"We won't be able to save ourselves...We're finished!"

  The monsters were advancing. Some were already on top of the wall and would soon be with them.

  The time stopped when a noise pierced the cry of the undead in the night.

  Then...Silence fell.

  The shouts of the soldiers and the roar of the undead were silenced by a blow, or rather the throw, of a sword.

  "W-What?! What the hell happened?!"

  A stunned soldier commented, surprised to see a sword black as night hurled at the giant skeleton's head, smashing its skull and sinking into it, causing the colossus to fall from the walls.

  "Is everyone okay, gentlemen?"

  A tall knight in pitch-black armor asked, while a girl slightly shorter than him, wrapped in a red cloak, handed him a spare sword.

  "Y-Yes...b-but who are you?"

  Captain Balik stammered, still shocked by what he had seen.

  "Just an adventurer on a mission here. You may call me Amon, Marquis of Darkness! This is my apprentice Alcina, the Poetess of Darkness!"

  The knight thundered, taking the second sword and placing himself between the wall and the soldiers.

  "Go now! Gather with the reinforcements and await my return. I entrust the defense of the city to you!"

  "C-Certainly, Master Amon!"

  Commander Balik's tone was a mixture of irritation and respect. Normally, he would never take orders from an adventurer—but this was an exceptional case. Even if he had asserted his authority, he was powerless in that situation.

  "Very well. Good luck, then!"

  "Hey, W-Wait! You can't possibly hope to-"

  The Captain's words were ignored by the knight-who, followed by the mysterious woman, leaped over the wall. Their legs were as powerful as springs, as they leaped over the wall in a single bound.

  "They are crazy..."

  He found it hard to believe that a man had just plunged into a cemetery full of undead, practically alone. However, Balik's frustration turned to surprise when he noticed the silence that had felt on the cemetery. Driven by curiosity, he climbed the stairs and looked out—his mustache nearly fell off at the sight of what was on the other side: before him was only a field of shattered corpses. If Balik hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it.

  Until a few minutes ago there were a thousand zombies and skeletons ready to devour us, but now all is silent.

  "I can't believe it..."

  One of the soldiers muttered behind him, as stunned as he was.

  "This is a feat worthy of adventurers of Emerald rank- even Diamond rank!"

  Another shouted in shock. The Captain nodded slightly, unable to respond.

  "Guys…We are witnessing the birth of a legend..."

  Balik managed to stammer, his tone devoid of the previous frustration, which had given way to surprise and amazement.

  "…That of Amon, the Marquis of Darkness!"

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Inside the graveyard, Almodeus continued to eliminate the undead, with the support of Almodea, even though the zombie horde seemed never-ending. The demon could have taken command of the undead, but that would have been a disadvantage- he had to eliminate them all to demonstrate Amon's strength.

  "I've killed hundreds of them, and yet..."

  The knight snorted, swinging his sword and taking out a dozen skeletons without even trying.

  "We came from the south, and I see them converging here from all other points of the compass. It seems whoever made this mess is using the cemetery as an undead factory. Ingenious..."

  Almodeus noted that the choice of the city was not at random. Arel was a stronghold inhabited by over one hundred and twenty thousand people, and many nobles had their families buried there precisely because it was a fortified city, well-defended from robbers. For that reason, most of those undead were already armed with good-quality weapon from the start. Needless to say, a fully armed undead creature that cannot tire or feel pain is a fearsome foe for many adventurers—unbeatable, to say the least, for the weak city guards.

  "At this rate, it'll take us forever, Dad!"

  Almodea snorted. Her eyes were slightly watery, a sign of the tears she'd shed a few hours earlier. She'd calmed down in that time, especially after her conversation with Hirashi. Her father had promised to bring the person responsible for Fiora's murder to her and let her decide their fate.

  "You're right, little spot. We have to hurry, or we risk other adventurers coming to steal our glory."

  "We could call Morello and have him use our soldiers to speed things up. Or Hardshell could do it alone! What do you say?"

