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The battle was dragging on longer than expected, and Walter, the Mysterious Knight, was feeling utterly disheartened.

While he already knew from reports that the abilities of the Prince and Princess were exceptional, he never thought it would be this difficult. No matter how much they were the children most closely tied to the divine grace of the sun, they were still just kids, not yet of age.

After all, they were merely sixteen, still fresh-faced youngsters—was this how it felt for ordinary people when looking at geniuses?

It wasn’t just luck that got him the Cardinal position in the Church, which had only around ten members.

The position of Cardinal, a symbol of the Church’s military power, was a strict meritocracy. The blessings from the God were bestowed only after one ascended to the rank of Cardinal, and before that, Walter was also a formidable candidate for the position.

The more he wielded his sword, the more Walter understood why the Archbishop insisted he must kill these two.

Even though they hadn’t fully matured yet, they were radiating this much power.

If they were allowed to grow, the Church’s great ambitions would surely be postponed by decades, if not centuries.

‘At least one of them must die.’

If the current situation persisted, people would come to rescue the two of them. Even though he was struggling so much now, it was clear what would happen once new forces were introduced.

Walter was not afraid of death, but he feared that his death would leave no meaning behind.

Time continued to flow, and Walter’s resolve solidified quickly.

He took out the darkness he had yet to use and charged towards Orcus and Noel, who were waiting inside the Sanctuary.

The synchronization of the two as they received Walter’s attacks was exceptional.

Both of them possessed remarkable talents, but if there had been only one, Walter wouldn’t have had to struggle as he was now. The reason Noel and Orcus were still alive was that they clearly understood what each needed to complement and effectively utilized their respective strengths.

Whenever a gap appeared, the other swiftly covered it.

The nearly perfect counters were infuriating, yet Walter pressed forward deeper into the Sanctuary.

Noel grimaced slightly at the noticeably increased sword energy.

She realized that the precariously maintained balance of power was collapsing. She tried to move her hands to shake off the sword, but the two were evenly matched, and she couldn’t escape Walter, who was pushing with more force.

Realizing the situation had changed, Orcus hurriedly shot a magic bolt toward Walter, but since Walter was tightly engaged with Noel, its trajectory was severely limited. Walter pushed Noel with all his strength, narrowly avoiding the magic bolt’s path.

It seemed the situation had flipped, but Walter was facing issues of his own.

“Cough…”

Despite not having landed any effective hits until now, dark, viscous blood began to trickle out of Walter’s mouth as if he had internal injuries.

It was because he had drawn out a power essentially antithetical to that within the Sanctuary. Walter hadn’t been holding back because he was reluctant; he had known that using his power recklessly would only ruin his body without yielding any results.

But Walter had no more leeway left.

‘At least just one…’

Even if it meant sharing his fate, he was determined to complete the mission assigned to him.

The divine power opposing his began to boil within his veins.

If he didn’t hurriedly escape the Sanctuary, his entire circulatory system would burst, and he would collapse. Yet, the power he could gain by damaging his own body was immense. Walter’s strength, now able to fully utilize the blessings bestowed by the divine, was incomparable to before.

Just moments ago, he and Noel had been equally matched, and now he was able to pressure her with just one hand. With his newfound strength, Walter clenched his fist and thrust it into Noel’s abdomen.

“Ugh-!”

“Noel!!”

A short scream escaped her lips, but Walter didn’t have the time to fully register it. Noel’s body flew away as though propelled, and without hesitation, Walter leaped from the ground after her, bursting through the Sanctuary.

“This can’t be!!! Hey, you bastard!!!! Stop!!!”

Orcus cried out, chasing swiftly behind, but as a magician, he was unable to keep up with Walter’s movements. As Walter entered the forest, he hacked at trees to block the path behind him. His method was rudimentary and would be easily overcome, but as long as it could delay Orcus for even a moment, it was enough.

Due to the shock from his punch, Noel was barely managing to stand with her sword as a support.

No matter how strong an Aura user she was, it would be normal for someone to be impaled standing against such a punch, but thanks to the blessing she received from Orcus and her inherent robust physique, she was only at the level of sustaining slight internal injuries.

Upon spotting Noel, Walter unleashed his sword’s energy toward her.

Unlike when his power was restrained by the Sanctuary, a massive sword qi mixed with divine strength surged toward Noel.

Instead of raising her sword to block it, Noel rolled to avoid the sword qi.

Due to her internal injuries, her movements were not at their best. She raised her senses to the maximum and barely succeeded in dodging, but the pain from her injuries dulled her body.

Because of this, Noel’s struggles were short-lived.

“Ugh!”

Her body, forced to move, quickly reached its limit. Unable to endure the overwhelming pain, she stumbled, causing her balance to shatter in an instant.

Noel, now fallen, gasped for breath heavily. It seemed she had exhausted all her stamina while dodging the sword qi and could no longer move.

Walter realized that this attack would be the last for both him and her.

He was in no better condition himself. The strength he had forcibly raised was devastating his body, and the situation was rapidly deteriorating. The blood seeping through the visor that covered his face was clear evidence of that.

He wasn’t sure if he could finish off Orcus, who was following him, after dealing with Noel, but just the fact that he could definitely take down at least one of them brought him a small sense of comfort.

“It’s over.”

Looking down at Noel, who could no longer move, Walter spoke quietly. He didn’t release the strength from his sword. Even if he was certain of victory, he didn’t want to leave any room for error until the very end.

As he raised his sword, the crimson aura emanating from it grew as if it would erase Noel from this world. Although it was incomplete, he could see the mission through. Satisfied with this realization, he prepared to bring his sword down.

