Bajar stared at the scene in front of him with trembling eyes.

He just couldn’t wrap his head around the current situation.

Was he looking at a mirage created by illusion magic? He genuinely started to doubt it.

But there was no way something like illusion magic could work on a being who had reached the level of Swordmaster.

Not to mention that the mana around him was entirely under his control, leaving no room for magic to be utilized.

So, it was undeniably real.

The man he had fought with every ounce of strength had resurrected without a scratch, and if that wasn’t enough, he had even brought reinforcements.

…This was bad.

This was definitely dangerous.

The three reinforcements that had just appeared exuded an ominous aura that was anything but normal.

He felt confident he could somehow take down one hero, but four?

Could he really win?

A bad premonition washed over him.

All the battles he had fought till now, countless experiences were ringing alarm bells in his mind.

He had to avoid this battle at all costs.

‘Looks like I’ll have to take a step back.’

A strategic retreat.

Of course, it wasn’t about running away.

In the Emperor’s Code for Knights, there’s no such thing as fleeing.

It was just about retreating for a better chance in the future.

‘There’s still room for negotiation.’

If that Ruby girl were to die, proposing a truce wouldn’t get the enemy to budge at all.

But since the hero had arrived sooner than he expected, not much of that drug had been administered.

As long as she received good treatment, there shouldn’t be any lasting effects.

And the sooner these treatments happened, the better.

Maybe a compromise was actually possible. He just needed to emphasize that continuing to fight would only bring losses for both sides.

‘Besides, they don’t seem too eager to fight either.’

The white-haired girl looked around with a dazed expression. It seemed she hadn’t grasped the situation just yet.

She looked a bit foolish, but if he played his cards right, she might easily come around.

The blue-haired girl seemed to be calmly assessing the situation. That was actually a good thing.

He needed a rational person like her to negotiate.

Lastly, the black-haired girl was…

More focused on checking the condition of the white-haired man than anything.

He had no idea why she was applying her spit to someone who was perfectly fine, but her vacant expression didn’t seem to display any intentions.

Surprisingly, it might actually be easier to secure a truce than he had thought.

Bajar sincerely believed that.

“Are you okay?”

“No, I’m not okay. That guy was trying to kill me.”

Up until that response was heard.

The white-haired girl’s question elicited that answer from the man.

Once that conversation ended, something unexpected happened.

The atmosphere changed dramatically.

“Maybe getting stabbed in the heart by that bastard’s sword is affecting me. It still really hurts. I hope I’m not dying or anything?”

He was clearly saying he was in pain while sporting a wicked grin.

The more he spoke, the more his companions’ states began to seem a bit off.

As if they were all malfunctioning in unison.

All three of them suddenly fixed their gazes on Bajar.

…The sword shook.

Bajar’s face turned pale with shock.

Yes, he was trembling.

The Swordmaster, one of only three in the Empire, had reached a state of unity with the world.

That overwhelming malice directed at him made him terrified.

Yet Bajar quickly steadied his breath and collected his mind.

He was surprised by this sudden turn of events, but he was still a gentleman of the highest tier. There was no way he would lose control of his own mind.

‘There’s no need to be scared.’

No matter how fierce their aura might be, he still held command over the mana here.

They posed no threat to him. That’s how Bajar soothed himself.

However….

A piercing sound echoed painfully in his ears.

The white-haired girl, her eyes rife with madness, took off into the air, kicking the ground.

An unexpected attack.

Bajar desperately tried to block it, but…

An excruciating pain shot through him.

He had surely defended well, even managing to block with his sword, yet he felt as though his ribs were shattering under the impact.

Bajar’s expression turned to disbelief.

‘How… could this happen?’

Even with magic enhancement being impossible for her.

Where was such unnatural strength coming from?

Could it be that this was all derived without help from mana?

What kind of crazy anomaly could allow this girl, other than that guy, to exist?

It was absurd to be this unlucky, running into two irregularities in one day.

As Bajar cursed his bad luck, the unmistakable sound of destruction reverberated around him.

A fearsome sword energy flew forth, obliterating the surroundings.

