“… this fast?!”
Taika picked up the food, which was getting cold on the table, and jumped up. He had a special ability after being on the battlefield for a long time.
He could sense a crisis right away, and now an alarm went off in his head, and all of his hair stood up.
‘We haven’t even finished fortifying this place.’
He didn’t think it would happen this soon. He thought it would take a couple of days.
‘Fucking bitch monster!’
Where did that little thing even come from? The image of her literally slaughtering adult men made Taika gulp.
What should he do? Regardless of how much of a surprise it was, she dug into the gap of one hundred soldiers by herself and demonstrated such a powerful force.
So they needed to fortify this village.
‘Retreat…’
But where?
No matter how much he thought about it, it didn’t seem like it would be easy to catch her.
It might have been different with the soldiers he had before, but now he only has about ten subordinates.
Even if they tried to run, they would only get chased.
Recalling the saying that the best defense is an attack, Taika made the decision and tore the map off the wall.
While infiltrating the village, he and his subordinates figured out its layout. It wasn’t that he was wandering around here or there without a thought.
The robbery was done to grasp all of it.
Even so, he just arrived here, so his memory wasn’t perfect.
‘I don’t know how much I can do from looking at the map.’
Bringing the axe that he had put next to him, he went out.
‘There is no way that the girl who just arrived here can know this town.’
Snowy town.
The snow piled up to the knees, making it impossible to see the actual land. It was the same for them and the girl, yet they had been around here for a while, so the men had better chances when making a move.
Taika took out his golden foil as he moved in the snow and bent it.
Tik.
It made just a small sound, but it was a magical device that would give a signal to his subordinates.
“What is this all of a sudden?”
In less than a minute, someone landed in front of him.
Judging from the blood on his body, it seemed like he was having some fun. Other subordinates also gathered, one after another.
Among them, there was one who dragged a body.
“Why did you bring that?”
“Haha. I haven’t completed the purification yet.”
Flinch.
He thought it was a corpse, but it was still alive. Taika didn’t like it, but he chose not to say anything either.
This is the village where the Demon King’s followers lived. And the people here were wicked.
“But what is it?”
“I thought of something interesting.”
“As expected, we have the most fun when we slice them down.”
The subordinates were thinking of messing with the bodies. In a normal situation, he wouldn’t have cared about it, but now there were too many things happening.
Usually, he wouldn’t say anything about it, but now he said,
“That wench is here.”
No one here didn’t know who that wench was. The light atmosphere turned heavy.
“If it is her…”
“You mean that crazy child?”
“Yes.”
Seeing Taika nod heavily, the troops gulped. They were silent for a moment, then they opened their mouths.
“Aren’t we supposed to run? I haven’t forgotten what she did…”
It was embarrassing that grown men were reacting this way to a small child, but that was how terrified they were of her.
It was overwhelming.
Of course, they were like that because they were all low-level soldiers. To them, people who were slightly above the normal level were good enough opponents.
But that was also the biggest issue because aura users were considered superhumans by those on the normal level.
It was an impossible task to handle.
“It is impossible to escape. Everyone knows that she plans to chase us until here, right?”
“We haven’t even built a fort yet.”
There was no guarantee that a fort would save them, but that would give them some hope.
“At least we know this village better than her, and we have a map, so with a good plan, maybe…”
At Taika’s words, his subordinates nodded.
They didn’t know anything about this monster, but they had been together for three years now, and they would have to risk their lives against her.
It would be better than running away and dying in vain.
“That wicked wench… needs to be purified!”
No one could see where she was hiding.
Rats.
The girl walked through the snow, which was blowing strongly. The sword in her hand was cold.
“Ha.”
White breath came out of her lips. It was winter.
The last time she saw flowers was three years ago. On that day, since the Sun God took the warmth from the northern land, winter took over.
It was difficult to adapt at first, but maybe because she had been training her body, she could withstand it now.
Puak.
Seeing her short legs fall into the snow, the girl looked around with cold eyes.
“Trying to trap me?”
A presence not far from where she was. It wasn’t easy for her to feel such a presence in a cold, snowy place.
Even so, their intention was obvious when she felt it. It must have been a trap, but she still ran toward it.
The aura on her sword was blue.
Three years.
During that time, Sarah Welton learned the sword. She learned more things, and she was earnest too.
So it has been three years since she risked her life.
