Three knights, including Belnoa who hung from the cliff, landed on the ground, bringing the situation to a close. The Demon Lord’s Army that had been trapped in the canyon was annihilated, and there was no damage to the allied forces.
It was a perfect victory.
Having achieved a landslide victory against troublesome necromancers with barely a scratch, they had every reason to celebrate. In that moment, several jubilant knights converged on Belnoa, cheering.
“That was amazing! As expected···”
Before the knight could finish speaking, Belnoa’s eyes widened. She yanked the collar of the knight standing next to her. With a powerful leap, she kicked off the ground and jumped back.
Just then, something fell from the sky.
Casting a shadow as it fell, it took the form of a human. The moment it landed, a Kuwung echoed, and a cloud of dust rose. Someone slowly lifted their head from within the dust. Though it was obscured, that was not what mattered.
Whoever it was, they were clearly an enemy.
The knights made quick and accurate judgments.
In unison, the gathered knights hurled their weapons towards the dust cloud. As their spears and swords pierced through the dust, only Belnoa remained still.
Unease, foreboding, and intuition.
Belnoa’s eyes were fixed on the movement obscured by the dust. She saw something swinging through the air as it parted the dust. The moment she saw it, Belnoa shouted and leaped into the dust.
“Duck!”
In the next instant, Kakakang! A loud crack echoed as the knights’ weapons shattered. In a split second, Belnoa’s eyes moved with the agility of a predator.
Amidst the rising dust.
A dark blue flash appeared, and a massive greatsword burst forth, cutting through the dust. The knights’ weapons shattered as they came into contact with the blade.
Whooosh!
The horizontally swung greatsword took the knights’ heads before they could react, but Belnoa, who was already charging at them, shoved one knight aside. Striding toward the incoming greatsword, she thrust out her hand clad in shadow armor.
In an instant, the blade was gripped tightly.
But Belnoa’s body was pushed back by the sheer force of the greatsword’s trajectory.
Her military boots screamed against the ground, creating Screeching sounds. The greatsword spun around in a sweeping arc, and the resultant pressure forced the knights back.
Ka-gak!
With gritted teeth, Belnoa rooted herself to the ground, bracing against the gust produced by the greatsword’s swing. The shadows of the armor wrapped around her began to peel away. Blood gushed forth as she glared at the man wielding the greatsword.
“You wield a sword?”
Amidst the swirling dust.
There stood a man clad in black armor. Unlike the dark knights, his armor bore dragon patterns.
Belnoa looked at the blade she held.
A crude greatsword with no embellishments. The blood-red blade had a thickness that made it double the size of a normal greatsword. Not a weapon for cutting, but for bludgeoning.
A greatsword not meant for humans, but for beasts. The owner of that sword smirked.
“So you are that infamous Shadow Knight.”
The man said.
“I am the Dragon Hunter.”
His voice overlapped with the roar of a dragon echoing from the sky. A single dragon, commanding dozens of wyverns, could be seen in the sky.
A hornless dragon.
As it let out a roar of pride, the wyvern squad began to descend. Flames erupted from all directions, and amid the suffocating heat, the man revealed his name.
“Dragon Hunter, Asterio.”
2.
An officer in the Demon Lord’s Army.
Their true danger was obscured by the calamities of the Four, and thus was underestimated, yet they had also stepped into the realm of the superhuman. The strong ones who practically commanded on the battlefield.
Those capable of defying the laws of nature, possessing a strength beyond common sense… The officers of the Demon Lord’s Army were regarded as the pinnacle of strength that humans could aspire to. In other words, it was the realm of the superhuman.
Those who had broken through their limits through intense training.
For centuries, humanity had fought against the Phantom Territory, but the Phantom Territory had also fought against humanity. During that struggle, numerous superhumans were born from the Phantom Territory, though sometimes they were quelled by heroes or human superhumans.
Through the previous generation’s hero, Kyle Toven, only one superhuman remained in the Phantom Territory.
One of them was an immortal knight commanding an elite black knight unit from the position of supreme commander, and the other was the Dragon Hunter who reigned as a nightmare for dragons.
“Dragon Hunter, Asterio.”
One of them now stood before them.
The Dragon Hunter, Asterio.
Armor made from dragon scales and a massive greatsword crafted from the dragon’s spine. It was a clumsy-looking greatsword, yet it possessed the power that the dragons’ mana coursed through.
Ka! Kaka kakan!
Planting his feet firmly on the ground, Asterio wrenched the greatsword free. Belnoa’s claws slid along the blade as he pulled it from her grip. As he completely drew out the greatsword, Asterio shifted his stance.
