Ashuk’s innate sense was so remarkable that even his father, Tarak, considered it exceptional. It was anticipated that once Ashuk completed the warrior’s trial, he would soon head to the sanctuary to awaken his senses through the ‘Proof of Valor’.
And that sense saved Ashuk’s life.
Swish.
Ashuk rolled on the ground, abandoning his twin axes mid-swing. Taking some distance from the mysterious intruders, he ran his fingers along his neck. His fingertips came away stained with red blood.
A deep cut marred the thick neck of the barbarian. Not a shallow cut by any means.
“You use strange techniques!”
It was as if an invisible blade had slashed at his neck. Had he not rolled with the warning his senses gave him, his head would have been separated from his body.
Despite the narrow miss, Ashuk spat out the saliva pooled in his mouth and snorted.
“That’s some good instincts.”
Leniyar smiled at his brave, almost foolishly audacious demeanor. The fact that he had dodged the unseen spirit attack and his fearless spirit in the face of death were indeed consistent with his reputation.
‘Now this is worth cutting down.’
With satisfaction, she stepped forward.
“Save your strength, sweetie.”
“…Killing just one or two of you isn’t enough!”
“You’re not going to listen to me?”
Hmph.
The elf, who had been glaring at Ashuk with a face twisted in murderous intent, froze.
No matter how hard he tried to move, his body remained immobilized. It was as if a force only visible to Leniyar, akin to the spirit magic seen only by elves, was restraining him.
A chill ran down his spine. Finally, the elf realized. The rage that monster had been suppressing was just waiting to explode.
“Fine.”
“Good boy.”
With a still-smiling face, Leniyar patted the elf on the shoulder. From the perspective of a bystander, it seemed as if the elf had backed down because Leniyar simply glared at him. But even that was enough to reveal which one held the true power.
From the start, Ashuk trusted his own senses.
“Dwarf woman. You! Are dangerous─!”
“Not sure what you’re saying, but I’ll take it as a compliment.”
Though she barely reached his chest, Ashuk sensed a palpable death emanating from the dwarf woman.
Yet, he was not afraid.
Although he hadn’t undergone the warrior’s trial, he was still a member of the Hoarfrost Gorge clan.
『You shall not─! Pass through here──!』
The war cry of the barbarian, like a force pushing away the cold air of Hoarfrost Gorge, echoed. At the same moment, Ashuk charged at Leniyar, and as she smiled and prepared to stab him with her sword,
“Explode.”
With a low voice, Leniyar’s form wavered. The event unfolded without any warning. Something had suddenly exploded in front of her, and with her quick reflexes, she leaned back to dodge, clicking her tongue in annoyance.
“Karyan─!”
In the meantime, Ashuk had closed in, swinging his axe downward. Instead of countering with her sword, Leniyar jumped back to create distance.
Her body was extraordinary by human standards, reaching the pinnacle of physical limits. In some aspects, she was more agile and flexible even than knights and paladins.
But after prolonged exposure to the harsh conditions of the snowy mountains and Hoarfrost Gorge, even her body wasn’t unscathed.
Even with the skill to cut through everything, she couldn’t disregard the force generated by the collision of blades. She could minimize it to almost negligible levels, but even slight impacts were now detrimental to her current state.
‘Minimize collisions.’
This time, Leniyar pushed off the ground first. The newly improvised swordsmanship was simple and focused on cutting cleanly and precisely. As a sword master who could cut through anything, this straightforward approach was incredibly effective.
“Expand…!”
The voice from earlier activated another spell as if to impede her. As Leniyar charged forward, an intense airflow swelled once more exactly where the previous explosion had occurred, forcing her to turn back mid-sprint to identify the spell’s nexus.
Ashuk seized this perfect opportunity.
Crunch!
Swinging his axe silently, Ashuk’s eyes widened in shock. Leniyar had severed the axe handle with her sword without turning around, using her armpit to maneuver—an extraordinary skill that was beyond mere technique.
Not giving up, Ashuk spread his arms wide, intending to grapple her with a bear hug, but another explosion erupted between them, pushing Ashuk away.
“Stay away!”
The one who had caused the explosion and separated Ashuk from Leniyar spoke in the Hoarfrost Gorge clan’s language. The witch of Loren, Ludmilla, floated a massive magic circle in mid-air.
“Anything that touches her sword gets cut!”
She knew projectile spells would be ineffective, having learned from prior experience. Ludmilla unveiled the real attack she had been preparing.
An area-of-effect spatial spell that crushed the entire vicinity—it was so intricate that very few at the Magic Tower could handle it.
