It wasn’t just the vice-captain who was shocked.
The knights of the Twilight Knights, who were busy moving in the urgent situation, and the 6 families’ troops were the same.
Even the demonic monsters which rushed towards them seemed bewildered.
It was then.
The eyes of the black giant, which seemed to have lost all life as it was slashed through the middle, began to glow in red.
Kwaah!
Kwwaak!
Screams came out of its mouth. And its divided body moved individually.
Seeing that, the subjugation troops were startled.
However, not Irene Pareira.
And the sword was faster than before.
Woong!
Woong!
Woong!
Swing!
And another swing,
The people there didn’t know, but it was undoubtedly Judith’s swordsmanship.
A strong attack with a strong core as the center and rotational force added to it, each slash holding the power of a one-hit fatality!
The flame-like attack broke the black giant into pieces.
The demonic monsters which were close by suffered injuries, and more were pouring out.
But that wasn’t the end.
Thorns and blades sprouted from the ground as the pieces of the giant body collapsed.
The creepy energy and thorns looking at Irene all aimed for him.
Surely.
This time too, he was ready.
Tang!
Tang!
Bratt Lloyd’s defense technique formed into a soft circle around him.
Swoosh!
The Sky Sword of Ilya Lindsay, the free, sharp, and ruthless attack which followed.
Irene’s great sword swung without stopping.
The giant’s body was separated into hundreds of pieces which looked like a storm.
Tuk-tuk!
And it couldn’t move anymore.
At the sight, the subjugation crew was all just watching.
Kwang!
Kuak!
“What are you all doing! The battle is happening! Move!”
“… woah, woahh!”
Of course, it didn’t keep going on.
Hill Burnett, who ran to the front line, kicked one of the demonic monsters and shouted at the others who were gaping at Irene.
It was natural they were shocked. The huge black giant got turned into a lump of meat in one shot.
The others began to make sure to use their swords with their best effort.
Puk!
Kwang!
Among the people who were doing the best, Hill Burnett stood out the most.
Swordsmanship, which combined with his rough and powerful body, literally burst and smashed the demonic monsters.
Some demonic monsters were frightened and tried to run away, but somehow the demonic monsters were caught up to and chased down.
It was an act that was suitable for the vice-captain of the Twilight Knights.
However, in this battle, the major contributor was different.
“Phew.”
“…”
“…”
After defeating all, Irene was breathing with his expressionless face.
Various eyes from the troops were looking at him.
Awe, jealousy, confusion, wonder…
Among them, the dampest eyes belonged to his father.
‘I am proud of you, Irene!’
It was Baron Pareira, who had been sleeping with worries about his son, despite the confidence on his son’s face.
It was unavoidable.
He heard that Irene changed ever since he went to Krono, but he saw Irene as nothing more than a soft-hearted boy who had wounds from his childhood.
But now, those worries have gone away.
The overwhelming power.
As he looked at his son, who seemed like someone out of a fairytale, he burst into tears.
“Jack! Jack Stewart!”
“You called for me, my lord?”
“What I said before the departure, get it done!”
“… I will do so.”
Hate and anger.
Viscount Phill Gairn, who had a stiff face instead of his gentle public face, ordered his knight.
Jack Stewart nodded with a dark expression.
About half a day had passed since the subjugation of the demon began.
The march for the subjugation of the demon continued without stopping.
Even the unexpected attacks from demonic monsters couldn’t stop it.
Except for minor injuries, no one was heavily wounded.
It was a critical time when even a piece of small wrong news could bring disappointment to the troops, but the subjugation troops moved forward to the demon’s base with high morale.
Of course, they weren’t drunk on the joy of victory.
Although they were careless in not realizing the ambush, Hill Burnett was a skilled knight who had experienced several demon subjugations.
No one would make the same mistake twice.
“Irene Pareira.”
“Yes.”
“From now on, I will prioritize your words over the priests. If you feel anything, the presence of the demon or the demonic monsters which are being controlled by it approaching us, say it right away. Do you understand?”
“Yes!”
He found out right after the battle. That the necklace Irene possessed was an outstanding artifact.
And it was something that Irene’s younger sister, Kirill, had created.
Because of that, Hill immediately decided to trust Irene.
It probably wouldn’t matter if it was some high-ranking noble's item.
But this was an artifact made by a sorcerer, and he was prioritizing it over the holy objects.
Some priests were dissatisfied with it.
However.
“The enemy. It’s coming from the left.”
“Everyone! Ready for battle!”
Once again, Irene managed to sense the presence of the demonic monsters approaching them, so they couldn’t act stubborn.
