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“Something smells a bit odd…”

Bernard Silverpoint is a skilled hunter. Had he been born in a normal era, he would have had the talent to become a lord, or at the very least, a knight. Even in a tumultuous time, his outstanding fighting skills and steadfast loyalty would have made him a renowned general favored by someone.

However, such a man has become a monster hunter in a world on the verge of collapse. Although he appears indifferent at first glance, his homeland has been occupied by the Demon King’s Army, and his hatred towards the demon race is anything but weak. Distrustful of the deteriorating forces under Audrich, he prefers to operate alone, targeting and exterminating every visible horde of demons.

Having engaged in such activities for over ten years since he was twenty, it’s only natural that he has become more sensitive to the stench of demons than those elves who merely dabble in it.

Bernard, who usually patrols alone without much interest in politics or military management, suddenly caught a strange smell today and slowly approached the direction where he sensed a presence, drawing out his portable crossbow. Something alive was stirring among the bushes.

As he pulled out a small firecracker from the leather bag he was carrying, Bernard readied his crossbow and quickly cleared away the foliage, jumping back in surprise.

“Who’s there…? Ah?”

Bernard hesitated as he confirmed the identity of the being hiding behind the bushes. It was a familiar face.

“Oh, hello there! Fancy meeting you again. I, uh, I’m not sure if you remember me, but… well, it’s a long story…”

Violet emerged from behind the bushes in a ridiculous pose, waving her hand in greeting. Bernard stood there momentarily, dazed, then shot a firework into the sky while aiming his crossbow at the Demon King. Violet, with a blank expression, deflected the arrow with the back of her hand while looking up at the firework.

“Has the news already reached here?”

“What news? Are you talking about the Demon King being Violet Moriarty?”

“Geez, you’re heartless. I was a bit moved when you generously helped out with the rebuilding costs back then.”

“Now that you mention it, that did happen.”

As the Demon King leisurely nodded, Bernard pulled out a poison needle and a longsword from his bag at the same time.

“Hand over the money you swindled from me, you damn woman!”

The Demon King caught the poisoned needle flying towards her with her fingers, then effortlessly returned it to Bernard. Seeing the hunter urgently dodge to avoid the thrown needle, the Demon King couldn’t help but chuckle.

“If you want it, just come and take it. The bounty on my head is worth more than your pocket money.”

“You think I’m coming just to snag a few coins? Ugh, ah!”

Bernard Silverpoint rushed towards the Demon King, tightly gripping his sword, swinging it wide. The Demon King merely watched as he approached, then extended her hand slightly, conjuring a small magic circle.

“I’ve already tested your skills. Impressive for a human, but not enough to challenge me.”

“That’s true. I wouldn’t even scratch your neck, honestly.”

Instead of charging straight at the Demon King, Bernard dove and rolled to the side. Just barely avoiding her electric bolt, he pushed off the ground and stood up.

“But I’ve called upon someone who can match you.”

“Ah.”

Before the Demon King could realize, the Crown Princess’s powerful punch came crashing down towards her face. Rose had recognized that something serious was happening when she saw Bernard’s fireworks and rushed in to ambush the Demon King.

With the mighty blow from the indestructible princess, the Demon King’s head slammed into the ground. Dazed, Violet felt the world spinning, but managed to get up just in time to find out who had attacked her.

“Rose Caprice! It’s Rose Caprice!”

“Violet Moriarty. I’ve heard rumors that you’ve been sneaking around, but it seems you’ve picked the wrong place to poke your nose in today.”

“Rose Caprice?! Are you serious? Bernard, I thought you would do better than this! You bring only this foolish princess to take me down? I was expecting something like Janis Harker at the very least!”

“You’re saying something amusing.”

Rose responded with genuine anger, pulling out the longsword she wore at her waist and aiming it at the Demon King.

“Let’s see if you can survive this encounter against me.”

“That’s backwards, Crown Princess. The real question is whether you can survive against me.”

“Oh, do you have a way to kill me?”

Rose said provocatively. In response to her sneer, the Demon King gathered massive dark mana in both hands and shot it towards Rose. As she watched the mana lightning approaching her, Rose raised an arm and effortlessly deflected all of the Demon King’s attacks with just her forearm.