  "No! We must pretend that the adventurers Amon and Alcina resolved this crisis. Besides, a large deployment of forces would be difficult to cover up. However..."

  Almodeus shifted the sword to his left hand and pointed the right one at the ground.

  "Who said we have to do everything ourselves?"

  A red circle with a matching A appeared on the ground, emanating a great deal of energy. So much so that even the undead refused to step on it, as if they respected or feared that letter and what it represented.

  "Summon: Phantom Knight!"

  As the words were spoken, the circle brightened further, revealing a ghostly figure resembling a suit of heavy knight armor, relatively damaged and cracked, equipped with a shield and a longsword. The only missing part were the legs; in fact, the armor floated and could move without anyone inside to operate it.

  "Exterminate the undead on the eastern side. Even the adventurers, should they interfere! But spare the guards, we need witnesses!"

  Almodeus thundered, pointing behind the haunted armor. It obeyed without a word, the only noise being the creaking of the helmet as the Phantom Knight nodded, indicating that he understood the order.

  The spirited knight began to claim victims without hesitation or restraint. By the old world's categorization, the Phantom Knight was a level 45 monster, with a high amount of health and resistance, as well as enviable attack power and regeneration ability on par with that of a troll. Its only weakness was its passive ability- Loyalty of the Defeated— that caused the Phantom Knight to pass under the control of whoever eliminated it, effectively making the unit immortal, as once defeated, it would regenerate in the presence of its new master. However, there were ways to prevent this from happening, such as canceling the summoning, transforming the monster into something else with a polymorph spell, or killing the new owner. Once one of those things was done, the knight would disappear on its own.

  "Are you sure that was a good idea? The Phantom Knight is no good against hordes..."

  Almodea objected, and she was right. The knight her father had summoned specialized in one-on-one combat, not in eliminating hordes of enemies. If it hadn't been just low lever zombies and skeletons, the Phantom Knight wouldn't have stood a chance.

  "I know, but this monster requires little energy to summon, so is hard for other magician to detect it. Besides, these undead are so weak that I doubt they can defeat the Phantom Knight. But you're right, hordes aren't his specialty, so..."

  Almodeus made a second circle appear, identical to the first. But from this a different monster appeared.

  "Summon: Ferrous Titan!"

  This time too the summoned creature resembled a knight, only much taller and more massive than the Panthom Knight summoned earlier. It wore a helmet with four white horns on the sides and wielded a colossal two-handed axe. Another difference from the previous monster was the condition of his armor; it was immaculate and gleaming, except for one spot—its back—where an iron sword was embedded, surrounded by a smear of dried blood.

  "Do as the Phantom Knight is doing, only from the opposite side. Leave no witnesses!"

  The colossus, summoned in a static pose with its hands resting on its axe, suddenly activated, revealing its blood-red eyes beneath its ferrous helmet. The Ferrous Titan began to walk slowly and heavily toward the undead, beginning to mow them down with its weapon without difficulty.

  Unlike the Phantom Knight, the Ferrous Titan was a level 55 monster, lacking any regenerative abilities in combat or powerful magical attacks. However, it was completely immune to any source of damage, except where the iron sword had pierced it—right in the middle of its back. It would still take several hits to take it down, and those zombies would never be able to get close enough without being cut in half.

  "Well, now all that's missing is the north side. And I have the perfect monster for that! Summon: Headless Knight! "

  Almodeus summoned the red circle a third time and created another knightly figure, completely devoid of a helmet or head, armed with a longsword and a medium-sized shield. Unlike the other two monsters, this one was only a level 20 creature, lacking any special abilities other than its high stats for a low level monster, so four more were summoned to finish the job.

  "Do as the others are doing and eliminate the undead. I want no prisoners!"

  The five knights immediately set to work, brandishing their swords with great fury as they faithfully carried out their lord's order.

  "Hey, Dad! Why don't you summon high-level monsters? Like Atakan, the Ruined Actor; or Atlas, the Red Dragon Archfiend?"

