Chapter 69
“The Grand Duke would never neglect his wife, never.”
At Lamine’s earnest voice, Evelyn burst into laughter.
“Lamine. Don’t worry. I’m not thinking about divorce.”
“What about me??”
Suddenly popping up from behind, Raven poked his head out.
Evelyn barely held back a curse.
“We agreed to marry only if neither of us found someone else, remember?”
Her pronunciation slipped at the end, as she practically bit the words out.
“That’s such nonsense!”
“Are you crazy?”
The commotion between the Grand Duchess and the Archmage’s disciple was starting to draw the attention of the knights in training.
“Traitor! Liar!”
“That’s my line!!”
“Give me back my purity!”
“You never had any!”
Ptooey!
Evelyn spat at the ground in disgust.
“I’m disgusting? Seriously.”
Even Raven, who had been joking around, began to get genuinely irritated. He’d come to hear what the Grand Duke had said, but now the teasing was getting on his nerves.
“I’m good-looking enough.”
He lifted his right hand and ran it through his hair, brushing it back behind his ear.
A few people blushed at the sight of his smooth motion and handsome features.
When Raven winked with his red eyes, Evelyn covered her mouth.
“Ugh.”
“Well, I guess expecting you to have any sense of beauty was a bit much.”
“Are you challenging me to a duel?”
“I just stated a fact. Why duel over that?”
Raven snorted. And who was rubbing up to whom now? Having just achieved 7th Circle yesterday, Raven’s ego was swelling fast.
Evelyn strode toward the wall and switched the training hall setting to “Duel Mode.”
She had thought you couldn’t use mana in the physical training area, but apparently, it had a separate function for live combat training.
As Evelyn drew her sword and mana stirred, Raven surrounded his hands with electric-type magic.
Sensing the intense atmosphere between the two, the others chuckled nervously and backed away.
Watching a duel between transcendents would be beneficial for honing one’s skills.
Besides, a match between a high-level mage and a Swordmaster? That was rare.
Though they felt they should probably stop them, the mages and knights all gathered around instead, eager to watch.
“Embarrassed that your lack of aesthetic sense was exposed?”
“Better than being an ugly fool who thinks he’s good-looking.”
It was a childish exchange, like something kids would say, but no one minded.
“If you cry after getting hit, don’t blame me.”
Evelyn grinned and tilted her holy sword slightly. The sword, which had recently slayed a massive monster, was slowly regaining its original form.
“Maybe it doesn’t want to be stained by an ugly person’s blood today.”
[For that level of looks, he’s not bad, you know? And you were even engaged to him as a child? You had a fiancé but married Elliot instead and then recommended Neraan’s training? You must really love the Grand Duke!]
No, I don’t.
Evelyn ignored the holy sword’s strange misunderstanding.
Crackle.
The current in Raven’s hand was no joke. It intensified, flashing like lightning.
The knights, sensing the threat, surrounded the lower ranks with aura shields.
Just in case, the mages also prepared defensive spells.
Impressive.
Evelyn was genuinely awed by the lightning gathering in Raven’s hands.
Rumble.
With the sound of air ripping, Evelyn launched herself off the ground.
Flash!
“Ah!”
Sword met lightning.
The sudden burst of blinding light made several people instinctively shut their eyes.
Boom!
Crash!
It sounded like the sky was splitting apart, but no one could move.
“Ugh.”
Raven unleashed bolts of lightning while retreating from Evelyn. He knew she’d grown stronger, but this was beyond his expectations.
It wasn’t a feeling of a towering, unreachable wall—
—but it sparked his competitive spirit.
If she can do it, then so can I.
Convinced he was a genius, Raven grinned darkly.
He gathered the pure mana flowing from his heart at his fingertips.
“Thunderbolt.”
The word came quietly from Raven’s lips.
Sensing a more dangerous shift in the air than before, Evelyn smirked and wrapped aura tightly around her holy sword.
Vrrrrrmmm!
The sword, filled with her aura, roared as if thrilled.