Dropping the dust from her armor without a hint of discomfort, Rose said, “What’s this? A child’s game? Even one of your dragon lackeys could spit stronger fire than this.”

Without saying a word, the Demon King unfurled her wings behind her, displaying sharp fangs and licking her lips. Horns that had been hidden on her head emerged, and her ragged outfit transformed into a splendid uniform adorned with a cape. Now, upon revealing her true self as the Demon King, Moriarty wore a relaxed expression while savoring the moment.

“Ah, so this is the famed wall of iron I have heard of. Impressive, truly impressive. Now I see why everyone fears you, but unfortunately, it’s not enough for me.”

Rose’s swung blade clashed with the Demon King’s wings, and as the Demon King lightly floated in the air, she relentlessly sent attacks flying towards Rose, who twisted her blade to deflect the claw and wing barrage.

Watching from a distance, Bernard secretly hid behind Rose and fired several bolts at the Demon King, but Violet did not even glance at Bernard. Instead, she summoned lightning to strike the spot Bernard had been in, forcing the hunter to roll back.

Seeing Bernard narrowly escape the spell, Rose took a step back and nodded towards him.

“Bernard, go bring Walter or Jenis. This is not an opponent I can handle alone.”

“Is it that formidable of an enemy?”

“I can manage to hold them off for a while. However… I don’t get the feeling I can win. I need allies who can fight on my level.”

“Got it. I’ll head out right now.”

Rose and Bernard’s conversation didn’t last long, as the Demon King came charging after Rose, landing a merciless punch.

Rose, standing defensively with her sword upright against the Demon King’s flurry, accidentally dropped her weapon when she failed to notice the kick coming from below. The Demon King raised an eyebrow, finding it amusing as she watched Rose’s surprised expression while staring at the fallen sword.

“Didn’t I warn you? Alone, you’re no match for me. If you value your life, you should run off and play elsewhere.”

“I’m dead serious since the moment I dropped my sword, you idiot.”

In that instant, Rose slammed her immensely powerful fist—one that had previously driven the Demon King into the ground—into her opponent’s gut. As even the Demon King gasped from the surprise blow, Rose seized one of the Demon King’s arms and tossed her upwards into the air.

The Demon King, realizing what Rose intended to do to her, tried to flap her wings to fly high into the sky, but due to the recent punch’s impact, they weren’t responding as they should. With a powerful leap off the ground, Rose clasped her hands together and forcefully brought them down towards the Demon King’s chest.

“This is the Empire’s iron hammer, you worthless scum!”

While Rose didn’t jump very high, the strike itself was as impactful as if it had come from above the clouds.

Feeling a sense of imminent bone breakage but determined not to die, Violet managed to get back on her feet after that tremendous blow. Having never seen a creature that could stand back up after being hit like that, Rose marveled as she closed in on the Demon King.

“Even a dragon would regain its senses after a strike like that. But for you, it seems to take a lot longer.”

“Is that so? Then I suppose that explains why you are acknowledged as their ruler.”

As the Demon King grabbed Rose by both her shoulders, she spun her around 180 degrees in an instant. Completely caught off guard, Rose turned her back to the Demon King, as if possessed.

“Wait, what is this…?”

“The protection must be shielding your mind as well. But just a moment is enough. I’m going to give you time to escape. You are not destined to die here.”

The wall of iron protects not just Rose’s body, but her mind as well. Even the likes of Park Jeongjae and Janis couldn’t fool the Demon King for long; her powerful spells could not keep Rose under her illusions indefinitely.

However, during the close-quarter battles with fists and spells flying around, even a three-second window could prove fatal.

The Demon King’s sharp claws slashed horizontally across Rose’s neck. Seeing the blood gushing from her throat, Rose was taken aback and hurriedly pressed her hand against the wound, as the Demon King turned her back to escape.

“J-just… stop…”

Words wouldn’t come out. Blood continued to flow from the wound she blocked with her hand, and with a fear of death she’d never felt before, the Crown Princess slowly began to crumble forward.

