The floor was paved with obsidian, its polished surface gleaming like a mirror, reflecting the figures of those who stood upon it. A heavy atmosphere filled the space. Just seconds ago, the Guardian of "Blood"—Claym Bradley—had disappeared into the throne room.

“…”

Freesia unconsciously swallowed her saliva. Was it because she was finally facing the dragon she had sworn to kill as an enemy? Or was it the oppressive presence of the black-gray knight guarding the towering doors before them? She couldn't tell for sure… No, perhaps it was both of these reasons weighing on her chest.

She had put on a brave front when he left, but in truth, she was overwhelmed with anxiety, consumed by fear. After all, the one standing before them was a knight bestowed with the Empire's highest title—the Five Heavenly Swords. Among the five wielders of the Swords, this old knight had reigned at the pinnacle for many years.

──I wonder… just how far we can go…?

She had no idea.

“Honestly, our master is far too selfish. It would be nice if he considered those who serve him a little more… Though I suppose it's pointless to say that to a dragon who looks down on the world.”

Grumbling, the old knight let his jet-black cloak flutter over his armor and readjusted the ominous magic scythe he held. Then, he spoke straight ahead—to the three young bloodline warriors standing before him.

“I have no personal grudge against you, but my master has ordered that no one may pass. I’m sorry, but you will have to turn back in silence… or accept defeat with dignity.”

In that instant, a bone-chilling killing intent shattered the heavy silence, and the old knight moved with terrifying speed, targeting the weakest combatant among the three—Levia.

“──Back off! Your role ends here! Weiss and I will handle this knight!”

The scythe’s deathly blade nearly reached Levia’s slender neck, but at the last moment, Freesia forcibly shoved her backward, narrowly avoiding the fatal strike.

“Eh──Whoa!?”

Levia, sent flying backward, hit the ground hard, unable to properly brace herself. She groaned from the impact. It looked painful, and Freesia knew she had been rough, but it was better than dying without even realizing what had happened.

“Hmm, good reaction. But to still be worrying about your comrades at this stage… You must think very little of me.”

“Ugh──Tch!!”

The old knight’s sharp gaze pierced Freesia from behind his helmet, as if appraising her. The scythe that had sliced through the air spun from the momentum, twisting sharply as it came down to cleave her in two at the waist. At the very last moment, she deflected it with her rapier, barely managing to avoid disaster. But she couldn't just keep defending forever.

“Weiss!!”

“On it!!”

A brief but forceful exchange of words. The moment the old knight’s focus shifted to Freesia, how could the other warrior possibly stay still? Weiss, who had already maneuvered behind him, swung his sky-blue sword downward at the knight’s exposed back.

“Haaaah!!”

Just as it seemed his sword would cleave through the old knight—

“Your form is quite good… But you’re a bit too hasty.”

“Wha──!?”

With ease, the old knight parried Weiss’s attack with his dark violet scythe and leaped back.

“Hmm, not bad at all.”

As if testing them, he momentarily paused the battle. His stance showed the composure of a true warrior. Even against multiple opponents, he seemed completely unfazed. In contrast, after only a few exchanges, beads of unpleasant sweat formed on Freesia and Weiss’s brows.

“The Magic Scythe, Blade of Destruction Deathscythe… This is the infamous power of the Netherworld Breaker…”

“A single clash… and my blade is already cracked!?”

The two of them grimaced as they examined the damage their weapons had sustained from the previous exchange.

The First Sword—Wolf Graves—wielded a sinister black-violet scythe. Like the magic lance once wielded by the Fourth Sword, Lamia Garrot, it was a Magic Weapon.

The Five Heavenly Swords was a title given to the Empire’s strongest knights, but strictly speaking, it was slightly different. Could any powerful knight attain this title? No, absolutely not. The title was granted only to those who could freely wield one of the Empire’s five Magic Weapons—artifacts infused with extraordinary power.

Each of the five Magic Weapons contained unique abilities. The magic Spear Reverse Game granted "bipolar magnetic force," while the magic sword Black Sea Overlord possessed "amplification." Their strength rivaled even that of Bloodline Magic. There was no exaggeration in their reputation.

──The key to victory lies in overcoming the power of these Magic Weapons…!!

The First Sword, Netherworld Breaker, wielded the scythe Blade of Destruction. Any object touched by its blade would undergo accelerated destruction. Furthermore, another crucial factor was the magic wielded by the old knight before them. He was not only a master of combat but also a dual-element mage, capable of manipulating both fire and water—an extremely rare combination.