To pull the sword out, he shifted his weight from his back leg to the front. Just like a taut bowstring, with a sudden acceleration, Asterio swung the greatsword.
A downward strike that seemed almost too simple. But its power was anything but.
“···!”
As Belnoa leapt to the side, the greatsword embedded itself where she had stood. The moment it struck the ground, a Kuwung reverberated, shaking the earth.
As the tremors knocked Belnoa off balance, Asterio’s dark blue gaze glistened.
Pivoting on one foot, the rotating greatsword stirred the earth aggressively. The diagonally hurled blade targeted the unsteady Belnoa.
Shadow Stakes.
In haste, Belnoa conjured a stake and reached out. The moment the greatsword met the shadow armor, a sound of impact echoed as Belnoa’s feet lifted off the ground.
“···Ugh!”
She had blocked the strike but couldn’t withstand the weight of the blade. In mid-air, Belnoa landed with a Screech, dragging her feet a few steps. She looked up in urgency, but Asterio did not immediately chase her.
Twisting at the waist, he pulled the greatsword behind him.
Seemingly gathering strength.
A low, grinding noise seeped through. The air around Asterio warped around him. Belnoa grit her teeth and lightly shook her hands.
Chaak.
The newly formed shadows enveloped Belnoa’s entire body. At that moment, she made a decision.
‘The wyvern squad is descending.’
The infamous wyvern squad.
It normally required dozens of mage knights to intercept descending wyverns, and that role could be assumed by Chloe. But no matter how capable Chloe was, she couldn’t both intercept and provide support simultaneously.
Keeeerng!
The mana waves emanating from behind her were all directed skyward. Dozens of beams of light chaotically lit up the sky. While Chloe focused entirely on intercepting the wyvern squad, it was solely Belnoa’s responsibility to face the officer in front of her.
···Can I do this?
The opponent had lived for many years as a superhuman.
In contrast, Belnoa had yet to reach the realm of superhuman. She was merely regarded as approaching it.
‘But.’
Belnoa knew.
What the superhuman lacked.
That she possessed it.
“O Master of Dragons.”
Crunch, crunch!
Asterio, having gathered power to his limits, stomped his front foot onto the ground. Kuwung! The earth shook as he swung the greatsword. Displacing the air, the greatsword moved just before it could draw a perfect arc.
“Let’s make a deal.”
Belnoa completed her deal.
In a moment where time seemed to slow down or freeze entirely, the Lord of Shadow Dragons answered Belnoa’s wish.
[The deal has been struck, my child.]
She smiled.
[Dragon Hunter is such an arrogant name. I could never have dreamt of it thousands of years ago. Show that arrogant one what it means to be a dragon.]
What a dragon truly is.
Tap, the goddess’s finger touched Belnoa’s hand. At that moment, the form of the armor she wore began to change. Sharper, more resembling a dragon.
Then, time resumed its normal speed.
A wave of energy erupted from the greatsword Asterio had swung. A blade of energy that felt more like a shockwave than a cutting strike. Stones and debris hurled into the air as Belnoa’s new form briefly wavered.
Kwaang!
A tremendous roar erupted.
The ground where Belnoa stood exploded upward like a geyser. Asterio’s eyes widened as he swung the sword. The cloudy vision before him became obscured. That very vision was torn apart by the fierce charge of Belnoa.
Chaaaaarrr!
Belnoa’s claws ripped through the energy wave.
With each swing of her claws, the air was rent apart, forming gusts. Once wouldn’t be enough, so twice. If twice didn’t suffice, then thrice, four times, five. With every motion of her arms, Asterio’s wave of energy faded away.
And when the blade finally shattered entirely.
Belnoa lightly brushed off her arms. The shadows intertwining with her armor filled in the gaps, and Belnoa kicked off the ground, charging at Asterio.
“Ah, this is just absurd···”
Laughing in disbelief, Asterio prepared to slam the greatsword down from above. Just as the ground trembled with a Kuwung, Belnoa pushed off the ground, racing along the cliffside.
Fast, barely perceptible to the eyes.
With his eyes wide, Asterio tracked the shadowy afterimage of Belnoa as she charged toward him. His senses expanded in an instant, granting him a precognitive edge.
In most battles, superhumans gain overwhelming advantage over those who are less capable. Those who can see the present and make choices can’t hope to match those who can foresee the future.
Seeing a few seconds ahead, Asterio moved. His greatsword carved an unusual path through the air, seemingly cutting through nothing, yet the tip of the sword aimed for the future Belnoa. From a distance, it seemed as though Belnoa was foolishly throwing herself into the blade’s arc.
As the greatsword aimed to smash Belnoa into the ground, in a fleeting moment, Asterio’s foresight shattered. A new future superimposed itself.