For what?
‘Mom.’
She thought of her only parent.
After the death of their father, her older brother, Jamie, never returned.
The only thing left for her was her mother, Sears.
Who should she protect?
The only thing left was herself.
Although she had the body of a woman, she had Welton blood flowing through her, and thanks to that, despite being young, she was stronger than others.
‘It isn’t enough.’
Her peers.
No, even knights wouldn’t step forward to deal with her. But still, it wasn’t enough.
It couldn’t be just that.
Like her father, and like her brother.
‘Brother.’
Sarah’s gaze turned to the black tower in the distance.
Her emotions had gone dry three years ago, but when she saw that, she felt aware of it, and she clenched her fists.
“I need to get stronger fast.”
To do so, she had to complete the mission given by her teacher.
Sarah’s eyes shone, and her tiny body sped up.
“She’s coming!”
When one of the men gave the signal, Taika shook his head and signaled with his hand.
The terrain they were on now had a slight uphill, which gave them a little advantage.
They could ambush her the moment she comes onto this path. It was a simple but sure plan.
But the worst could always happen.
With the ability to single-handedly slaughter dozens of people, there was a chance she could notice this.
So they prepared a chain net.
‘Besides that, we have one last resort.’
Taika grinned.
Even though they weren’t able to build a fort, they could still catch her. But some of them had to be sacrificed in the process.
‘If I survive, the unit can be remade.’
He didn’t feel sorry for his subordinates.
Of course.
Was anyone here feeling apologetic for anything? Sure, maybe he would feel a little bad.
He taught them for years and stayed with them, but with a new unit, he could start over again.
It was still better than him dying.
“Everyone be ready.”
A subordinate who had been preparing the bait from a distance was running towards them.
He appeared to be looking behind him as if some beast was following him.
That guy would probably die. No matter how much he thought about it, this guy couldn’t be saved.
‘How can anyone outrun her?’
Taika saw that the monster had already caught up.
Her brown hair and eyes, stained with madness, shone in this white world.
The sword.
It was thin but had a clear aura around it, a power of those who reached expert level.
And Taika was the only one capable of casting aura here.
Then why was she being called a monster?
‘She is much stronger than me!’
He didn’t have the confidence to take down the girl who slaughtered one hundred men by herself.
‘But it will be me who wins!’
Her form turned faster.
Shhhh.
The sound of the wind being cut down sharply in the heavy snow caught their ears.
Sarah, who had caught up with the soldier, immediately cut him down. It was just a fleeting moment.
No one else, other than Taika, was able to follow that speed with their eyes.
“Now!”
He shouted loudly, and at the same time, chain nets were thrown in the air.
A chain net that has been treated with magic could not be cut down.
‘She will still cut it.’
That monster was skilled, but that chain net wasn’t meant to capture her. It was a good plan.
If they could tie her down for even a second, it was good enough.
“Kill!”
The net fell onto Sarah’s head, and she swung her sword.
Shhh.
Sparks flew, and her eyes widened at the net, which was hard to cut even with aura.
This was their hidden card.
Soldiers appeared from all sides, and now that they had surrounded her, she could no longer escape.
“Die, you fucking kid!”
“My friends died because of you!”
Hateful words were directed at Sarah.
No matter how strong she was, she couldn’t possibly handle all of them.
“Shh…”
Sarah let out a breath.
Sensing that the soldiers were coming to her, she lowered her sword like someone who had given up, and the soldiers grinned.
“I don’t blame you.”
Sarah said,
“Because I am not too different from you.”
Something changed.
She would be twelve years old this year.
Although young, she could use Futility Divide.
Her teacher said,
‘Your talent with the sword is as good as your brother’s, maybe even more?’
Her brother, Jamie Welton, had also taken three years to perfect this. A vision passed down only to the family’s descendants.
[Sea of Hundred.]
Bang!!!
She moved her foot very gently, and the soldiers who were there realized something was wrong.
The aura cried out.
[Futility Sky.]
There were invisible slashes in all directions, and the net, which couldn’t be cut with aura, was torn down.
She mastered Futility Divide perfectly, and she could use it however she wanted. She had a talent with the sword that surpassed Jamie’s.
“Everyone, die!”
Sarah coldly said, and her sword dance began.
Taika, watching this, tried to run without looking back.
But it was too late.
Euk.
The sword cut his throat.