He couldn’t understand this at all.

He held full control over the mana, yet the blue-haired girl was unleashing sword energy as if without any mana.

It was beyond disbelief; it was simply maddening.

But this wasn’t the time to sift through thoughts like that.

Desperately, Bajar swung his sword to counter the blue-haired girl’s strike. He should have succeeded in parrying it.

But something was corrupting him.

As the sword energies clashed, he sensed something invade him.

His head spun.

For some inexplicable reason, a burning hatred towards the Holy Church filled his mind.

Bajar bit his tongue to regain his mental clarity.

‘…A swordsman who handles curses like mana?’

Concentrating curses like mana, he’d never heard of such a grotesque method being used by a knight in his entire life.

And the way even a Swordmaster like him felt threatened by that vicious curse was chilling.

Under normal circumstances, he might have been able to deal with it.

But his mana and stamina were not infinite.

That fraud of a hero managed to recover completely from their injuries, but Bajar could not.

Exhausted from the earlier battle with the white-haired man.

He found himself in a deteriorating situation with enemies popping up that he struggled to handle one-on-one.

…In this dire state.

There was only one way out.

‘I really didn’t want to go this far…’

But he had no choice.

His death would cause significant damage to the Empire.

A truly honorable person should know when to compromise their beliefs for a larger purpose.

“Let’s settle this all at once.”

With that declaration, Bajar unleashed his power bestowed upon him by the Emperor.

His hair turned completely white.

His eyes stained a crimson hue.

His black sword.

With a blast, it surged towards Ruby, who was tied up.

Naturally, those bastards had no choice but to try and protect Ruby. No way those four could withstand the power granted by the Emperor.

This duel should end in his victory.

…That was the plan.

It had to be.

But…

“Break the necklace! The light shone from the necklace and that guy attacked sister Ruby with a weird sword!”

A brown-haired girl peeked from behind the shadowy passage and shouted that out.

He hadn’t even used the black sword yet, and the blue-haired knight smashed his necklace to bits. Unsurprisingly, that meant he could no longer harness the power contained within.

Bajar clenched his teeth and wildly slashed at the fallen girl, but—

[Long time no see, buddy.]

A wolf emerged in front of him.

The beast king who should’ve been absorbed and betrayed.

Before he could even comprehend the bizarre situation, his sword energy was swallowed by shadows.

The passageway behind him appeared, enveloping his own sword energy.

He barely managed to dodge through sheer instinct, but the same cycle repeated.

The energy he had deflected returned towards him, swallowed by shadows once more.

And to top it off, the relentless attacks from the white-haired girl kept coming. Each strike imbued with an undeniable curse he couldn’t ignore.

Bajar could no longer even launch a counterattack. Dodging and blocking was all that occupied him.

In such a situation…

[Here you go, kid. I’ve also got a grudge against that bastard.]

Bajar heard the wolf’s voice.

The black-haired girl strolled forward while a gigantic, intricate magic circle etched itself beneath her.

Could that even be called a magic circle?

[Let’s lend you some power.]

Not mana, but a disturbingly sinister form of magic. It manifested, emanating an ominous glow.

Bajar’s shadow moved of its own accord, binding him.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t break free from that restraint. The chains had transformed his shadow into a complete immobilization.

But…the attacks ceased.

Both the blue-haired girl and the white-haired girl, who had threatened him until now, had stopped their assaults and pulled away.

What was the reason for that?

Why was this happening?

He didn’t even need to think hard to find the answer.

The white-haired man was looking at him.

His eyes gleamed with golden flames.

That guy hadn’t just been watching the battle happen casually. He definitely hadn’t exhausted himself from the earlier conflict.

He had just been preparing.

For the final blow.

“[Holy Sword…]”

He could feel the divine energy.

A Cardinal? A High Priest? The Pope?

No, it was nothing of that sort. This was a power so far beyond humanity.

That holy aura…

The sight of him spreading radiant wings…

…was a god.

A deity stood before him.

“[Draw your sword!]”

In an instant, the radiant white light enveloped everything.