  His daughter asked, watching the battlefield being cleared. Her question wasn't a stupid one—the two monsters she mentioned were among the most powerful Almodeus could summon, especially the Red Dragon Archfiend, which could evolve into three forms based on the damage inflicted, casualties caused, or destruction wrought.

  "It would be much easier, you're right on that. But also riskier! Those creatures are extremely difficult to control, more because they cause so much damage than anything else. It would be difficult to explain such damages to the authorities, don't you think?"

  "I suppose you're right..."

  Almodea's words were more bored than sad. Her usual amused demeanor was still present, but it was held back by the sadness she felt in her heart.

  "Listen, little spot. I know you're still down about your friends' deaths, but I want you to know that I appreciate how you're handling it. It shows you've matured a lot since last time..."

  Almodeus laughed lightly at his own words, recalling almost with glee how, when she was 15, his daughter had destroyed an entire city just because a person she had become friends with had argued with her. He was reluctant to say that Almodea was spoiled—she certainly was, without a doubt—but he didn't think spoiled was the right word to use or to describe her. At most, she was immature, but Almodeus would never have thought his daughter was a spoiled brat.

  "Thanks, Dad. It's nice to have someone to listen to me! I talked to Hirashi a bit, you know? She helped me, even if she remained as cold as ever..."

  The demoness's words didn't surprise the fake knight; Hirashi and Almodea had been friends and adoptive sisters for many years and had bonded immediately. They complemented each other in a certain way: on one side was the colossal and stoic white giantess, on the other the perverse and joyful crimson demoness.

  "I'm glad she helped you..."

  Almodeus took a moment to think about his words, then continued in a serious tone:

  "Listen, what do you plan to do with the person responsible for Fiora's death? Are you just going to kill him?"

  Almodea sighed, it was clear that the question had put her in a tight spot.

  "I don't know yet! Maybe I'll ask why he killed them first and then, depending on the answer... I don't know... I'll see? But the basic idea is to kill him without mercy!"

  "Uh... I understand. I'll let you do as you wish, but I'd like to give you some advice. May I?"

  Almodea's eyes widened, slightly surprised, not so much by her father's desire to give her advice, but more by the fact that he had asked her permission to do so. It was an extremely rare occurrence; usually, Almodeus gave her directions and guidance without being truly asked for, but they were always welcomed. Her father knew her perfectly and knew what to do to bring her joy. It warmed her heart to see all the humility and attention he was putting into demonstrating his affection and availability for her.

  His father was truly the best parent in the world.

  "Sure, Dad! Tell me everything!"

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  "I know you're already an expert in torture and making your enemies suffer. I don't want to bore you with techniques and such—but I just want to ask you not to show all your strength just yet."

  "And why?"

  "For pure and cruel amusement, my dear daughter! You make your opponent believe he has a chance against you, when in fact he never had one in the first place!"

  Almodeus raised his right fist and closed it in a powerful grip.

  “Then smash it to pieces in front of him! That's the worst thing you can do to a thinking being!”

  "Ohhh, I like it!"

  Almodea smiled and laughed. Her father's idea wasn't bad—she was usually more direct—she liked to make it clear she was the strongest, but trying a different psychological torture technique wouldn't be the end of the world. Besides, if her father had suggested it, it must have worked 100%.

  “I'll be as slow and painful as possible!”

  Almodea roared, waving her right arm up and down.

  “Not only did he kill my friends, but also tortured a little girl! How much more depraved can you get than that?!”

  “Would you have a problem killing children, little spot?”

  Almodeus asked, turning his head toward her. The undead around them weren't a problem, so they could talk freely, as if they were strolling in a park.

  “Well…Hem… If I'm in a good mood, yes. It's hard to explain!”

  “I understand. It's normal to have doubts; children are hard to blame and hold a grudge against.”

  “Yeah! Besides, puppies are always too cute to be killed.”

  “You compare children to puppies, huh?”

  “Exactly! What’s the difference?”

  It was truly difficult for Almodea to see the difference between species. Racism wasn't her thing. She could distinguish their abilities or racial traits, but if she had been asked what the difference was between the life of a fly and that of a human being, she would not have found any.

