After the initial exchange, Russell had already ford a rough judgnt of this man’s strength.
In simple terms, he was strong. Extrely strong.
Whether it was combat technique, awareness, speed, or strength, everything was top-tier. Not a single mistake in judgnt.
Among all the humans encountered so far, he was without a doubt the strongest…
Of course, only among humans.
With Rozelite’s current power, defeating him alone would indeed be difficult.
So Russell decided to get serious.
“Use that move, Rozelite.”
“Eh? Really? But he’s human.”
“He’s not an ordinary human. And judging by his attitude, unless one of you dies, he won’t stop.”
“Right here, kill him.”
Russell’s calm, cold voice echoed in Rozelite’s mind. Her brief hesitation vanished in an instant, and she reached the sa conclusion.
Since he wanted to kill her, she would kill him!
Kill him!
Kill!
Rozelite slowly raised the Astral Silver Sword in her hand, speaking each word firmly.
“Ar–mor–Fusion!”
【Shapeshift Lv7】
【Bind Lv4】
【Mimicry Lv5】
【tallization Lv9】
【Hardening Lv6】
【Mana Enhancent Lv8】
Light-blue tendrils surged from her back, swiftly coiling around every inch of her skin.
They wrapped upward, enclosing her head, forming a helt that left only the lower half of her face exposed, her eyes hidden behind pale blue visors.
Then they wrapped downward, greedily devouring every contour of her body, sliding across her chest, binding her waist and abdon, clinging to her legs, covering every hidden curve.
The liquid sli glead with tallic luster. The softness vanished, solidifying into sharp edges and smooth lines that ford a skin-tight armor.
Boots lifted her stance, silver light armor now covered her fully. Delicate yet brimming with strength.
A suit of sli-forged tallic armor.
In but a mont—
Before Brandy stood Rozelite, her whole body clad in battle armor. The crushing pressure that radiated from her was like a dam breaking, surging to drown him whole. Though he had personally witnessed her transformation, Brandy could not help but feel that what now stood before him… was no longer human.
That brilliance like the sun in his mana-sense, that life force surviving even after her heart was destroyed—
Without a doubt, this thing was not human.
“What the hell are you?”
Brandy asked with a grin.
Rozelite didn’t answer. She only closed her eyes, silently savoring the sensation of every curve of her body being tightly wrapped.
Yes—that’s it.
That indescribable joy, that sense of fulfillnt, from having every inch of her being enveloped by Mr. Sli. A completeness she had never felt before. At this mont, she felt more human than ever.
No—this was what it ant to be truly human.
The next mont, Rozelite’s eyes snapped open.
Her sky-blue irises now glowed with an eerie crimson.
Dark-purple markings crawled across the tallic armor like a curse, shining faintly.
【Mana Enhancent Lv8】
【Mana Enhancent Lv8】
【Demon King’s Blessing Lv6】
【Subspace Corrosion Lv8】
Fourfold Enhancent!
Boom!
The ice wall beneath her feet shattered explosively. Her body shot downward like a cannonball, faster than the naked eye could follow.
Lightning arced, thunder roared.
Brandy’s figure beca a thunderbolt, clashing with the silver-and-purple blur! Colliding! Grappling! Twisting!
At this mont, their speeds were equal!
“What kind of joke is this?!”
Brandy’s heart was no longer calm—only sheer disbelief.
He was the man who bore the 【Sword Saint System】 and had honed it to its utmost limit. Even at over eighty years old, his strength had hardly diminished from his pri. Across the entire kingdom, he was the strongest existence.
But this girl before him…
What the hell was she?
This wasn’t just “not human.”
She was a monster!
This overwhelming force, this suffocating pressure…
Brandy had only ever felt this from one other person.
The Hero, Hildr.
That was more than fifty years ago… back when he was not yet thirty.
The great barrier hadn’t been built yet. The kingdom and the demons clashed endlessly. Blood dyed the plains beneath the Muscovy Mountain Range. Both sides poured in more troops than they could afford. Neither would accept defeat.
Neither would surrender. Negotiation was impossible.
But if the war continued, the kingdom’s price would be unbearable.
Thus a plan was born: The Hero Project.
Jointly developed by the Rhine Royal Magic Academy and the Magic Association, the 【Hero System】 was designed to grant one the might of an army, the power to even slay the Demon King.
But the problem was—who would bear it?
The war was at its breaking point. They needed a candidate quickly. With the kingdom allied to Freya Forest at the ti, the king set a simple condition: Whoever could draw the Holy Sword would beco the Hero.
No one had expected that the one to draw it would be a naless country girl, who had joined the army just days before.
Brandy had been unwilling to accept it.
So what if she drew the Holy Sword? Did that an she could definitely defeat the Demon King?
Yes, the Holy Sword was powerful. But was he weak?
He was the Sword Saint!
He should have been the one to carry the 【Hero System】. With both it and his 【Sword Saint System】, he could have surely destroyed the Demon King completely.
So on the very day Hildr received the Hero System, Brandy had publicly challenged her. He wanted to prove to everyone that he was the kingdom’s strongest swordsman, that he was the one who could defeat the Demon King, that he was the true Hero.
Back then, Brandy already had the 【Sword Saint System】, though he hadn’t yet mastered it. Still, his strength was at the very top of the kingdom. Even the previous Sword Saint admitted Brandy’s talent and power had surpassed him.
In a one-on-one duel, Brandy was confident he could not lose to anyone.
Hildr had taken a simple stance, borrowing a plain sword from a guard. She hadn’t even used the Holy Sword, nor any special technique—just the standard military drills everyone knew.
And yet, Brandy lost.
Undeniably, absolutely—lost.
He had been crushed so thoroughly he doubted his own existence.
What kind of joke was this?
A girl from the countryside, stronger than him, the one who had trained day and night, who carried the 【Sword Saint System】?
It made no sense. It was impossible.
But lost he had.
Brandy had learned then that there were always greater heights, always soone beyond.
Later, Hero Hildr had wielded the Holy Sword, charging into demon territory, and fought the Demon King to the death.
The result was known to all—they perished together.
From that day on, through fifty long years, Brandy had never again seen soone like Hildr, soone so far beyond reason, as if blessed by the gods themselves.
Until today.
He understood now.
Hildr had never been human. She had only worn human skin. She was a monster.
And now, fifty years later, Brandy once again faced such a monster.
The Astral Silver Sword pierced straight through his chest. Blood spurted like a fountain, soaking his clothes and the scarred earth beneath them.
As a human, Brandy had no ability to survive a pierced chest.
He stumbled and collapsed, the sword slipping from his hand.
Before coming here, had he thought of losing?
No.
But a loss was still a loss…
Just like fifty years ago, when he had challenged Hero Hildr, thinking defeat impossible, only to be utterly crushed.
Now, as he looked up at Rozelite standing above him, staring down with cold eyes, Brandy couldn’t help but laugh.
At the very least…
Even to the mont of his death, he was still the strongest human in the kingdom.
And why?
Because neither that Hero Hildr, nor this being before him—were human at all.
They were monsters wearing human skin.
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