The dust I had swallowed made my throat itch.

Even after opening my helmet and spitting, I still felt something stuck inside.

This was one of the side effects of tearing down buildings.

I’d been roaming around in areas thick with drug smoke, with dust swirling all over the place.

If I had known this would happen, I would have asked Sirien for some water before she left.

By now, our dear saintess is probably cleaning up the ruins I left behind.

‘I should also ask her about those red symbols on the armor.’

When the sudden red light flared up on my armor, I was more than a little startled.

I thought it might be an attack I wasn’t aware of, so I hastily gathered my divine energy.

Luckily, these red letters were protecting me.

It was probably something Sirien had prepared.

I saw her startled expression when we briefly crossed paths.

Even she hadn’t expected it to glow like that.

Now, to everyone else, I must look more like a villain. But, who cares?

As long as the armor is sturdy and moves well, that’s all that matters.

“R-Run! Run for your life!”

“Ahh, nooo!”

As time passed, more people ran as soon as they saw me.

Since our goal—mine and Sirien’s—wasn’t just senseless slaughter, I didn’t chase them down relentlessly.

But if they were too deeply intoxicated, reeking of filth, or dared to come at me, I showed no mercy.

Mullet flowers are a poisonous herb by nature. If poisoned, you experience mild delirium and hallucinations.

The drug the sewer rats refined from it is just as addictive as modern drugs.

A swamp you can never escape from. The addicts here weren’t even trying to climb out—they were sinking deeper without a care.

That made them easy to distinguish.

No matter how brave a warrior is, they’ll retreat when the odds are clearly stacked against them.

But those high on drugs? They charge in without thinking.

My greatsword sliced through the swamp.

Bodies bloomed like flowers across the filthy ground.

‘How many have I killed?’

Quite some time had passed.

I had already destroyed the hideout Sirien found.

I’d even tracked down those who fled, but now, there was nowhere else to go.

After causing this much chaos, it was strange that Millen hadn’t shown himself.

Could he really be hiding, planning to stay out of sight?

Just when my nerves were about to get the best of me, I faintly sensed my divine energy from afar.

The sword I had passed on to Isha had been drawn.

The location wasn’t too far, nor too close.

“Found you.”

Those sewer rats really lived up to their name.

The place where my divine energy surged was near the sewage where the waters of Requitas converged.

The closer I got to the sewers, the more competent enemies appeared.

Those who knew how to handle a sword, or the beast mercenaries Millen had hired, showed up.

Among them was a bear beastman who recognized me—Vester.

Apparently, I had earned his grudge.

From my blind spot, a wolf hidden around the corner lunged with its claws out.

“At last, we meet, you filthy human!”

“Have we met? I don’t remember you.”

“The Gate of Arctania! You dare pretend not to know my brother?!”

“Sorry. Honestly, I don’t remember.”

I’ve killed my fair share of beastmen, after all.

Still, I respected his right to revenge. At the very least, I was willing to give him a proper fight.

Besides, even if I walked away, he’d probably chase me down to the end.

I blocked the incoming claws with the blade of my sword. There wasn’t an opportunity to cut through completely.

Greatswords, for all their power, are fairly useless in close combat.

The movements are too large, leaving plenty of openings. I pushed him back with the blade I had used as a shield to create some distance.

Could my armor withstand the beastman’s claws?

I estimated the odds, but they didn’t seem favorable.

His claws were too sharp to test without risking too much.

The sharpened aura surged toward me again.

It seemed this beastman was more skilled than the brother I had apparently killed.

No matter how hard I racked my brain, I couldn’t recall any wolf beastmen that stood out.

“Graaah! I am from the Forest Claw tri—”

“I don’t need your full introduction.”

The only tricky part had been his first attack.

Now that I knew his position and had adjusted my distance and stance, there was no reason to hold back.

With a mighty swing, my greatsword cleaved the wolf beastman in two.

Despite its many drawbacks, there’s a reason people use heavy weapons.

Most can’t defend themselves against my greatsword.

I stepped over the wolf’s corpse and kept moving forward.

I cut through the enemies as I advanced, but I had arrived too late.

As soon as I spotted Millen, I thrust my greatsword at him, but his reaction was quick.

A powerful shock rippled through the flat of my blade as if he was trying to knock it away.

