Captain Fritz Stiglitz tried to keep himself professional as he reached the base of the 101st Wyvern Air Wing—Fort Runheim. He pushed Anna practically to her limits, as reaching the base and reporting was more important than anything else.

  I have to make sure my men’s sacrifices are worth it.

  Damn it, damn it all!

  “This is Captain Fritz Stiglitz,” Fritz spoke to his manacomm, his tone dry and dead. “I wish to report that we found and engaged the Death God Cult at Eisenfeld. I am the only survivor of V Squadron.”

  A dispatch from the fortress’s commander reached Fritz immediately while he circled Fort Runheim. He was ordered to immediately land at the fortress, and he obeyed.

  While his wyvern panted and gasped, Fritz immediately dismounted the creature. Stablemen assembled on the side of the landing field rushed to give water and potions to his tired and injured wyvern, while Fritz found himself swarmed by other riders and officers.

  Many of them seemed to be preparing for the planned attack on Eisenfeld, but now, they stood at the sides, all murmuring curiously about what happened to Fritz’s expedition.

  As he reached the end of the crowd, Fritz found himself meeting the commander of the 101st. The man was old, nearing his fifties, and a massive scowl was on his face.

  “Those cultists. They have wyverns with them?”

  “Yes, Colonel,” Fritz lowered his head. “I apologize. My entire squadron was wiped out, and I had the disgrace to run here.”

  “How did you escape?”

  “...There seemed to be a third party attacking the cult, sir.”

  “I see.”

  While Fritz kept his head lowered, preparing himself for his commander’s reprimands, he felt a hand on his shoulder as the man walked past him.

  “Prepare yourself for combat with a spare wyvern. We’re going to avenge our fallen brothers, Captain Stiglitz.”

  As Salvador Magath laughed, Stella analyzed her opponent.

  It was clear that fighting him in a battle of attrition wasn’t going to be in her favor. While his stats were, most likely, not superior to hers, he wielded items that boosted him significantly.

  Each of those jeweled rings seemed to contain an inordinate amount of mana. Most of all, he might draw power from the magic crystal he used to siphon off Lady Siris’s essence.

  I’m going to get hurt, a lot.

  But she had to win. No, she will win. Marcus entrusted her to defeat Salvador while he went for the other cultists. If she failed here, then her partner’s effort would be all for naught.

  She changed her staff back into her longsword, channeling her mana to it. She was planning to get close and personal before using [Noble Blade Strike], her signature melee skill, which would significantly buff her strength and speed for a minute.

  With it, I should be able to cut through his magecraft, and then I’ll tear him down close-quarters.

  It was a risky plan, but Stella wouldn’t let him lengthen this fight any further.

  “Your Highness,” a voice distracted him from behind. It was Heinrich.

  Right.

  They found out about me.

  “...You’re going to report this to your superior officer, won’t you?” Stella’s tone was dead, somewhat bitter. “Whatever, just retreat. Save yourselves.”

  No one else has to be hurt. I’ll finish this myself.

  “We’re going to cover you,” Heinrich said, gesturing for his men to fan out. “We’ve looted their crossbows and staves. You won’t have to look to your sides or rear. Focus on that maniac.”

  She glanced a bit at the soldiers behind her. It seemed that the realization that she was the princess they were meant to rescue didn’t make them falter. On the contrary, there was a new spark of determination in their eyes.

  “And no,” Heinrich grinned as he readied his sword. “Whatever you’re doing, we won’t ruin our savior’s plans. After all, if you’re here to fight the Death God Cult, it’s for us and the kingdom too, no?”

  Stella had no reply to that.

  “Don’t worry about us. Defeat that man, and we’ll all come back home with our lips sealed! Men, open fire! Give her Her Highness an opening!”

  “Yes, sir!”

  “On it, Lieutenant!”

  Multiple spell circles were invoked from positions of the wyvern knights. The ones holding crossbows, on the other hand, ducked low on the rubble, firing bolt after bolt downrange.