“Ha. Another cunning trick, huh…?”
There was no clear way to dodge. The spell’s range covered the entire entrance to the sanctuary, and the narrow terrain of the canyon left no room for maneuver.
“Trying to buy time, are you?”
There was no option to bypass it.
“Ha. If I just cut through this spell…”
“If you can, by all means.”
Shrrr.
Behind Ludmilla’s sneer appeared Maya and the rest of the group, who began pouring out crimson mana stones from a leather pouch. In response, Ludmilla’s magic circle glowed even brighter.
“As long as the magic circle is active, I can keep casting continuously.”
“Heh, you’re really interesting.”
Leniyar chuckled at Ludmilla’s smile, which aimed to force her into choosing between waiting for the mana stones to run out or retreating.
“Do you really think if I wait until those mana stones run out, you’ll think of something? Stop your useless tricks and just…”
“What makes you think there’s no method?”
“Excuse me?”
“Why do you think there’s no method?”
Ludmilla’s confident demeanor was so persuasive that it might make someone wonder if she actually had a trick up her sleeve. But Leniyar didn’t seem bothered at all.
Why wouldn’t she be unconcerned?
“You’ve never experienced what a real swordsman is, have you? You.”
“…….”
“Fine. Before I get heavy with that idiot, how about I give you a little le—”
“No need for that.”
Swoosh──!
It was a streak of light, an unavoidable death. A stiletto dagger, thrown with the superhuman strength, flew past Leniyar and pierced a large hole through the stomach of the watching Eiwass elf behind her, then disappeared.
“Plugh…! You short-lived bastard…!”
“Damn, I was aiming for the head.”
The trajectory of the dagger had been slightly altered by the influence of Ludmilla’s magic circle. The one who threw the dagger clicked his tongue in disappointment and stepped forward.
Seeing who it was, all expression vanished from Leniyar’s face.
“So you finally came, blockheaded woman.”
“… Hehehe. Finally!”
“You don’t look in great shape. That’s a bit disappointing.”
“Disappointing…?”
Ha─!
Leniyar’s killing intent spread everywhere. Everyone felt like their necks were being sliced by an unseen blade, including the barbarian who had just arrived—Khan.
“Why do you think a swordsman is called a swordsman? As long as they can wield a single sword.”
Now she held neither the massive greatsword that matched her stature nor anything ornate.
What she wielded was a plain longsword, the kind one could find in any blacksmith’s shop.
The only notable difference was the signs of long use it bore, with a blade so dull it wasn’t even properly honed.
“A swordsman is someone who can kill anyone, with anything.”
Leniyar gripped the plain, worn sword she had used long before she became known as the Sword Demon.
Perhaps it was the sword most familiar to her hand.
“I’ll seriously cut you down. And then, I’ll chain you up and drag you to the sword graveyard.”
Leniyar’s face, as she declared this, did not hold a hint of a smile.
She wasn’t enraged; she was suppressing a fury that could explode at any moment, coldly refining it into a deadly intent. The killing intent spreading around her was indeed growing stronger.
“You barbarian consider it honorable to die in battle, don’t you? But you won’t die with honor.”
Leniyar had been pondering.
How could she give this barbarian the most agonizing death possible? What method could she use to repay him with multiple times the suffering and shame she had endured?
The conclusion she arrived at was this:
“For the rest of your life, you’ll serve me as a slave, doing all sorts of menial work until you’re of no use. That will be the worst punishment for your kind.”
But the barbarian’s reaction to her conclusion was slightly different from what she had imagined.
“Originally, I was going to be a dog, but I’d rather be a rich household’s puppy. Being a Sword Master’s disciple is no shame, is it? You’re more merciful than I thought, Sword Demon.”
“What?”
“Then, I’ll return the favor. You’ll be my slave for life, and I’ll treat you like a dog. You’re not bad with a sword, so it’s worth it.”
“You, you bastard…!”
“Come on. My future slave.”
As Khan finished speaking, the killing intent that had been spreading everywhere suddenly stopped. But it didn’t disappear; instead, it was absorbed into Leniyar’s sword.
At this unsettling sight, Khan laughed even brighter.
From the moment he faced Leniyar, wielding not a sword but a mass of killing intent, something in his mind was stirred, as if an inexplicable, otherworldly sensation was emerging.
There was no need to ponder what it was.
The significance of what Leniyar had just revealed, something she hadn’t grasped even after fighting monsters like Karyan dozens of times, would be clear once she understood.
“I’ll strip you bare, down to your very last bit.”
“I’ll ruin you-!!!”