Kuwung!
Just before the blade could cut Belnoa, she slammed her foot down. In that instant, her body became rooted in place. Rather than flowing through continuous motion, it was as if she had stitched together a series of disjointed clips. An impossible movement for ordinary humans. It was as if she operated without the usual impact of momentum.
This movement was made possible by sorcery.
Shadow daggers extended from the soles of Belnoa’s military boots like roots, anchoring her in place. The shadows tautly pulled between the armor created a counterforce. Releasing all the stored energy, Belnoa swung her arm back.
The greatsword cut through the air, finding its vulnerability.
Taking advantage of this flaw, Belnoa unleashed her spell.
Shock.
Shadow-Thorn.
Shadows drove into Asterio’s armor one after another. As those spells melded together, Belnoa’s fist crashed against Asterio’s breastplate.
Thud, thud!
The breastplate crumpled, causing Asterio’s body to convulse violently. Just as the ensuing storm sought to engulf Asterio’s form.
Crunch!
Asterio seized Belnoa’s arm.
Even as the storm threatened to tear him apart, Asterio extended his arm and caught Belnoa. It was then that she realized Asterio had not taken a single step back. Still gripping her arm, Asterio spoke.
“I incapacitate superhuman foresight with reaction time. A standard strategy, but not an easy one.”
Asterio regarded the human before him with newfound respect.
The Shadow Knight, upon initially hearing rumors of her, Asterio had believed Belnoa to be merely a human with a special talent.
But no.
With each interaction, he recognized the strength she possessed was not just innate, it had been sharpened in the crucible of battle. Asterio felt exultation in their fight, yet… he could not continue this struggle.
“If the opportunity arises, I would like to fight more,” he said.
Belnoa struggled to pull her arm free.
The armor writhed, twisting Asterio’s fingers and piercing through, yet Asterio would not release her.
“Now, strategy takes precedence.”
Asterio stomped his foot.
A hidden circuit beneath the ground responded to the impact. For the activation of the circuit, a sufficient amount of blood and corpses was required. The death that had occurred in this very place fulfilled that requirement.
“Come forth.”
Oh, prophet.
Just as Asterio murmured those words.
A blood-red circuit glimmered, and shadows surged forth. Unlike the shadows enveloping Belnoa, this was an eerie, distinct shadow that stretched out in all directions.
Belnoa had seen this particular shadow before.
Four years ago, in the heart of the Royal Capital.
A mass of sludge-like shadows took on a human shape. The corpse of a necromancer that had just fallen and died rose ominously into the air. It reformed its lost lower half, piecing together melted flesh with shadow.
In this bizarre sight.
The shadows roared.
The First Light manifested in the middle of the battlefield.
3.
“…What?”
Rania rose from her seat.
Tephran, who had been reporting to her, reiterated the same unfortunate news.
“The superhuman, Lord Kelharlem, visited Artiya, which has now been sealed off by a large-scale barrier.”
“A large-scale barrier? You mean that skull-lined nonsense?”
“That’s… not the case. Nearby mage knights rushed to analyze it, and it differs from the barriers created by ancient liches. It’s…”
Tephran communicated the emergency information received.
“It’s similar to the barrier that appeared four years ago, in the midst of the Royal Capital. The one that swallowed the Ashen Tower.”
Rania’s expression turned grave.
The barrier that had emerged in the heart of the Royal Capital four years ago was created by the First Light. An area engulfed in sludge. Just as that thought crossed her mind, Rania moved towards the robe hanging in the corner of the tent.
“Tephran.”
“Yes, hero.”
“Should our forces be overrun while I’m away, use the aid of the mage knights to detonate all the circuits I’ve inscribed. That’ll obliterate the terrain, giving us a few days to hold out.”
“…Yes, understood.”
“And.”
As she draped the robe over her shoulders, Rania declared.
“I’ll head to Artiya. Tell all nearby mage knights to vacate immediately. They’ll get caught in the chaos if they stay.”
“I will deliver the message.”
Just as Rania stepped outside the tent.
“It’s Tephran. I must clarify the reason for your emergency communication…”
A voice rang from behind her.
Rania turned around. Tephran had a hand to his ear, receiving a new transmission. Emergency communication.
“…Yes, yes. Understood.”
Tephran’s expression grew grim as he slowly turned to face Rania.
“Hero.”
“…Speak.”
“During the process of dispatching a special unit to the 6th Legion, a confrontation occurred, resulting in the majority of the special unit being killed…”
The special unit.
The unit led by Belnoa and Chloe.
“Hero, Chloe sustained serious injuries and managed to return safely. However, Belnoa has gone missing, reportedly entangled in a spell…”
Rania’s face contorted.