  On the other hand, the wyvern knights who kept their melee weapons rushed to the flanks, blocking the cultist squads pouring in from the streets and lanes on their sides. ‘Savior’—that was what they called her. She supposed she did save them many times.

  But the idea that they would go as far as to offer their lives again while facing these odds…it fueled her. So many people were expecting her to win.

  Lady Siris.

  Marcus.

  And now, these valiant wyvern knights.

  “Salvador Magath!” Stella charged in, her speed so high that it was like she zoomed in to the Archbishop in seconds. “I’ll send you to the goddess now!”

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  “Try as you might, you shall fail, foolish girl!”

  A barrage of spells flew straight in Stella’s direction. She quickly invoked [Light Barriers] to protect herself, but it wasn’t doing well. Each spell that struck her destroyed her [Light Barriers], injuring her.

  It was simply because she didn’t have a foci to cast the spells effectively. That, and Salvador’s attacks were simply too strong. But when she finally reached him, she activated her skills.

  [Noble Blade Strike], [Aura of Faith].

  Her sword glowed brightly, and her body practically shimmered with a holy golden light. With her absurd momentum, she swung her longsword horizontally, sending a blast of light that cut through the horizon.

  In a single second, dozens of cultists died, their bodies brutally sliced by her attack. On the other hand, Salvador Magath absorbed it by creating a bluish shield between him and her.

  It was quickly shattered, and Stella closed in the distance further.

  “You're mine!” Stella shouted, her voice brimming with newfound bloodlust.

  “Damn it!” Salvador retreated backward. “How did you break my shield?!”

  Stella didn’t answer. Instead, she kept up the tempo of her attacks, swinging her sword rapidly to force him to create shield after shield that she shattered. Out of nowhere though, Salvador jumped up high before pointing his palm into her allies.

  “Fine then!” Salvador grinned as he landed on a rooftop. “If you’re this stubborn, then I’ll hit those you care for!”

  Stella’s eyes widened momentarily as Salvador invoked three spell circles. A barrage of spells immediately began bombarding the wyvern knights, who were currently holding out against the other faceless cultists.

  “Heinrich—!” Stella shouted, warning them, but it was too late. The fireball, rock, and water spells from Salvador were about to hit them all.

  That was when the wyvern knights who held staves raised multiple blue barrier shields to defend themselves. Many of Salvador’s attacks managed to get through, injuring two of them.

  But the rest failed.

  One look at Heinrich’s and even Manfred’s face told Stella all she needed to know. They were telling her again to focus on Salvador.

  And that was what she did. Not wasting another second of [Noble Blade Strike], she used [Fly] to lunge upward, attacking Salvador, who was shocked that the wyvern knights managed to resist his attack.

  “No, no, no!” Salvador desperately backed off, blocking her blade with his shield. He poured an inordinate amount of mana into it, so it was enough to block her attack without shattering.

  But Stella pressed on, using both of her hands to repeatedly attack the shield with full strength, causing her voice to become strained while she screamed. Each strike caused more and more cracks to appear on the barrier that Salvador created.

  “I-it can’t be.” Salvador kept his palm held high. “You lost to us! You lost back then! This makes no sense. How are you…no…”

  He began stuttering as the cobweb cracks on his barrier grew. A bead of sweat dripped down his face as the side of his lips curled upward in a nervous manner.

  “Don’t tell me, you’ve leveled up.”

  Stella raised her longsword up high one last time, as her amethyst eyes glowed intensely.

  “I did. Now give back what’s mine, you thief!”

  Bringing down her longsword, Salvador’s barrier shattered in a thousand pieces. Then, Stella grabbed him by his neck before bashing him straight into a nearby building.

  The entire structure collapsed, and Stella charged in. Salvador, desperate to escape, began firing his spells in a wild and inaccurate manner.

  But it was all for naught, as the second that Stella managed to close in the distance, she chopped off his left hand. Then, she stabbed him in the chest.

