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At the end of Osnia’s gaze, a man in black armor was approaching with a more devilish appearance than an actual demon.

In the dark of the night, his golden eyes gleamed like a predatory bird with its prey before it. Every time a cold wind blew, ominous black flames flickered gently around his body.

The very air felt heavy, and even the lifeless being known as the Death Knight seemed to tense up at his arrival, crouching low and gripping the hilt of his sword tightly.

The robed man let out a hollow laugh, showing his disgust.

“You’ve really followed me all the way here, half-baked warrior.”

But the man in black armor only raised his right hand in response. Then, the red spear, which had clearly been lying on the ground, appeared in his hand as if it were answering a call.

“No, they say you are The Faceless Hero, right? Being called such an ominous name even by your kin really suits you—”

Gah!

Suddenly, the robed man’s head exploded. The red spear had flown in an instant, piercing straight through his forehead.

However, even with his head blown apart, the man still wasn’t dead and desperately shouted with his remaining jaw.

“Don’t you know how to talk? Please stop killing me!”

The man’s state was utterly horrific.

The top of his head had been completely obliterated, his skull and brain clearly visible, yet not a drop of blood flowed, making the severed surface all the more grotesque.

“Ugh…!”

Unable to bear the sight of the man moving despite his condition, Osnia felt a wave of nausea rising within her.

Yet The Faceless Hero seemed entirely familiar with the appearance of his opponent in such a state.

“Another clone, I see.”

“Yes. So it’s useless to try killing me as many times as you want, The Faceless Hero. I will simply reappear in a new body somewhere else.”

Before long, the man’s shattered head began to regenerate. However, it looked less like regeneration and more like a poorly patched-up head.

The horrific, distorted face made it hard to imagine what he originally looked like, but Osnia could still recognize that he had pointed ears like an Elf.

The man known as The Faceless Hero replied in a nonchalant tone.

“If I just kill every one of your clones, eventually only the original will remain.”

With that, The Faceless Hero walked directly towards the robed man. In a hurry, the robed man lifted his staff, and at his command, a group of Death Knights charged at The Faceless Hero.

Even in the overwhelming sight of mounted knights swinging their weapons, The Faceless Hero showed no change in expression. He just continued to clutch the spear, reminiscent of a red thorn, heavily in his hand.

The ghostly warhorse let out a fierce cry, and the Death Knight atop it swung his sword with all his might. It was a downward strike filled with power that could hardly be countered by any knight. In response, The Faceless Hero firmly held his spear and swept it upward diagonally to parry.

The knight, speeding downwards from his horse, swung his sword with that added momentum, but The Faceless Hero swung his spear upward from his position and blocked it. Logically, the difference in strength was apparent.

Boom!

Yet, the sword of the Death Knight, which struck The Faceless Hero’s spear, was pushed back like a child’s against an adult’s strength.

Not only that, but the overwhelming force of the spear’s heavy strike was too much for the ghostly steed to handle, and it fell apart with a rough neigh. Ultimately, both horse and knight tumbled to the ground at the same time.

Osnia had no idea just how much of a difference in power there had to be to crush a knight mounted on a horse like that.

The Faceless Hero continued to impale, strike down, and cut through the charging knights one by one. The bodies torn and bore through by his spear finally ceased to move and became true corpses. A blurry wave of blood spread around him, dulling the ground.

Watching the Death Knight squad, which could conquer a fortress, being utterly decimated by a single individual, the robed man let out a hollow laugh.

“You madman….”

In any case, the robed man didn’t want to see the Death Knight squad he had painstakingly created perish so easily.

He raised his staff to prepare a spell while also hurling the corpses of the recently created villagers towards The Faceless Hero.

However, all of that was utterly useless. As the robed man drew forth black magic and unleashed curses and dark spells at The Faceless Hero, each one was swept away and dissipated in the wake of the trajectory of the red spear.

Every time The Faceless Hero swung his spear, bursting forth with black flames from his body, he sent one undead or Death Knight after another back to being corpses, one at a time.