  “Listen, Dad…”

  Almodea shrugged, looking uncomfortable.

  “Have you ever killed a child?”

  “Me? Of course, many times. Obviously, I never did it for fun. Sometimes it was…Necessary.”

  Almodeus sighed. It was clear there was something more he wasn't saying.

  “Really? Can you give me an example?”

  “Yes, but it won't be a nice story. Do you remember that sacred sword in the relic room?”

  “Which of the many?”

  Almodea raised her head, visibly confused. Her father had so many relics that it was impossible to remember them all. Almodeus' kill count was over the reach of human calculation.

  “The one in the east wing. I was looking at it the other time, remember? You asked me to tell you its story, right?”

  He looked ahead.

  I still have time…The central mausoleum is far away.

  Almodeus faced Almodea, coming closer to her.

  “Centuries ago, long before you were born, I was summoned to a great and prosperous kingdom. I believe it was called Lugunia.”

  “Is that the kingdom that the Hero with the Divine Protections had?”

  Almodeus nodded, then continued, recalling the memories of that event.

  “After that place was destroyed, I found a woman pleading. She was dying from injuries caused by an earthquake I had triggered. I approached, and she begged me to save her infant son.”

  “And you…Kill them both?”

  He shook his head, sighing.

  “Not the woman, she died during the conversation we were having. The child, on the other hand—”

  “Did you kill him?”

  Almodea looked at him with a doubtful, worried look. She would never blame him; she wasn't worthy of it. She was his daughter and had to learn to make choices, not always the funny ones, unfortunately.

  “Yes. There was no other logical choice. It was my mistake—I shouldn't have listened to that woman in the first place, but curiosity has always been my greatest flaw. Just hearing her made me feel compelled to do something. Ignoring it all was no longer an option.”

  “So…You killed a newborn baby? Really?”

  Almodea was trembling, as if she was believing little in that argument. Her father really did something so cruel without a motivation?

  “I used the level 9 spell Death. He felt no pain.”

  “But that mean you sent him to hell!”

  It was a universal law: if Almodeus killed a being in any way, that being's soul would end up in hell, without passing through divine judgment. It didn't matter if it was an innocent child or a depraved man, they would end up in that howling abyss where the strongest reigned. It went without saying that this was not a suitable place for a newborn.

  “No. After I killed him, I took his soul and that of the mother. Initially, I placed their souls in a static limbo…”

  The knight shifted his gaze to his daughter.

  “...But after seeing how wonderful it is to raise a daughter, I decided to let their spirits live a happy and eternal life.”

  “A kind of Matrix?”

  "Yes…"

  Almodeus conjured up a small empty glass bottle.

  Some people put ships in there, but I prefer to put souls.

  Two small green flames were visible inside the vial, which was handed to Almodea.

  “Can you see?”

  “Yes! They’re living normal lives. Have you kept the suffering to a minimum?”

  Almodeus nodded.

  “But…Why?”

  “To thank that woman. Her determination to save her son was an example to me of what a true parent is.”

  He patted the girl on the head a few times.

  “You were a miracle, little spot.”

  “Thanks, Dad! Now I understand! You're always the best!”

  Almodea began to smile, clapping her hands.

  “You are the best daughter I could ever had…Now get serious. We have arrived.”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  After passing hundreds more undead, Almodeus and his daughter reached the cemetery's central mausoleum. In front of it, a dozen hooded figures stood in a circle; they seemed to be in the midst of a ritual. The only figure that stood out was a dark-haired man in his thirties, at the center of the circle, reading a book held out to him by one of his subordinates.

  In the background were three men, each holding a white mask in their arms, with different expressions on them: one was angry, another sad and the last one happy.

  "In the blackest night, the spectre of legends rises again, utterly devoid of support from good ... "

  They muttered.

  "Venerable Desmond...Intruders."

  One of the subordinates whispered to the man in the center of the circle, who was reading the words from the book aloud. He seemed irritated by the interruption, but his frustration turned to confusion when he noticed the subordinate pointing to a pair of figures about ten meters away.