  “Ahhhhh!” Salvador screamed. “How?! How?! How?!!!!!”

  Stella dug her sword deeper into the cultist’s body. Then, she used her free hand to take a gem from the man’s robes. It was the magic crystal that contained Lady Siris’s essence.

  “You can’t,” Salvador croaked, blood coming out of his mouth as he looked at the gem on Stella’s hands. “That’s mine. I took that! I won that item! It’s my loot!”

  Stella scoffed. This man inflicted so much pain on her familiar that even if he begged for mercy, even someone as merciful as her wouldn’t be swayed.

  “Sir Marcus is right. You people deserve to be exterminated.”

  “Damn you! Damn you! You useless princess elf! I bet that man you’re with, he just saved you from your mistakes. That’s right, even as the [Saint], you’re just hanging on someone else’s coattails.”

  “So? He’s my partner.” A small smile appeared on Stella’s lips. “He doesn’t mind that I rely on him, because he relies on me for many other things too.”

  Salvador tried to spit blood at her, but she used a quick spell of wind magic to make sure none of it landed on her white mask.

  “Unlike me, you don’t deserve anything! Nothing!”

  “...You’re right,” Stella nodded. “That’s why I’ll work hard to deserve good things in life too. I hope that you’ll see it all in the afterlife.”

  Then, she pulled her sword out before beheading the fallen archbishop. Once it was over, Stella was simply looking down on the man’s corpse, her breathing ragged as she collapsed on her knees.

  “Lady Siris, Sir Marcus,” she exhaled, proud of herself. “I did it.”

  Marcus casually landed on the ground. Around him, explosions from the previous attacks sent by Selena rocked the battlefield.

  On the other hand, Selena, who still kept her wand aimed at him, was heavily wounded. Glancing wounds, stab wounds, and bruises were all over her body. Marcus took care not to injure her critically throughout the battle, though, as he was taunting her to speak.

  But, unfortunately, all that talking and taunting didn’t work. She just kept screaming about wanting to kill him and worse.

  “So,” Marcus looked around. “Looks like everyone you bought here is dead. It’s awfully silent behind me too.”

  Marcus lightly laughed.

  “Looks like my partner won.”

  “...Salvador,” Selena murmured, before gritting her teeth. “You…why are you so strong? And why do you let off so much of our master’s essence?”

  The scowl on her face was so hostile, it was somewhat deadly. Not that Marcus cared anymore. He already tried torturing her to make her talk about her ability.

  She was smart, though, unexpectedly, for someone who acted like a lunatic. Not once did she speak about her ability, even when Marcus kept asking about how she’s ‘back from death’.

  “I have a lot of questions for you too,” Marcus said, as he walked toward her, his rapier tip gliding on the pavement ominously. “As for why I'm ‘strong’, I can’t say anything about it. That would be too troublesome.”

  She fumed a bit more as she backed off.

  Marcus, meanwhile, saw in the distance a mass of wyverns headed to Eisenfeld. He let out a small sigh as he stopped.

  “Right.” Marcus locked eyes with her. “We should end this, Archbishop Selena. I don’t want to get caught in a big mess I created.”

  “...You rascal,” she invoked a magic circle. “I’m not going to die without a fight!”

  As a pink bolt of light raced toward Marcus, he simply used [Blink Step] to both dodge it and stab Selena in her chest. He drove it deep before cutting her in half.

  As her pink blood sprayed on the ground, he let off his final remarks.

  “Until we meet again, miss. I’ll have a special surprise for you by then. Goodbye.”

  And splat.

  Selena’s body pathetically slumped on the ground. Marcus, on the other hand, sheathed his sword back into his scabbard. It was time to make their exit.

  Hopefully, Stella retrieved what she needed. He needed to talk at length with a great spirit after all.

  But, before that, he took a final glance at his pocket watch first.

  15:59 hours.

  Not bad.