He advanced endlessly, trampling over the enemies’ corpses without stopping his spear’s swing. There was no hesitation or uncertainty in his movements. This was a one-sided massacre, a solitary individual overwhelming the enemies with sheer force.

It was truly a horrifying sight. Osnia instinctively shuddered, unable to control her trembling shoulders.

“Ugh…!”

She scratched at the dirt ground and pulled back, uncertain of whether to fear the demon that slaughtered her village, or the man mercilessly toppling those demons.

It seemed that no one would be safe from that man standing before her, killing everything in sight. Just as he had torn apart the corpses of her parents moments ago. His ruthless strength and demonic visage filled Osnia with overwhelming terror.

Yet alongside her fear, his fight against the enemies left a deep impression on Osnia.

The sight of him defeating his foes reminded her of the battles of mythical heroes, transcending human bounds. The red spear he swung moved faster than lightning, piercing through enemies while each movement left a heavy impact like a massive rock.

In the end, all the undead that once filled the village fell to The Faceless Hero, turning into rotting corpses lying on the ground.

Finally, the lone remaining robed man looked at him with eyes as if gazing at a monster.

“No matter how much power clones possess, there should still be limits. That a mere human could stand against such a force… how could this monstrosity exist—”

Boom!

With a tremendous roar that shook the heavens, The Faceless Hero’s spear cleaved the man’s body in two.

With that one strike, the man ceased to move.

Even if one could move beyond their limits, they would eventually reach a breaking point.

Leaving behind the burning village and the stench of blood, when The Faceless Hero’s golden gaze turned toward Osnia, she screamed out in fear without even realizing it.

“Eek…!”

As The Faceless Hero approached her with the red spear in hand, Osnia could not even think of escaping and simply collapsed to the ground. With a trembling voice, she weakly pleaded.

“Pl-please… spare me…”

The Faceless Hero stood before Osnia, contemplating something as he gazed at her for a long while. The longer his silence stretched, the more pitifully Osnia’s breath trembled.

Osnia could no longer beg for her life or escape. Nothing felt like it would work before this ominously ambiguous man. To him, Osnia must have been less than an ant.

Osnia trembled in front of The Faceless Hero as if waiting for a judgment, like a prisoner.

Then, suddenly, The Faceless Hero raised the red spear and lunged toward Osnia. Her face went pale as a sheet.

All she could see with her violet eyes was the red spearhead.

I’m going to die. I’m really going to die like this. Her heart raced wildly. At that moment, only thoughts of death filled Osnia’s mind.

But the spearhead halted just before her.

Snap!

At that moment, Osnia felt some binding that had held her break away in an instant.

In front of Osnia, who couldn’t even think of catching her breath, The Faceless Hero pulled his spear back as if his task was complete.

And then, the man turned his back.

Osnia could not tear her gaze away from that retreating figure until he completely vanished.

He had appeared out of nowhere to save her, and then he left without a single word.

*

“… So, after he left, the Imperial Army showed up.”

Osnia briefly recounted a few more stories afterward.

How her unique constitution had been discovered by her current mentor, leading her to become his apprentice. How she learned to control her abilities from him.

And that she had wanted to meet The Faceless Hero until now, but after the war ended, she had no idea where he was.

Then, when she learned through the news recently that he was alive, she admitted she had been so surprised she momentarily lost her senses.

Ion showed no reaction throughout Osnia’s tale.

He had listened to her account quietly and intently from start to finish, and after a long silence, he finally spoke with a heavy tone.

“Osnia.”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever blamed him?”

“…What?”

At that, Osnia looked up at Ion in surprise.

Ion was gazing at her with a very serious expression.

“Had that man arrived just a little earlier, your family and the villagers might still be alive today. Have you never thought about that?”

Though Ion’s expression showed no particular change, within his silence, one could sense a complexity of emotions.

Watching that, Osnia’s eyes gradually deepened with gravity.

 

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