“You’re quite knowledgeable… To you, an outdated magic knight like me must seem like a relic of the past.”

His words were neither bravado nor humility. The old knight, a living legend who had once rivaled the Crimson Blood Demon Emperor, spoke with complete sincerity.

“…!!”

There was no opening, no carelessness in him. If only he had underestimated them, assuming they were no threat—it would have turned the tide in their favor. But the Ice Princess knew that wasn’t going to happen, and she clenched her teeth in frustration.

“Naturally, all of my techniques are already known to you. And while you’re young, compared to the inexperienced brats in my unit, you’re vastly superior. One after another, warriors keep appearing to challenge me…”

Draped in black-gray knight armor and a flowing black cloak, he resembled a grim reaper emerging from the netherworld. His combat style was that of a true harbinger of death.

“──There isn't a single moment of carelessness to be had.”

In an instant, the old knight vanished from sight. At the same time, thick mist filled the hall, completely obscuring their vision.

“…!!?”

They immediately recognized the threat and heightened their guard—but it was already too late. No matter where they looked, the dense fog blocked their view entirely. The oppressive heat made their bodies sweat, and as their thoughts grew muddled from the combination of tension and temperature—

“──!!”

“Ugh…!!”

The reaper struck without hesitation. A scythe blade suddenly emerged from the mist, slicing toward Freesia. She barely noticed the slight vibration in the air, the unnatural shift in the fog, just in time to avoid a fatal wound. In reality, she should be commended for managing to escape death with only a slight injury.

“Impressive. To dodge even that…!!”

The old knight, still hidden within the mist, genuinely praised Freesia, his voice tinged with surprise.

However, she was in no state to appreciate the compliment—his magic scythe had grazed her left shoulder.

“Ghh… I see… This is far worse than just bleeding…”

“Freesia, are you okay!?”

She clutched her wounded shoulder with a pained expression. At first glance, there was no visible bleeding, but that was precisely the problem.

Unlike a normal wound, her shoulder was beginning to crack and crumble. The scythe’s power—the ability to accelerate destruction—worked even on living bodies. Once cut by its blade, the victim's flesh would slowly disintegrate. The only ways to stop it were to kill the wielder, use the highest-grade elixir, or amputate the affected limb.

Fortunately, Freesia and Weiss had each prepared a Sage’s Elixir for this battle, but…

“Now, how will you escape this predicament?”

The old knight had no intention of granting them any mercy.

“Damn it──!!”

Instantly, Weiss, who was about to scatter the elixir on Freesia, was once again blocked by the scythe blade that crawled out of the thick fog.

Defense is not impossible... or rather, it is not impossible, but it would be better to avoid it if possible. The hero’s sky-colored sword had already cracked due to its destructive power. He could block the incoming scythe blade with it, but doing so would accelerate the sword’s collapse.

──── At most, three more times... Considering what comes next, clashing blades more than twice would be fatal!!

“Then, I’ll just—!!”

Thus, the hero’s only option was to evade. Unlike the previous attack, this one had a clear trajectory, and Weiss narrowly dodged it.

“Impressive agility!!”

The old knight once again let out a voice of admiration as the hero bent his upper body backward with such flexibility that it almost touched the floor, skillfully avoiding the scythe blade.

“Tsk… there!!”

Relying on that voice, the hero swung his sky-colored sword upward as he sprang up. Despite being launched from an unstable position, the precise strike accurately targeted the direction of the hoarse voice—but it sliced through empty air.

──── Damn it... Where the hell is he...!?

The complete lack of contact scattered the hero’s thoughts. A loud voice scolded him from behind.

“Don’t underestimate me!!”

His left shoulder’s crack had yet to heal. However, the Ice Princess disregarded that as she unleashed a chilling air that froze the entire hall.

In an instant, the thick fog transformed into six-petaled ice flowers, clearing the view at once. Bathed in bluish light, the fantastically shimmering ice fragments revealed the black-gray old knight, who had stubbornly refused to show himself until now.

The overwhelming cold and magical force nullified the dense fog he had created by layering two different spells. If the hall had become so cold that frost covered everything, then it was impossible for his magic to generate more mist.

“This is Greyfrost’s... I see, now I really can’t afford to let my guard down!!”

This was the decisive difference between elemental magic and bloodline magic. But such a reality had long been thrust upon this old knight—he had been made to despair, forced into resignation. His body did not harbor any special magic. Therefore, he simply had to find other ways to close in on these monsters. To him, this level of adversity was an everyday occurrence.