  He'd never seen them before, and they didn't look like Imperial soldiers. One was a knight in black armor, over eight feet tall; the other, hidden by a cloak, was slightly shorter, but clearly a woman from the features of her bust.

  "I found some idiots..."

  Almodeus muttered under his breath, he had heard the words of Desmond's subordinate. He thought that those were fools; one of them had publicly proclaimed the name of the man who appeared to be the sect's leader.

  "It's a perfect night for a ritual, right, Desmond? You planned this party? No offense, but it's a dead end!"

  The knight's words had a serious, authoritative tone, which contrasted with the obvious irony contained in the sentence . He was clearly mocking his opponents, and this did not go unnoticed.

  Desmond noticed and glared at the man who had revealed his name, making him step back in embarrassment.

  “You really had to talk, eh? Damn idiot!"

  After scolding his subordinate, Desmond turned to the black-armored knight, irritated by his earlier pun.

  "It's not up to you to decide! Can I know who the hell are you and what you want?!"

  Almodeus remained firm in his stance and pointed his sword at the group. His tone afterward was serious, free of the previous sarcasm.

  "My name is Amon, and I am here to slaughter you all..."

  The cold words were received with surprise and a touch of fear. Desmond and his men had expected a monologue about justice or that the knight was there for pay, not such a direct declaration of hostility.

  "H-How dare you?! Do you know who I am?!"

  "For now, I know that your name is Desmond and that you're the one pulling the strings here. Even if I don't care... I want to be transparent with you, though ."

  'Transparent?"

  "Yes. If it were up to me, I would have kept you alive to study you. This mass summoning of the undead is decently remarkable. I must congratulate you!"

  Almodeus started clapping his hands, but quickly stopped.

  “But, one of you made the mistake of killing some of my comrades, and I cannot forgive that!”

  Desmond was at a loss for words. Who was this knight? An adventurer? A madman? A vengeful murderer? All three of those things put together? The mere fact that he had managed to get that far, through thousands of undead, indicated that he was far more dangerous than ordinary adventurers.

  "Now give it to me..."

  "Deliver what to you?! I don't understand anything you're saying!"

  "The one with the enchanted weapons and who killed the four adventurers in Jaako's shop. I know he's here!"

  Desmond opened his eyes in surprise. He knew who Amon was referring to, but what he didn't understand was how a knight, seemingly inexperienced in magic, could have realized the presence of a magical weapon user among them . All of this led him to assume that the girl beside him, who had remained silent until now, was a spellcaster of at least third level. Fearsome, but not dangerous to him, who was fourth level.

  "Where is he? Is he scared and hiding?"

  The knight's words had gradually become more aggressive, as if he were losing his patience.

  "Ohhh, the boy is insistent!"

  A female voice broke Almodeus's pretensions. He looked up and noticed a slender figure wrapped in a purple cloak. She had been sitting on the roof of the mausoleum for who knows how long, watching them.

  I noticed her right away, but I didn't think she would be so bold as to confront me directly.

  "I see you've found me, big boy! I say let's get down to business and introductions! I'm the most illustrious Camille, also known as the Twin Daggers! That's, at least, how they knew me in the Theocracy. And you? Let me guess...The Black Knight? Hahahaha!"

  The girl's laughter irritated everyone present, even her theoretical allies. It was clear there was bad blood between her and Desmond's sect.

  "I am Amon, the Marquis of Darkness! But I don't think I need to tell you, since we both know that one of us won't walk out of this graveyard!"

  The woman remained with her usual smirk and stood up. Her eyes were fixed on Amon, almost as if sizing him up like a vulture sizing up its prey.

  "You're right! After all, you won't get out of here alive, you'll end up like the four I killed for Desmy! But you know...I'm curious! How did you know I was here?"

  Almodeus pointed an accusing finger at Camille.

  "From the one you have attached to your belt."

  "Oh my God, what a pervert! Hahahaha! Just kidding!"