[Oho! You’ve grown a little! Such pure aura!]
She nearly faltered due to the holy sword’s excited voice, but Evelyn kept her focus.
If she got struck by that thunderbolt, even as a Swordmaster, she might die—or at least be severely injured.
Rumble.
The natural fortress carved into the cliff shook violently.
“Both of you, stop!!”
Lamine finally realized how serious the situation was and shouted, but neither of them heard.
A yellow—no, nearly white—flash shot toward Evelyn.
Bang!
…
“I-I’m alive…”
Lamine quickly cast a shield while the senior knights raised their auras to block the impact.
Though it was a place where wind couldn’t normally blow, the collision of their attacks sent a fierce gust through the training hall.
Lifting their heads, they checked the Grand Duchess and the Archmage’s disciple—both were still standing.
Cough.
Drip.
No, not quite.
Raven coughed up blood and then collapsed to the floor.
“I win, right?”
Evelyn strode over and examined Raven’s condition.
“Your mana’s completely scrambled. Ugh.”
Raven spat out the blood rising in his throat.
“It’ll take you a hundred years to match me.”
“What’s with that way of speaking?”
[You sounded just like Neraan just now.]
“…”
Seems like she’d picked up his way of talking after spending so much time around the former hero. Evelyn quickly switched back.
“Go back up to the mana chamber and rest. You’ll recover quickly.”
“Yeah, I should. So this is where you’ve been training to get stronger?”
“What else would make me this powerful so fast?”
“I’m going.”
Seeing Raven’s eyes change at her words, Evelyn snickered.
The mages who had followed her down seemed inspired too, quickly running after Raven.
“You’re amazing.”
Damian, who had arrived at the training hall just before the clash, approached and spoke.
“Still a long way to go.”
“Did you just release pure aura without using any special techniques?”
“Yeah. It was a bit brute force, but good for countering overwhelming power.”
Damian recalled the Grand Duchess’s aura, which felt even more solid than the Grand Duke’s.
She had shattered magic with sheer force.
‘As expected of a Hero.’
“Anyone here interested in learning finer aura control?”
With all the chaos lately, Evelyn hadn’t been able to start the training program she’d planned for the knights.
Snapped to attention by Damian’s interest, Evelyn responded.
“Hahaha, if possible, I’d like to be your first student.”
Not knowing Evelyn’s plan, Damian volunteered to be first if such training was available.
“Great. How about we start today?”
No need to hesitate in decision-making. Evelyn knew there would be no better chance than now to begin training.
“I’ll inform Elliot. If we increase the time by an hour each day, they’ll quickly learn how to control their aura.”
“Sounds good. How shall we begin?”
At Damian’s question, Evelyn crossed her arms. If she sparred one-on-one, it’d take too long.
‘Is there no feature here like Neraan used to have?’
[With your current skill, five at once should be possible.]
The holy sword gave a precise assessment.
[If Neraan were here, he’d love it. He could handle hundreds at once.]
Yeah… and chaos would follow.
“I think I can handle five at once. If Elliot joins, we could rotate through ten knights at a time.”
The entire afternoon would be devoted to aura training.
Unaware of the beatings they’d receive, the knights excitedly formed groups with eager faces.
“We’ll do our best!”
Damian and the knights around Evelyn bowed their heads.
“Keep aura infused into your wooden swords. Just send it to the body part I tell you.”
Explaining verbally might cause delays. Speaking while handling five opponents would wreck her voice.
It would be best to go straight into practice—it’d help both their skills and her vocal cords.
“I’ll be using two swords. One hand will target your sword, the other your body.”
Evelyn picked up a second wooden sword. Seeing the Grand Duchess dual-wielding, the knights gulped.
‘So… she’s going to beat us up.’
Damian smiled wryly. He hadn’t been beaten since his days as a low-ranking knight—never thought it’d be by the Hero.
“It’s an honor.”
As the commander raised his sword, the four senior knights reluctantly did the same.
“Let’s begin.”
With a smile, the beating commenced.