With that, the troops were able to safely camp in the afternoon without a single casualty.
“Amazing. That artifact.”
“Right. Its ability to detect Magi is superior to the relics…”
“It seems like Pareira’s sorcerer is great.”
“Is she pretty?”
“What does it matter if a young girl is pretty or not?”
Over dinner, the knights of the Twilight Knights talked about Kirill.
They couldn’t help it. They just witnessed the power of a sorcerer they never saw.
However, there was another hot topic.
The story of Irene Pareira, the young swordsman who performed amazingly in two battles.
“How old is he? 25?”
“21.”
“Crazy… does that mean that he is that skilled at the age of 21? I guess he is already an Expert? Is he not? Maybe I’m going too far.”
Expert.
It refers to people who are inferior to the state of Sword Master, but those who possess excellent skills to the point where it is difficult to club them together with knights or swordsmen.
Naturally, the title of Expert wasn’t something one could easily get.
The person had to formally graduate from a famous swordsmanship school, like the Krono.
And one has to be recognized by every member of the knights.
Those who are recognized by the Holy Land.
Or a person who receives a gold emblem or higher from a mercenary agency.
At least, that was how the qualification for the glorious state could be acquired.
And it wasn’t a title to be given to a 21-year-old young man.
However,
“Obviously he is an Expert.”
“Right. That demonic monster, if it were just us, it would have been difficult for us to deal with, right?”
“That is right. It looked stronger than most medium-sized demonic monsters, but he handled by himse…”
“Maybe the vice-captain thinks so too.”
“It didn’t even look like he tried his best… just how talented is that kid?”
Not all of the Twilight Knights questioned Irene Pareira’s status.
Rather, they were curious about his true abilities.
Naturally, the conversation spread to the nobles of the 6 families.
There was envy and jealousy in their eyes.
‘He did that?’
‘How could that be? The Lazy Prince…’
‘Baron Pareira, that smile isn’t leaving his face!’
Seeing Harun Pareira’s face, some of the noble heads were disgusted.
No one knew how Irene lived. The young one who always got beaten around by Viscount Gairn’s kid and even recently at the meeting 5 years back rose to the top in an instant.
On the other hand, the Gairn family, who was supposed to perform brilliantly in the subjugation, had faded.
Surely Ryan Gairn was good, but no knight paid any attention to him.
They were all focusing on the blonde young man who was exceptional.
“…”
However, Irene Pareira, who was at the center of attention, was quieter than anyone.
It wasn’t like he was forcing himself to keep a stiff face. It was because he had no interest in what was going on.
He lowered his head towards the meal that was served.
However, what he looked at was his sister’s necklace.
And the part of the necklace which had turned black.
Shhh!
The artifact can purify food.
Which meant that the meal Irene was served had poison in it, and it was no different than saying that someone in the troops had tried to poison him.
‘This is no surprise.’
It was probably the lord of Gairn.
5 years ago, he had already seen Irene’s skills, so Irene presumed that he prepared poison that would cause a stomach ache.
Anger?
Irene didn’t feel that. Because he knew how people were.
What was more worrisome was the note which was attached to the bottom of the meal plate.
[This food has been poisoned! Be careful!]
A warning message.
Crooked writing, as if written with the left hand, was still impressive, but the content was even more shocking.
Did the writer of the note know that the meal was poisoned?
And why was he helping Irene?
‘Who… I never thought that there would be someone who would help me.’
That wasn’t the end. There was something else he was concerned about.
Closing his eyes, he recalled the battles.
It wasn’t about finding what he was lacking.
Today’s fight was perfect, in his opinion.
Although it was demonic monsters, he didn’t tremble at all, not even during the first kill, and his field of vision didn’t narrow despite it being his first battle.
No mistakes and no damage.
‘That is the problem.’
He felt nauseous.
He wasn’t the kind to be good with anything.
To learn something, he had to work hard and try to see the results.
And he thought that there would be mistakes during the subjugation, so he did what the commander said, control his mind.
However, it was perfect.
As if he had battled with demonic monsters thousands of times before.
Ti-ti-ti
A sound from the necklace.
Meant that it was purified.
Irene nodded and started eating.
What if it wasn’t purified? He didn’t have that thought.
That was how strong their bond was.
Maybe that kind of trust would increase the performance of the artifact even more.
It was when he finished eating.
“Irene Pareira. Finished eating?”
“Yes. Subjugation commander.”
“Shall we have a practice match?”
The vice-captain of the Twilight Knights, who came, asked something unexpected.
