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Chapter : 15
They hadn’t even driven the monsters into a rampage yet.
It was a relief that things had become easier, but at the same time, Ellen grew curious about who would dare to pull off something like this within the Empire.
This event was hosted by the imperial family.
If anything disgraceful happened here, the responsibility would fall squarely on the imperial house.
The culprit would have to flee after provoking the imperial palace itself, where the most prominent figures of the Empire were gathered.
‘Whoever it is, they’ve really got guts. Or maybe I should say they’re insanely bold.’
Ellen watched the battle with a scoffing smile.
Five monsters on the left, seven on the right, two behind.
No matter how outstanding an Aura Knight was, it was impossible to deal with all of them alone.
At the very least, two people would be needed.
Yet despite these terrible conditions, Kaiden was cutting down the monsters at an astonishing speed.
Occasionally, a purple glow flashed as he used aura, but most of the time, he killed the beasts with pure physical strength alone.
It was a smart strategy.
When facing many opponents at once, stamina management was paramount.
Blood spurted like fountains everywhere.
Slash after slash.
Each time a monster’s head fell, the sword traced perfect arcs and straight lines through the air.
His movements brought to mind Emperor Arthur, who was said to have founded this Empire long ago.
‘So blood really does tell, huh.’
By the time Kaiden had dealt with about half of the monsters before him, Ellen approached the man who was still fighting desperately.
The moment Kaiden saw Ellen’s face, his expression twisted with irritation.
“How did you get in here?”
Instead of answering, Ellen extended his hand toward the monsters charging at Kaiden.
Invisible lights gathered into a small vortex, and with a powerful flash and a loud bang, an explosion rang out.
In an instant, half of a monster’s body burst apart, its flesh scattering in all directions.
Still smiling, Ellen muttered casually,
“Well, I snuck in.”
“……”
“To kill you.”
At his answer, Kaiden shifted his sword from his right hand to his left. The blade, still wet with monster blood, remained hot.
“I’ll give you credit for your confidence.”
“Huh?”
“You’re all talk.”
Provoked, Ellen let out a hollow laugh and charged.
He thrust his sword toward Kaiden, but Ellen narrowly dodged it and closed the distance as smoothly as flowing water.
In the brief instant Kaiden flinched, Ellen struck his wrist hard.
The sword fell into the grass.
Kaiden frowned, pretending to clutch the back of his hand—then suddenly clenched his other fist and punched Ellen squarely in the cheek.
“You crazy bastard!”
Ellen spat out a curse as the bone-rattling impact hit him.
It was a bare-handed punch, imbued with neither magic nor aura, but somehow it hurt more—and felt more humiliating.
Grinding his teeth, Kaiden snarled at Ellen, who stared at him in disbelief.
“Stop interfering and get lost.”
Such crude language, completely at odds with his refined appearance.
The unexpected contrast made Ellen snort with laughter.
‘So he only pretends to be nice in front of that woman?’
Ellen changed his mind.
Originally, he’d planned to quietly kill Kaiden and be done with it—but now, he decided otherwise.
He would kill Kaiden in front of Jenaida.
After being wounded by him, killing Kaiden quietly felt far too unsatisfying.
‘Forcing someone to stay by your side still counts as keeping them, after all.’
Wiping the blood flowing from his split lip, Ellen muttered,
“So this is how you repay a favor.”
“……!”
“Go on. Try chasing me.”
Using the power of spirits, Ellen gave the monsters hallucinations—and a slight boost of strength.
Enough energy to break through the barrier surrounding the VIP seats.
The monsters all turned at once and charged toward the nobles.
“If you don’t, your wife will die.”
Boom. Boom. Boom.
As the remaining monsters converged on a single point, the ground began to shake. The nobles, who had been leisurely enjoying their rest, trembled in fear at the deafening noise and roars.
“What in the world is going on?”
“There’s no way monsters could reach this far!”
“What are the priests and knights doing? Check immediately!”
The nobles did nothing but shout demands—none of them took action.
Jenaida, who had been staring straight ahead while holding her breath, snapped back to her senses amid the chaos.
She rose from her seat and ran without thinking.
The Emperor made no effort to stop her.
He believed Kaiden was already dead.