  The girl removed her cape, revealing a slim but toned body, covered in a small armor made of human ribs, some still crusted with blood. At her belt were two sheaths, each containing a dagger.

  "You were talking about my Spiritual Daggers, right?"

  "Spiritual Daggers? Interesting..."

  "She's mine!"

  The girl at Amon's side, who had been silent until then, stepped forward and raised the iron stirrup she was carrying, pointing it at Camille, as if to claim the woman for herself.

  “Dark Fireball! ”

  A ball of dark flames was thrown at Camille, who pirouetted out of the way.

  “Uh-Uh! You’re funny, little girl!”

  “Don't think you can escape me! You're mine!”

  "No.…"

  The knight's cold, dry reply made the girl open her eyes and immediately turn around, astonished.

  "But, Dad! You promised!"

  "Dad?"

  Camille laughed at this realization. Were the two related? She was thrilled at the thought of how much pain she would cause by killing and dismembering one in front of the other. Just like she had done to that red-haired woman at the store a few hours earlier.

  "Fuck!"

  The hooded girl commented after breaking the number one rule her father had imposed on them: not to reveal their parentage to anyone while they were undercover.

  "It's not a problem, Almodea. They won't live long enough to use this information against us anyway..."

  The girl understood that her father was serious- in fact he too had broken one of the rules by calling her Almodea and not Alcina.

  "But...I want her! You promised!"

  "I promised you to decide the fate of the person responsible. However, she was acting under Desmond's orders, so he will be your target."

  "But, Dad! I don't-"

  "Almodea! I'm not doing this to punish or annoy you!"

  Almodeus thundered.

  “I'm doing this because one day you'll have subordinates! I hate to say no to you, but I want you to learn that- no matter what happens- 90% of the time the subordinate fault is partly to blame on the boss. Think about it! Desmond could have prevented Fiora's death, yet he didn't! So he's just as responsible as Camille, if not more so!”

  Almodea nodded at her father's words and gulped, she didn't agree with him, but she couldn't do anything but accept his will, silently.

  "Don't worry. Camille isn't exonerated of all blame, on the contrary... I'll give her a fate worse than death!"

  "Big words! Few can think of beating me!"

  Camille laughed, taunting Almodeus, but he remained calm and began walking towards one of the minor mausoleums nearby.

  "Why don't we give my daughter and your friend Desmond some space? Follow me, if you want to fight..."

  “Ahahaha! I’m in!”

  Camille leaped from the roof she was on, somersaulting in midair and landing just behind Amon, then followed him, humming, as if she were going to the park. Her move hadn't been accidental; she was trying to show off her athletic prowess.

  Narcissist, huh?

  "And I'm supposed to fight this overgrown girl?"

  Desmond commented, shifting his gaze to Almodea. He'd remained silent and observed the exchange until then, deducing that the girl was just a spoiled brat. A little teasing would be enough to make her attack without thinking about defense.

  "Dark Flame!"

  Desmond's confidence shattered when he saw his opponent immediately attack, and with a level 5 spell nevertheless. Desmond had made a mistake—he'd been the spoiled child, underestimating the young enchantress, fooled by her scatterbrained nature.

  "Damn! Come on! Use defensive spells! Quickly!"

  Desmond's men raised their hands and activated their defensive spells. It was all in vain…

  Almodea's furious gaze did not cease, but rather slowly transformed into an evil grin as she watched her magic break through the enemy's defenses with ease.

  "You'll pay for what your friend did, you filthy bugs! I'll show you what happens when you piss off a demon!"

  She roared, revealing a terrifying magical aura. Almodea had stopped playing…No one would have come out of that cemetery alive.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "If I understand correctly, those people and the wizard killed were your friends, right? Are you angry that I killed them?"

  Camille scoffed as they walked to a more secluded area for their confrontation. Almodeus could have left it to his daughter, but he preferred to handle it himself. Almodea wasn't the only one angered by Camille's misdeeds.

  This woman is really crazy. Who knows what made her so sadistic, or has she always been like this?