I retrieved the sword and stepped back.

Millen glared at me coldly.

“Ha, you’ve finally crawled your way here.”

“Don’t say it like that. I’ve always intended to take your head from the start.”

“Go ahead, try it. In fact, I welcome it. Once I kill you all here, I won’t have any more headaches in the future.”

“You’ve got a lot of nerve for someone who’s been hiding in fear.”

I scanned my surroundings.

Isha was unconscious, lying sprawled on the ground, and a man with ashen hair stood guarding her.

That must be Russell. With the same hair as Isha, he was easy to identify.

But Russell was in terrible shape.

It seemed like he should’ve been knocked out of the fight a long time ago, but he was forcing himself to keep going.

His body was covered in blood, and his arm was twisted grotesquely, nearly torn off.

Even if things went well, it seemed unlikely that his arm could be saved.

His breathing was labored, and every exhale was mixed with pain.

He’d clearly coughed up blood several times already—there were still droplets falling from his mouth.

Russell looked at me, his lips moving as if to speak, but no sound came out.

I stepped between Millen and Russell.

“Take your daughter and leave the way I came. When you come across a silver-haired woman, politely ask for help. Isha will know what to do.”

I didn’t look back.

I vaguely saw Russell gather up Isha, but that was it.

Millen was not the kind of opponent I could afford to lose focus on.

“I see you’re not asking if I’ll let them escape.”

“I’ll just kill you and chase after them.”

Millen’s weapon was a pair of knuckles. Bloodstained metal glinted from his clenched fists.

The power from his strong physique was evident, as the force of his punch earlier had been no joke.

Without a weapon, his offense and defense were more fluid, and he was faster than he looked.

His abilities didn’t seem to be as flashy as fire or ice.

If they were, I would have seen the evidence in Russell’s wounds. There had been no reason for him to hold back until now.

Something definitely felt off.

The more we exchanged blows, the more I sensed something strange.

‘Is he moving a beat faster?’

Reacting to my attacks was perfectly plausible.

When humans move, there are always signs, and I’m no exception to that rule.

Especially with a weapon like a greatsword, which doesn’t allow for much finesse.

The problem was that it didn’t seem like Millen was reacting to me.

It felt like he already knew what I was going to do.

Instead of reacting, it was like he was countering, as if he had the answer sheet right in front of him.

Because he could read my intent so clearly, I missed several chances to strike first.

Had I lost the psychological battle?

No, that wasn’t quite it.

Millen thrust his fist toward me but then quickly withdrew.

Had he followed through, I could’ve grabbed his arm. Yet, even though I hadn’t made a move, he already knew what I was planning.

The only result was that it delayed the timing of my next sword strike.

I had to lower my left arm slightly to block Millen’s punch. The impact left a stinging sensation.

Still, my defense wasn’t too bad.

Millen had come in too deep.

No matter how well he could read my moves, it wouldn’t matter if he couldn’t avoid my strikes.

At this rate, I could cut him in half with my greatsword.

As my blade rushed toward Millen, a powerful shock struck the blade—without it hitting anything.

The trajectory twisted, and the sword missed its mark.

That left my defense wide open. In an instant, I felt another blow hit my left arm, and Millon’s fist was suddenly right in front of me.

“Guh!”

A clean hit. His punch landed squarely in my solar plexus.

The impact wasn’t something I could ignore, even through my armor.

So that’s why Russell had been so thoroughly beaten.

I could taste a bit of blood in my mouth. My insides had taken some damage.

“I can’t understand you,” Millen sneered. “Do you really think you can run rampant in Requitas and get away with it? You think I jumped into this massive business without any powerful backers?”

“And you think I came to this stinking city just to kill a few people for fun? You’re a real joke.”

Millen clearly thought he had the upper hand.

Thinking he was winning, his tongue got looser.

All he’d done was land one decent hit, and he was already running his mouth.

He didn’t realize he’d just revealed his hand.

That last attack had shown me exactly what his ability was.

I wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice.

Let him keep talking.

As someone descended from the people of Eilencia, I wasn’t one to lose in a battle of words.

Pointing my greatsword at Millen once more, I shouted:

“This is a request from Baron Esquente, Third Commander of the Northern Front.

He asked me to clean up the trash selling drugs behind the front lines.

Looks like you’re first on the list.”

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