“The Grand Duke’s mages haven’t entered yet either. It would be best if you went in together and helped investigate the ruins.”
Evelyn said this while glancing toward the mages waiting in the adjacent room.
Raven, knowing the entire truth and not being the type to speak carelessly, had no reason to make a confidentiality contract.
“So you’re saying I’m not enough, and you’re going to drag in the others too.”
“The faster we finish, the better.”
When Raven reluctantly agreed, Evelyn instructed Rone to bring in the mages.
“You called for us.”
The Grand Duke’s mages filled the reception room.
“It’s nothing major, but the reason I called—”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Before Evelyn could finish, three loud drumbeats echoed through the room.
Startled, everyone turned their heads toward the estate, where red smoke was rising.
“It’s an invasion! That smoke is the signal for when monsters descend on the village!” shouted Lamine, the leader of the Grand Duke’s mages.
Bang!
The reception room door burst open, and the butler, Albert, rushed in.
“Lady Evelyn, you must evacuate!”
“What about Elliott?”
“A servant has been sent to inform him.”
Evelyn nodded at Albert’s words.
“We’ll talk about the rest after dealing with the monsters. Let’s go.”
“Are you going to fight personally?”
“Yes. It’s the first time, so I need to assess the situation. We’ll move immediately.”
There was no time to prepare horses. In such situations, moving by body was quicker.
No further signals had been sent after the first one. It seemed the knights and soldiers in the territory were handling things well.
Realizing it was impossible to enter the ruins right now, Raven said with a resigned expression,
“Why bother riding a horse? Let’s just use flight magic.”
Raven swung open the large terrace doors.
“Let’s go.”
Seeing Evelyn extend her hand to him, he asked,
“You won’t fall, right?”
“Well, if you’re heavy, it might be tough.”
At his wink and teasing remark, Evelyn poked Raven in the side.
“Ow! Hey! Do you realize how dangerous this is?! Hurry up!”
“Albert, we’ll go ahead. Please explain the situation to Elliott.”
With those final words, Raven and Evelyn rose into the air. They shot off so quickly that they disappeared from sight in an instant.
“Wow… incredible.”
“We can do that too!”
As Albert gaped in amazement, the Grand Duke’s mages, frustrated, took to the air as well.
“Let’s go too!”
At Lamine’s shout, the Grand Duke’s group also moved toward the estate.
“This speed is great.”
Evelyn commented as she watched the trees flash by below. You couldn’t achieve this kind of speed on horseback.
Maybe you could with aura-enhanced movement?
Evelyn thought she’d have to try mimicking Raven’s speed soon.
Quick mobility was an advantage in combat.
“Can the other mages move this fast too?”
Looking back, she saw the Grand Duke’s mages flying from afar like tiny black dots.
“No. You need good mana control. Not many can manage this.”
“It’s kind of like aura control, right?”
“Maybe?”
Evelyn understood him roughly. Aura, too, needed delicate control, or else much of its power would be wasted.
Even a small amount of aura could produce explosive power if directed to the right muscles.
She had improved her aura control while training with the previous hero yesterday.
Whenever she failed, she got whacked on the spot. Now, her aura moved instinctively.
‘I’ll need to train the lower-ranking knights the same way.’
Having gone through it herself, she knew it was grueling and humiliating, but undeniably effective.
If she and Elliott personally oversaw the knight order, they might be able to raise the number of high-expert knights to over a hundred in a month.
“What are you thinking, smiling so creepily like that?”
Raven shifted slightly away from her. The glint in her eye and tightly shut lips made her look unnervingly focused.
“You’ll get stronger too once we get inside, Raven. Just trust me.”
“I only trust myself.”
Raven shot her down instantly.
“Once you see it, you’ll have no choice but to believe me.”
The former hero had left behind facilities that even mages would be stunned by.
The natural energy concentrated inside allowed for building both mana and aura simultaneously.
“You might break through the 7th circle in one go. You should hurry and become a 9th-circle Archmage.”
At Evelyn’s confident words, Raven let out a small laugh.
“How much are you planning to work me?”
“There it is!”
Before he could reply, Evelyn pointed toward the village.
Boom boom boom!
“Ahhh!”
“Run!”
Below, buildings were collapsing and people were screaming.
“We’re going down.”
At Raven’s words, they quickly descended. Before Evelyn’s feet even touched the ground, she had drawn her sword and was charging the monsters.
Slice!
A monster lunging to bite a villager had its front leg severed.
“Graaaah!”
“Those who can’t fight, fall back!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Seeing a powerful figure arrive, the people moved as they had been trained.
“It’s the Grand Duchess!”
The fleeing villagers cheered as they recognized who had come to save them.
“Raven! Cover the rear!”
Without even waiting for a reply, Evelyn charged forward.
Thud!
“This is too easy.”
Or maybe… I’ve just gotten too strong?
Evelyn handled the monsters that were destroying buildings one by one. Even if they weren’t especially strong, it shouldn’t have been this easy.
They felt like toy models that shattered at a tap.
“Wow, amazing…”
The retreating villagers stopped and stared in awe at her swordplay.
No one knew why creatures from the mid-slopes of the snowy mountain had come down, but in front of the Grand Duchess, they were like snowflakes blowing in the wind.
“No wonder the Grand Duke chose her.”
“Look at that!”
More gasps followed as monsters were cleanly sliced like roasted meat.
The knights who had approached to assist Evelyn realized they weren’t needed as the mages began blasting spells.
They searched through the rubble to ensure no monsters had survived.
Boom!
Smack!
“I’ve never seen magic that big before.”
Behind Evelyn, Raven walked with a face full of open annoyance.
“It’s been a while since the Grand Duke’s mages went all out.”
“Magic really is fast.”
People’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the mages arriving even before the knight order.
“Are we almost done?”
Evelyn looked around. It seemed they’d finish before the knights even arrived.
Just as everyone began to relax, a loud cry hit Evelyn’s ears.
“Please, help me!!”
Thump.
The ground shook. In the distance, a woman ran, screaming.
It was Seril.
Evelyn’s eyes widened when she recognized her maid.
Behind Seril was a giant, insect-like monster.
One of her arms had already been torn off.
“Seril! Duck your head!!”
As Evelyn ran and swung her sword, a blade aura imbued with aura shot toward the monster.
Screeech!
The centipede-like creature rolled its body to dodge the aura slash.
Fwoosh!
Then Raven’s flame magic wrapped around its body.
“Pant… pant…”
Believing she was finally safe, Seril didn’t stop running until she reached the knights.
The knights, seeing the giant monster and Seril’s injuries, moved swiftly.
“Her arm? Where’s the severed arm?!”
A knight blocked in front of Seril, shielding her as he asked.
“On the ground… it’s on the ground!”
“Good.”
If the monster hadn’t eaten it, there was a way to reattach it.
“Where did it happen?”
“In front of the Moklin shop…”
Tears streamed down Seril’s face. The relief of survival mixed with searing pain made her whole body tremble.
“I’ll go retrieve it!”
One mage raised their hand.
“I leave it to you.”
The Grand Duke’s house prioritized the safety of its staff above all.
As long as the arm was preserved before it mixed with other debris, it could be reattached with potions and holy water.
The mage cast a spell on Seril’s empty shoulder and set off immediately.
Clang!
“That hide is nearly as hard as metal.”
Evelyn muttered after striking the giant monster.
“I don’t know how a high-grade monster made it this far down, but I won’t let it die easily.”
It had hurt her people—so it would pay the price.
Evelyn gathered aura from her lower abdomen and sent it coursing through her entire body.