When she finally reached the edge of the protective barrier, she saw monsters with bloodshot eyes pounding their fists against it.
With each blow, cracks began to form.
‘If it were Kaiden, he should be able to handle monsters like these easily…’
Something was going terribly wrong.
Out of habit, Jenaida reached for her waist—only to grasp empty air. She’d forgotten she was wearing a dress.
‘I need a sword.’
She looked around.
Most of the knights were frozen in fear before the massive monsters. Jenaida strode up to one of them and forcibly snatched his sword.
Sunlight glinted off the blade.
Without hesitation, she wrapped it in holy power and slashed open the barrier. Monsters poured through the torn opening.
“Lancelot!”
At her call, Lancelot leapt forward at once.
“Kill them all.”
“Understood.”
With that brief exchange, the two charged into the horde.
From small fry like goblins to troublesome beasts like griffins.
Her once-beautiful dress was soon in tatters, and her jewelry and hair had long since come undone.
Fortunately, the knights soon regained their composure and joined the fight, and the situation gradually turned for the better.
‘Just about ten more left…’
“Watch out!”
As she counted the remaining monsters, Lancelot shouted urgently. He rushed to Jenaida, scooped her up, and leapt into the air.
At the same time, a storm of purple light swept across the ground beneath them.
When it passed, grass and trees had evaporated, leaving behind a barren wasteland.
Seeing the color of the aura, Jenaida immediately knew whose attack it was.
‘Kaiden?’
While she stood frozen, Lancelot safely set her back on the ground.
Moments later, Kaiden appeared in the distance, riding a horse.
Jenaida ran to him on instinct and faced him first.
Seeing him after several hours, he looked very different from before. Blood flowed from one arm—likely from a monster’s attack—and his body was covered in small wounds.
“First—first, you need treatment—”
“Are you all right?”
Their resolve to keep their distance vanished as they worried over each other. Shocked by each other’s condition, neither realized how strange it was.
Kaiden reached out to help Jenaida onto the horse.
At that moment—
“You came out on your own, all the way here?”
Ellen, who had followed them, smiled brightly as he struck the back of Kaiden’s neck. Kaiden couldn’t even scream before collapsing toward Jenaida.
“Kaiden!”
She caught him as he fell, but exhausted as she was, she tumbled down with him.
Ellen looked at Jenaida with an easygoing smile. She shouted angrily at him.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
“What? I’m just helping him meet his end.”
Ellen reached out to drag Kaiden away.
“No need to beg. Should’ve done this sooner.”
At that moment, the aura at the back of Kaiden’s neck—unbroken by Ellen’s attack—began to glow.
At the same time, Kaiden, who had seemed unconscious, moved.
As if mocking his opponent, Kaiden moved with lightning speed.
He grabbed Ellen by the neck and struck him with the edge of his hand, knocking him out cold.
Caught completely off guard, Ellen collapsed face-first into the ground.
It seemed the fight was decided—but then an unexpected variable appeared.
“Ellen!”
Ellen’s spirit, Elia, flew in like the wind, seized him, and escaped into the sky.
Unable to fly, Kaiden could only lift his head and glare upward. Elia, blazing with rage, shouted down at them.
“Do you even know who you touched?! You selfish Imperial bastards!”
“Your master attacked first. Who’s selfish here?”
Kaiden spat blood and muttered,
“Spirits truly are the pinnacle of selfishness.”
At his retort, Elia’s face flushed red and blue with fury. Jenaida, who had been watching anxiously, hurried to stop him.
“Please stop. Making enemies of spirits will bring no good.”
At her plea, Kaiden fell silent—but Elia remained enraged.
“I’ll kill you.”
Golden light gathered around her, transforming into thorn-like spikes that spread outward like a hedgehog.
As she prepared to cross the line, Jenaida naturally stepped in front of Kaiden, shielding him with her body.
Elia glared at her threateningly.
“Move aside if you don’t want to die.”
The tips of the thorns crept dangerously close to Jenaida.
“If it weren’t for Ellen, you’d already be dead by my hand, you traitor.”
But Jenaida didn’t even blink and calmly replied,
“Even if you cause a scene here, you won’t be able to kill this man. If you wish to kill him, you’ll have to kill me first.”