“Weiss!!”

“Yeah!!”

The same applied to these two bloodline inheritors. Though they had overcome the troublesome thick fog, the true threat—the cursed scythe—still loomed, shattering their advantage.

Their vision was clear. But even without the fog, the grim reaper before them relentlessly imposed death and destruction. One misstep would render them irreparably broken. Realizing that, a creeping fear threatened to freeze their legs in place.

──── Like hell that matters!!

Yet, even so, they had no reason to stop. No reason to stagnate here.

“!!”

The hero and the Ice Princess launched forward explosively toward the old knight before them. In response, the grim reaper kicked off the ground.

“This is the critical moment!!”

The two bloodline inheritors closed in from both sides. Acknowledging this, the grim reaper chose to push straight forward instead of intercepting either of them.

The hero struck first.

“Luminous Vanish, Blade of the Aurora!!”

The radiance of magic pulsed, and the surrounding light particles gathered into the sword, forming a massive, luminous greatsword. At the sight of the raised blade of light, the grim reaper let out an uncharacteristically childlike exclamation.

“Light magic! So the return of the hero was real!!”

However, despite his reaction, the grim reaper enveloped his scythe blade in a sinister black aura, as if to annihilate even the surrounding air, and clashed against the hero’s blade.

Light and darkness collided. The violent clash of magic and battle aura shook the surroundings, generating shockwaves. Neither side yielded in the fierce struggle for dominance.

“Haaaaaaah!!”

“Woooooooah!!”

At first glance, it seemed like a stalemate. However, the cursed scythe’s unfair ability would soon tip the balance.

“Even a blade of light will be destroyed by this scythe!!”

“Damn it—!!”

Slowly but surely, the scythe’s power corroded the hero’s radiant blade, eating away at it. A few more seconds, and his sword would be completely destroyed—

“Don’t be reckless, Weiss! You still have work to do!!”

The Ice Princess interrupted, pouring the last of her chilling magic into one final effort.

“Turn all to the frozen ashes of Greyfrost!!”

“Tsk—!!”

This was the ultimate freezing spell of Greyfrost. She could have used it immediately, but without preparation, it wouldn’t reach its full potential.

“What... is this!?”

In an instant, glacial frost surged from the floor, encasing the old knight’s body. The hero had already withdrawn, replaced by the billowing silver hair of the Ice Princess.

The entire space had now become her domain. The careful buildup of magic and cold over time had allowed her to establish complete control. Even the grim reaper would need several seconds to break free.

“It’s over. Once I’ve brought it to this point, my ice is invincible—he’ll need at least ten seconds to escape.”

“Such tenacious magical cohesion... I can only commend it. However—!!”

The Ice Princess closed in, aiming to sever the old knight’s throat with her azure crystal-like rapier. But even in checkmate, he would not go down without a fight. No matter how young his opponents were, if they posed a threat, he would acknowledge them and fight to his last breath. That was his knightly pride.

“At the very least, I will fight to the end as a knight!!”

Half his body already frozen, the old knight still managed to hurl his cursed scythe at the approaching Ice Princess.

“Tsk—!!”

But the Ice Princess had neither arrogance nor carelessness. She spun sharply, dodging the spinning scythe, and in the same motion, drove her rapier into the gap between his helmet and armor.

“Ah... gh... kgh—!?”

“Our victory is assured.”

The battle was decided. The Ice Princess’s precise thrust pierced the old knight’s throat. After a final, blood-choked gasp, he collapsed and died.

A brief silence followed. But their ragged breathing quickly brought them back to reality. Now that the adrenaline had faded, they noticed their injuries were far worse than expected. Their bodies bore countless cracks, and their weapons were nearly broken.

“That was a close victory...”

“Freesia! You need to use the elixir quickly, your hair—!!”

“...My hair?”

As Weiss rushed over in panic, Freesia reached for her hair and realized what had happened.

“Oh, it got cut short at some point. When did that happen? During that last throw?”

Her once long, silky silver hair had been severed to shoulder length, its edges still fracturing. Yet, she simply played with it before pouring the elixir over herself.

“I wonder if he prefers shorter hair?”

It was an oddly girlish thought in such a situation.

Her blue eyes wavered with concern.

And then, even through the door, a particularly loud impact sound and the release of magical power could be sensed. His battle had only just begun.