head.

There, monsters lay strewn about. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

A goblin with its entire skeleton shattered, embedded into the ground like a paper doll.

An orc with its skin flayed.

A gnoll with its entire body grotesquely twisted in multiple directions.

An owlbear that had driven both its arms through its own neck.

The area was littered with corpses, their grotesque forms torn apart as if by a grinder.

Dozens of bodies?

No.

Hundreds?

Still no.

Enough corpses to form a massive perimeter around the edge of the marshland stood behind Yutia.

And—

“Grrrkk.”

Amidst the carnage, the only creature still making a sound was—

A troll, enormous compared to the others, its body grotesquely bent and contorted, yet alive thanks to its impossible regenerative power.

Wrapped in black tendrils, it had been reduced to raw instinctive terror, its eyes filled with primal fear as it stared at Yutia.

She gently raised her index finger to her lips.

“Oh dear, we must be quiet now. We shouldn’t cause a disturbance, should we?”

Smiling as if soothing a frightened child, Yutia glided toward the monstrous troll.

Her crimson eyes glinted under the pale blue moonlight.

“Now, don’t look at me. Look over there.”

Crunch— Crack!

The tendrils coiled around the troll’s neck and forced its head to turn, directing its gaze toward Marquis Palatio’s distant figure.

Grrraaaaah!

The troll let out a scream of agony.

But—

Snap!

The tendrils seized its jaw and ripped out its protruding tongue.

Writhing in excruciating pain, the troll was once more forced by the tendrils to face Palatio’s direction.

Huff— Huff.

Panting in fear, it rolled its eyes to glance back at Yutia.

Amidst the horrific scene, Yutia’s lips remained curled in a serene smile.

“Now, offer your reverence and faith as well.”

She whispered softly.

“The reverence and faith that he deserves.”

Calmly—

“To my one and only god.”

She commanded.