  "You should have heard the red-haired one! Fiora, right? How she screamed! Oh, she screamed a lot! Hahaha! Especially when I started cutting open her little sister's belly! So much fun! I love it when they call me a bastard while I'm killing them!"

  "You talk as if I care about what you did..."

  Camille huffed and dropped the smile for a few seconds, visibly annoyed by the other's lack of interest in her.

  "Oh! What a drag you are! A finger in the ass is funnier than you! Tell me the truth, they weren't your friends, were they?"

  Her frustration was easy to sense. Almodeus laughed under his helmet—he took it as personal revenge.

  "Do you want me to blame you? No... It would be immoral to blame you for something I would do myself. However, if to me they were just colleagues, to my daughter they were precious friends; something of value. And you took that away from her! You will pay for her sadness with your life!"

  Almodeus stopped and pointed his sword at her, symbolizing that the place of the fight had been decided.

  "You're just an idiot, though...Your daughter is an enchantress, right? I can tell by the iron staff she had and those strange spells she cast! If that's the case, you made a huge mistake by having her fight Desmy! Not that she would have fared any better against me. On the contrary, actually! On second thought, you made the right choice!"

  "I did you a favor. My daughter can beat someone like you with her eyes closed...You'd already be in a whirlwind of pain if she had been here."

  "Are you a complete idiot?! I just need to stab her and she'll die! That's how it works with wizards! Besides..."

  Camille stopped and began counting with her fingers, hidden by iron gloves.

  "In this Empire, my peers can be counted on one hand! Let's see: there's Akiza of the Black Rose, the Red Dragon Lord of the Scarlet Lightning, the Captain of the Fearless Vanguard Gareth Stronghold, and El Kaiser...Oh, there's also Van Helsing El Gambusa, former adventurer and hunter of Diamond rank! He's retired now due to old age, but you get the idea, right? Neither you nor your daughter have a chance against the illustrious and perfect Camille!"

  Her narcissism is on par with Almodea's when she's angry.

  Almodeus shook his head, sighing.

  This girl reminds me of Shaco in terms of how sadistic she is. At least that crazy clown would never piss off my daughter, he's not that dumb.

  "Thanks for the information. I should thank you in some way, I'll leave you first strike..."

  He watched Camille's face go from proud and narcissistic to indignant. The lack of reaction to his nonstop boasting was probably irritating her. Seeing her so disheveled was a source of great amusement for Almodeus.

  "Listen, idiot! I've set foot in the higher realm! The realm of the heroes of legend! I'm on par with some of the 12 Heroes who fought against the 7 Great Sins! We're talking about deities here!"

  For the first time, Almodeus seemed interested in the current situation. He knew there were gods in that world, but from what he understood, the deities worshipped had actually existed.

  Gods, Sins, and Heroes. Interesting! I'd better get some information; I want to know more.

  "12 Heroes? Would you like to tell me about them? So I can understand your strength..."

  Camille seemed to fall into a trap woven by false flattery. It was clear on her face, in the cocky little smile that painted her features.

  "Of course! They are the ones who fought against the 7 Great Sins in the Chaos War 700 years ago!"

  "The Chaos War? I'm interested in the topic."

  Camille drew one of her daggers and began fiddling with it, laughing in the knight's face.

  "Are you sure you're not a historian? Anyway, if you want, I can tell you everything I know, but only after I've broken your legs and disemboweled your daughter's corpse before your eyes!"

  And she's back to being sadistic, great...

  "I guess the time for small talk is over, right?"

  "That's right, idiot! Hello?"

  Almodeus raised his sword, ready for use. Camille wasn't a problem for him, but he wanted to use this fight to understand how an experienced warrior of that world fought. She would be his guinea pig.

  "Yes, you take the first shot..."

  "Don't complain if I take advantage of that!"

  Almodeus aughed under his helmet at that statement.

  This girl has no idea what's about to happen.

  "Go ahead, but just know one thing..."

  He replied, getting into a fighting stance.

  "Once this fight begins, there's no turning back! I will reserve a fate worse than death for you!"