In that moment.

A bird with deep blue feathers shot toward Walter’s head.

Caught off guard by this unexpected attack, Walter reflexively dodged as he swung his sword. Turning his head to see the approaching creature, he noticed that the bird’s body flickered with crackling blue electricity.

“What! What kind of nonsense is this now?”

Walter briefly lost his focus at the emergence of an extraordinary being.

No matter how unpredictable life could be, why did it have to happen now? It felt as if the world were telling him he would fail in his mission, which left an unpleasant feeling in his gut.

He immediately swung his sword to kill the bird, but it merely cut through the air without striking it. When he swung again, the bird vanished like an illusion, leaving no trace behind. The cacophony of crackling electricity that had filled his ears fell silent.

It was as if the previous event had been a mere figment of his imagination, as the blue bird disappeared without a trace. However, Walter’s gaze remained fixed ahead.

Beyond the spot where the bird had vanished, he caught sight of a pair of dragon-like eyes watching him from within the forest’s shadows.

He could instinctively sense that this being would cause his mission to fail, even at the brink of achieving it.

As the oppressive pressure weighed heavily on him, Walter swung his sword towards Noel. A lightning-fast strike targeted the fallen girl’s neck. Noel was beneath him, and no matter how fast his hand was, she would likely be unable to block the blow.

That was his assumption.

As he lowered his arm, Walter found himself staring at his empty wrist, blood dripping from it instead of Noel’s severed head.

He couldn’t recall when his hand had fallen away; it flew through the air, still gripping the sword tightly.

Having already been battered, he felt no pain from the loss of his hand but could no longer remain standing. Like a deflated balloon, Walter slumped to the ground.

His blurry eyes held no more vitality, but since he wore a helmet, nobody realized it. A fleeting glimmer of light brushed his sight as he gradually sank into darkness. That was his last memory.

*

Noel dreamt.

Just moments ago, she had been rolling through the woods to avoid dying, yet now she sat in a vast, open garden, sipping tea.

In front of her was nothing but her favorite things.

She enjoyed the colorful array of sweet and sour fruits laid before her, but what thrilled her most was seeing the people she cherished sitting together, laughing, and talking with her.

It felt so vivid that she could believe it was a real event, yet she knew she had no memory of such a thing. Therefore, it must surely be a dream.

But who cares if it’s a dream? It’s just so blissful.

Noel silently thought, gazing at the two sitting in front of her.

Seeing the smiling faces of Damian and Elena, she couldn’t help but smile back as the happiness spread to her.

She couldn’t hear the topic of their conversation, as their mouths moved but the words didn’t reach her ears. Still, the mere fact of being in such a situation filled her with joy, and she melted into the scenery with a wide smile.

Elena scooped a spoonful of strawberry parfait and brought it to her. Without any hesitation, Noel popped the parfait into her mouth, and just as it looked, it was exceedingly sweet.

Strawberries and syrup atop cold whipped cream. Just moving it around made the sweet strawberry aroma fill her mouth.

Great! When I wake up, I’ll have to eat parfait with Elena.

*

“Elena…the parfait…it’s sweet…”

“What kind of dream are you having…?”

I looked at Noel, who was mumbling in her sleep. She seemed to have been in grave internal distress just moments ago, but thanks to the immense amount of divine power within her, she appeared to have improved greatly in a short time.

“Your mumbling suggests you’re okay… You saved her life. Pala.”

As I expressed my gratitude, the small dragon resting atop Noel’s head bobbed its beak in acknowledgment.

Perhaps it was because it was a creature created by a dragon; it understood human speech and was very clever.

Had this little one not intervened at that moment, Noel would have met her demise long before the original timeline. It could truly be said this was a significant feat. If Elena hadn’t attached it to the two, things might have turned out more complicated than in the original story.

Could this also be a result of my becoming Damian?

Due to me, many things have changed; perhaps as a butterfly effect, events that were originally meant to happen were now progressing more swiftly in different forms.

I wasn’t sure, and it was just a hypothesis, so I decided to set that thought aside for a moment. There might be other factors at play. In any case, if my theory was right, then I had managed to prevent Noel from dying, and that was a good outcome.

“Let’s get you down from there for now.”

I patted the dragon’s head a few times and placed it on my arm.

Orcus was running up not far away. He was a guy who cared deeply for his sister, and if he saw some bird perched on Noel’s head, he might turn it into chicken for dinner.

Well, I doubt that little one would go down easily.

“Pala. This is just a medical procedure, so don’t tell Elena, okay?”

I said to Pala as I grabbed Noel’s hand.

If someone saw me talking to a bird, they might think I was weird, but I was serious. Although I hadn’t observed them for long, it seemed that Pala and Elena could communicate with each other. I worried about the possibility of information being misinterpreted, and that made me anxious.

If it needed to be said, I would say it myself.

Elena wouldn’t be the type to scold someone for holding hands with a friend, but recalling what happened in the Training Grounds made me cautious about my own actions. The circumstances had changed somewhat since then, but still.

Holding Noel’s hand, I began to channel my energy through it.

Even though Noel had exceptional natural healing abilities, assisting her in stabilizing her blood vessels and energy pathways would allow for faster recovery.

“Ugh…”

Not long after I sent my energy, Noel’s lips parted once again. I thought perhaps she had regained consciousness, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

What tumbled out of her mouth was similar to the sleep-talk she had before.

“Use it… Damian… Use it… Ugh…”

What on earth was going on?

 

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