In that split second, a blow from the Holy Sword shot towards the Demon King from afar, but Violet, who had already sensed the Hero, had escaped long before it arrived.

Walter, who had arrived hastily on the battlefield, was stunned to see Rose sprawled out, bleeding heavily. He threw his Holy Sword to the ground and knelt beside her.

“Rose? Rose? Wh-what’s wrong?! Are you okay? Stay with me! Janis! Bernard! Park Jeongjae! Healers! Whoever is here, come around! Hurry up, you bastards!”

Walter could not maintain his calmness even though he tried. He couldn’t even touch her body, fearing that moving her could worsen the bleeding. He raised his voice calling for Jeongjae, who was not even on site, when Jenis, who had rushed to Bernard’s plea for assistance, finally arrived at the scene. She quickly cast a healing spell on Rose’s neck to stop the bleeding.

“Is that enough? Will Rose be okay?”

Walter’s voice trembled as he held Rose’s head tightly in his embrace. Jenis nodded slightly to reassure the hero, but upon seeing the amount of blood on the ground, she tilted her head.

“She might be… but the amount of blood is too much. Though we stopped the initial bleeding, she’s going to need blood. Mind if I borrow some, Hero?”

Without hesitation, Jenis seized the Hero’s arm, raised it, and took out a dagger from her waist, slicing it open. Even as he watched the skin split open and blood flow out, the Hero managed to nod in a surprisingly calm manner.

“Aren’t you shocked?”

“I’ve seen Rose bleed out and drop. This doesn’t surprise me. Just do what needs to be done, Jenis.”

“Such things, if done improperly, can cause the blood to clot. But, there isn’t any time to examine now, so let’s borrow some healing powers from a unicorn.”

Amidst the chaos, Walter quickly fumbled through the ground to find his Holy Sword, which he had thrown away earlier. His face was crimson, and his eyes bewildered. In front of him lay the most vulnerable sight he had ever seen of his beloved.

As Jenis drew blood from Walter’s wounds and drew out the mana from the Holy Sword, the redness faded from Walter’s face until it was nearly pale. However, the look in his eyes and his expression did not change nor become any more serene.

“Do whatever it takes. Just make Rose okay, please.”

“Don’t worry too much. She’s already survived her life-threatening moment.”

As Jenis combined the amount of blood extracted from Walter with the mana from the Holy Sword, she looked back at the Hero with a pitiful expression.

“For some time, she won’t be able to go into combat.”

“Of course! Even if you tell me to send her out, there’s no way I’m sending her back out there!”

Walter replied, his voice raised in agitation. Jenis shrugged her shoulders.

“Yeah, that’s what I told you.”

“Sorry. I’m just not thinking straight right now.”

Walter quickly apologized upon realizing his overreaction. Jenis sighed heavily and shook her head.

“No, it’s alright. I well understand the feeling when a loved one goes to the brink of death. I’ll be taking care of her for the time being. By the way, that was a bold move, infiltrating the Northern Expeditionary Force and getting drawn into an ambush, ultimately wounding our dear princess. Only one person could pull off something like this, don’t you agree?”

Jenis cautiously handed Rose back to Walter, the Hero holding the Crown Princess tightly from her head down to her shoulders. He nodded.

“Only one person could do that. Ugh, sorry again for overreacting. You must have had a desperate reason to act that way, yet I only focused on myself just now.”

Just then, Jenis had cut her words short. Though she had seen her loved one come back from death’s door, she had also witnessed the experience of someone dear dying right before her eyes.

Staring at Rose, who was bleeding out, Jenis couldn’t help but recall her father’s death.

“So it’s fine, really. If it were me, that situation would have me cursing at the top of my lungs! But let’s go back. Even though Rose’s life is saved, now that the Crown Princess is no longer here, we’ll have to reassess how to proceed with this Northern Expedition.”

“Looks like it’s going to be a long night.”

Finally regaining some composure, Walter made a light-hearted joke and chuckled softly. Rose Caprice had fallen into a deep slumber in his arms, her expression much more peaceful than when she was bleeding on the battlefield.

 

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