-The ones I dealt with were more vicious. They dug traps on the road, attacked the horses first to overturn the carriage, which my coachman barely managed to prevent.

Froy’s earlier words flashed through Rosha’s mind.

Seeing the coachman waving his hand as if greeting, Deron placed his hand on his sword’s hilt and muttered:

“…I tried to be accommodating depending on the situation, but I can’t anymore. The fate of this village has just been decided. You all die today.”

Then he drew his sword and slashed across the chest of the village chief who had approached to resolve the situation.

…Huh?

Without a moment’s hesitation, Lysithea let out a short scream at his swift action.

“Kyaa!”

The gray-haired village chief collapsed lifelessly in slow motion.

Although circumstances had driven him to attempt banditry, he had still risked danger for the sake of the village.

“Hey, don’t look.”

Cassis, who had drawn his sword, suddenly blocked Rosha’s view and stopped her.

Even though she had confessed to spending 18 years in another world, he still seemed to see her as a young sister.

But it was a very familiar scene to her. Since the victim wasn’t someone she knew well, she didn’t experience any tremendous emotional turmoil.

At that moment, after repelling the charging demons with his ability, Froy pulled her back and said:

“It’s okay, Rosha. It’s not a deep enough wound to be fatal.”

“…Did you use your power?”

“Yes. I thought you might be distressed.”

Distressed wasn’t quite it.

Yet, surprisingly, she felt much better after hearing his words.

‘I thought I had grown accustomed to death… but experiencing it in this world feels different.’

Witnessing an individual with their own life, even if she didn’t know their name, collapse and bleed out, she felt an indescribable sense of despair for a moment.

As if this place was following the same course as the previous world, and there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop it with her power.

Froy had somehow managed to read that emotion.

“…”

Cassis, who had heard their conversation, had a rather ambiguous expression.

But it was short-lived, as seeing Rosha gathering her mana, he seemed to think it wasn’t the time to dwell on it and muttered:

“I’ve never killed anyone before, but with this feeling, I think I could.”

Having summoned a long blue beam, he had already joined the imperial knights engaged in battle.

The demons commanded by Deron were wolf-like monsters almost as big as humans.

Their transparent claws were extremely sharp, and they were also agile, but fortunately, the knights they were clashing with were quite skilled.

“Over here!”

“Block that side!”

However, it wasn’t easy to deal with Deron’s mercenary band, who were annoyingly firing arrows from behind the demons.

There were no deaths yet, but the persistent assault had caused several casualties, with knights sustaining one or two arrow wounds.

One knight, fending off a demon’s attack, squeezed his eyes shut upon seeing a mercenary aiming a crossbow at him.

And then.

Bang!

With a sudden thunderous sound, the crossbowman collapsed limply.

Turning quickly, Lady Roshanak was holding a strangely shaped weapon emitting a thin wisp of smoke.

Casually brushing back her hair, she muttered as she aimed it again:

“For ranged, ranged is a given.”

Behind her, a golden protective barrier had somehow spread, enveloping the village.

A spell that required constant mana supply, only achievable at the 4th stage of magical energy manipulation.

‘Unlike before, I can’t dual cast now.’

Dual casting was a realm that could only be broached upon reaching the 5th stage, so she had no choice but to use a sacred relic instead.

But contrary to its shabby appearance, it had surprisingly good firepower.

Bang! Bang!

With each magical bullet fired, mercenaries fell.

Without even needing additional mana infusion for special properties, using a gun against the age of bows and crossbows was demoralizing enough.

“What the hell is that?!”

Deron gritted his teeth at the sight of Rosha swiftly taking down his mercenaries.

‘This is completely different from what I expected!’

As the leader of a mercenary band active in conflict zones outside the Empire, he had immediately entered the Marcia Empire upon hearing news of the ‘trials’ occurring there.

The more chaotic a region, the more there was to gain.

After discovering he had acquired a special ability, he became even more unrestrained.

‘With this ability to command demons, what are these trials?’

Trials this, trials that – it was still the world of humanity. Quickly assessing the situation and staking a claim on lucrative areas was the way to win.

This diamond mining area, where he could obtain demons and diamonds, was a region Deron had seized amidst the chaos.

Of course, he had heard rumors that a noble girl named Roshanak Aper, who had resolved the first trial, was coming this way, but she was only seventeen years old, wasn’t she?

‘The rumors must have been greatly exaggerated. They say she used a fire ability to cut off the snake’s breath, but even if that’s true, a seventeen-year-old can’t do anything in a battle where people are being slashed apart by blades. At best, she’ll just be shocked and cry.’

What could a noble girl who had never killed anyone do, after all?

But…

“…How can she act without any hesitation?”

The Roshanak Aper he met in person exuded the worn-out aura characteristic of those who had killed many.

Without any reluctance, each time that strange weapon in her hand made a thunderous noise, a person fell.

And what about the others?

Watching the handsome man deflecting arrows and the young man wielding a blue beam sword, Deron muttered inwardly.

‘I thought I could take them as noble hostages… but this won’t do.’

He had thought it would be easy with their numerical advantage, but he had been mistaken.

“…I didn’t intend to go this far.”

He drew out the full extent of his ability.

The unprecedented level of power caused an overload, but he had no choice if he wanted to turn the situation around.

Wooooong-

An ominous force gathered the surrounding demons. Instinctively sensing this, Cassis quickly charged at him.

Shwak!

Deron caught the linearly released beam but slightly twisted the blade’s trajectory.

It wasn’t particularly skilled swordsmanship, but a sharp technique that exposed the opponent’s wrist above the blade.

Cassis promptly retreated and then bounced back with a clean strike.

Clang! Claang!

The two sword blades clashed repeatedly, emitting sparks.

Cassis had talent in swordsmanship, recognized even by Marian, the former Commander of the Imperial Knights.

However, he was only eighteen, while Deron was a battle-hardened swordsman who had been a mercenary for over ten years.

It was only natural that Cassis wouldn’t be a match, but…

Bang!

The only reason this fight could continue was entirely thanks to Rosha’s ranged support.

Momentarily losing his stance due to the annoying bullets, Deron was surprised to find Cassis’s swordsmanship gradually improving and narrowed his brow.

“…You should die here.”

He wasn’t the type to leave loose ends.

And at that moment.

Thump-thump-

Suddenly, a thudding reverberated from the ground.

Along with the sound of something heavy moving, a massive figure appeared in the distance.

A crystal golem the size of a house towered over the trees.

“Haha, now you’re all done for.”

“It’s over.”

Seeing it, the mercenaries let out remarks one by one. Even the imperial knights battling them showed expressions of despair.

However, Rosha, who had a subtle expression upon seeing the golem, whispered something to Froy’s ear.

The man leaned his body towards Rosha, who was standing on tiptoe, and nodded with a puzzled look.

“…Understood for now.”

Deron, crossing blades with Cassis, turned to look at the crystal golem with a victorious smile. A more formidable demon had arrived than he expected.

However, he should have realized sooner why no other demons came besides the golem.

“What are you waiting for, hurry up and kill them!”

Following Deron’s order, the first thing the golem did as it approached was sweep away his mercenaries stationed at the village entrance, eagerly anticipating the impending slaughter.